§ 717. Office of interoperable and emergency communications. 1. The
office of interoperable and emergency communications shall be the
principal state agency for all interoperable and emergency
communications issues and oversee and direct the development,
coordination and implementation of policies, plans, standards, programs
and services related to interoperable and emergency communications,
including those related to public safety land mobile radio
communications. The office shall coordinate with federal, state, local,
tribal, non-governmental and other appropriate entities.

2. The office shall be responsible for coordinating relevant grant
programs and other funding sources to enhance interoperable and
emergency communications, as consistent with the mission of the
division. The director shall make final determinations regarding the
distribution of grants, in consultation with the board.

3. The director of this office shall serve as the statewide
interoperable and emergency communications coordinator.

4. To ensure appropriate coordination and consultation with relevant
entities, the director shall be the chairperson of the statewide
interoperable and emergency communication board as defined in section
three hundred twenty-seven of the county law, and whose duties shall
include, but not be limited to all the duties regularly assigned to the
board as defined by section three hundred twenty-eight of the county
law.

5. The commissioner, in consultation with the director of the office,
shall promulgate rules and regulations which require municipalities to
report, no less than annually, on prior and planned expenditures to
develop and operate interoperable and emergency communications. The
regulations shall permit municipalities which participate in county or
multi-county regional coordinated interoperability efforts to submit a
single report to the division for all participating municipalities, so
long as all expenses which would have been reported if the participating
municipalities had submitted individual reports are contained in the
combined report. The regulations shall not require a municipality that
incurred no relevant expenses and anticipates no relevant expenses to
submit such a report. The division shall include a summary of such
information in its annual report to the governor, temporary president of
the senate, and speaker of the assembly provided for in subdivision
seven of section seven hundred nine of this article, as well as
submitting such information at the same time to the state comptroller.