Chapter 166A

This Article may be cited as "North Carolina Emergency Management Act." (1977, c. 848, s. 2; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1310, s. 2; 1995, c. 509, s. 120; 2012-12, s. 1(b).)

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 t…

(a) State Emergency Management Program. - The State Emergency Management Program includes all aspects of preparations for, response to, recovery from, and mitigation against war or peacetime emergencies. (b) Powers of the Governor. - The Governor is authorized and empowered to do…

The Secretary shall be responsible to the Governor for State emergency management activities. The Secretary shall have the following powers and duties as delegated by the Governor: (1) To activate the State and local plans applicable to the areas in question and to authorize and …

The Division of Emergency Management shall have the following powers and duties as delegated by the Governor and Secretary of Public Safety: (1) Coordination of the activities of all State agencies for emergency management within the State, including planning, organizing, staffin…

(a) The Department of Public Safety shall establish mechanisms to regularly solicit input from entities receiving federal or State disaster recovery funds regarding ways to improve the administration of the funds and associated programs. The mechanisms may include surveys and foc…

(a) Priority Consideration. - During a public health emergency, the Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management within the Department of Public Safety shall first consider North Carolina-based companies that can provide mobile r…

(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 132-6, any email list of individual subscribers to the North Carolina Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network shall be made available for public inspection in either printed or electronic format, or both, in the discretion of the Division of Emergency …

(a) Governing Body of Counties Responsible for Emergency Management. - The governing body of each county is responsible for emergency management within the geographical limits of such county. All emergency management efforts within the county will be coordinated by the county, in…

Article 8 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes shall not apply to any contracts that an entity otherwise subject to Article 8 may award for apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment, or construction or repair work requiring apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment, where…

(a) Construction. - Nothing in this Article shall be construed to do any of the following: (1) Interfere with dissemination of news or comment on public affairs; but any communications facility or organization, including, but not limited to, radio and television stations, wire se…

(a) Declaration. - A state of emergency may be declared by the Governor or by a resolution of the General Assembly, if either of these finds that an emergency exists. (b) Emergency Area. - An executive order or resolution declaring a state of emergency shall include a definition …

(a) Preliminary Damage Assessment. - When a state of emergency is declared pursuant to G.S. 166A-19.20 or G.S. 166A-19.22, the Secretary shall provide the Governor and the General Assembly with a preliminary damage assessment as soon as the assessment is available. (b) Declaratio…

(a) Declaration. - A state of emergency may be declared by the governing body of a municipality or county, if either of these finds that an emergency exists. Authority to declare a state of emergency under this section may also be delegated by ordinance to the mayor of a municipa…

A declaration issued pursuant to this Article shall trigger the prohibitions against excessive pricing during states of disaster, states of emergency, or abnormal market disruptions pursuant to G.S. 75-37 and G.S. 75-38. (2012-12, s. 1(b).)

(a) Remote Meetings. - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon issuance of a declaration of emergency under G.S. 166A-19.20, any public body within the emergency area may conduct remote meetings in accordance with this section and Article 33C of Chapter 143 of the Genera…

The following definitions apply in this Article: (1) Repealed by Session Laws 2015-241, s. 6.19(c), effective July 1, 2015. (2) Chair of the board of county commissioners. - The chair of the board of county commissioners or, in case of the chair's absence or disability, the perso…

(a) In addition to any other powers conferred upon the Governor by law, during a gubernatorially or legislatively declared state of emergency, the Governor shall have the following powers: (1) To utilize all available State resources as reasonably necessary to cope with an emerge…

(a) Authority to Enact Prohibitions and Restrictions. - The governing body of any municipality or county may enact ordinances designed to permit the imposition of prohibitions and restrictions within the emergency area during a state of emergency declared pursuant to G.S. 166A-19…

(a) No United States citizen, United States national, or qualified alien as defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1641 shall be denied or discriminated against by the State or its agencies and employees for disaster recovery assistance on the basis of political affiliation or political speech. (…

(a) Use of Contingency and Emergency Funds. - The Governor may use contingency and emergency funds: (1) As necessary and appropriate to provide relief and assistance from the effects of an emergency. (2) As necessary and appropriate for National Guard training in preparation for …

(a) Governor May Make Funds Available for Emergency Assistance. - In the event of a gubernatorially or legislatively declared state of emergency, the Governor may make State funds available for emergency assistance as authorized by this section. Any State funds made available by …

(a) Account Established. - There is established a State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund as a reserve in the General Fund. Any funds appropriated to the Fund shall remain available for expenditure as provided by this section, unless directed otherwise by the General As…

(a) Generally. - All functions hereunder and all other activities relating to emergency management as provided for in this Chapter or elsewhere in the General Statutes are hereby declared to be governmental functions. Neither the State nor any political subdivision thereof, nor, …

Any person, firm, or corporation, together with any successors in interest, if any, owning or controlling real or personal property who, voluntarily or involuntarily, knowingly or unknowingly, with or without compensation, grants a license or privilege or otherwise permits or all…

