Emergency Planning

2024 DRAFT Kansas Region G Hazard Mitigation Plan

Local Emergency Operations Plan (LEOP)

**Approved by Kansas Division of Emergency Management on August 2, 2022, and is now awaiting local adoption by the county**

The Local Emergency Operations Plan (LEOP) is designed to address natural and manmade hazards that could adversely affect the County. The LEOP applies to all county government departments and agencies that are tasked to provide assistance in a disaster or emergency situation. It describes the fundamental policies, strategies and general concept of operations to be used in control of the emergency from its onset through the post disaster phase.

The LEOP is an all-hazards plan that addresses evacuations; sheltering; post-disaster response and recovery; deployment of resources; communications, and warning systems. It also defines the responsibilities of county departments and volunteer organizations. The LEOP describes the basic strategies, assumptions and mechanisms through which the County will mobilize resources and conduct activities to guide and support local emergency management efforts through preparedness, response, recovery and prevention. To facilitate effective operations, the LEOP adopts a functional approach that groups the types of assistance to be provided into 15 Emergency Support Functions (ESF). The 15 LEOP ESFs mirror the National Response Framework (NRF) and the Kansas Response Plan (KRP).

The Basic Plan provides an overview of emergency organization and policies. It describes the overall approach to disaster response and recovery operations and assigns responsibilities for emergency tasks. The ESF Annexes detail the organization, roles and responsibilities of government and cooperating agencies for coordinating emergency response and recovery efforts. Special Incident Annexes are designed for those emergency response and recovery activities unique to a particular hazard.

Sedgwick County Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan

The 2019 Sedgwick County Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan takes risk assessment and hazard vulnerability information developed from the All-Hazards Analysis and proceeds to identify sustained actions that reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards and their effects. Mitigation focuses on breaking the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. This plan is a federal requirement under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and provides for mitigation funding and other federal funded programs.

Business Continuity Planning

Primary Goal and Purpose

To increase the likelihood of business survival in the event of a disaster. The purpose of a business continuity plan is to restore an organization’s critical business operations as quickly as possible after an unforeseen disruption. This will minimize its operational and financial impact.

Concerns

When the economic climate is favorable, business continuity planning is not a priority. Even when profits are down, business continuity planning is the first item to be cut from the budget. About 60 percent of businesses suffering a catastrophic loss due to a disaster were not in business two years later. No data is available to identify the financial health of the survivors and the size of surviving organizations is unknown. However, larger organizations tend to have a better chance as they have the resources to return readily to normal operations.

Many disasters result in common problems such as flood, fire, high winds and even power failure which may require the organization to relocate to continue operations. Developing a full-scale business continuity plan requires time and resources. Evidence of a successful business continuity plan in disaster recovery had been attributed to the use of an effective planning methodology, carefully customized for the organization.

Possible Impacts

The need for business continuity plans for an organization cannot be over-emphasized to include the following reasons:

The failure to deliver its critical services to customers can result in:

In general, the tangible loss to any organization includes:

The potential effect of a disaster to an organization can result in:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the General Services Administration (GSA) have created templates that can be used by both private government and public businesses in the creation of Continuity of Operation Plans (COOP). An interim emergency plan template developed by Forbes Calamity Prevention is a good starting tool until a COOP is created. A review of Sedgwick County’s Hazards Analysis Plan can assist in identifying known hazards that have or could potentially impact businesses. Please contact Sedgwick County Emergency Management at 660-5959 if you have any questions, would like further assistance in COOP, or to review your plans.

Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)

The mission of the Sedgwick County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) shall be to fulfill the requirements of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, commonly known as SARA Title III. In addition, the LEPC shall be an all-hazards planning committee to include information sharing, community planning, exercise design/implementation, the critique of emergency incidents—real or exercised, other activities aimed at efficient, compassionate, and rapid response to disaster survivors’, caregivers’, and workers’ needs in times of disasters.

As required by the Emergency Planning and Community-Right-to-Know Act (Public Law 99-499) and K.S.A. 65-5701 et seq., the public is provided with notice through this web site that Emergency Operations Plans, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) and Tier II forms have been submitted by the regulated business entities within Sedgwick County and are available for inspection at Sedgwick County Emergency Management, 714 N. Main St., Wichita, Kansas 67203 during normal business hours from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Public Notice

Accessibility of Sara Title III Hazardous Substance Information

Section 324 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), also known as the SARA Title III (Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, PL99-499), requires public notice at least once annually informing the public of the means to access information about extremely hazardous substances that are manufactured, stored, and used within their community. Follow-up emergency notices may subsequently be issued.

Accordingly, information concerning Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meetings, and SARA Title III hazardous material planning which is included in our Sedgwick County Emergency Operations Plan, and the South-Central Kansas Regional Commodity Flow Study, can be requested during normal business hours by contacting Emergency Management at (316) 660-5959 and press “4”, or by emailing lepc@sedgwick.gov. Requests for review of hazardous chemical inventory forms (Tier I and II) listing extremely hazardous substances manufactured, stored, or used within Sedgwick County must be submitted by writing to the same email address mentioned.

The LEPC meeting schedule can be found here.

Membership of the LEPC as a minimum shall consist of representatives of the following and in accordance with EPCRA Section 301(c)

Other Information:

2014 South Central Kansas Regional Commodity Flow Study

The purpose of the 2014 South Central Kansas Regional Commodity Flow Study is to compile data on the transportation of extremely hazardous substances and oil/petroleum products that traverse local communities in the 19 counties that comprise the Region as well as provide critical information to first responders on the transportation routes and hazardous materials commodities shipped within their local jurisdiction that can affect their citizens.