 Hi, California. I'm Andrew Rush with the Planning Division in the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, or Cal OES. Welcome to the 2023 California State Emergency Plan, or SEP, Public Comment Review webinar. In this presentation, I will provide brief discussions on the following topics. A general overview of the SEP, an explanation of whole community planning, the importance of the state emergency plan, a summary of changes between the old plan and the 2023 plan, important updates and new content in the 2023 plan, an explanation of the public comment process, the path to finalize and publish the new state emergency plan, and a short conclusion that shares contact information. The California State Emergency Plan is important because it provides a consistent statewide framework for emergency management and follows the California Standardized Emergency Management System. This plan is always in effect and applies to all levels of state government. It describes methods for conducting emergency operations, rendering mutual aid, and mobilization of resources during disasters. It also discusses emergency services of governmental agencies, continuity of operations and government during and after disasters, and public information alerts. The SEP incorporates the principles and requirements of emergency management for federal and state laws, regulations, and guidelines. Cal OES is responsible for updating and maintaining the SEP. With this update, we are using a whole community planning approach. What does this mean? Governor Newsom has said, California doesn't succeed in spite of our diversity. Our state succeeds because of it. The state is committed to improving the cultural competency of its emergency management system and making emergency mitigation, planning, response, and recovery efforts more equity centered. We do this by involving individuals and families, individuals with access and functional needs, businesses, faith-based and community organizations, nonprofit groups, schools and academia, media outlets, and all levels of government. Engagement with and understanding of the needs of communities that experience higher risk, a lack of access, or have vulnerabilities helps create a healthier and more resilient state for all residents. You are an important part of this planning process. Thank you for taking the time to view this webinar and review the draft plan. We look forward to receiving your comments. California faces a number of natural and human-caused hazards. In the last six years, there were no fewer than 80 proclaimed states of emergency. Let's look back at some of them to understand why the state emergency plan is important. In 2017, two disasters stood out. In the city of Oroville and Butte County, the Oroville Dam emergency spillway failure led to the mandatory evacuation of 188,000 Californians. Though damaged, neither the main or emergency spillway failed, and both have since been repaired. Later that year, the Tubbs Fire in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties destroyed 5,643 homes and structures. 22 people lost their lives during the wildfire. In early 2018, the Montecito mudslide occurred. It was the result of the Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties the year before that left burn scars in the hills above the town of Montecito. These burn scars were vulnerable to atmospheric river storms and resulted in a mudslide in January that killed 23 people and destroyed 130 homes. And then, in November, the Camp Fire in Butte County burned through the towns of Paradise and Magalia. 19,000 homes and businesses were destroyed and some 50,000 people were displaced. The fire resulted in 85 fatalities and $2 billion in cleanup and debris removal costs. In 2019, on July 4th, the Ridgecrest earthquake rocked Kern County with 6.4 and 5.4 magnitude foreshocks, followed two days later by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. It was the most powerful earthquake in nearly 20 years. In late October, the Kincaid Fire in Sonoma County burned over 77,000 acres and damaged or destroyed 434 homes, businesses, and structures. In 2020, we had multiple simultaneous disasters, including the coronavirus or COVID-19. The pandemic caused a widespread health crisis that tested emergency management concepts and required innovative approaches in emergency response as the virus mutated. To date, over 4 million hospitalizations and more than 103,000 deaths have occurred in California. Civil unrest during the summer months resulted in arson, looting, and vandalism across several cities in the state. The law enforcement mutual aid system, or Lima, was activated to protect businesses, public buildings, and communities. The August complex fire burned across Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tejama, Glen, Lake, and Colusa counties to become the state's first megafire by scorching over 1,032,000 acres. Overall, the 2020 fire season saw nearly 10,000 fires ravage the state, burning over 4.2 million acres, and causing 33 fatalities. In 2021, as vaccine production was ramping up, Cal OAS teamed up with FEMA to sponsor two COVID mass vaccination sites at the Oakland Coliseum and on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles, for an eight-week campaign that ran from mid-February to mid-April. The clinic successfully administered more than 546,000 doses of vaccine. Later in the fall, the Dixie Fire left the town of Greenville and Plumas County a smoldering ruin. The fire burned over 963,000 acres across five counties, becoming the largest single-source fire and the second largest fire in California history. Last year, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck near Ferndale in Humboldt County on December 20. The tremor resulted in two indirect deaths and 17 injuries. 29,000 people lost power for multiple days, and 150 homes, businesses, and schools were damaged or destroyed, as were many state and local roadways. As 2022 came to an end, the first in a series of atmospheric river storms hit California, dropping record amounts of rain and snow, leading to flooding throughout the state and isolating several mountain communities. Recovery from the impacts of these storms is still ongoing. There are many changes in the 2023 SEP. A comparison between the 2017 plan and the 2023 plan reveals these enhancements. The 2023 state emergency plan has 367 pages versus 209 pages in the 2017 plan, 91 hyperlinks linking readers to important references and documents. The 2017 plan did not have any hyperlinks. 