HOUSE BILL No. 6364

 

August 11, 2010, Introduced by Reps. Espinoza and Polidori and referred to the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security.

 

     A bill to create the personal preparedness standards act; to

 

require state and local continuity plans to include certain

 

provisions; and to provide for certain powers and duties of state

 

and local officers and agencies.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the

 

"personal preparedness standards act".

 

     Sec. 2. As used in this act:

 

     (a) "Continuity coordinator" means the individual within a

 

first responder organization who is responsible for human capital

 

issues during a continuity event.

 

     (b) "Continuity event" means a natural disaster, man-made

 

disaster, or terrorist attack that requires the services of a first


 

responder organization.

 

     (c) "Continuity plan" means the plan maintained by each first

 

responder organization that determines how that organization

 

maintains essential public services during a continuity event.

 

     (d) "First responder organization" means a state or local law

 

enforcement agency, fire department, emergency medical service,

 

public utility, or other public or quasi-public entity whose

 

services protect the public health and welfare.

 

     Sec. 3. A continuity plan shall include personal preparedness

 

measures that ensure that employees of a first responder

 

organization and their families are prepared for the employees to

 

be deployed during a continuity event. The personal preparedness

 

measures shall include all of the following:

 

     (a) Employees shall provide to the continuity coordinator a

 

listing of contact numbers for their immediate family and other

 

individuals significant to the employees for use in emergency

 

situations and as a means of updating family members during a

 

continuity event or during a long-term deployment. The contact

 

numbers shall be updated as necessary, but no less than annually

 

during the first week of January of each year.

 

     (b) The continuity coordinator shall identify a team of human

 

capital liaisons for the purposes of providing updates to employee

 

family members during a continuity event. This list of contacts

 

shall be refined as needed during a continuity event. As a general

 

policy, updates shall be provided to those family members during a

 

continuity event not less than twice daily at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

 

     (c) The continuity coordinator shall facilitate the execution


 

of a family preparedness and communications plan for all continuity

 

personnel. These plans shall, at a minimum, include the following

 

components:

 

     (i) Education on the hazards and emergencies that may affect

 

continuity personnel specific to the area in which they reside.

 

     (ii) Plans to reduce hazards in and around the employee's home,

 

such as where and how to turn off electricity, water, and gas.

 

     (iii) The assembly of disaster supply kits for home, work, and

 

automobile.

 

     (iv) Identification of community warning systems and evacuation

 

routes.

 

     (v) Identification and documentation of the information

 

required from work, community, and school plans critical to them

 

and their families during a continuity event.

 

     (vi) Identification and documentation of key local resources

 

specific to the common locations that continuity personnel and

 

their families frequent.

 

     (vii) Contingency plans for child and elder care

 

responsibilities.

 

     (viii) Contingency plans to care and shelter family pets.

 

     (ix) Plans for family members to shelter in place or the

 

identification of outdoor rallying locations and evacuation routes,

 

or both.

 

     (x) Contingency communication plans for family members.

 

     (xi) Portable family emergency cards.

 

     (xii) A mechanism for employees to maintain critical

 

information, at their residences or with trusted agents, that will


 

aid them and their families during a continuity event and in their

 

personal recoveries after a continuity event. This critical

 

information, at a minimum, should document important medical

 

information, automobile information, insurance information, real

 

and personal property information, critical financial data, legal

 

identification numbers, and other legal documentation critical to

 

recovery from a continuity event.

 

     (d) Other activities that support continuity personnel with a

 

greater level of confidence in their ability to meet individual

 

responsibilities and obligations.