Montana Code 10-3-1204. State emergency response commission — members — duties — establishment of hazardous material incident response and hazardous material incident management teams
10-3-1204. State emergency response commission — members — duties — establishment of hazardous material incident response and hazardous material incident management teams. (1) There is a state emergency response commission that is attached to the department for administrative purposes. The commission consists of 8 members appointed by the governor. The commission must include representatives of the department of environmental quality, the division, the department of transportation and the department of public health and human services, a tribal emergency response commission member, and three people with hazardous material emergency planning experience. Members of the commission serve terms of 4 years and may be reappointed. The members shall serve without compensation. The governor shall appoint the presiding officer.
Terms Used In Montana Code 10-3-1204
- Commission: means the state emergency response commission. See Montana Code 10-3-1203
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Division: means the division of disaster and emergency services in the department of military affairs. See Montana Code 10-3-1203
- Hazardous material: means a hazardous substance, a hazardous or deleterious substance as defined in 75-10-701, radioactive material, or a combination of a hazardous substance, a hazardous or deleterious substance, and radioactive material. See Montana Code 10-3-1203
- Hazardous material incident: means an event involving the release or threat of release involving hazardous material that may cause injury to persons, the environment, or property. See Montana Code 10-3-1203
- Hazardous material incident response team: means an organized group of trained response personnel, operating under an emergency response plan and appropriate standard operating procedures, that is expected to perform work to control an actual release or threatened release of hazardous material requiring close approach to the material, to respond to releases or threatened releases of hazardous material for the purpose of control or stabilization of the incident, and to provide technical assistance to local jurisdictions. See Montana Code 10-3-1203
- Local emergency operations plan: means the local and interjurisdictional disaster and emergency plan developed pursuant to 10-3-401. See Montana Code 10-3-1203
- Local emergency response authority: means the agency designated by the city or county to be responsible for the management of a hazardous material incident at the local level. See Montana Code 10-3-1203
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Plan: means the hazardous material response support plan. See Montana Code 10-3-1203
- Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(2)The commission shall implement the provisions of this part. The commission may approve regional hazardous material incident response teams to respond to hazardous material incidents. The members of the team must be certified in accordance with the plan.
(3)The commission may enter into written agreements with each entity or person providing equipment or services to the hazardous material incident response teams.
(4)The commission or its designee may direct that hazardous material incident response teams be available and respond, when requested by a local emergency response authority, to hazardous material incidents according to the plan.
(5)The commission may contract with persons to meet state emergency response needs for the hazardous material incident response teams.
(6)The commission may advise, consult, cooperate, and enter into agreements with agencies of the state and federal government, other states and their state agencies, cities, counties, tribal governments, and other persons concerned with emergency response and matters relating to and arising out of incidents.
(7)The commission may encourage, participate in, or conduct studies, investigations, training, research, and demonstrations for and with the hazardous material incident response teams, local emergency responders, and other interested persons.
(8)The commission may collect and disseminate information relating to emergency response to incidents.
(9)The commission may accept and administer grants, gifts, or other funds, conditional or otherwise, made to the state for emergency response activities provided for in this part.
(10)The commission may prepare, coordinate, implement, and update a plan that coordinates state and local emergency response authorities to respond to hazardous material incidents within the state. The plan must be consistent with this part. All state emergency response responsibilities relating to a hazardous material incident must be defined by the plan. The plan must be in accordance with and in support of the state disaster and emergency plan and program as provided in 10-3-301.
(11)Except that the division shall designate local emergency planning districts and shall oversee the creation, annual local review, and exercise and revision of the local emergency operations plan as provided by state law, the commission has the powers and duties of a state emergency response commission under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. § 11001, et seq., including:
(a)establishing procedures for receiving and processing public requests for information collected under the federal act;
(b)appointing local emergency planning committees for each district; and
(c)supervising the activities of the local emergency planning committees.
(12)The commission shall promulgate rules and procedures limited to cost recovery procedures, certification of hazardous material incident response team members, and deployment of the hazardous material incident response teams, which must be a part of the plan.
(13)All state agencies and institutions shall cooperate with the commission in the commission’s efforts to carry out its duties under this part.