Agenda - Public Works Committee - 05/21/2019

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addition, things like immunity defenses, tort cap limits, or work comp benefits may also be different in another state. In short, it’s just not a good idea to provide one-to-one emergency assistance outside Minnesota without a written agreement already in place. LMCIT staff will be glad to work with member cities on developing such agreements. If you have resources that are so particularly unique that you are often called by communities outside Minnesota, you should check in with the Minnesota Duty Officer about how best to manage those resources and you should probably consult with your city attorney to develop a standard agreement for sending resources outside Minnesota in an emergency. Interstate assistance under EMAC There’s another important way Minnesota cities might provide assistance outside the state’s borders. The state of Minnesota, along with all other states, participates in the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). EMAC is an inter-state agreement which each state adopts by statute – here it’s Minn. Stat. 192.89 – in order to provide an orderly mechanism through which emergency assistance can be requested and offered. EMAC is coordinated by the National Emergency Management Association. More information about EMAC can be found at www.emacweb.org. Although EMAC is a state-to-state arrangement, it’s often the case that much of the actual emergency assistance is provided by local government employees rather than by state employees. EMAC contemplates that inter-state assistance by local governments will be requested, coordinated, and dispatched through the state emergency management office. In Minnesota, the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) performs that function. More information about HSEM’s role in EMAC can be found at www.hsem.state.mn.us. When EMAC is activated, HSEM is notified of any need for assistance and HSEM in turn notifies local responders. The city providing assistance will sign an intergovernmental agreement with HSEM that specifies the terms and conditions under which assistance will be provided outside Minnesota. Both Minn. Stat. 192.91 and the current version of HSEM’s intergovernmental agreement provide that the city’s employees are deemed to be state of Minnesota employees for purposes of tort liability. This provides two important protections for city employees responding under EMAC. It gives city employees immunity for liability claims arising from their acts or omissions while providing disaster assistance to another state. There’s an exception for “willful misconduct, gross negligence, or recklessness.” It provides that city employees providing inter-state disaster assistance under EMAC are considered agents of the requesting state for tort liability and immunity purposes. This 6