30 exhibits versus just 13 exhibits in the previous plan, and 71 endnotes up from 36 endnotes in order to support the new information. The 2023 plan has a 75% increase in content, much of which is related to the addition of the California Recovery Framework, not in the 2017 plan. In 2017, whole community planning referred to all levels of government, private sector, and non-governmental organizations active in emergency response. Today, whole community planning includes all those entities and the individuals and communities most impacted by disaster. Therefore, the 2023 plan includes an increased integration of access and functional needs, cultural competency, equity, and climate resiliency. In the 2023 SEP, demographic information has been refreshed, as well as the discussions on the economy, major industries, and geography. Lessons learned in after-action reporting were used to expand the hazards discussion, especially related to floods, extreme heat, wildfires, earthquakes, public safety power shutoffs, or PSPS, and pandemics. The updated plan includes expanded information on emergency preparedness programs, grant funding, and preparedness training and exercises. Other updates to the SEP are expanded discussions on tribal and international government interactions and on the Enhanced State Hazard Mitigation Plan. The California Emergency Support Functions, or California ESFs, have been updated to match the Federal Emergency Management Agencies, or FEMA's, terminology, and including coordinating, primary, and supporting agencies and departments. State agency roles and responsibilities have been completely refreshed through a comprehensive review undertaken in 2021 between Cal OES and state executive-level agencies. The plan also captures significant updates on the state's Debris Management Task Force and expanded operations in response to the many catastrophic fires California has experienced. Let's move to the new content in the 2023 plan. It's important to understand that the global outbreak of COVID-19 brought unprecedented challenges to the state that tested emergency management concepts. New content in the plan includes the evolution of emergency planning and changes in the state's disaster profile, a summary of recent disaster events and their impacts, a discussion on how climate changes are increasing the intensity of weather-related hazards, a discussion on the increasing threat of cyber attacks and terrorism, and the growing role of the California Cybersecurity Integration Center. California is a leader in scientific and technological advances which Cal OES and other state agencies leverage to enhance the state's overall emergency management system. The updated draft includes new discussions on the adoption of technology and scientific knowledge and the increased use of public-private partnerships that provide valuable advice, assistance, and resources to support emergency response and recovery activities. Additionally, emerging capabilities and emergency response operations were added. The Unified Coordination Group or UCG came to the forefront during COVID-19. The 2023 SEP includes a new discussion on how the UCG directs the state's emergency response through the setting of priorities and objectives and brings together leadership from across the administration. The use of task forces also expanded and there is new content covering their formation and use and how they coordinate with the California ESS. The Medical Health Coordination Center or MHCC also played a significant role over the last few years and its role is explained as well. Discussion has been added on the Air Coordination Group, the Flood Operations Center, the New Fire and Rescue Coordination Center, and the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center or WIFTIC. The WIFTIC serves as the state's central organizing hub for wildfire forecasting, threat intelligence, and data sharing. The 2023 SEP also includes new information on the Cal OES and FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams which provide incident management support to local government. Lastly, the updated SEP now incorporates the California Disaster Recovery Framework or CDRF, adopted by the state in 2019. The CDRF describes the concepts and principles to promote effective state recovery assistance. With the adoption of the CDRF, the Cal OES Recovery Branch was reorganized and now includes the Interagency Recovery Coordination Section or IRC. The recovery section of the SEP has been completely rewritten to reflect all these changes, including a section on the California Recovery Support Functions or California RSFs. There is new information on secure and accessible emergency notifications for the public and the New Earthquake Warning California that uses an integrated network of seismic sensors and processing stations to alert people and initiate life-saving automated actions before surface-shaking arrives. The 2023 SEP also has new information on alert and warning guidelines developed for local government officials, including an extensive library of multilingual prescripted emergency notification templates. Ensuring individuals and communities are better prepared to respond to disasters improves our overall resilience and recovery. The 2023 plan has added a section covering preparedness campaigns that occur throughout the year, including National Preparedness Month, the Great Shakeout, Leistos, California, and the Preparedness Ambassadors Program, a statewide-approved curriculum for fourth-grade students. Lastly, there is new information on the state's plan for the preservation, maintenance, and reconstitution of government to ensure the continuity of governmental operations during and after disasters. We want to hear from you. The 2023 SEP Public Comment Review period began on August 1, 2023, and will end on October 2. We've extended the comment period another 17 days based on continuing public interest and disruptions like the recent tropical storm impacts in Southern California. The SEP Coordinating Draft, Comment, Form, and other information will be available for download on this website. The site includes an introduction video available in English and Spanish, a downloadable copy of the SEP Coordinating Draft, and forms to electronically submit your comments and to request a presentation. Presentations by the SEP planning staff are available for, but not limited to, federal, state, and local agencies along with professional associations and community-based organizations involved with emergency response and recovery. The presentation is not intended for product or service demonstrations, and the form is not an advertisement, solicitation, or invitation for any products or services. Presentations may be offered in person or virtually based on staff availability. The public comment form available online is intuitive and easy to use. Instructions are provided at the top of the form. Each form submission allows up to 15 comments. There is no limit on the number of form submissions an individual may make. Respondents will receive an email confirming receipt of their submission. A copy of their comments may be requested by checking the box at the bottom of the submission form before submitting it. If you need to submit comments through regular mail, a paper copy of the comment form is available by request by calling the SEP message line at 916-845-8698 or by emailing SEPUpdate at caloes.ca.gov. Mailed comments must be postmarked no later than October 2, 2023. Comments received during the comment period will be reviewed by the SEP planning team and adjudicated as appropriate. Once all public comments are adjudicated, the 2023 SEP will be finalized. The final draft will be reviewed by the Cal OES executive team and forwarded to the governor for final review and comments. Once final edits are incorporated, the SEP will be returned to the governor for approval and signature. Cal OES anticipates publishing the 2023 California State Emergency Plan in December 2023. Socialization of the plan with emergency partners and stakeholders will begin in early 2024. Thank you for watching this webinar and for reviewing the State Emergency Plan. Questions related to the review process or comment form may be emailed to the planning team at SEPUpdate at caloes.ca.gov or you may leave a comment on our phone message line at 916-845-8698. Thank you.