CHAPTER 10 – HAZARDS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS - sacog

Emergency Services
This section provides information on emergency preparedness, existing emergency response
services, disaster response services, and emergency plans in the MTP/SCS plan area. The region
potentially faces a number of emergency situations caused by events such as forest fires,
flooding, and earthquakes. The agencies and programs listed below are charged with planning
for, and responding to, such emergencies.
California Emergency Management Agency
The California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) was established as part of the
Governor’s Office on January 1, 2009, merging the duties, powers, purposes, and
responsibilities of the former Governor’s Office of Emergency Services with those of the
Governor’s Office of Homeland Security.
Cal EMA is responsible for the coordination of overall state agency response to major disasters
in support of local government. The Agency is responsible for assuring the state’s readiness to
respond to, and recover from, all hazards – natural, man-made, and war-caused emergencies and
disasters – and for assisting local governments with emergency preparedness, response,
recovery, and hazard mitigation efforts (California Emergency Management Agency, 2011).
County Offices of Emergency Services
Each county has a local Office of Emergency Services (OES) which coordinates with the state
during emergency situations. When local and mutual aid resources are exhausted, the state
coordinates its emergency resources through its State Operations Center in Sacramento and its
multiple Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) throughout the region.
Emergency Operations Centers
In coordination with the local OES, jurisdictions house EOCs, which are command centers
where emergency service providers (many from the local OES) meet and coordinate response,
recovery, and resources during disasters. The following functions are performed in the EOC, as
necessary:
Receiving and disseminating warnings;
Managing emergency operations;
Developing emergency response and recovery policies;
Collecting intelligence from, and disseminating information to, the various EOC
representatives, and assuring coordination between the Field Operations Center
locations, building managers, and departmental safety representatives throughout the
regional system;
Coordinating information with Cal EMA, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, and other appropriate outside agencies;
Preparing intelligence/information summaries, situation reports, operation progress
reports and other reports as required;
MTP/SCS 2035
Sacramento Area Council of Governments
Draft Environmental Impact Report Chapter 10 – Hazards and Hazardous Materials – Page 10-25