§ 156-G — Establishment of teams for urban search and rescue, specialty rescue and incident support

§ 156-g. Establishment of teams for urban search and rescue, specialty\nrescue and incident support. 1. Authorization to establish urban search\nand rescue task force teams, specialty rescue teams, and incident\nsupport teams. The commissioner of the division of homeland security and\nemergency services after consultation with the state fire administrator\nshall have the authority to establish, organize, administer, support,\ntrain, and fund urban search and rescue task force teams, specialty\nrescue teams, and incident support teams created pursuant to this\nsection.\n 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms\nshall have the following meanings:\n (a) "urban search and rescue task force team" shall mean a specialized\nteam or group of teams, formed pursuant to this section, organized with\ncapabilities equivalent to urban search and rescue task force teams\nestablished under the federal emergency management agency in order to\nassist in the removal of trapped victims in emergency situations\nincluding, but not limited to, collapsed structures, trench excavations,\nelevated locations, and other technical rescue situations.\n (b) "specialty rescue team" shall mean a specialized team, formed\npursuant to this section, organized to provide technical rescue\nassistance to first responders including, but not limited to, canine\nsearch and rescue/disaster response, cave search and rescue, collapse\nsearch and rescue, mine and tunnel search and rescue, and swift\nwater/flood search and rescue teams. Such teams shall be aligned with\none or more of the search and rescue categories within the federal\nemergency management agency's national resource typing system.\n (c) "incident support team" shall mean a team of trained response\npersonnel, formed pursuant to this section, organized to provide\ncoordination with governmental agencies and non-governmental\norganizations as well as technical, and logistical support to urban\nsearch and rescue task force teams and specialty rescue teams.\n 3. Appointment and training of team members; equipment. (a) The\ncommissioner of the division of homeland security and emergency services\nis hereby authorized to appoint members to any team created pursuant to\nthis section. Team membership shall consist of local emergency response\npersonnel, state agency personnel and specialty personnel as required.\n (b) The commissioner of the division of homeland security and\nemergency services shall be responsible for training and equipping the\nteams established pursuant to this section and for training such other\nteams located within the state for response to man-made or natural\ndisasters to the extent appropriations are provided. The commissioner of\nthe division of homeland security and emergency services shall support\nthe capabilities of each team established pursuant to this section with\nthe necessary training and equipment to ensure mobilization and\ndeployment for rapid response to emergencies and disasters to the extent\nappropriations are provided.\n 4. Accreditation of teams. The commissioner of the division of\nhomeland security and emergency services shall have the authority to\nestablish an accreditation program to review and evaluate new and\nexisting local and regional technical rescue capabilities, and provide\nrecommendations for capability enhancement in accordance with the\nnational incident management system, the national response plan, and\nnationally recognized standards.\n 5. Defense, indemnification and insurance coverage of team members.\nMembers of the teams formed pursuant to this section who are volunteer\nfirefighters, volunteer ambulance workers, municipal or state employees,\nor employees of a non-governmental entity shall be provided coverage by\ntheir respective municipalities, organizations, and entities for\npurposes of sections seventeen and eighteen of the public officers law\nand/or other defense and indemnification coverage and workers'\ncompensation coverage pursuant to applicable provisions of the workers'\ncompensation law or benefits pursuant to applicable provisions of the\nvolunteer firefighters' benefit law or the volunteer ambulance workers'\nbenefit law. Individuals appointed to an urban search and rescue task\nforce team, a specialty rescue team or an incident support team, for\nwhich such coverage is not available, shall be deemed volunteer state\nemployees for purposes of section seventeen of the public officers law\nand section three of the workers' compensation law.\n 6. Rules and regulations. The commissioner of the division of homeland\nsecurity and emergency services after consultation with the state fire\nadministrator shall have the authority to promulgate rules and\nregulations as deemed necessary relating to the accreditation of urban\nsearch and rescue task force teams, specialty rescue teams, and incident\nsupport teams and to the formation and operation of all teams\nestablished pursuant to this section.\n 7. Funding. The division of homeland security and emergency services\nshall expend the necessary monies for training, equipment, and other\nitems necessary to support the operations of urban search and rescue\ntask force teams, specialty rescue teams and incident support teams\nwithin appropriations provided. The division of homeland security and\nemergency services also may, pursuant to applicable rules and\nregulations approved by the director of the division of the budget,\napprove grants of funds from monies allocated and appropriated for any\nor all such teams.\n