§ 6. Local and regional organization for emergency management
(a) Each town and city of this State shall establish a local organization for emergency
management in accordance with the State emergency management plan and program. The
executive officer or legislative branch of the town or city shall appoint a town or
city emergency management director who shall have direct responsibility for the organization,
administration, and coordination of the local organization for emergency management,
subject to the direction and control of the executive officer or legislative branch.
If the town or city has not adopted the town manager form of government in accordance
with 24 V.S.A. chapter 37 and the executive officer or legislative branch of the town
or city has not appointed an emergency management director, the executive officer
or legislative branch shall appoint a town or city emergency management director.
The town or city emergency management director may appoint an emergency management
coordinator and other staff as necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.
In an instance of a vacancy of the position of a town or city emergency management
director, the executive officer or the chair or president of the legislative branch
shall be the emergency management director.
(b) Each local organization for emergency management shall perform emergency management
functions within the territorial limits of the town or city within which it is organized,
which may include coordinating the utilization of first responders and other emergency
management personnel pursuant to the all-hazards emergency management plan adopted
pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. In addition, each local organization for
emergency management shall conduct such functions outside of the territorial limits
as may be required pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and in accord with rules
adopted by the Governor.
(c)(1) Each local organization shall develop and maintain an all-hazards emergency management
plan in accordance with the State Emergency Management Plan and guidance set forth
by the Division of Emergency Management.
(2) The Division shall amend the local emergency plan template and any best management
practices or guidance the Division issues to municipalities to address the need for
the siting of local and regional emergency shelters in a manner that allows access
by those in need during an all-hazards event.
(3) The Division shall advise municipalities that when a shelter is sited under a local
emergency plan, the municipality should work with the Agency of Human Services, the
American Red Cross, and community-based emergency or charitable food providers, to
assess the facility and the facility’s potential operations, including the characteristics
of the surrounding area during an all-hazards event, multiple routes of travel and
possible hazards that could prevent access to the shelter, and the need for immediate
and sustained access to food and water for individuals using the shelter.
(4) The Division, in coordination with the Agency of Human Services, shall advise municipalities,
upon completion of a local emergency management plan, on how to conduct training and
exercises pertaining to sheltering.
(d) Regional emergency management committees shall be established by the Division of Emergency
Management.
(1) Regional emergency management committees shall coordinate emergency planning and preparedness
activities to improve their regions’ ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover
from all disasters.
(2) The Division of Emergency Management shall establish geographic boundaries and guidance
documents for regional emergency planning committees in coordination with regional
planning commissions and mutual aid associations.
(3) A regional emergency management committee shall consist of voting and nonvoting members.
(A) Voting members. The local emergency management director or designee and one representative from each
town and city in the region shall serve as the voting members of the committee. A
representative from a town or city shall be a member of the town’s or city’s emergency
services community and shall be appointed by the town’s or city’s executive or legislative
branch.
(B) Nonvoting members. Nonvoting members may include representatives from the following organizations serving
within the region: fire departments, emergency medical services, law enforcement,
other entities providing emergency response personnel, media, transportation, regional
planning commissions, hospitals, the Department of Health’s district office, the Division
of Emergency Management, organizations serving vulnerable populations, local libraries,
arts and culture organizations, regional development corporations, local business
organizations, community-based emergency or charitable food providers, and any other
interested public or private individual or organization.
(C) Meeting quorum requirement. A regional emergency management committee may vote annually, at the committee’s final
meeting of the calendar year, to modify its quorum requirement for meetings in the
subsequent year; provided, however, that the quorum shall be not fewer than 20 percent
of voting members.
(4) Voting members shall annually elect a chair and vice chair of the committee from the
voting membership. The chair shall develop a meeting schedule, agenda, and facilitate
each meeting. The vice chair shall fill in for the chair during the chair’s absence.
(5) Committees shall develop and maintain a regional plan, consistent with guidance provided
by the Division of Emergency Management in coordination with regional planning commissions,
that describes regional coordination and regionally available resources. (Amended 1989, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 1993, No. 194 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 14, 1994; 2005, No. 209 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 2021, No. 20, § 113; 2021, No. 52, § 12; 2023, No. 53, § 132a, eff. June 8, 2023; 2023, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. July 1, 2024.)