A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the north carolina emergency management act to clarify that prevention is within the scope of the act, as recommended by the joint legislative emergency management oversight committee.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 166A‑19.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 166A‑19.1.  Purposes.
The purposes of this Article are to set forth the authority and responsibility of the Governor, State agencies, and local governments in prevention of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural or man‑made emergencies or hostile military or paramilitary action and to do the following:
(1)	Reduce vulnerability of people and property of this State to damage, injury, and loss of life and property.
(2)	Prepare for prompt and efficient rescue, care, and treatment of threatened or affected persons.
(3)	Provide for the rapid and orderly rehabilitation of persons and restoration of property.
(4)	Provide for cooperation and coordination of activities relating to emergency mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery among agencies and officials of this State and with similar agencies and officials of other states, with local and federal governments, with interstate organizations, and with other private and quasi‑official organizations."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 166A‑19.10 reads as rewritten:
"§ 166A‑19.10.  Powers of the Governor.
(a)	State Emergency Management Program. – The State Emergency Management Program includes all aspects of the prevention of, preparations for, response to, recovery from, and mitigation against war or peacetime emergencies.
…."
SECTION 2.5.  G.S. 166A‑19.70(c) reads as rewritten:"(c)	Certification System. – The Secretary shall develop a system pursuant to which a person who transports essentials in commerce, or assists in ensuring their availability, and persons who assist in the restoring of utility services can be certified as such. The certification system shall allow for both pre-emergency declaration and post-emergency declaration certification with a renewable precertification. The Secretary shall only allow those who routinely transport or distribute essentials or assist in the restoring of utility services to be certified. A certification of the employer shall constitute a certification of the employer's employees. The Secretary shall create an easily recognizable indicium of certification in order to assist local officials' efforts to determine which persons have received certification by the system established under this subsection."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.