Audit critical of emergency planning agency

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008 | 3:13 p.m.

CARSON CITY – The state Division of Emergency Management came under sharp criticism in a report by the legislative auditor.

The division, which leads the state in recovering from a disaster or attack, “has not adequately monitored and evaluated emergency operation plans or emergency response plans” prepared by other state and local government agencies.

Despite dispensing millions of dollars every year from the federal government, it “has not adequately tracked emergency equipment” purchased with the money.

Frank Siracusa, chief of emergency planning, says he “strongly disagrees” with legislative auditors. In many cases, he said his agency does not have the authority to oversee the emergency plans of local governments. Auditors have misconstrued the law, he said.

Audit Supervisor Jane Bailey reported to a legislative committee today that as a result of the weaknesses in the division “the state has little assurance that all state agencies, local jurisdictions, schools and school districts, resort hotels and tribes have prepared plans to meet federal requirements or will assist the entities in responding to emergencies.”

She said the division “lacks a system to quickly obtain information on equipment that may be needed to respond to certain types of emergencies or disasters.”

For instance, the audit said there was a lack of adequate oversight of emergency response plans for resort hotels. It tested the files for 15 resorts and found there were no plans for seven of them. State law requires resort hotels to adopt and maintain a plan in case of an emergency.

Of the eight plans on file with the division, all had deficiencies.

When the law was passed requiring the emergency plans, Siracusa said his agency was advised by the Legislative Counsel Bureau that its only responsibility was to receive and file the emergency plans.

The audit said the same thing held true for school districts. The auditors tested five school districts and charter schools “and found no evidence of plans” for any of them. Siracusa again said it had advice from the counsel bureau’s fiscal staff that its only responsibility was to receive and file the emergency plans.

Federal funds received by the emergency planning division in 2007 totaled $24.8 million and it dispensed 80 grants. There have been eight federally declared disaster areas from 1997 to 2007.

Bailey reported the division “has not been proactive in ensuring local jurisdictions and other entities throughout the state are prepared for emergencies.” During the audit, emergency management could not find emergency disaster plans for 53 of 95 state agencies, local jurisdictions, schools, resort hotels and tribal nations.

And there was little documentation that the state worked with these governments to encourage them to prepare or update their plans, said the audit.

For instance, there was no emergency plan on file with the state agency from the Clark County School District. But Clark County had an emergency plan on file with the state.

A sample of state agencies showed only 17 of 50 had filed emergency response plans.

Siracusa said the audit “is clearly a misrepresentation of the division’s capabilities, since the division has demonstrated through consistent performance the state’s ability to effectively and expeditiously respond to and recover from eight disasters since 2004, including the recent Fernley flood.”

And he said the division doesn’t have the staff to assist these local governments and others governments in preparing their disaster recovery plans.