AB 418: Emergency services: grant program.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services in the office of the Governor and provides that the office is responsible for the states emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies.

This bill would establish the Community Power Resiliency Program (program), to be administered by the Office of Emergency Services, to support local governments efforts to improve resiliency in response to power outage events, as provided. The bill would require the office to allocate funds, pursuant to an appropriation by the Legislature, to local governments, special districts, and tribes for various purposes relating to power resiliency, and would require certain entities, in order to be eligible for funding, to either describe the portion of their emergency plan that includes power outages or confirm that power outages will be included when the entity revises any portion of their emergency plan.

Cities, special districts, and tribes would be allocated funds on a competitive basis, under the provisions of this bill, while counties would be allocated a noncompetitive amount to be divided between all counties based upon population. The bill would require the office to provide an annual report to the Legislature detailing specified information, and to monitor, track, and report to the Legislature information regarding specific projects. The bill would authorize the office to retain up to 3% of the total appropriation for administration of the program.

The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation to transfer funds to the Office of Emergency Services for the program.