HB4123 S JUD AM #1
Goins 7888
The Committee on the Judiciary moved to amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
CHAPTER 15. PUBLIC SAFETY.
ARTICLE 5. DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
§15-5-2. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(a) "Emergency services" means the preparation for and
the carrying out of all emergency functions, other than functions for which military
forces are primarily responsible, to protect, respond and recover, to prevent,
detect, deter and mitigate, to minimize and repair injury and damage resulting
from disasters or other event caused by flooding, terrorism, enemy attack,
sabotage or other natural or other man-made causes. These functions include,
without limitation, firefighting services, police services, medical and health
services, radiological, chemical, and other special weapons defense, evacuation
of persons from stricken areas, emergency welfare services, emergency
transportation, existing or properly assigned functions of plant protection,
temporary restoration of public utility services and other functions related to
the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of this state, together with all
other activities necessary or incidental to the preparation for and carrying
out of the foregoing functions. Disaster includes the imminent threat of
disaster as well as its occurrence and any power or authority exercisable on
account of a disaster that may be exercised during the period when there is an
imminent threat thereof;
(b) "Local organization for emergency services" means an
organization created in accordance with the provisions of this article by state
or local authority to perform local emergency services function;
(c) "Mobile support unit" means an organization for
emergency services created in accordance with the provisions of this article by
state or local authority to be dispatched by the Governor to supplement local
organizations for emergency services in a stricken area;
(d) "Political subdivision" means any county or
municipal corporation in this state;
(e) "Board" means the West Virginia Disaster Recovery
Board created by this article;
(f) "Code" means the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended;
(g) "Community facilities" means a specific work or
improvement within this state or a specific item of equipment or tangible
personal property owned or operated by any political subdivision or nonprofit
corporation and used within this state to provide any essential service to the
general public;
(h) "Disaster" means the occurrence or imminent threat
of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting
from any natural or terrorist or man-made cause, including weapons of mass
destruction, fire, flood, earthquake, wind, snow, storm, chemical or oil spill
or other water or soil contamination, epidemic, air contamination, blight,
drought, infestation or other public calamity requiring emergency action;
(i) "Disaster recovery activities" means activities
undertaken prior to, during or following a disaster to provide, or to
participate in the provision of, emergency services, temporary housing,
residential housing, essential business activities and community facilities;
(j) "Essential business activities" means a specific
work or improvement within this state or a specific item of equipment or
tangible personal property used within this state by any person to provide any
essential goods or service deemed by the authority to be necessary for recovery
from a disaster;
(k) "Person" means any individual, corporation,
voluntary organization or entity, partnership, firm or other association,
organization or entity organized or existing under the laws of this or any other
state or country;
(l) "Recovery fund" means the West Virginia Disaster
Recovery Trust Fund created by this article;
(m) "Residential housing" means a specific work or
improvement within this state undertaken primarily to provide dwelling
accommodations, including the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of
land, buildings and improvements thereto, for residential housing, including,
but not limited to, facilities for temporary housing and emergency housing, and
such other nonhousing facilities as may be incidental or appurtenant thereto;
(n) "Temporary housing" means a specific work or
improvement within this state undertaken primarily to provide dwelling
accommodations, including the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of
land, buildings and improvements thereto, for temporary residential shelters or
housing for victims of a disaster and such other nonhousing facilities as may
be incidental or appurtenant thereto; and
(o) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the West Virginia
Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.
"Board" means the West Virginia Disaster Recovery Board created by this article;
"Code" means the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended;
"Community facilities" means a specific work, or improvement within this state or a specific item of equipment or tangible personal property owned or operated by any political subdivision or nonprofit corporation and used within this state to provide any essential service to the general public;
"Disaster" means the occurrence or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from any natural or terrorist or man-made cause, including weapons of mass destruction, fire, flood, earthquake, wind, snow, storm, chemical or oil spill or other water or soil contamination, epidemic, air contamination, blight, drought, infestation or other public calamity requiring emergency action;
"Disaster recovery activities" means activities undertaken prior to, during or following a disaster to provide, or to participate in the provision of, emergency services, temporary housing, residential housing, essential business activities, and community facilities;
"Emergency services" means the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions, other than functions for which military forces are primarily responsible, to protect, respond, and recover, to prevent, detect, deter, and mitigate, to minimize and repair injury and damage resulting from disasters or other event caused by flooding, terrorism, enemy attack, sabotage, or other natural or other man-made causes. These functions include, without limitation, firefighting services, police services, medical and health services, communications, emergency telecommunications, radiological, chemical, and other special weapons defense, evacuation of persons from stricken areas, emergency welfare services, emergency transportation, existing or properly assigned functions of plant protection, temporary restoration of public utility services and other functions related to the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of this state, together with all other activities necessary or incidental to the preparation for and carrying out of these functions. Disaster includes the imminent threat of disaster as well as its occurrence and any power or authority exercisable on account of a disaster that may be exercised during the period when there is an imminent threat;
"Essential business activities" means a specific work or improvement within this state or a specific item of equipment or tangible personal property used within this state by any person to provide any essential goods or service determined by the authority to be necessary for recovery from a disaster;
"Local organization for emergency services" means an organization created in accordance with the provisions of this article by state or local authority to perform local emergency services function;
"Mobile support unit" means an organization for emergency services created in accordance with the provisions of this article by state or local authority to be dispatched by the Governor to supplement local organizations for emergency services in a stricken area;
"Person" means any individual, corporation, voluntary organization or entity, partnership, firm, or other association, organization, or entity organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or country;
"Political subdivision" means any county or municipal corporation in this state;
"Recovery fund" means the West Virginia Disaster Recovery Trust Fund created by this article;
"Residential housing" means a specific work or improvement within this state undertaken primarily to provide dwelling accommodations, including the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of land, buildings and improvements thereto, for residential housing, including, but not limited to, facilities for temporary housing and emergency housing, and any other nonhousing facilities that are incidental or appurtenant thereto;
"Secretary" means the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety; and
"Temporary housing" means a specific work or improvement within this state undertaken primarily to provide dwelling accommodations, including the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of land, buildings and improvements thereto, for temporary residential shelters or housing for victims of a disaster and such other nonhousing facilities that are incidental or appurtenant thereto.
