SUMMARY--Establishes emergency contingency fund to respond to natural or technological emergency or disaster. (BDR 36-797)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: Contains Appropriation not included in Executive Budget.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to emergency management; creating an emergency contingency fund to provide assistance in the event of a natural or technological emergency or disaster; providing for the administration of the fund; making an appropriation; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1 Chapter 414 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows:
1. There is hereby created as a trust fund in the state treasury the emergency contingency fund. Money for the fund must be provided by direct legislative appropriation, and any balance remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year does not revert to the state general fund.
2. The fund must be administered by the commission.
3. All expenditures from the fund must be approved in advance by the commission. All money in the fund must be expended solely to:
(a) Provide supplemental emergency assistance to this state or to local governments in this state that are severely impacted by a natural or technological emergency or disaster for which the available resources of this state or the local government are inadequate to provide a satisfactory remedy; or
(b) Pay any actual expenses incurred by the commission for administration during a natural or technological emergency or disaster.
4. The commission shall adopt such regulations as are necessary to administer the fund.
5. The commission may adopt regulations to provide for reimbursement of expenditures made from the fund. If the commission requires such reimbursement, the attorney general shall take such action as is necessary to recover the amount of any unpaid reimbursement plus interest at a rate determined pursuant to NRS 17.130 computed from the date on which the money was removed from the fund, upon request by the commission.
6. If the balance in the emergency contingency fund falls below $500,000, the commission may submit a request to the state board of examiners for an allocation by the interim finance committee from the contingency fund pursuant to NRS 353.268 to restore the balance in the emergency contingency fund to $500,000.
7. As used in this section, "commission" means the state emergency response commission created by NRS 459.738.
Sec. 2 NRS 353.268 is hereby amended to read as follows:
353.2681. When any state agency or officer, at a time when the legislature is not in session, finds that circumstances for which the legislature has made no other provision require an expenditure during the biennium of money in excess of the amount appropriated by the legislature for the biennium for the support of that agency or officer, or for any program, including the emergency contingency fund created by section 1 of this act and the state distributive school account in the state general fund, the agency or officer shall submit a request to the state board of examiners for an allocation by the interim finance committee from the contingency fund [.] created by NRS 353.266.
2. The state board of examiners shall consider the request, may require from the requester such additional information as they deem appropriate, and shall, if it finds that an allocation should be made, recommend the amount of the allocation to the interim finance committee for its independent evaluation and action. The interim finance committee is not bound to follow the recommendation of the state board of examiners.
Sec. 3 NRS 459.738 is hereby amended to read as follows:
459.7381. The state emergency response commission is hereby created for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of section 1 of this act, Public Law 99-499 and other matters relating thereto.
2. The commission consists of not more than 25 members appointed by the governor. The governor shall, to the extent practicable, appoint persons to the commission who have technical expertise in responding to emergencies.
3. The term of each member of the commission is 4 years. A member may be reappointed, and there is no limit on the number of terms that a member may serve.
4. The governor shall appoint one or more of the members of the commission to serve as chairman or co-chairmen.
5. The commission may employ, within the limits of legislative appropriations, such staff as is necessary to the performance of its duties.
Sec. 4. There is hereby appropriated from the state general fund to the emergency contingency fund, created by section 1 of this act, the sum of $500,000 to carry out the provisions of section 1 of this act.
Sec. 5. This act becomes effective on July 1, 1997.