Beauregard Parish Emergency Assistance and Disaster Ordinance
SHORT TITLE:
This chapter shall be cited as the Beauregard Parish Emergency Assistance and Disaster Ordinance.
PURPOSE:
A. Because of the existing possibility of the occurrence of emergencies and disasters resulting from fire, flood, natural or man made causes, and in order to ensure that preparations of this Parish will be adequate to deal with such emergencies or disasters, and generally to preserve the lives and property of the people of Beauregard Parish, it is hereby found and declared to be necessary.
(1) To provide for designation of the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Department as the Parish Emergency Preparedness Agency.
(2) To confer upon the Police Jury President and the Sheriff of Beauregard Parish the emergency powers provided in this chapter.
(3) That local plans for emergency preparedness be prepared and approved without further delay and be maintained current to the maximum extent possible.
(4) To reduce vulnerability of people and communities of this Parish to damage, injury, and loss of life and property resulting from natural or man made catastrophes.
(5) To prepare for prompt and efficient evacuation, rescue, care, and treatment of persons victimized or threatened by disasters or emergency.
(6) To provide a setting conducive to the rapid and orderly start of restoration and rehabilitation of persons and property affected by emergencies or disasters.
(7) To authorize and provide for cooperation in emergency or disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
(8) To authorize and provide for management systems embodied by coordination of activities relating to emergency or disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery by agencies and officers of this Parish.
B. It is further declared to be the purpose of this chapter and the policy of Beauregard Parish that all emergency preparedness functions of the Parish be coordinated to the maximum extent possible with the comparable functions of the State and Federal government, other parishes and localities, and private agencies of every type, to the end that the most effective preparation and use may be made of the resources and facilities available for dealing with any emergency or disaster that may occur.
PARISH EMERGENCY DISASTER AGENCY:
POWERS OF THE SHERIFF:
A. The Police Jury President is hereby authorized and directed to designate the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office as the parish emergency preparedness agency.(This in compliance with Parish Resolution No. 29-88 and became effective July 1, 1988.)
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B. The office of emergency preparedness is hereby established within the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office.
C. The Sheriff shall appoint the Coordinator of the office of Emergency Preparedness, to be known as the Parish Emergency Preparedness Coordinator with approval of the police jury president and shall administer the parish Emergency Preparedness Agency and provisions of this chapter.
D. The Sheriff has authority to promulgate rules and regulations for the Office of Emergency Preparedness, such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement his authority under provisions of this chapter and such authority as the Police Jury President shall delegate to him pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
POWERS OF THE PARISH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COORDINATOR (DIRECTOR):
A. The director to be known as Parish Emergency Preparedness Coordinator may appoint an assistant director, to administer the provisions of this chapter. The Coordinator shall have and may exercise such powers and duties as delegated to him.
B. The Coordinator shall be the head of the Parish Emergency Preparedness agency and as such be responsible for carrying out the programs for emergency preparedness for the parish. He shall coordinate the activities of all organizations for emergency preparedness within the parish and shall maintain liaison with and cooperate with emergency preparedness agencies and organizations of the state and of the federal government.
C. The Coordinator has authority to promulgate rules and regulations for the Office of Emergency Preparedness, such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement his authority under the provisions of this chapter and such authority as the Sheriff and parish police jury president shall delegate to him pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
BEAUREGARD PARISH EMERGENCY/ DISASTER AGENCY AUTHORITIES AND RESPONSIBILITY: (INCLUDING THE BEAUREGARD PARISH EMERGENCY RESPONSE COUNCIL)
A. The Office of Emergency Preparedness, under the Sheriff shall be responsible for emergency preparedness in the parish.
B. The Office shall prepare and maintain a parish emergency operations plan and keep it current, which plan may include any of the following:
(1) Prevention and minimization of injury and damage caused by disaster or emergency.
(2) Prompt and effective response to disaster or emergency.
(3) Emergency relief.
(4) Identification of areas particularly vulnerable to disasters or emergency.
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(5) Assistance to local officials in designing local emergency action plans.
(6) Preparation and distribution to the appropriate local officials of catalogs of state, federal and private assistance programs.
(7) Organization of manpower and chains of command.
(8) Coordination of the parish operations plan with the emergency plans of other parish agencies, state and federal government.
(9) Parish hazard plans, hurricane evacuation and shelter plans, hazard mitigation plans, emergency response plans, and such other emergency plans as required.
(10) Other necessary matters.
C. The Beauregard Parish Emergency Response Council shall take an integral part in the development and revision of local emergency plans prepared under this chapter. To this end it shall employ or otherwise secure the services of professional and technical personnel capable of providing expert assistance. These personnel shall consult with the Beauregard Parish Emergency Response Council and the Office of Emergency Preparedness on a regularly scheduled basis and shall make field examinations of the areas, circumstances, and conditions to which particular disaster plans are intended to apply, and may suggest or require revisions.
The Beauregard Parish Emergency Response Council shall be made up of members from the following fields: parish government, city government from DeRidder and Merryville, state elected official, law enforcement representatives, fire service representatives, environmental agency, health department representative, hospital/ems service representative, representative involved with transportation services, industry representative, technical specialists, community group representative, and public information representative. Other groups to be considered will be government planning departments, parish legal section, representatives from the volunteer groups such as Red Cross and the Christian Disaster Relief Group. and the parish school board.
The Beauregard Parish Emergency Response Council shall do the following:
(1) The Beauregard Parish Emergency Response Council in preparing and revising the parish emergency operations plan, shall seek the advice and assistance of business, labor, industry, agriculture, civic and volunteer organizations, and community leaders.
(2) The BPERC will elect a Chairman of the council in June, and his/her term will be for two years. The chairman will be subject to the direction and control of the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. The chairman shall be the head of the Response Council and shall be responsible to the Coordinator for carrying out the programs assigned to the
Council.
(a) The Chairman will appoint the Vice Chairman of the council. This position can not be filled by the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator nor does the Coordinator have a vote on council matters.
(3) The Beauregard Parish Emergency Response Council shall be responsible for the required needs of a local emergency planning committee under the guidelines of Sara Title III Right-to-Know law and other Hazardous Materials laws as they apply. The BPERC will comply with the requirements of this Title.
(a) The BPERC will meet once each quarter to discuss and handle the assignments and responsibilities.
(4) The BPERC shall prepare and maintain parish hazardous material emergency response plans and other emergency response plans and keep it current, which may include any of the following.
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(a) Prevention and minimization of injury and damage caused by disaster or emergency caused by a hazardous materials incident.
(b) Prompt and effective response to a hazardous materials incident.
(c) Emergency relief from hazardous materials incidents.
(d) Identification of areas particularly vulnerable to disasters or emergencies from hazardous materials incidents.
(e) Recommendations for zoning, building, and other land use control as related to hazardous materials or other preventive and preparedness measures designed to eliminate or reduce hazardous materials disasters or their impact.
(f) Assistance to the parish office of emergency preparedness in designing local emergency action plans.
(g) Preparation and distribution to the appropriate agencies and officials and the public bodies catalogs and other materials in reference to hazardous materials.
(h) Organization of manpower and chains of command.
(i) Coordination with the State Emergency Response Council (SERC)
as required under Sara Title III.
(j) Coordination of the hazardous materials response plans with the parish emergencies operations plan and other such emergency operations plans as required.
(k) Other related or necessary matters.
D. The Office of Emergency Preparedness shall:
(1) Determine requirements of the parish for food, clothing, and other necessities in the event of an emergency.
(2) Procure and pre-position supplies, medicines, materials, and equipment.
(3) Promulgate standards and requirements for disaster plans.
(4) Periodically review other parish agencies disaster plans.
(5) Provide for mobile support units.
(6) Assist other local agencies in their emergency preparedness plans, in establishing and operating training programs and programs of information.
(7) Make surveys of industries, resources, and facilities within the both public and private, as are necessary to carry out the purpose of this chapter.
(8) Plan and make arrangements for the availability and use of any private facilities, services, and property and, if necessary and if in fact used, provide for payment for use under terms and conditions agreed upon.
(9) Establish a register of persons with types of training and skills important in emergency mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
(10) Establish a register of mobile and construction equipment and temporary housing available for use in a disaster emergency.
(11) Prepare, for issuance by the Parish Police Jury President , executive orders, proclamations, and regulations as necessary or appropriate in coping with disasters or emergencies.
(12) Cooperate with the state and federal and any public or private agency or entity in achieving any purpose of this chapter and in implementing programs for disaster emergency mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery.
(13) Do other things necessary, incidental, or appropriate for the implementation of this chapter.
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F. The Sheriff's Department shall ascertain what means exist for rapid communications in times of disaster emergencies, shall consider the desirability of supplementing these communications resources or of integrating them into a comprehensive communications system parish wide, shall evaluate the possibility of multipurpose use thereof.
POWERS OF PARISH PRESIDENT; PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS:
A. Beauregard Parish shall be within the jurisdiction of and served by the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Department, Office of Emergency Preparedness, for purposes of emergency preparedness and responsible for emergency or disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
B. The Parish Police Jury President is hereby authorized and directed to establish an Office of Emergency Preparedness with the Sheriff of Beauregard Parish.
C. A local disaster or emergency may be declared only by the Parish Police Jury President. The state of emergency shall continue until the Parish Police Jury President finds that the threat of danger has been dealt with to the extent that emergency condition no longer exist. The state of emergency may be terminated by executive order or proclamation, but no state of emergency may continue for longer than thirty (30) days unless extended by the parish police jury president. The state of emergency or disaster may be terminated by the governor, a petition signed by a majority of the surviving members of either house of the legislature, or a majority of the surviving members of the parish governing authority (police jury). The document terminating the state of emergency or disaster may establish a period during which no other declaration of emergency or disaster may be issued. All executive orders or proclamations issued under this subsection shall indicate the nature of the emergency, the area or areas which may be affected, and the conditions which brought it about. Any order or proclamation declaring , continuing , or terminating a local disaster or emergency shall be given prompt and general publicity and shall filed promptly with the office of emergency preparedness and the office of the clerk of court.
E. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, when the Parish Police Jury President declares a disaster or emergency within the parish the parish police jury president shall carry out the provisions of this chapter. Nothing contained herein shall construed confer, upon the Parish Police Jury President any authority to control or direct the activities of any state agency. When the disaster or emergency is beyond the capabilities of the parish, the Parish Police Jury President shall request assistance from the State Office of Emergency Preparedness. The declaration of a local emergency will serve to activate the response and recovery program of the local government.
F. In addition to any other powers conferred upon the Parish Police Jury President by the constitution, and laws of the state the Parish Police Jury President shall such authority as follows:
(1) Suspend the provisions of any regulatory ordinance prescribing the procedures for conduct of local business, or the orders, rules, or regulations of any local agency, if strict compliance with the provisions of any ordinance, order, rule, or regulation would in any way prevent , hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with the emergency.
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(2) Utilize all available resources of the parish as reasonably necessary to cope with the disaster or emergency.
(3) Transfer the direction, personnel, or functions of parish departments for the purpose of performing or facilitating emergency services.
(4) Subject to any applicable requirements for compensation, commandeer or utilize and private property if he finds this necessary to cope with the disaster.
(5) Direct compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from any stricken or threatened area of the parish if he deems this action necessary for mitigation, response, or recovery measures.
(6) Prescribe routes, modes of transportation, and destinations in connection with evacuation within the parish.
(7) Control ingress and egress to and from the affected area, the movement of persons within the area, and the occupancy of premises therein.
(8) Suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives and combustibles.
G. In the event of an emergency declared by the Parish Police Jury President pursuant to this chapter, any person or representative of any firm, partnership, or corporation violating any order, rule, or regulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter, shall be fined not more than five hundred ($500) dollars, or confined in the parish jail for not more than six (6) months, or both.
H. No organization for emergency preparedness established under this chapter shall be employed directly or indirectly for political purposes.
FINANCING:
A. It is the intent of the parish police jury and declared to be policy of the parish that funds to meet the disaster emergencies shall always be available.
B. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to limit the office of emergency preparedness authority to apply for, administer, and expend any grants, gifts, or payments in aid of disaster prevention, preparedness, response, or recovery.
C. No personal services may be compensated by the parish except pursuant to state law or parish ordinance. The following will apply:
(1) Compensation for property shall be paid only if the property was commandeered or otherwise used in coping with a disaster or emergency and its use, damage, or destruction was ordered by the parish police jury president or the office of emergency preparedness.
(2) Any person claiming compensation for the use, damages, loss or destruction of property under this chapter shall file a claim thereof with the authority which ordered the use or caused the loss of destruction of the property.
(3) Unless the amount of compensation on account of property damaged, lost, or destroyed is agreed between the claimant and the authority which ordered the use or caused the damage, the amount of compensation shall be calculated in the same manner as compensation due for taking of property pursuant to the condemnation laws of the state of Louisiana.
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D. Nothing in this subsection applies to or authorizes compensation for the destruction or damaging of standing timber or other property in order to provide a fire break, or to the release of waters or the breach of impoundments in order to reduce pressure or other danger from actual or threatened flood.
E. In accordance with Louisiana Revised Statute 30:2368D, the Beauregard Parish Police jury shall impose fees or charges on owners or operators of hazardous materials facilities which are located within Beauregard Parish and who are subject to the reporting requirements of the Superfund Amendments and Re-authorization Act of 1986, Title III, Section 312.
The amount of fees or charges imposed pursuant to this chapter shall provide anticipated proceeds not to exceed the anticipated cost for performing the services required in this chapter, Superfund Amendments and Re-authorization Act of 1986, Title III, Section 312, including those initial costs necessary to establish a system for storage, updating, and dissemination of the information herein required to be made available to the public. In no case shall the fees or charges imposed on any one person by the Beauregard Parish Police Jury exceed one dollar ($1.00) per page; fifty dollars ($50) per survey form; or three Hundred dollars ($300) per report including but not limited to reporting multiple facilities. In no case shall charges imposed on small businesses, as defined in Louisiana Revised Statute 30:2370(F), exceed fifteen dollars ($15) per survey form.
The Beauregard Parish Emergency Response Council shall collect and administer the fees or charges as set forth in this chapter.
This was an parish ordinance adopted on 3/12/1992 and was no. 1-92.
F. The parish office of emergency preparedness will be entitled to 1/3 of the total federal assistance administration fees collected by the parish during disaster or emergency recovery period. This would also apply to any state funds that are provide for disaster relief. The funds are to be deposited in the BPERC account for use in related emergency preparedness programs.
PRICE GOUGING; PROHIBITED:
A. During a state of emergency as declared by the parish police jury president, the value received for goods and service sold within the designated emergency area may not exceed the prices ordinarily charged for comparable goods and services in the same market area at, or
immediately before, the time of the state of emergency. However, the value received may include reasonable expenses and a charge for any attendant business risk, in addition to the cost of the goods and services which necessarily are incurred in procuring the goods and services during the state of emergency.
B. Each sale or offer for sale in violation of this section constitutes a separate violation.
C. The penalties are provided in R.S. 29:734 and are in addition to civil remedies provided by law, including attorney's fees.
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MUTUAL AID AGREEMENTS:
A. The Beauregard Parish Police Jury or the Beauregard Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness may enter into agreements with any other parish or parishes to establish regional organizations for emergency preparedness. Such agreements shall include plans, programs, administration, personnel, unified operation, allotment of available equipment, and distribution of costs and funds.
B. All or any agreements of interjurisdictional emergency preparedness agencies shall state in written form a clear and complete statement of the emergency responsibilities of all local agencies and officials and of the disaster chain of command. The statement shall state as follows:
(1) ARTICLE 1. Purpose of this agreement is to provide mutual aid among the parishes in meeting an emergency or disaster. The prompt, full, and effective utilization of the resources of the respective parish, including such resources as may be available from the state of Louisiana or any other source, are essential to the safety, care, and welfare of the people thereof, including personnel, equipment, or supplies, shall be incorporated into a plan or plans of mutual aid to be developed among the emergency preparedness agencies or similar bodies of the parishes that are parties hereto. The directors of emergency preparedness of all party parishes shall constitute a committee to formulate plans to take all necessary steps for the implementation of this agreement.
(2) ARTICLE II. It shall be the duty of each parish to formulate plans and programs for application within the such parish. There shall be frequent consultation between the representatives of the parishes and with the state and free exchange of information and plans, including inventories of any materials and equipment available. In carrying out such plans and programs the parishes shall, so far as possible, provide and follow uniform standards, practices, and rules and regulations.
(3) ARTICLE III. Any party parish requested to render mutual aid shall take such action as is necessary to provide and make available the resources covered by this agreement in accordance with the terms hereof; provided that it is understood that the parish rendering aid may withhold resources to the extent necessary to provide reasonable protection for such parish. Each party parish shall extend to the emergency preparedness forces of any other party parish, while operating within its parish limits under the terms and conditions of this agreement, the same powers (except that of arrest unless specifically authorized by the receiving parish), duties, privileges, and immunities as if they were performing their duties in the parish in which normally employed or rendering services.
(4) ARTICLE IV. Whenever any person holds a license, certificate, or other permit issued by any parish evidencing the meeting of qualifications for professional, mechanical, or other skills, such person may render aid involving such skill in any party parish o meet an emergency or disaster and such parish shall give due recognition to such license, certificate, or other permit as if issued in the parish in which aid is rendered.
(5) ARTICLE V. No party parish or its officers or employees rendering aid in another parish pursuant to this agreement shall be liable on account of any act or omission in good faith on the part of such forces while engaged, or on account of the maintenance or use of any equipment or supplies in connection therewith.
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(6) ARTICLE VI. In as much as it is probable that the pattern and detail of the machinery for mutual aid among two or more parishes may differ from that appropriate among other parishes party hereto, this instrument contains elements of a broad base common to all parishes, and nothing herein contained shall preclude any parish from entering into supplementary agreements with another parish or parishes. Such supplementary agreements may comprehend but shall not be limited to provisions for evacuation and reception of injured and other persons, and the exchange of emergency services as necessary.
(7) ARTICLE VII. Each party parish shall provide for the payment of compensation and death benefits to injured members of the response forces of the parish and representatives of deceased member of such forces in case such member sustain injuries or are killed while rendering aid pursuant to this agreement, in the same manner and on the same terms as if the injury or death sustained within such parish.
(8) ARTICLE VIII. Any party parish rendering aid in another parish pursuant to this agreement shall be reimbursed by the party parish receiving such aid for any loss or damage to, or expense incurred in the operation of any equipment answering a request for aid, and for the cost inoculate in connection with such request; however, any aiding party parish 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 parish without charge or cost, and any two or more parishes may enter into supplementary agreements establishing a different allocation of costs as among those parishes. The State may relive the party parish receiving aid from any liability and reimburse the party parish supplying forces for the compensation paid to and the transportation, subsistence, and maintenance expense of such forces during the time of the rendition of such aid or assistance outside of the parish and may also pay fair and reasonable compensation for the use or utilization of the supplies, materials, equipment, or facilities so utilized or consumed.
(9) ARTICLE IX. Plans for the orderly evacuation and recption of the civilian population as the result of an emergency or disaster shall be worked out from time to time between representatives of the party parishes and the various local areas thereof. Such plans shall include the manner of transporting such evacuees, the number of evacuees to be receded 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 brining on of additional materials and supplies, and all other relevant factors. Such plans shall provide that the party parish receiving evacuees shall be reimbursed generally for the out-of-pocket expenses incurred in receiving and caring for such evacuees for expenditures for transportation, food, clothing, medicines and medical care, and like items. Such expenditures shall be reimbursed by the party parish of which the evacuees are residents or by the state of Louisiana under plans approved by it. After the termination of the emergency or disaster the party parish of which the evacuees are residents shall assume the responsibility for the ultimate support or repatriation of such evacuees.
(10) ARTICLE X. The committee established pursuant to Article I of this agreement may request the state office of emergency preparedness to act as an informational and coordinating body under this agreement, and representatives of the office of emergency preparedness attend meetings of such committee.
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(11) ARTICLE XI. This agreement shall become operative immediately upon its ratification by any parish as between it and any other parish or parishes so ratifying and shall be subject to approval by the state office of emergency preparedness unless prior approval has been given. Duly authenticated copies of this agreement and of such supplementary agreements as may be entered into shall, at the time of their approval, be deposited with each of the party parishes and the state emergency preparedness office and other appropriate agencies of the state.
(12) ARTICLE XII. This agreement shall continue in force and remain binding on each party parish until the police jury or police jury president of such party parish takes action to withdraw therefrom. Such action shall be effective until thirty (30) days after notice thereof has been sent by the police jury president of all party parishes desiring withdraw to the police jury presidents of all other party parishes.
(13) ARTICLE XIII. This agreement shall be constructed to effectuate the purpose stated in Article I hereof. If any provision of this agreement is declared unlawful, or the applicability thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of this agreement and the applicability of other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
(14) ARTICLE XIV.
