2006 Minnesota Statutes

192.89 INTERSTATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT.
    Subdivision 1. Article I - purpose and authorities. This compact is made and entered into
by and between the participating member states which enact this compact, hereinafter called party
states. For the purposes of this agreement, the term "states" is taken to mean the several states,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and all United States territorial
possessions.
The purpose of this compact is to provide for mutual assistance between the states entering
into this compact in managing any emergency or disaster that is duly declared by the governor of
an affected state, whether arising from natural disaster, technological hazard, artificially created
disaster, civil emergency aspects of resources shortages, community disorders, insurgency, or
enemy attack.
This compact shall also provide for mutual cooperation in emergency-related exercises,
testing, or other training activities using equipment and personnel simulating performance of any
aspect of the giving and receiving of aid by party states or subdivisions of party states during
emergencies, such actions occurring outside actual declared emergency periods. Mutual assistance
in this compact may include the use of the states' National Guard forces, either in accordance with
the National Guard Mutual Assistance Compact or by mutual agreement between states.
    Subd. 2. Article II - general implementation. Each party state entering into this
compact recognizes many emergencies transcend political jurisdictional boundaries and that
intergovernmental coordination is essential in managing these and other emergencies under this
compact. Each state further recognizes that there will be emergencies which require immediate
access and present procedures to apply outside resources to make a prompt and effective response
to such an emergency. This is because few, if any, individual states have all the resources they
may need in all types of emergencies or the capability of delivering resources they may need in all
types of emergencies or the capability of delivering resources to areas where emergencies exist.
The prompt, full, and effective utilization of resources of the participating states, including
any resources on hand or available from the federal government or any other source, that are
essential to the safety, care, and welfare of the people in the event of any emergency or disaster
declared by a party state, shall be the underlying principle on which all articles of this compact
shall be understood.
On behalf of the governor of each state participating in the compact, the legally designated
state official who is assigned responsibility for emergency management will be responsible for
formulation of the appropriate interstate mutual aid plans and procedures necessary to implement
this compact.
    Subd. 3. Article III - party state responsibilities. (a) It shall be the responsibility of
each party state to formulate procedural plans and programs for interstate cooperation in the
performance of the responsibilities listed in this subdivision. In formulating such plans, and in
carrying them out, the party states, insofar as practical, shall:
(1) review individual state hazards analyses and, to the extent reasonably possible, determine
all those potential emergencies the party states might jointly suffer, whether due to natural
disaster, technological hazard, artificially created disaster, emergency aspects of resource
shortages, civil disorders, insurgency, or enemy attack;
(2) review party states' individual emergency plans and develop a plan which will determine
the mechanism for the interstate management and provision of assistance concerning any
potential emergency;
(3) develop interstate procedures to fill any identified gaps and to resolve any identified
inconsistencies or overlaps in existing or developed plans;
(4) assist in warning communities adjacent or crossing the state boundaries;
(5) protect and assure uninterrupted delivery of services, medicines, water, food, energy and
fuel, search and rescue, and critical lifeline equipment, services, and resources, both human
and material;
(6) inventory and set procedures for the interstate loan and delivery of human and material
resources, together with procedures for reimbursement or forgiveness; and
(7) provide, to the extent authorized by law, for temporary suspension of any statutes or
ordinances that restrict the implementation of the above responsibilities.
(b) The authorized representative of a party state may request assistance of another party
state by contacting the authorized representative of that state. The provisions of this agreement
shall only apply to requests for assistance made by and to authorized representatives. Requests
may be verbal or in writing. If verbal, the request shall be confirmed in writing within 30 days of
the verbal request. Requests shall provide the following information:
(1) a description of the emergency service function for which assistance is needed, such
as, but not limited to, fire services, law enforcement, emergency medical, transportation,
communications, public works and engineering, building inspection, planning and information
assistance, mass care, resource support, health and medical services, and search and rescue;
(2) the amount and type of personnel equipment, materials, and supplies needed, and a
reasonable estimate of the length of time they will be needed; and
(3) the specific place and time for staging of the assisting party's response and a point of
contact at that location.
(c) There shall be frequent consultation between state officials who have assigned emergency
management responsibilities and other appropriate representatives of the party states with affected
jurisdictions and the United States government, with free exchange of information, plans, and
resource records relating to emergency capabilities.
    Subd. 4. Article IV - limitations. Any party state requested to render mutual aid or conduct
exercises and training for mutual aid shall take such action as is necessary to provide and make
available the resources covered by this compact in accordance with the terms hereof; provided
that it is understood that the state rendering aid may withhold resources to the extent necessary to
provide reasonable protection for such state.
Each party state shall afford to the emergency forces of any party state, while operating
within its state limits under the terms and conditions of this compact, the same powers (except that
of arrest unless specifically authorized by the receiving state), duties, rights, and privileges as are
afforded forces of the state in which they are performing emergency services. Emergency forces
will continue under the command and control of their regular leaders, but the organizational units
will come under the operational control of the emergency services authorities of the state receiving
assistance. These conditions may be activated, as needed, only subsequent to a declaration of a
state of emergency or disaster by the governor of the party state that is to receive assistance or
commencement of exercises or training for mutual aid and shall continue so long as the exercises
or training for mutual aid are in progress, the state of emergency or disaster remains in effect, or
loaned resources remain in the receiving state, whichever is longer.
