§ 8-7. Same—Authorities and responsibilities.
(a)
The Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness under the parish president shall be responsible for emergency preparedness in the parish.
(b)
The Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness shall prepare and maintain an all hazards emergency preparedness operations plan and keep it current, which plan may include any of the following:
(1)
Prevention and minimization of injury and damage caused by disaster or emergency.
(2)
Prompt and effective response to disaster or emergency.
(3)
Emergency relief.
(4)
Identification of areas particularly vulnerable to disasters or emergency.
(5)
Recommendations for zoning, building, and other land use controls, safety measures for securing mobile homes or other nonpermanent or semipermanent structures, and other preventive and preparedness measures designed to eliminate or reduce disasters or their impact.
(6)
Assistance to local officials in designing local emergency action plans.
(7)
Authorization and procedures for the erection or other construction or temporary works designed to protect against or mitigate danger, damage, or loss from flood, conflagration, or other disaster.
(8)
Preparation and distribution to the appropriate state and local officials of catalogs of federal, state, and private assistance programs.
(9)
Organization of manpower and chains of command.
(10)
Coordination of federal, sate, and local disaster or emergency activities.
(11)
Coordination of the state operations plan with the emergency plans or other state agencies, local government, and federal government.
(12)
Cooperation with and coordination with the state emergency response commission and local emergency planning committee for the emergency planning district within which the parish is situated pursuant to the Federal Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986 in performing the following:
a.
Identification of facilities and transportation routes of extremely hazardous chemical substances;
b.
Description of emergency response procedures on site and off site;
c.
Outline of emergency notification procedures;
d.
Description of methods for determining the occurrence of a toxic chemical release and the probable affected area of population;
e.
Description of community and industry emergency equipment and facilities and the identifications of persons responsible for them;
f.
Outline of evacuation plans;
g.
Description of a training program for emergency response personnel (including schedules);
h.
Acquisition from owner(s)/operator(s) of chemical facilities or from the state emergency response commission or local emergency planning committees as established by the Super Fund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, information on the manufacture, use and storage of chemicals present in each facility located in Ascension Parish and development of a comprehensive emergency response plan, which shall include methods for determining the occurrence of a chemical release, the area or population likely to be affected by such release, a reliable, effective and timely plan for notification to the public for such release, and the methods and schedules for exercising the emergency plan for the protection of the public against such hazardous chemical releases; and
i.
Presentation of methods and schedules for exercising emergency response plans in response to release of hazardous chemical substances.
(13)
Other necessary matters.
(c)
The Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness shall take an integral part in the development and revision of local and interjurisdictional emergency plans prepared under this chapter. To this end, it shall employ or otherwise secure the services of professional and technical personnel capable of providing expert assistance to political subdivisions, their emergency preparedness agencies, and interjurisdictional planning and emergency preparedness agencies. These personnel shall consult with the subdivisions and agencies on a regularly scheduled basis and shall make field examinations of the areas, circumstances, and conditions to which particular local and interjurisdictional disaster plans are intended to apply, and may suggest or require revisions.
(d)
In preparing and revising the plan, the Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness shall seek the advice and assistance of government, business, labor, industry, agriculture, civic, and volunteer organizations, and community leaders.
(e)
The Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness shall:
(1)
Determine requirements of Ascension Parish and its political subdivisions for food, clothing and other necessities in event of an emergency.
(2)
Procure and pre-position supplies, medicines, materials, and equipment.
(3)
Promulgate standards and requirements for local and interjurisdictional disaster plans.
(4)
Periodically review local and interjurisdictional disaster plans.
(5)
Provide for mobile support units.
(6)
Assist political subdivisions, their emergency preparedness agencies and interjurisdictional emergency preparedness agencies, in establishing and operating training programs and programs of information.
(7)
Make surveys of industries, resources and facilities within the parish, both public and private, as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(8)
Plan and make arrangements for the availability and use of any private facilities, services, and property and, if necessary and if in fact used, provide for payment for use under terms and conditions agreed upon.
(9)
Establish a register of persons with types of training and skills important in emergency mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
(10)
Establish a register of mobile and construction equipment and temporary housing available for use in a disaster emergency.
(11)
Prepare, for issuance by the parish president, executive orders, proclamations, and regulations as necessary or appropriate in coping with disasters or emergencies.
(12)
Cooperate with the state and federal government and any public or private agency or entity in achieving any purpose of this chapter and in implementing programs for disaster emergency mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery.
(13)
Do other things necessary, incidental, or appropriate for the implementation of this chapter.
(Ord. of 2-3-94; Ord. of 5-5-05)