Rep. Donald L. Moffitt

Filed: 3/15/2013

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2761

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2761 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Interstate Mutual Emergency Aid Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7    (a) "Emergency responder" includes emergency medical
8services personnel and firefighters, including firefighters
9trained in the areas of hazardous materials, specialized
10rescue, extrication, water rescue, and other specialized
11areas.
12    (b) "Mutual aid emergency" or "emergency" means an
13occurrence or condition resulting in a situation that poses an
14immediate risk to health, life, property, or the environment,
15where the governmental entity having jurisdiction over the
16situation determines (i) that the situation exceeds its ability

 

 

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1to render appropriate aid and (ii) that it is in the public's
2best interest to request mutual aid from an out-of-state entity
3with whom the governmental entity has a written mutual aid
4agreement. "Mutual aid emergency" or "emergency" does not
5include a situation that initially rises to the level of
6disaster or emergency requiring a state or local declaration of
7a state of emergency, unless that declaration occurs after the
8initial request for mutual aid has been made.
9    (c) "Training exercises" means necessary advance actions
10taken by emergency responders pursuant to a mutual aid
11agreement in order to prepare to more adequately address a
12potential mutual aid emergency.
 
13    Section 10. Mutual aid agreements. In order to more
14adequately address emergencies that extend or exceed a
15jurisdiction's emergency response capabilities, either without
16rising to the level of a state or local declaration of a state
17of emergency, or in the initial stages of an event which may
18later become a declared emergency, a political subdivision of
19this State, including a county, city, village, township, or
20other unit of local government, or any combination thereof, may
21enter into a mutual aid agreement with one or more units of
22government from another state. The mutual aid agreement may
23provide for coordination of communications, staging, training,
24and response to planned and unplanned events which a local
25jurisdiction has determined exceed, or are likely to exceed,

 

 

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1its emergency response capabilities. When engaged in training,
2staging, and emergency response in accordance with the mutual
3aid agreements, emergency responders from outside of this State
4are permitted to provide services within this State in
5accordance with this Act and the terms of the mutual aid
6agreement.
 
7    Section 15. Licenses, certifications, and permits. An
8emergency responder from outside this State who holds a
9license, certificate, or other permit recognized or issued by
10another state shall be deemed licensed, certified, and
11permitted to render mutual aid during a mutual aid emergency
12within this State pursuant to a mutual aid agreement authorized
13by this Act, if the emergency responder is (i) acting within
14the scope of his or her license, certificate, or permit and
15within the scope of what an equivalent license, certificate, or
16permit from or recognized by this State would authorize and
17(ii) acting pursuant to a request for mutual aid made pursuant
18to a mutual aid agreement authorized by this Act.
 
19    Section 20. Governmental functions; liability; emergency
20responders. Any function performed by an emergency responder
21that is (i) acting within the scope of his or her license,
22certificate, or permit and within the scope of what an
23equivalent license, certificate, or permit recognized by this
24State would authorize and (ii) pursuant to a mutual aid

 

 

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1agreement authorized by this Act shall be deemed to have been
2for public and governmental purposes, and all liabilities and
3immunities from liability applicable to this State's political
4subdivisions and their officers and employees shall extend to
5the emergency responders from another state while providing
6mutual aid during a mutual aid emergency or while engaged in
7training exercises pursuant to a written mutual aid agreement
8authorized by this Act. This Section shall not provide greater
9immunities to emergency responders from outside of this State
10than those immunities provided to emergency responders with the
11equivalent license, certificate, or permit in this State. This
12Section shall only apply to causes of action accruing on or
13after the effective date of this Act.
 
14    Section 25. Employee benefits. Emergency responders from
15outside this State, while rendering mutual aid within this
16State pursuant to a mutual aid agreement authorized by this
17Act, remain employees and agents of their respective employers
18and jurisdictions. Nothing in this Act, or any mutual aid
19agreement entered into pursuant to this Act, creates an
20employment relationship between the jurisdiction requesting
21aid and the employees and agents of the jurisdiction rendering
22aid. All pension, relief, disability, death benefits, workers'
23compensation, and other benefits enjoyed by emergency
24responders rendering emergency mutual aid shall extend to the
25services they perform outside their respective jurisdictions

 

 

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1as if those services had been rendered in their own
2jurisdiction.
 
3    Section 30. Limitations. This Act does not limit, modify,
4or abridge the emergency management compact entered into under
5the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Act.
 
6    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
7becoming law.".