Public Safety Final 06-15-10 -   3.3.a - Local Jurisdictions with Current Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans

• State law (RCW 38.52.030(2)) requires local jurisdiction to plan for emergencies based on the hazards they face. 
• Comprehensive Emergency Management Planning preparation encourages communities to work together to enhance the delivery of emergency services during incidents by establishing communications networks and describing responsibilities. 
• The currency of plans depends on the update by jurisdictions and review by Emergency Management Division every four years.
• Planning is supported by Federal Emergency Management Performance Grant funds.
• All 39 counties have comprehensive emergency management plans.

• Validated current plans are vital to executing as a unified team, which is necessary to perform the complex, multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction emergency/disaster response activities to save lives, protect property, the environment and the economy.
• Local jurisdiction budget reductions adversely impacts the staffing available to do emergency management planning.
• With declining local jurisdiction budgets decision makers face tough choices.  Sometimes those decisions take on risk in the public safety sector by eliminating low density sections such as emergency management placing emergency planning in caretaker status as someone's "extra duty".
• There is not a dedicated source of local emergency management planning funding within Washington State. 
• Recent modest federal funding gains in the last year provided a small amount of additional local jurisdiction emergency management planning funding.  This dedicated funding did allow some improvement in the completion and updating of local Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans.

CURRENT PLAN COUNTIES

• 2 counties have updates due in 2010.
• Grant, Pacific, Pend Oreille and Island Counties received grant funds to update plans.
• Since Nov 2009 Skagit, San Juan, and Grays Harbor Counties submitted an updated plan.

NON-CURRENT(4+ YEARS OLD) PLAN COUNTIES

• 8 counties have plans that are not current.
• Adams, Okanogan and Whitman Counties are using grant funds to update plans.
• Active outreach to other remaining communities is ongoing. 
• Adams, Wahkiakum and Asotin updates should occur in next quarter.

Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan Detail Map

Action Plan

• Continue outreach and technical assistance to counties that have plans older than four years by Dec. 2010.