    Subd. 5. Article V - licenses and permits. Whenever any person holds a license, certificate,
or other permit issued by any state party to the compact evidencing the meeting of qualifications
for professional, mechanical, or other skills, and when such assistance is requested by the
receiving party state, such person shall be deemed licensed, certified, or permitted by the state
requesting assistance to render aid involving such skill to meet a declared emergency or disaster,
subject to such limitations and conditions as the governor of the requesting state may prescribe by
executive order or otherwise.
    Subd. 6. Article VI - liability. Officers or employees of a party state rendering aid in another
state pursuant to this compact shall be considered agents of the requesting state for tort liability
and immunity purposes; and no party state or its officers or employees rendering aid in another
state pursuant to this compact shall be liable on account of any act or omission in good faith on the
part of such forces while so engaged or on account of the maintenance or use of any equipment
or supplies in connection therewith. "Good faith" in this subdivision does not include willful
misconduct, gross negligence, or recklessness.
    Subd. 7. Article VII - supplementary agreements. Inasmuch as it is probable that the
pattern and detail of the machinery for mutual aid among two or more states may differ from
that among the states that are party hereto, this instrument contains elements of a broad base
common to all states, and nothing herein contained shall preclude any state from entering
into supplementary agreements with another state or affect any other agreements already in
force between states. Supplementary agreements may comprehend, but shall not be limited to,
provisions for evacuation and reception of injured and other persons and the exchange of medical,
fire, police, public utility, reconnaissance, welfare, transportation and communications personnel,
and equipment and supplies.
    Subd. 8. Article VIII - compensation. Each party state shall provide for the payment of
compensation and death benefits to injured members of the emergency forces of that state and
representatives of deceased members of such forces in case such members sustain injuries or are
killed while rendering aid pursuant to this compact, in the same manner and on the same terms
as if the injury or death were sustained within their own state.
    Subd. 9. Article IX - reimbursement. Any party state rendering aid in another state
pursuant to this compact shall be reimbursed by the party state receiving such aid for any loss
or damage to or expense incurred in the operation of any equipment and the provision of any
service in answering a request for aid and for the costs incurred in connection with such requests;
provided, that any aiding party state may assume in whole or in part such loss, damage, expense,
or other cost, or may loan such equipment or donate such services to the receiving party state
without charge or cost; and provided further, that any two or more party states may enter into
supplementary agreements establishing a different allocation of costs among those states. Article
VIII expenses shall not be reimbursable under this provision.
    Subd. 10. Article X - evacuation. Plans for the orderly evacuation and interstate reception
of portions of the civilian population as the result of any emergency or disaster of sufficient
proportions to so warrant, shall be worked out and maintained between the party states and
the emergency management/services directors of the various jurisdictions where any type of
incident requiring evacuations might occur. Such plans shall be put into effect by request of the
state from which evacuees come and shall include the manner of transporting such evacuees;
the number of evacuees to be received in different areas; the manner in which food, clothing,
housing, and medical care will be provided; the registration of the evacuees; the providing of
facilities for the notification of relatives or friends; and the forwarding of such evacuees to other
areas or the bringing in of additional materials, supplies, and all other relevant factors. Such plans
shall provide that the party state receiving evacuees and the party state from which the evacuees
come shall mutually agree as to reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred in receiving
and caring for such evacuees; for expenditures for transportation, food, clothing, medicine, and
medical care; and like items. Such expenditures shall be reimbursed as agreed by the party state
from which the evacuees come. After the termination of the emergency or disaster, the party
state from which the evacuees come shall assume the responsibility for the ultimate support of
repatriation of such evacuees.
    Subd. 11. Article XI - implementation. (a) This compact shall become operative
immediately upon its enactment into law by any two states; thereafter, this compact shall become
effective as to any other state upon its enactment by such state.
(b) Any party state may withdraw from this compact by enacting a statute repealing the
same, but no such withdrawal shall take effect until 30 days after the governor of the withdrawing
state has given notice in writing of such withdrawal to the governors of all other party states.
Such action shall not relieve the withdrawing state from obligations assumed hereunder prior
to the effective date of withdrawal.
(c) Duly authenticated copies of this compact and of such supplementary agreements as may
be entered into shall, at the time of their approval, be deposited with each of the party states
and with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other appropriate agencies of the
United States government.
    Subd. 12. Article XII - validity. This section shall be construed to effectuate the purposes
stated in Article I hereof. If any provision of this compact is declared unconstitutional, or the
applicability thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the constitutionality of the
remainder of this compact and the applicability thereof to other persons and circumstances shall
not be affected thereby.
    Subd. 13. Article XIII - additional provisions. Nothing in this compact shall authorize or
permit the use of military force by the National Guard of a state at any place outside that state
in any emergency for which the President of the United States is authorized by law to call into
federal service the militia, or for any purpose for which the use of the army or the air force
would, in the absence of express statutory authorization, be prohibited under United States Code,
title 18, section 1385.
History: 1998 c 298 s 1