New Jersey § 38a:20-5

§ 38a:20-5.

The Governor is hereby authorized and directed to execute a compact on behalf of this

State with any other state legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows: Emergency Management Assistance Compact The contracting states solemnly agree: 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 the affected state or states, whether arising from natural disaster,

technological hazard, man-made disaster, civil emergency due to resource shortages,

community disorders, insurgency, or enemy attack. This compact also shall provide for mutual cooperation in emergency-related exercises,

testing, or other training activities using equipment and personnel simulating the

performance of any aspect of the giving and receiving of aid by party states or subdivisions

of party states during emergencies, when such actions occur 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. 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 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 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. 1. 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 article. In formulating such plans, and in carrying them out, the party states, insofar as

practical, shall: a. 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, man-made disaster, resource shortages,

civil disorders, insurgency, or enemy attack. b. 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. c. Develop interstate procedures to fill any identified gaps and to resolve any identified

inconsistencies or overlaps in existing or developed plans. d. Assist in warning communities adjacent to or crossing the state boundaries. e. 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. f. Inventory and set procedures for the interstate loan and delivery of human and

material resources, together with procedures for reimbursement or forgiveness. g. Provide, to the extent authorized by law, for temporary suspension of any statutes

or ordinances that restrict the implementation of the above responsibilities. 2. 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: a. 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. b. The amount and type of personnel, equipment, materials and supplies needed, and

a reasonable estimate of the length of time they will be needed. c. The specific place and time for staging of the assisting party's response and a

point of contact at that location. 3. 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. 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 its terms; except 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 shall continue under the command and control of their regular leaders,

but the organizational units shall 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 or states, whichever is longer. 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. Officers or employees of a party state rendering aid to 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 article shall not include willful misconduct, gross negligence,

or recklessness. 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 include, 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. 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. 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; except

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 furthermore, 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. 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 or 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, medicines 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 or repatriation

of such evacuees. 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. 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. 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. This act shall be construed to effectuate the purposes stated in Article I of this

compact. 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 act and its applicability to other persons and circumstances shall

not be affected. 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 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 Section 1385 of Title 18 of the United States Code .