Report 2019-103 Recommendation 5 Responses

Report 2019-103: California Is Not Adequately Prepared to Protect Its Most Vulnerable Residents From Natural Disasters (Release Date: December 2019)

Recommendation #5 To: Butte, County of

To ensure that the county maintains updated emergency plans that are consistent with current best practices, the county should adopt ordinances establishing requirements for the frequency with which the county must update its emergency plans and should set that frequency at no greater than five years.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2023

Butte County strives to follow best practices in any type of planning. Emergency Operations Plans are living documents that should be reviewed and updated after exercises, events, and when best practices are shared. Butte County OEM will strive to update its EOP in accordance with industry standards but will not limit the plans through creation of arbitrary deadlines or ordinance.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

We stand by our recommendation that Butte adopt an ordinance requiring more frequent updates to its emergency plans. Such an ordinance would not prevent Butte from updating its plans after exercises or events, as Butte's response implies. Instead, it would implement a legal requirement, which would better ensure that the county maintains updated plans in line with current best practices for protecting people with access and functional needs during emergencies. As we describe in the report, at the time of our audit Butte's emergency plans were significantly outdated. For example, its alert and warning plan did not discuss its addition of a major federal alert and warning system to its alert and warning strategies.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

As we note in our report, FEMA guidance states that maintaining updated plans is critical to the continued utility of those plans and that local jurisdictions should review and update their plans at least every two years. It further states that outdated plans can cause setbacks for local jurisdictions because of old information, ineffective procedures, incorrect role assignments, and outdated laws. However, at the time we published our report, Butte County had not updated its emergency operations plan in more than eight years. Establishing a required timeline for updating its emergency plans would not result in an "arbitrary deadline," rather it would require Butte County to update its plans consistent with best practices.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

We stand by our recommendation that Butte adopt an ordinance requiring more frequent updates to its emergency plans. Such an ordinance would implement a legal requirement, which would better ensure that the county maintains updated plans in line with current best practices for protecting people with access and functional needs during emergencies.

We noted in our report that Butte had not updated its emergency plans since 2011 and that weaknesses in Butte's emergency plans support FEMA's observations about potential problems with outdated plans. Some of the response strategies that Butte's plans describe are not reflective of more recent changes to Butte's actual response processes. Therefore, by not committing to update its emergency plans on a regular basis, Butte remains at risk of maintaining outdated emergency plans.

1-Year Agency Response

Butte County strives to follow best practices in any type of planning. Butte County will convene a committee and invite representatives of the populations described in the recommendation and hold periodic meetings for input on emergency plans once there are financial and staff resources available for planning purposes. Staff will provide written updates to the Board of Supervisors during the planning process and post the updates to the County's Office of Emergency Management website for the public. Butte County will consider the best tool for the participants to provide feedback on the plan to the Board of Supervisors

Estimated Completion Date: on going
Response Date: December 2020

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

6-Month Agency Response

The County will consider adopting an ordinance as recommended, though it will have a caveat that it is a goal and not a requirement and will recognize that future disasters or competing priorities for limited resources may make meeting the frequency goal difficult.

Estimated Completion Date: as practical
Response Date: June 2020

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

As stated in our response to Butte's 60 day update on our recommendations, we recommended that Butte adopt an ordinance establishing requirements for the frequency with which it updates its plans because of the importance of maintaining updated emergency plans. A county ordinance would be a stronger commitment than simply making maintaining updated plans a goal because it would make that commitment a legal requirement. This recommendation will not be fully implemented until the county adopts ordinances as the recommendation indicates.

60-Day Agency Response

Estimated Completion Date: as practical
Response Date: January 2020

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

We recommended that Butte adopt an ordinance establishing requirements for the frequency with which it updates its plans because of the importance of maintaining updated emergency plans. A county ordinance would be a stronger commitment than simply making maintaining updated plans a goal because it would make that commitment a legal requirement. This recommendation will not be fully implemented until the county adopts ordinances as the recommendation indicates.

All Recommendations in 2019-103

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.