(a) This Article shall be in effect only among those parishes which have adopted it pursuant to parish authority to give it the force of law as part of this agreement or any obligation undertaken by a parish pursuant thereto, except that if the terms so provide, a supplementary agreement implementation of this Article may modify, expand, or add to any such obligation as among the parties to the supplementary agreement.
(b) In addition to the occurrences, circumstances, and subject matter to which preceding Articles of this agreement make it applicable, this agreement and the authorization, entitlement, and procedures thereof shall apply.
(1) Searches for and rescue of persons who are lost or otherwise in danger.
(2) Action useful in coping with emergencies or disasters arising from any cause or designed to increase the capacity to cope with any such emergencies or disasters.
(3) Incidents, or the imminence thereof, which endanger the health or safety of the public and which require the use of special equipment, trained personnel in larger numbers than locally available in order to reduce, counteract, or remove the danger.
(4) The giving and receiving of aid by subdivisions of party parishes
(5) Exercise, drills, or other training or practice activities designed to aid personnel to prepare for, cope with, or prevent any disaster or other emergency to which this agreement applies.
(c) Except as expressly limited by this agreement or a supplementary agreement in force pursuant thereto, any aid authorized by this agreement or such supplementary agreement may be furnished by any agency of a party parish, a subdivision of such parish, or by joint agency providing such aid shall be entitled to reimbursement therefor to the same extent and in the same manner as a parish. The personnel of such joint agency, when rendering aid pursuant to this agreement shall have the same rights, authority, and immunity as personnel of party parishes.
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(d) Nothing in this Article shall be construed to exclude from the coverage of Article 1-13 of this agreement any matter which, in the absence of this Article, could reasonably be construed to be covered thereby.
VIOLATIONS; JUDICIAL RELIEF; PRIMA FACIE PROOF:
A. Upon violation of R.S. 29:732, the district attorney may bring the appropriate
judicial action for an order enjoining or restraining commission or continuance of the alleged unlawful acts. In any such proceeding the court may impose a civil penalty and, where appropriate, order the restitution to aggrieved consumers.
B. In any proceeding instituted pursuant to this section, the following shall constitute prima facile proof of a violation:
(1) Evidence that the amount charged represents a gross disparity between the price of the goods or services which were the subject of the transaction and their value, measured by the price at which such goods or services were sold or offered for sale by the merchant in the usual course of business immediately prior to the onset of the abnormal disruption of the market, and the amount charged by the merchant was not attributable to additional costs imposed by its suppliers.
(2) Evidence that the amount charged grossly exceeded the price at which the same or similar goods or services were readily obtainable by other consumers in the trade area and the amount charged by the merchant was not attributable to additional costs imposed by its suppliers.
C. In addition to the civil penalties provided herein, any person who violates the provisions of R.S. 29:723 which violation is deemed a violation also of R.S.14:329.6 shall be subject to criminal penalties as provided in R.S.14:329.7
IMMUNITY OF PERSONNEL:
A. Neither the parish nor any political subdivision thereof, nor other agencies, nor, except in case of willful misconduct, the agent's employees, or representatives of any of the them, engaged in any emergency preparedness activities, while complying with attempting to comply with this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be liable for the death of and any injury to persons, or damage to property, as a result of such activity.
B. The provisions of this section shall not affect the right of any person to receive benefits to which he /she would otherwise be entitled under this chapter, or under the workers compensation law, or under any pension law, nor the right of any such person to receive and benefits or compensation under any act of state or federal government.
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EXCLUSIONS:
A. Nothing herein shall supersede the powers, duties, and authorities of the following:
(1) Federal Emergency Management Agency
(2) Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness
(3) Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
(4) Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (State Police)
B. Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to diminish the rights guaranteed to all persons under the Declaration of Rights of the Louisiana Constitution or the Bill of Rights of the Untied States Constitution. The courts shall be open, and every person shall have adequate remedy by due process of law and justice, administered without denial, partiality, or unreasonable delay, for injury to him or her in his/her property, reputation, or other rights. The orders of all courts shall have their full force and effect. The Police Jury may call itself into session at any time and shall exercise its powers and duties. Its ability to enact law, appropriate funds, and confirm appointees shall be in full force. The privileges and immunities of police jury members shall be respected.
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