May 03

Joel Aggergaard Scholarship Open for Application

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WSEMA is pleased to announce that it is now receiving applications for the $2500 Joel Aggergaard Memorial Scholarship.  WSEMA announces the winner of this scholarship at our annual Conference in September.

  • Eligible Applicants include students pursuing a certificate, diploma, baccalaureate, or graduate degree in emergency management or a closely related field. The scholarship award will be directly paid to the college.
  • All applicants must be residents of Washington State and attending a college, university, or online program in the State of Washington having completed one academic term (quarter or semester) prior to the scholarship application period.

Joel Aggergaard began working for the Washington State Department of Emergency Management in 1970′s and served until his untimely death in 1996.  He thoroughly enjoyed his career with Emergency Management, and his “heart” was with supporting local Emergency Management Programs. 

It may be necessary to be a local emergency manager to fully appreciate the enormous contribution Joel made to local programs during the years he worked with emergency management.  If you have been stressed to the point there is not one additional free minute in your day, but you need to get an issue clarified with State Department of Emergency Management and it must be taken care of today …then… you will begin to understand.   A phone call placed to Joel reached someone who was not only usually familiar with the issue but also very interested.  The issues either became resolved or a commitment was made from Joel to follow-up for resolution.

Joel was commended for his extraordinary work with emergency management and named the “most helpful” state official by local, county and city emergency managers across Washington State.  Joel assisted with countless floods, storms and local emergencies, and was a welcome addition to any activated Emergency Operating Center during a disaster.

Joel was also an avid supporter of youth and their activities.  Because of his selfless support and commitment to local emergency management directors, WSEMA has chosen to provide an educational scholarship commemorating Joel in the hope that others who possess his worthy qualities and have a personal dedication to achievement may have expanded opportunities.

Joel’s life and dedication to emergency management in the State of Washington inspired this scholarship.  Please pass along this opportunity to any students who qualify.

Deadline for application is August 1, 2012.  Application Materials can be found at this link location.

Mar 30

NEMA Reflections

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This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) Mid-Year Conference in Alexandria, Virginia.

Now, I’m a local emergency manager who had never attended this conference before because NEMA, as an association, is focused primarily on state issues. Many State EM directors were in attendance and there were many conversations & meetings which are geared towards facilitating conversation between the states and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Personally, I found the committee meetings fascinating because they provided a special window into how “doctrine” and “guidance” are developed. To a local like me, it was fun to hear impressions, intentions and process descriptions that one doesn’t often find between the lines of the various documents that ultimately get released to emergency management professionals.

In addition to the committee meetings, there were several general sessions which focused on the following topics:

  • Use of Social Media in Emergency Management (this was the panel I spoke on),
  • Hazard Mitigation,
  • Google.Org Crisis Response, and
  • Extreme Weather: Is it the New Norm?

There were so many take-aways that you might find interesting, but here are my key highlights:

Additionally, there was much focus on the issue of collapsing a number of the various homeland security grant programs.  Today, the NPGP FactSheet (click here) was released.  FEMA is seeking comments on this.  IAEM encourages each of us local emergency manager to comment and share our responses with Randy Duncan and Martha Braddock at Rduncan@sedgwick.gov and braddock@iaem.com.

The Threat & Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) guidance should be released soon which will guide how we evaluate hazards and risk in the coming years.

While, I’m sure I’ll realize additional information and lessons over the coming days, it was a great week of meeting wonderful folks, chatting about key issues key for emergency management professionals throughout the nation and observing some of historic discussions that we’ll soon read about in future guidance documents.

Sometimes it’s easy to put the blinders on and we forget that we are all part of a national emergency response system.  Moments like this make me realize how big our “whole community” truly is.

Respectfully submitted, Cheryl Bledsoe

Mar 21

Apply Now to Speak at our Fall Conference

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Today, we’re excited to announce that the Call for Presentations has been opened for the Washington State Emergency Management Association’s Fall Conference in Spokane, Washington which is on September 25-27,2012.