CHAPTER 24. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
ARTICLE 6. LOCAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
§24-6-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:
(1) "Commercial mobile radio service provider" or "CMRS
provider" means cellular licensees, broadband personal communications
services (PCS) licensees and specialized mobile radio (SMR) providers, as those
terms are defined by the Federal Communications Commission, which offer on a
post-paid or prepaid basis or via a combination of those two methods,
real-time, two-way switched voice service that is interconnected with the
public switched network and includes resellers of any commercial mobile radio
service.
(2) "County answering point" means a facility to which
enhanced emergency telephone system calls for a county are initially routed for
response and where county personnel respond to specific requests for emergency
service by directly dispatching the appropriate emergency service provider,
relaying a message to the appropriate provider or transferring the call to the
appropriate provider.
(3) "Emergency services organization" means the
organization established under article five, chapter fifteen of this code.
(4) "Emergency service provider" means any emergency
services organization or public safety unit.
“Emergency telecommunicator” means a professional telecommunicator meeting the training requirements set forth in §24-6-5 and is a first responder tasked with the gathering of information related to medical emergencies, the provision of assistance and instructions by voice, prior to the arrival of emergency medical services (EMS), and the dispatching and support of EMS resources responding to an emergency call.
(5) "Emergency telephone system" means a telephone system which
through normal telephone service facilities automatically connects a person
dialing the primary emergency telephone number to an established public agency
answering point, but does not include an enhanced emergency telephone system.
(6) "Enhanced emergency telephone system" means a telephone
system which automatically connects the person dialing the primary emergency
number to the county answering point and in which the telephone network system
automatically provides to personnel receiving the call, immediately on
answering the call, information on the location and the telephone number from
which the call is being made and, upon direction from the personnel receiving
the call, routes or dispatches the call by telephone, radio or any other
appropriate means of communication to emergency service providers that serve
the location from which the call is made.
(7) "Prepaid wireless calling service" means prepaid
wireless calling service as defined in section two, article fifteen, chapter
eleven of this code.
(8) "Public agency" means the state and any municipality,
county, public district or public authority which provides or has authority to
provide firefighting, police, ambulance, medical, rescue or other emergency
services.
(9) "Public safety unit" means a functional division of a
public agency which provides firefighting, police, medical, rescue or other
emergency services.
(10) "Telephone company" means any public utility and any
CMRS provider which is engaged in the provision of telephone service whether primarily
by means of wire or wireless facilities.
(11) "Comprehensive plan" means a plan pertaining to the
installing, modifying or replacing of telephone switching equipment; a
telephone utility's response in a timely manner to requests for emergency telephone
service by a public agency; a telephone utility's responsibility to report to
the Public Service Commission; charges and tariffs for the services and
facilities provided by a telephone utility; and access to an emergency
telephone system by emergency service organizations.
(12) "Technical and operational standards" means those
standards of telephone equipment and processes necessary for the implementation
of the comprehensive plan as defined in subdivision (11) of this subsection.
§24-6-5. Enhanced emergency telephone system requirements.
(a) An enhanced emergency telephone system, at a minimum, shall provide that:
(1) All the territory in the county, including every municipal corporation in the county, which is served by telephone company central office equipment that will permit such a system to be established shall be included in the system: Provided, That if a portion of the county or a portion of a municipal corporation within the county is already being served by an enhanced emergency telephone system, that portion of the county or municipality may be excluded from the county enhanced emergency telephone system;
(2) Every emergency service provider that provides emergency service within the territory of a county participate in the system;
(3) Each county answering point be operated constantly by an emergency telecommunicator;
(4) Each emergency service provider participating in the system maintain a telephone number in addition to the one provided in the system; and
(5) If the county answering point personnel reasonably determine that a call is not an emergency, the personnel provide the caller with the number of the appropriate emergency service provider.
