John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1818 by Janek (Relating to the improvement and coordination of statewide efforts to detect, prepare for, and respond to certain emergencies.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill requires the Division of Emergency Management in the Office of the Governor (division) to deploy Incident Management Teams (IMT).
Under the provisions of the bill, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security would require local officials to collaborate in the development of regional mass evacuation plans that are compliant with the framework developed by the National Incident Management System, and consult with local officials to identify and upgrade hurricane evacuation systems.
The bill requires the Health and Human Services Commission to assist local officials to identify and maintain a list of persons with special needs who may require special assistance in the event of a catastrophic emergency and develop a plan to provide improved emergency evacuation assistance to persons with special needs.
The bill would require the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to conduct a study of traffic at critical points on regional mass evacuation routes, using existing real-time traffic counter systems. The bill would also require TxDOT to install emergency shelter signs along planned regional mass evacuation routes.
The bill would require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to develop and implement a regional unified command structure to plan for and conduct evacuations in hurricane evacuation areas. The bill would also require DPS to report to the legislature and the governor the progress in improving and coordinating the hurricane planning and response efforts of designated hurricane evacuation areas.
Based on the analysis of TxDOT, DPS, and the Health and Human Services Commission, it is assumed any costs and duties associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be absorbed within existing resources.
The bill would take effect immediately upon receiving a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house or otherwise on September 1, 2005.
Local Government Impact
There would be no significant fiscal impact to a governing body of a political subdivision to order evacuations in the event of a disaster. There would be some costs associated with controlling access to a restricted area in the event of a disaster, but the costs would depend on the size and nature of the disaster and the location and population of the restricted area.
There would be some costs to political subdivisions to: 1) collaborate with other local governments to develop regional mass evacuation plans; 2) consult with the Texas Department of Transportation to assist in that department’s identifying and upgrading hurricane evacuation systems; and 3) assisting the Health and Human Services Commission with identifying and maintaining a list of persons who would need special assistance to evacuate in the event of a catastrophic emergency. These costs are not expected to be significant.
Source Agencies:
300 Trusteed Programs Within the Office of the Governor, 405 Department of Public Safety, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 537 Department of State Health Services, 539 Department of Aging and Disability Services, 601 Department of Transportation