This year, we are looking for creative presentations that share fresh ideas, new methods of engagement and best practices for preparing, responding and recovering as a “whole community.”

In order to submit a proposal, please fill out the following application form:

We encourage all prospective speakers to consider developing a dynamic and audience-engaging presentation.  We are also seeking to keep Powerpoint slides to a minimum this year.

Submissions will be accepted until Tuesday, May 15, 2012 via email to Ute Weber at uweber@cityoftacoma.org.

Mar 16

Key News for Local Emergency Managers

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If you are a member of the Washington State Emergency Management Association (WSEMA), you can expect to receive a weekly email update from your president on Fridays, but some weeks there is just so much to share, that we’ll post some of the key updates here on our website.

This information is all public-sourced information and available online.  We’re just sharing it here so that it’s more centralized for our members (and anyone interested in being a future member of our great organization).

The Federal Emergency Management Association was busy this week with all of these key announcements:

  • Issued Information Bulletin 383 this past week which eliminates the language about subgranting EMPG grants which generated concern this past week about diluting funds which have previously been focused to ensure that emergency management programs can fulfill statutory requirements.
  • Launched a collaborative platform called “IdeaScale” to gather information on key emergency management ideas.
  • Announced that they are accepting nominations for their Youth Preparedness Council until April 6, 2012, at midnight.  Find more information by CLICKING HERE.
  • Formally developed a partnership with AmeriCorps on March 13th.  While many of us may already be working with volunteers, it is nice to see this partnership more formalized.

Here in Washington State, here are some things to share & be aware of….

  • King County has two career openings for an Exercise/Training and Hazard Mitigation managers.  Check out our Jobs & Careers page for more information.

 

Feb 24

EPCRA Changes ~ Review & Feedback Requested

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One of our WSEMA Members provided the following information about possible changes being proposed to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act.

EPA may no longer provide EPCRA 311/312 compliance assistance or enforcement for non-compliance with MSDS and Tier Two – Emergency & Hazardous Chemical Inventory reporting requirements.  We respectfully ask each of you to review this document (click here) and respond to the request for comments before COB March 19th.

EPA is planning to disinvest in EPCRA 311/312 program enforcement and compliance activities. The first attachment is draft guidance from the Office of  Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) that covers several different regulations, including EPCRA.  It describes how they plan to cease enforcement for failure to submit MSDSs and Tier Two – Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory reports and focus on Sections 304 – Emergency Release Notification and Section 313 – Toxics Release Inventory reporting.  OECA designs, develops, implements, and oversees national enforcement programs.

Specific EPCRA Program Performance Expectations can be found on page 85 of this document.  EPCRA 311/312 is discussed on page 87.  It states:

EPCRA 311/312 enforcement is an area of disinvestment for FY2013. OECA will continue EPCRA compliance monitoring and enforcement by focusing on EPCRA 313 and EPCRA 304/CERCLA 103 work in FY 2013. Both the regulated facilities and communities are now more accustomed to the requirements of EPCRA 311/312, allowing EPA to shift resources to other high priorities. OECA and EPA Regions will not conduct any new work, including inspections, in the EPCRA 311/312 program. OECA is working with the Regions to develop a disinvestment plan for any existing or ongoing work.

The State of Washington has no enforcement authority.  Therefore, we can expect a rapid decline in reporting and we will no longer be able to provide chemical storage information for our citizens, planners and responders, or other agencies.

Please take time to submit your comments!  Click HERE for the Comment Template and send comments to Maureen Lydon in OECA (lydon.maureen@epa.gov) by COB March 19, 2012.

Feb 24

SIEC Update from 2/16/12

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Thanks to our WSEMA Representative, Stephanie Fritts, for providing this informative update on a recent meeting of the Washington State Interoperability Executive Committee.

  • Following a review of the 2011 legislation and charter, the SIEC adopted new operating bylaws.
  • The SIEC Reviewed and approved a request from Pierce County for 700MHz interoperability channels under National Coordination Committee guidelines.  This request was related to the relationship of the SIEC to the Region 43 Planning Committee (RPC 43) as the RPC designated the SIEC as the approval authority for700 MHz interoperability channels.  (See http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/public-safety-spectrum/700-MHz/regional-planning.html)
  • The SIEC voted affirmatively to form a Workgroup to vet future license requests.
  • NECP Goal 2 – Bob Schwent reported that the assessment is moving forward through the E9-1-1 Centers and Emergency Management offices.  The SAFECOM GY 12 grant guidance was published on February 15th.
  • Bob Schwent also reported that 31.7% of WA State licensees are currently wide-band only, 51.8% are licenses for both narrow and wide band, and 16.5% are narrow band only.
  • Additional discussion focused on the activities of COML trained individuals.  Students having taken the training are requesting certification, and no state agency is currently the keeper of the record in terms of statewide communications training.
  • The SIEC will be holding a Statewide Communications Interoperability Planning workshop on July 31, 2012.  The Office of Emergency Communications will assist in updating the existing SCIP.  (Location to be determined.)
  • Additional discussion occurred regarding achieving the 2012 goals with a lack of staff support.   The SCIP Workshop, a SIEC Webpage update, COML Certification, and narrow band tracking are a few goals that are not receiving the attention they might, given the current staffing circumstances.
  • Clarification was provided regarding IWIN funding.  There was confusion between funding at the federal level vs. the state.  The local (state) system is still funded.

 

Michael Marusich provided an update on the 800 MHz rebanding and the efforts in working with Sprint/Nextel.

 

Bill Schrier and Timothy Lowenberg reported on HR3630 and current status of the bill (this involved the possible 700 MHz giveback and the D block allocation – changing by the hour at the time of the meeting).

 

Blessing Guillermo reported on federal grant status followed by an opportunity for member updates and  public comment.

Feb 13

2013 DHS Grant Program News

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A number of documents are being shared today about the Department of Homeland Security Grant Program.  While the specific details and analysis will likely be shared in future documents or summaries provided by national emergency management organizations, here is what WSEMA has been able to find so far with news released today:

 

Jan 22

Rulemaking Process

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Over the past month, a number of questions have popped up about how changes are made to the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). This relates specifically to the process that State EMD could use to make revisions to the distribution formula for the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG). 

The following information was provided by Dylan Doty, our lobbyist, for education on the rulemaking process.

Rulemaking Process
After laws, or statutes, are passed by the state Legislature and signed by the Governor, they are compiled in the Revised Code of Washington, or RCWs. Rules to carry out those laws — which are sometimes called regulations and sometimes called WACs, for the Washington Administrative Code — are adopted by agencies through a process mandated in law by Washington’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The APA sets out exactly what steps an agency has to follow to adopt rules. Different processes are provided for different kinds of rules. The same basic process is used to adopt, amend, or repeal a rule. It has three formal steps:

Step 1: Notice of intent to change, adopt, or repeal a rule.
The first step is called a pre-notice inquiry. An agency files a notice with the Office of the Code Reviser explaining that it is considering a rule adoption or amendment. The Code Reviser then publishes the notice in the Washington State Register (Register), which is published twice a month. The Register is available at the Code Reviser’s web site, http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/Pages/default.aspx.

The agency also sends copies of the pre-notice inquiry, either electronically or in hard copy, to any person who has asked for such notice. Agencies may have a public meeting where interested parties can comment on the proposal, or they may request written comments only at this stage. The agency will take any comments it receives into consideration as it decides whether to go forward with the rulemaking.

Step 2: Proposed new or revised rule language.
If the agency decides to go forward with rulemaking, it will develop a draft considering all the comments it has received. Agencies may also involve the public through meetings with interested parties, surveys, circulating working drafts, or forming drafting committees. The drafting process can take anywhere from months to years before the agency proposes the rule for formal comment. During this time an agency must also decide if the rule proposal will require a “small business economic impact statement”.