(b) To the extent possible, enhanced emergency telephone systems shall be centralized.
(c) In developing an enhanced emergency telephone system, a county commission or the West Virginia State Police shall seek the advice of both the telephone companies providing local exchange service within the county and the local emergency providers.
(d) As a condition of employment, a person employed as the director of an emergency dispatch center who dispatches emergency calls or supervises the dispatching of emergency call takers is subject to an investigation of his or her character and background. This investigation shall include, at a minimum, a criminal background check conducted by the State Police at its expense. A felony conviction shall preclude a person from holding any of these positions.
(e) As a condition of continued employment, persons employed to dispatch emergency calls in county emergency dispatch centers shall successfully complete:
(1) A 40-hour nationally recognized training course for dispatchers within one year of the date of their employment;
(2) A nationally recognized training course in emergency cardiovascular care for telephonic cardiopulmonary resuscitation selected by the medical director of an emergency medical dispatch center. This training course shall incorporate protocols for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation and continuing education, as appropriate. The training requirements of this subdivision are effective not later than July 1, 2020. Persons employed subsequent to July 1, 2019, shall complete the training within one year of the date of employment; and
(3)
An additional nationally recognized emergency medical dispatch course or an
emergency medical dispatch course approved by the Office of Emergency Medical
Services not later than July 1, 2013, or if employed subsequent to July 1,
2013, within one year of the date of employment.
(f)
On or before July 1, 2013, the The director of each county emergency
dispatch center shall develop policies and procedures to establish a protocol
for dispatching emergency medical calls implementing a nationally recognized
emergency medical dispatch program, or an emergency medical dispatch program
approved by the Office of Emergency Medical Services. Provided,
That If a county emergency dispatch center which utilizes
uses a one-button transfer system, it may continue to use this
system if the county emergency dispatch center establishes policies and
procedures which require requiring the agency to whom the call is
transferred to remain on the call until a first responder arrives.
(g) Each county or municipality shall appoint for each answering point an enhanced emergency telephone system advisory board consisting of at least six members to monitor the operation of the system. The board shall be appointed by the county or municipality and shall include at least one member from affected:
(1) Fire service providers;
(2) Law-enforcement providers;
(3) Emergency medical providers;
(4) Emergency services providers participating in the system; and
(5) Counties or municipalities.
(6) The director of the county or municipal enhanced telephone system shall serve as an ex officio member of the advisory board.
(h)
The initial advisory board shall serve staggered terms of one, two, and
three years. The initial terms of these appointees shall commence on
July 1, 1994. All future appointments to the advisory board shall
be for terms of three years, except that an appointment to fill a vacancy shall
be for the unexpired term. All members shall serve without compensation. The
board shall adopt such any policies, rules, and regulations as
are necessary for its own guidance. The board shall meet monthly or
quarterly. The board may make recommendations to the county or municipality
concerning the operation of the system.
(i)
Nothing herein contained may be construed to prohibit or discourage in any
way the The establishment of multijurisdictional or regional
systems, or multijurisdictional or regional agreements for the establishment of
enhanced emergency telephone systems, and any system established pursuant to
this article may include the territory of more than one public agency, or may
include only a portion of the territory of a public agency.
(j) All public safety answering points that answer calls for emergency medical conditions shall, in the appropriate circumstances, provide telephonic assistance in administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation directly or transfer calls to a call center to provide assistance in administering telephonic cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
(k) The director of the county or municipal enhanced telephone system shall have the authority to enter into mobile-phone contracts with service providers for the purpose of obtaining a mobile-phone emergency line for the county or municipality. The director must solicit bids for mobile-phone contracts from mobile-phone service providers in this state. The director may award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder, or designate in writing, why any other bidder other than the lowest responsible bidder was awarded a contract. The director may obtain as many lines as reasonably needed for emergencies where landlines are unavailable to serve the county or municipality. The director and phone service provider should collaborate to obtain the following:
(1) The emergency mobile-phone number may be the county prefix and end in 0911, as feasible for the phone service provider;
(2) The emergency mobile-phone service provider should permit roll-over service to allow multiple callers to dial into the amount of lines purchased; and
(3) The emergency mobile-phone service provider should provide the lowest possible cost.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit or discourage in any way the establishment of multijurisdictional or regional systems, or multijurisdictional or regional agreements for the establishment of emergency mobile-telephone systems. This section shall be effective July 1, 2020.
(l) Emergency mobile-phone contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (j) of this section may be paid from funds received by the Public Service Commission relating to 911 fees remitted to the county or by other county funds. A report of the funds expended for subsection (j) of this section shall be presented to the interim Joint Committee on Government Organization no later than November 30, 2020, to ensure the fiscal responsibility and efficacy of this section. Adopted
Rejected