The Oklahoma Emergency Management Act of 2003 (63 O.S. § 683.1-683.24) is an Oklahoma state law that replaced the Oklahoma Civil Defense and Emergency Resources Management Act of 1967 as the primary state law detailing emergency management in Oklahoma. The Emergency Management Act and the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act together form the primary state laws regarding emergency and disastrous situations that may occur in the state.
The Emergency Management Act was signed into law by Governor Brad Henry on May 29, 2003. Giving the Emergency Volunteers a say in their towns when disastrous situations occur.
Purposes of the Act
The Emergency Management Act declares its purposes:
The Emergency Management Act: Created of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) Authorized of the creation of local organizations for emergency management in the counties and incorporated municipalities of this state Provided for the formulation and execution of an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) for the state Conferred upon the Governor and upon the executive heads or governing bodies of the political subdivisions of the state emergency powers Provided for the rendering of mutual aid among the political subdivisions of the state and with other states to cooperate with the federal government with respect to carrying out emergency management functions and hazard mitigation Provided sufficient organization to meet, prevent or reduce emergencies in the general interest and welfare of the public and the state.
The Emergency Management Act declared the policy of Oklahoma to be that all emergency management and hazard mitigation functions of the state are to be coordinated to the maximum extent with the comparable functions of the federal government, of the other states and localities, and of private agencies of every type, to the end that the most effective preparation and use may be made of available workforce, resources and facilities for dealing with disaster and hazard mitigation. Each state agency, board, commission, department or other state entity having responsibilities either indicated in the state Emergency Operations Plan must have written plans and procedures in place to protect individual employees, administrators and visitors from natural and man-made disasters and emergencies occurring at their work place. All such plans and procedures are made in concurrence with OEM, which is responsible for establishing an OEM Guidebook titled the "Emergency Standard Operating Procedures". Each state agency, board, commission, department or other state entity must provide an annual report on the status of their emergency management program to OEM. OEM then must compile and integrate all reports into a report to the Governor and Legislature on the status of state emergency preparedness.
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is officially declared to be the standard for incident management in Oklahoma. All on-scene management of disasters and emergencies shall be conducted using the Incident Command System (ICS).
Gubernatorial emergency powers
Under the Emergency Management Act, the Governor of Oklahoma gains vast and comprehensive emergency powers. However, the emergency powers provided to the Governor are operative only during the existence of a natural or man-made emergency. The existence of such an emergency must be proclaimed by the Governor through executive declaration or by the Legislature by concurrent resolution for the Governor to exercise such powers. Any emergency, whether proclaimed by the Governor or by the Legislature, may be terminated by the proclamation of the Governor or by the Legislature with a concurrent resolution terminating such emergency.
Upon an emergency being declared, the Governor must activate the Emergency Operations Plan. This allows the Governor to assume direct regulatory control over all essential resources of the state. It is then the responsibility of the Governor to determine the priorities of such resources and allocate them as he deems necessary. The Emergency Management Act defines "resources" as: