SB 46

Bill Subjects

Abstract

The California Emergency Services Act establishes the Office of Emergency Services in the office of the Governor and provides that the office is responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property. Existing law authorizes each county, including a city and county, to enter into an agreement to access the contact information of resident accountholders through the records of a public utility or other agency responsible for water service, waste and recycling services, or other property-related services for the sole purpose of enrolling county residents in a county-operated public emergency warning system. Existing law requires any county that enters into such an agreement to include procedures to enable any resident to opt out of the warning system and a process to terminate the receiving agency's access to the resident's contact information. Existing law prohibits the use of the information gathered for any purpose other than for emergency notification. This bill would expand these provisions to authorize a city to enter into an agreement to access the contact information of resident accountholders through the records of a public utility, as specified. The bill would also expand the types of public utilities that can enter into these agreements by defining public utility to include, among others, a local publicly owned electric utility, mobile telephony services, a public water agency, and an agency responsible for solid waste or recycling services. The bill would require a local government that enters into an agreement to access information of resident accountholders to, upon receipt of that information, notify residents that they have been entered into the public emergency warning system. The bill would require a local government that enters into an agreement to access information to include procedures to enable any resident to opt out of the warning system and a process to terminate the receiving agency's access to the contact information of the resident from a public utility. The bill would also authorize the governing bodies of the California State University, the University of California, and each community college district to use their own enrollment, registration, and personnel records to access the contact information of students and employees for the sole purpose of enrolling students and employees in a university- or college-operated public emergency warning system. Existing law requires a county, upon the next update to its emergency plan, to integrate access and functional needs into its emergency plan by addressing, at a minimum, how the access and functional needs population is served by emergency communications, emergency evacuation for individuals who are dependent on public transportation, and accessible emergency sheltering. Existing law permits an authorized employee of a county social services department to disclose the name and residential address of elderly or disabled clients to police, fire, or paramedical personnel, or other designated emergency services personnel, in the event of a public safety emergency that necessitates the possible evacuation of the area in which those elderly or disabled clients reside. Existing law requires the Director of Social Services to seek any federal approval necessary to implement these provisions, and prohibits these provisions from being implemented unless the director executes a declaration stating that any required federal approval has been obtained, and only for the duration of that approval. Existing law defines "public safety emergency" for these purposes to include, but not be limited to, specified events that jeopardize the immediate physical safety of county residents. This bill would authorize a local government to enter into an agreement with a, or to use the records of its own, social services department to access the contact information of persons from the access and functional needs population, and the contact information of the designated emergency contacts of those persons, if any, for the sole purpose of enrolling those individuals, who are residents of that local government, in a city-operated, county-operated, or city-and-county-operated public emergency warning system, as specified. The bill would require a local government that enters into an agreement to access information of resident accountholders or designated emergency contacts to, upon receipt of that information, notify residents that they have been entered into the public emergency warning system. The bill would require a local government that enters into an agreement to access information to include procedures to enable any resident or designated emergency contact to opt out of the warning system and a process to terminate the receiving agency's access to the contact information of the resident or designated emergency contact from a county social services department. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, to identify the need for telecommunications service systems not on customers' premises to have backup electricity to enable the telecommunications networks to function, and to enable customers to contact a public safety answering point operator during an electrical outage, to determine performance criteria for backup systems, and to determine whether specified best practices for backup systems have been implemented by telecommunications service providers operating in California. Existing law requires the commission to report certain information to the Legislature. This bill would require the commission to collect specified information from telecommunications service providers relating to the performance of telecommunication-based city-operated, county-operated, or city-and-county-operated public emergency warning systems, including comprehensive reporting on messaging performance and the impact on messaging performance due to damage to telecommunications network infrastructure caused by an emergency or natural disaster. The bill would require the commission to annually prepare a report that summarizes the information collected. The bill would require the president of the commission to annually present a summary of the information collected to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would authorize the commission to require telecommunications service providers to collect and forward to the commission any relevant information for these purposes. The bill would authorize the information to be disclosed to the public, except as specified. Under existing law, a violation of any provision of the Public Utilities Act or of any of the rules or orders issued under the act is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill are within the act and require implementing action by the commission, a violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.