Requires any city having a population of 500,000 or more use the best technology available, including computer models, to develop evacuation time estimates

1 Co-sponsor

• John L. Sampson

BILL NUMBER:S2573

Title of bill

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the local disaster preparedness plans of a city having a population of five hundred thousand or more inhabitants

Purpose

This bill would require cities that have a population of 500,000 or more residents must use the best technology available to derive evacuation time estimates for disaster preparedness plans.

Summary of provisions

This bill would amend the executive law to provide that any city that prepares an evacuation plan and has a population greater than or equal to 500,000 shall use the most up to date information or best practices to estimate evacuation times.

If a city has an evacuation plan already in place, this bill would mandate that such plan must use the most up to date information or best practices to estimate evacuation times.

The disaster preparedness commission would be authorized to assist any of these cities with the development of plans and practices. The commission would also determine if these cities are in compliance with this article.

Justification

Forecasts for the upcoming hurricane season arid seasons beyond predict that the Northeast coast is due for a major storm to make landfall.

Storms like Hurricane Katrina clearly illustrate the need for an effective evacuation plan.

Computer modeling and up to date industry standards can provide a municipality with the proper framework to coordinate an efficient and effective evacuation plan.

Having proper plans in place could mitigate the effects of a natural or manmade disaster. There are multiple factors that contribute to estimating evacuation times, they are: number of evacuees, roadway capacity, public transportation load capacity, and the number of residents using private cars or mass transit.

Computer modeling and up to date industry standards can provide the proper technology to account for each variable to determine evacuation times.

Legislative history

2008: S.3640 - Passed Senate and Assembly Vetoed - Message 140 2009: Referred to Veterans, Homeland Security & Military Affairs 6/2/11 Reported and Committed to Finance 1/4/12 Referred to Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs

Fiscal implications

None noted.

Effective date

This act would take effect on the 180th day after it shall have become a law.