In an emergency, a person who willfully ignores a warning regarding personal safety issued by a federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, emergency management agency, or other governmental agency responsible for emergency management under this Article is civilly liable for…

(a) Executive Order. - In addition to any other powers conferred on the Governor by law, whenever a curfew has been imposed, the Governor may declare by executive order that the health, safety, or economic well-being of persons or property in this State require that persons trans…

(a) Purpose. - The State finds that it is appropriate to exclude nonresident businesses and nonresident employees who temporarily come to this State at the request of a critical infrastructure company solely to perform disaster-related work during a disaster response period from …

Whenever the federal government or any agency or officer thereof or of any person, firm, or corporation shall offer to the State, or through the State to any political subdivision thereof, services, equipment, supplies, materials, or funds by way of gift, grant, or loan, for emer…

(a) Governor Authorized to Enter Agreements with Other States and Federal Government. - The Governor may establish mutual aid agreements with other states and with the federal government provided that any special agreements so negotiated are within the Governor's authority. (b) G…

(a) Extent of Compensation. - Compensation for services or for the taking or use of property shall be only to the extent that legal obligations of individual citizens are exceeded in a particular case and then only to the extent that the claimant has not been deemed to have volun…

State and local governmental bodies and other organizations and personnel who carry out emergency management functions under the provisions of this Article are required to do so in an equitable and impartial manner. Such State and local governmental bodies, organizations, and per…

(a) Limitation. - No person shall be employed or associated in any capacity in any emergency management agency established under this Article if that person does or has done any of the following: (1) Advocates or has advocated a change by force or violence in the constitutional f…

(a) Leave Without Pay. - A member of a volunteer fire department, rescue squad, or emergency medical services agency called into service of the State after a declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor or by the General Assembly, or upon the activation of the State Emerge…

The North Carolina Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is designated an emergency response agency of the State of North Carolina for purposes of the following: (1) Supporting the North Carolina Forest Service in responding to all-risk incidents. …

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is designated as an emergency response agency for purposes of the following: (1) Deploying Agricultural Emergency Response Teams, as that term is defined in G.S. 106-1042, to respond to agriculture-related incidents. (2) Receipt…

When it is determined by the Governor that a great public crisis, disaster, riot, catastrophe, or any other similar public emergency exists, or the occurrence of any such condition is imminent, and, in the Governor's opinion it is necessary to evacuate any building owned or contr…

Requests from units of local government, State agencies, or critical infrastructure partners for operational support from or access to operational cyber resources shall be sent to the North Carolina Emergency Management 24-Hour Watch for intake and activation. For purposes of thi…

If any provision of this Article or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Article which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the p…

(a) This Article may be cited as the "North Carolina Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Act." (b) The purpose of this Article is to establish a system of regional response to hazardous materials emergencies and terrorist incidents in the State to protect the health and safety…

The following definitions apply in this Article: (1) Department. - The Department of Public Safety. (2) Division. - The Division of Emergency Management. (3) Hazardous material. - Any material defined as a hazardous substance under 29 Code of Federal Regulations § 1910.120(a)(3).…

(a) The Secretary shall adopt rules establishing a regional response program for hazardous materials emergencies and terrorist incidents, to be administered by the Division of Emergency Management. To the extent possible, the regional response program shall be coordinated with ot…

(a) The Secretary may contract with any unit or units of local government for the provision of a regional response team to implement the regional response program. Contracts are to be let consistent with the bidding and contract standards and procedures adopted pursuant to G.S. 1…

Members of a regional response team shall be protected from liability under the provisions of G.S. 166A-19.60(a) while responding to a hazardous materials or terrorist incident pursuant to authorization from the Division of Emergency Management. (1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 769, …

A regional response team, when authorized to respond to a release or threatened release of hazardous materials or when authorized to respond to a terrorist or threatened or imminent terrorist incident, may enter onto any private or public property on which the release or terroris…

(a) The Regional Response Team Advisory Committee is created. The Secretary shall appoint the members of the Committee and shall designate the chair. In making appointments, the Secretary shall take into consideration the expertise of the appointees in the management of hazardous…

(a) A person who causes the release of a hazardous material requiring the activation of a regional response team shall be liable for all reasonable costs incurred by the regional response team in responding to and mitigating the incident. The Secretary shall invoice the person li…

There is established in the Department of Public Safety a fund for those monies collected pursuant to G.S. 166A-27. The Fund is also authorized to accept any gift, grant, or donation of money or property to facilitate the establishment and operation of the regional response syste…

(a) Every person, firm, corporation or municipality who is licensed to construct or who is operating a fixed nuclear facility for the production of electricity shall pay to the Department of Public Safety an annual fee of at least thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for each fixed …

(a) Definitions. - The following definitions apply in this section: (1) EPCRA. - The federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, P.L. No. 99-499 et. Seq. (2) Extremely hazardous substance. - Any substance, regardless of its state, set forth in 40 C.F.R. Part 355, …