§ 2.100.040. Definitions.

The general definitions contained in the Act shall apply to this chapter. These definitions are terms commonly used in the standardized emergency management system (SEMS). A complete listing of all terms is located in the County of Riverside Emergency Operations Plan. Other such terms used herein shall have meanings as used in the act and the county's emergency operations plan (EOP).

A.

"Action plan" means the plan prepared in the emergency operation center (EOC) containing the emergency response objectives of that SEMS level reflecting overall priorities and supporting activities for a designated period. The plan is shared with supporting agencies.

B.

"Affected jurisdiction" means any jurisdiction which is, or has the reasonable possibility of being impacted by an incident or incidents, the magnitude of which is, or may fall within the scope and the intent of this chapter.

C.

"Continuity of government (COG)" means the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow government to continue its essential functions in the event of emergency conditions, including lines of succession and delegation of authority for key decision makers. COG preserves the statutory and constitutional authority of elected officials.

D.

"Department operations center" means a department-level operations center (DOC) used by a distinct discipline including, but not limited to: flood operations, public safety, public works, procurements, social services, public health, medical, hazardous material, information technology, and communications. DOCs may be used at all SEMS levels above the field response level depending upon the impacts of the emergency.

E.

"Director of emergency services" means during a proclamation of a local emergency, state of emergency, or state of war emergency, the director of emergency services shall be responsible for providing the overall management and direction of the emergency management organization for the control of the emergency. The director of emergency services shall be the county executive officer or designee.

F.

"Disaster" means a severe or prolonged emergency that threatens life, property, environment and/or critical systems.

G.

"Disaster council" means that the disaster council provides for communication and coordination between and amongst the public and private sectors in the operational area. The disaster council reviews and makes recommendations on matters pertinent to the development of emergency and disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery plans and programs. Ultimate approval of operational area plans remains with the board of supervisors. The county disaster council is authorized to recommend for adoption to the board of supervisors emergency and mutual aid plans and agreements as well as ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement such plans and agreements, and any necessary amendments.

H.

"Disaster service worker" means any designated disaster service worker which includes public employees and any unregistered person pressed into service during a local emergency, state of emergency and/or State of War emergency, by a person having authority to command the aid of citizens in the execution of his duties. It does not include any member registered as an active firefighting member of any regularly organized volunteer fire department, having official recognition, and full or partial support of the county, city, town or district in which such fire department is located.

I.

"Emergency" means an incident or set of incidents, natural, or human-caused that requires responsive actions to protect life, property, environment, and/or critical systems.

J.

"Emergency management department" means the lead County of Riverside department established to ensure coordinated operational area level activities for emergency and disaster mitigation, planning, response and recovery through administration of the emergency management program on behalf of the County of Riverside and the director of emergency services.

K.

"Emergency management organization" means that it consists of all officers and employees of the County of Riverside, its agencies, and of the cities and districts of Riverside County, together with all volunteers and all groups, organizations and persons commandeered under the provisions of the act and this chapter, with all equipment and material publicly owned, volunteered, commandeered or in any way under the control of the aforementioned personnel, for the support of the aforementioned personnel in the conduct of emergency operations.

L.

Emergency management program" means a comprehensive system of planning, preparedness and mitigation activities, designed to prepare the county and operational area for coordinated emergency and disaster response and recovery as outlined in the EOP.

M.

"Emergency operations center (EOC)" means a location from which centralized emergency management can be performed.

N.

"Essential program function(s)" means any activities that enable an agency, department, organization or individual to carry out emergency response actions, provide vital services, protect the safety and well-being of the citizens of the program's jurisdiction, and maintain the economic base of the program.

O.

"Hazard" means something that has the potential to be the primary cause of an incident.

P.

"Local emergency" means the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the territorial limits of a county, city and county, or city, caused by conditions such as air pollution, fire, flood, storm, epidemic, riot, drought, cyberterrorism, sudden and severe energy shortage, plant or animal infestation or disease, the Governor's warning of an earthquake or volcanic prediction, or an earthquake or other conditions, other than conditions resulting from a labor controversy, which conditions are or are likely to be, beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of that political subdivision and require the combined forces of other political subdivisions to combat.

Q.

"Local emergency medical services agency" means the County agency as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 1797.200 having primary responsibility for the administration of emergency medical services within the county.

R.

"Local government" means any local agencies is a city, city and county, county, county office of education, community college district, school district, or special district as defined in Government Code Section 8680.2.

