§729. Parish homeland security and emergency preparedness agency authorities and responsibilities

            A. The parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness, under the parish president, shall be responsible for homeland security and emergency preparedness in the parish.

            B. The parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness shall prepare and maintain an all hazards emergency operations plan and keep it current. The plan shall include 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.

            (5) Recommendations for zoning, building, and other land use controls, safety measures for securing mobile homes or other nonpermanent or semipermanent structures, and other preventive and preparedness measures designed to eliminate or reduce disasters or their impact.

            (6) Assistance to local officials in designing local homeland security and emergency action plans.

            (7) Authorization and procedures for the erection or other construction of temporary works designed to protect against or mitigate danger, damage, or loss from flood, conflagration, or other disaster.

            (8) Preparation and distribution to the appropriate state and local officials of catalogs of federal, state, and private assistance programs.

            (9) Organization of manpower and chains of command.

            (10) Coordination of federal, state, and local disaster or homeland security and emergency activities.

            (11) Coordination of the state operations plan with the homeland security and emergency plans of other state agencies, local government, and the federal government.

            (12) Other necessary matters as determined by GOHSEP.

            C. The parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness shall take an integral part in the development and revision of local and interjurisdictional homeland security and 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 to political subdivisions, their homeland security and emergency preparedness agencies, and interjurisdictional planning and homeland security and emergency preparedness agencies. These personnel shall consult with subdivisions and agencies on a regularly scheduled basis and shall make field examinations of the areas, circumstances, and conditions to which particular local and interjurisdictional disaster plans are intended to apply, and may suggest or require revisions.

            D. In preparing and revising the plan, the parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness shall seek the advice and assistance of government, business, labor, industry, agriculture, civic, and volunteer organizations, and community leaders.

            E. The parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness shall:

            (1) Determine requirements of the parish and its political subdivisions 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 local and interjurisdictional disaster plans.

            (4) Periodically review local and interjurisdictional disaster plans.

            (5) Provide for mobile support units.

            (6) Assist political subdivisions, their homeland security and emergency preparedness agencies and interjurisdictional homeland security and emergency preparedness agencies, in establishing and operating training programs and programs of information.

            (7) Make surveys of industries, resources, and facilities within the parish, both public and private, as are necessary to carry out the purposes 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 president, executive orders, proclamations, and regulations as necessary or appropriate in coping with disasters or emergencies.

            (12) Cooperate with the state and federal government 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)(a) In consultation with experts in the fields of animal sheltering, veterinary medicine, public health and safety, other professional and technical personnel deemed appropriate, and the state office of homeland security and emergency preparedness, formulate emergency operation plans for the humane evacuation, transport, and temporary sheltering of service animals and household pets in times of emergency or disaster that:

            (i) Require that persons with disabilities who utilize service animals, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, are evacuated, transported, and sheltered with those service animals and inform all facilities that provide shelter to persons with disabilities who are accompanied by their service animals of their legal obligation to provide shelter to both the person with a disability and the service animal.

            (ii)(aa) Identify or establish, as the case may be, in conjunction with the state office of homeland security and emergency preparedness, evacuation shelters designed and equipped to accept and temporarily house household pets and canine search and rescue teams.

            (bb) Develop guidelines for such shelters which may include standards or criteria for admission to such shelters, health and safety standards, basic minimum animal care standards regarding nutrition, space, hygiene, and medical needs, protocols, and procedures for ensuring adequate sheltering, management, and veterinary staffing for such shelters.

            (iii)(aa) Enable, wherever possible, pet and pet-owner evacuations for residents with disabilities, who are elderly, or who have special needs, and all other residents whenever such evacuations can be accomplished without endangering human life.

            (bb) The office shall establish an identification system to ensure that household pet owners who are separated from their household pets during an evacuation are provided with all information necessary to locate and reclaim such household pet.

            (iv) Allow household pets in cages or carriers that safely and securely confine such pets and are specifically designed for the containment and transport of such pets to utilize public transportation during an impending disaster, when doing so does not endanger human life. If such pets are not allowed to use public transportation, the primary agency designated under the provisions of R.S. 29:729(E)(13)(b)(i) and (ii) is authorized to provide separate transportation for these pets. The office shall, in consultation with the primary agency designated under the provisions of R.S. 29:729(E)(13)(b)(i) and (ii) and other appropriate agencies, develop plans to address the evacuation, transportation, and other needs of those household pets that are not evacuated or transported pursuant to this Item.

            (v) Establish protocols which require the parish designated animal control, animal sheltering, or animal care agency in each parish to develop a plan for evacuation of household pets.

            (vi) Require that animal shelters, humane societies, veterinary offices, boarding kennels, breeders, grooming facilities, hospitals, schools, animal testing facilities, and any other businesses or not-for-profit agencies that normally house household pets or service animals, create evacuation plans for such animals consistent with the provisions of this Paragraph. Such plans shall be made available to the public upon request and shall be filed annually with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, office of animal health and food safety, and with their respective parish homeland security and emergency preparedness agency.

            (vii) Implement a public information program to provide guidance to household pet owners in formulating their own evacuation plans for their household pets and service animals, inform such pet owners of the resources available to assist them in such evacuations.

            (viii) Ensure the primary agency designated under the provisions of R.S. 29:729(E)(13)(b)(i) and (ii) is included in emergency preparedness exercises conducted or arranged through the state or parish government, and that animal rescue, evacuation and sheltering needs of residents with pets are made a part of those exercises.

            (b)(i) In creating emergency operation plans pursuant to this Paragraph, the parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness may delegate any or all of the evacuation, transportation, sheltering, or other functions delineated herein to the agency with authority over animal control or animal related issues in that parish which shall serve as the primary department or local entity, provided that such primary department or local entity may delegate any or all such functions to public or private agencies with expertise in the areas of animal control, animal sheltering, or animal care. Emergency operation plans created pursuant to this Paragraph shall be submitted to the state office of homeland security and emergency preparedness and to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry on an annual basis with the first of such plans to be submitted on or before August 1, 2006, and on or before March first of each year thereafter.

            (ii) Any parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness that chooses to designate a local parish department or local entity as the primary department or entity authorized to coordinate and provide for the evacuation, transportation, or sheltering of household pets and service animals shall provide written notification to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the state office of homeland security and emergency preparedness as to the primary department's or entity's physical location and contact information. The Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the state office of homeland security and emergency preparedness shall coordinate with such designated primary department or entity as to their duties relative to the evacuation, transportation, and sheltering of household pets and service animals.

            (c) For the purposes of this Paragraph, "household pet" shall mean any domesticated cat, dog, and other domesticated animal normally maintained on the property of the owner or person who cares for such domesticated animal.

            (14) Do other things necessary, incidental, or appropriate for the implementation of this Chapter.

            Acts 1993, No. 800, §1, eff. June 22, 1993; Acts 2003, No. 40, §2, eff. May 23, 2003; Acts 2006, No. 615, §1, eff. June 23, 2006; Acts 2009, No. 24, §2, eff. June 12, 2009; Acts 2014, No. 811, §15, eff. June 23, 2014; Acts 2022, No. 526, §1, eff. June 16, 2022.