This statement is required if a rule will impose more than minor costs on business or industry, or if the legislative Joint Administrative Rules Review Committee requests a statement. If possible, the agency must reduce the costs that the rule imposes on small businesses. This requirement does not apply to costs imposed by legislation or by court directive. Some rules, called “significant legislative rules”, require a more detailed analysis to be done. These rules require that the agency make a more complete explanation of why it is proposing this rule, including performing a qualitative and quantitative cost-benefit analysis of the proposal.

When the agency believes it has developed a final rule, it files a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” and a copy of the proposed rule with the Code Reviser, which is published in the Register. The agency also sends the notice to interested parties and schedules a public hearing at which anyone can make comments about the proposal. Written comments can also be submitted to the agency. After the hearing, the agency considers the comments and makes any changes it thinks necessary to the proposed rule. If the changes are substantial, the agency may revise the draft rule, file another Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, send out a new notice, and hold another hearing.

Prior to the adoption of the rule, the agency also prepares a document called a “concise explanatory statement”. This statement summarizes the agency’s reasons for adopting the rule, any comments received on the rule proposal, and the agency’s responses to those comments.

Step 3: Final Adoption of the Rule.
When the agency is ready, it will adopt the rule. The rule adoption is not a public process, but consists of filing the final rule, along with the “Rulemaking Order” with the Code Reviser. Rules normally become effective 31 days after they are filed. The Code Reviser publishes the order and the final rule in the Register. The agency normally sends a notice to its stakeholders that it has adopted the rule.

Jan 09

Adding a Calendar….

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On the right column of the website now, you should see a WSEMA Calendar of Events.  This will include WSEMA meetings and other events that are shared by our members.  Since the calendar is small, dates that have activities listed on them should contain a little link for you to click on so that it will expand and you can keep track of what is happening.

Most of the time, there will be additional information somewhere here on the website that we will refer to, but this should help us all stay better informed of what’s coming up.  More activities will be added regularly as we learn about them.  It is exciting to receive regular emails from members asking for events to be shared with other members.

Please continue sharing key events as you hear of them and we’ll get them added as quickly as we can.  We’re also looking into setting up a forum on this site for direct member-to-member sharing shortly.  Have a great week!

Dec 16

Update from SIEC

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The Washington State Interoperability Executive Committee met December 15, 2011 for the first time since reforming following the 2011 Legislative session. The agenda included a discussion of background and possible operating bylaws, the lead agency (WSP) report, narrowbanding, 800 MHz rebanding, FCC activities, and grant reports. In addition, meeting dates for 2012 were approved. The SIEC will be meeting on four occasions over the course of the next year.

The bylaws discussion was led by General Lowenberg. The first draft bylaws were distributed to the SIEC members, however multiple changes were suggested by various members. WSEMA will receive a copy upon distribution of a second draft.

In addition there was discussion of the National Emergency Communications Plan specific to the county level.  In particular a presentation by Bob Schwent included the graphic attached in this blog.

National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP)

  • Goal 2 measurements are underway. The deadline for submissions from the counties was September 30, 2011.
  • 2 of 39 (5.1%) counties have submitted the assessment for capabilities.
  • 4 of 39 (12.8%) counties have submitted the assessment for performance with 1 additional county in progress.
  • Annual SCIP implementation report completed by SIEC staff and lead agency and submitted as required.

Our representative from WSEMA shared her experience that the request for assessment completion had not been adequately communicated to the counties, either through WSEMA, Regional Homeland Security or Interoperability programs.  It was suggested that communication go through WSEMA and contact information was provided.

Additional discussion included H.R. 3630 and S.911.  It is expected that associations will be contacting Senators Murray and Cantwell and requesting support for S.911 and urging the return of H.R. 3630 to the House.