S.

"Mitigation" means any activities designed to reduce or eliminate risks to persons or property or to lessen the actual or potential effects or consequences of a disaster. Mitigation involves ongoing actions to reduce exposure to, probability of, or potential loss due to hazards.

T.

"Multi-agency or inter-agency coordination" means the participation of agencies and disciplines involved at any level of the SEMS organization working together in a coordinated effort to facilitate decisions for overall emergency response activities, including the sharing of critical resources and the prioritization of incidents.

U.

"National Incident Management System (NIMS)" means a comprehensive, national approach to incident management that is applicable at all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines. It is intended to be applicable across a full spectrum of potential incidents, hazards, and impacts, regardless of size, location or complexity.

V.

"Operational area level" means an intermediate level of the state emergency services organization, consisting of a county and all political subdivisions within the county area. Each county is designated as an operational area under the act. An operational area is used by the county and the political subdivisions comprising the operational area for the coordination of emergency activities and to serve as a link in the system of communications and coordination between the state's emergency operation centers and the operation centers of the political subdivisions comprising the operational area, as defined in Government Code Sections 8559(b) and 8605.

W.

"Operational area planning committee (OAPC)" means the organization established to provide technical and subject matter input from stakeholders to the disaster council and emergency management department concerning operational area emergency and disaster mitigation, planning and preparedness activities. Membership in the committee shall include members of the emergency management organization who have signed an operational area agreement.

X.

"Preparedness" means the range of deliberate, critical tasks and activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the operational capability to prevent, protect against, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from disasters. Preparedness is a continuous process.

Y.

"Policy group" means a specific ad-hoc group assembled as a part of the EOC management structure that is comprised of decision makers including, but not limited to; elected officials, officials with specific statutory authority (e.g., public health officer, sheriff, EMS medical director, agricultural commissioner) and city managers that can advise the director of emergency services on specific policy level decisions during an emergency or disaster.

Z.

"Public health emergency" means an occurrence or imminent threat of an illness or health condition that is believed, by the health officer, to endanger public health and safety.

AA.

"Recovery" means the development, coordination, and execution of plans or strategies for the restoration of impacted communities and government operations and services through individual, private sector, non-governmental and public assistance.

BB.

"Response" means the efforts to minimize the short-term direct effects of an incident threatening life, property, environment or critical systems.

CC.

"Stakeholder" means, at a minimum, public, private, and non-governmental agencies, departments, organizations, and individuals that have functional roles in the emergency management program.

DD.

"Standardized emergency management system (SEMS)" means a standardized response to emergencies involving multiple jurisdictions or multiple agencies. It is based upon the principles and components of emergency management including ICS, multi-agency coordination, operational area concept, and established mutual aid systems.

EE.

"Standby successors" means those standby officers as defined by Government Code Sections 8638 - 8641 which have been appointed by the board of supervisors to fill the positions of the board of supervisors should one or more of its members become unavailable during a State of War Emergency, State of Emergency, or local emergency. The board of supervisors shall appoint three standby successors for each member of the board of supervisors. The duties of the standby successors are listed in Government Code Section 8641.

FF.

"State of emergency" means the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the state caused by such conditions as air pollution, fire, flood, storm, epidemic, riot, drought, sudden and severe energy shortage, plant or animal infestation or disease, the Governor's warning of an earthquake or volcanic prediction, or an earthquake, or other conditions, other than conditions resulting from a labor controversy or conditions causing a "state of war emergency," which, by reason of their magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single county, city and county, or city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat, or with respect to regulated energy utilities, a sudden and severe energy shortage requiring extraordinary measures beyond the authority vested in the California Public Utilities Commission.

GG.

"State of War Emergency" means the condition which exists immediately, with or without a proclamation thereof by the Governor, whenever this state or nation is attacked by an enemy of the United States, or upon receipt by the state of a warning from the federal government indicating that such an enemy attack is probable or imminent.

HH.

"Unavailable" means, as used in Section 8636 of the California Government Code and this ordinance, "unavailable" means that an officer is either killed, missing, or so seriously injured as to be unable to attend meetings and otherwise perform his duties. Any question as to whether a particular officer is unavailable shall be settled by the governing body of the political subdivision or any remaining available members of said body (including standby officers who are serving on such governing body).

(Ord. No. 533.6, § 4, 12-4-2018)