§ 20 — Natural and man-made disasters; policy; definitions

§ 20. Natural and man-made disasters; policy; definitions. 1. It shall\nbe the policy of the state that:\n a. local government and emergency service organizations continue their\nessential role as the first line of defense in times of disaster, and\nthat the state provide appropriate supportive services to the extent\nnecessary;\n b. local chief executives take an active and personal role in the\ndevelopment and implementation of disaster preparedness programs and be\nvested with authority and responsibility in order to insure the success\nof such programs;\n c. state and local natural disaster and emergency response functions\nbe coordinated using recognized practices in incident management in\norder to bring the fullest protection and benefit to the people;\n d. state resources be organized and prepared for immediate effective\nresponse to disasters which are beyond the capability of local\ngovernments and emergency service organizations; and\n e. state and local plans, organizational arrangements, and response\ncapability required to execute the provisions of this article shall at\nall times be the most effective that current circumstances and existing\nresources allow.\n 2. As used in this article the following terms shall have the\nfollowing meanings:\n a. "disaster" means occurrence or imminent, impending or urgent threat\nof wide spread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property\nresulting from any natural or man-made causes, including, but not\nlimited to, fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, high water,\nlandslide, mudslide, wind, storm, wave action, volcanic activity,\nepidemic, disease outbreak, air contamination, terrorism, cyber event,\nblight, drought, infestation, explosion, radiological accident, nuclear,\nchemical, biological, or bacteriological release, water contamination,\nbridge failure or bridge collapse.\n b. "state disaster emergency" means a period beginning with a\ndeclaration by the governor that a disaster exists and ending upon the\ntermination thereof.\n c. "municipality" means a public corporation as defined in subdivision\none of section sixty-six of the general construction law and a special\ndistrict as defined in subdivision sixteen of section one hundred two of\nthe real property tax law.\n d. "commission" means the disaster preparedness commission created\npursuant to section twenty-one of this article.\n e. "emergency services organization" means a public or private agency,\nvoluntary organization or group organized and functioning for the\npurpose of providing fire, medical, ambulance, rescue, housing, food or\nother services directed toward relieving human suffering, injury or loss\nof life or damage to property as a result of an emergency, including\nnon-profit and governmentally-supported organizations, but excluding\ngovernmental agencies.\n f. "chief executive" means:\n (1) a county executive or manager of a county;\n (2) in a county not having a county executive or manager, the chairman\nor other presiding officer of the county legislative body;\n (3) a mayor of a city or village, except where a city or village has a\nmanager, it shall mean such manager; and\n (4) a supervisor of a town, except where a town has a manager, it\nshall mean such manager.\n g. "Disaster emergency response personnel" means agencies, public\nofficers, employees, or affiliated volunteers having duties and\nresponsibilities under or pursuant to a comprehensive emergency\nmanagement plan.\n h. "Emergency management director" means the government official\nresponsible for emergency preparedness, response and recovery for a\ncounty, city, town, or village.\n i. "incident management team" means a state certified team of trained\npersonnel from different departments, organizations, agencies, and\njurisdictions within the state, or a region of the state, activated to\nsupport and manage major and/or complex incidents requiring a\nsignificant number of local, regional, and state resources.\n j. "executive level officer" means a state agency officer with the\nauthority to deploy agency assets and resources and make decisions\nbinding a state agency.\n k. "third party non-state resources" means any contracted resource\nthat is not owned or controlled by the state or a political subdivision\nincluding, but not limited to, ambulances, construction crews, or\ncontractors.\n