GOVERNORVol. 28 Iss. 2 - September 26, 2011
GOVERNOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 38 (2011)
Declaration of a State of Emergency for the Commonwealth of Virginia Due to a 5.8 Magnitude Earthquake and Aftershocks Affecting Localities throughout Virginia
Importance of the Issue
On August 23, 2011, I verbally declared a state of emergency to exist for the Commonwealth of Virginia based on a 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurring on August 23, 2011 and a series of aftershocks that affected localities throughout the Commonwealth.
The health and general welfare of the citizens require that state action be taken to help alleviate the conditions caused by this situation. The effects of this earthquake constitute a disaster wherein human life and public and private property are imperiled, as described in § 44-146.16 of the Code of Virginia.
Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by § 44-146.17 of the Code of Virginia, as Governor and as Director of Emergency Management, and by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article V, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia and by § 44-75.1 of the Code of Virginia, as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Commonwealth, and subject always to my continuing and ultimate authority and responsibility to act in such matters, I hereby confirm, ratify, and memorialize in writing my verbal orders issued on August 23, 2011, whereby I proclaimed that a state of emergency exists and directed that appropriate assistance be rendered by agencies of both state and local governments to alleviate any conditions resulting from significant events, and to implement recovery and mitigation operations and activities so as to return impacted areas to pre-event conditions in so far as possible.
In order to marshal all public resources and appropriate preparedness, response, and recovery measures to meet this threat and recover from its effects, and in accordance with my authority contained in § 44-146.17 of the Code of Virginia, I hereby order the following protective and restoration measures:
A. Implementation by agencies of the state and local governments of the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan (COVEOP), as amended, along with other appropriate state agency plans.
B. Activation of the Virginia Emergency Operations Center (VEOC) and the Virginia Emergency Response Team (VERT) to coordinate the provision of assistance to local governments. I am directing that the VEOC and VERT coordinate state actions in support of affected localities, other mission assignments to agencies designated in the COVEOP and to others that may be identified by the State Coordinator of Emergency Management, in consultation with the Secretary of Public Safety, which are needed to provide for the preservation of life, protection of property, and implementation of recovery activities.
C. The authorization to assume control over the Commonwealth's state-operated telecommunications systems, as required by the State Coordinator of Emergency Management, in coordination with the Virginia Information Technology Agency, and with the consultation of the Secretary of Public Safety, making all systems assets available for use in providing adequate communications, intelligence and warning capabilities for the event, pursuant to § 44-146.18 of the Code of Virginia.
D. The activation, implementation, and coordination of appropriate mutual aid agreements and compacts, including the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), and the authorization of the State Coordinator of Emergency Management to enter into any other supplemental agreements, pursuant to § 44-146.17(5) and § 44-146.28:1 of the Code of Virginia, to provide for the evacuation and reception of injured and other persons and the exchange of medical, fire, police, public utility, reconnaissance, welfare, transportation and communications personnel, and equipment and supplies. The State Coordinator of Emergency Management is hereby designated as Virginia's authorized representative within the meaning of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, § 44-146.28:1 of the Code of Virginia.
E. The authorization of the Departments of State Police, Transportation, and Motor Vehicles to grant temporary overweight, over width, registration, or license exemptions to all carriers transporting essential emergency relief supplies or providing restoration of utilities (electricity, gas, phone, water, wastewater, and cable) in and through any area of the Commonwealth in order to support the disaster response and recovery, regardless of their point of origin or destination.
All over width loads, up to a maximum of 12 feet, must follow Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) hauling permit and safety guidelines.
In addition to described overweight/over width transportation privileges, carriers are also exempt from registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles. This includes vehicles in route and returning to their home base. The above-cited agencies shall communicate this information to all staff responsible for permit issuance and truck legalization enforcement.
Authorization of the State Coordinator of Emergency Management to grant limited exemption of hours worked for carriers when transporting passengers, property, equipment, food, fuel, construction materials, and other critical supplies to or from any portion of the Commonwealth for purpose of providing relief or assistance as a result of this disaster, pursuant to § 52-8.4 of the Code of Virginia and Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 390.23 and Section 395.3.
The foregoing overweight/over width transportation privileges as well as the regulatory exemption provided by § 52-8.4(A) of the Code of Virginia, and implemented in § 19 VAC 30-20-40(B) of the "Motor Carrier Safety Regulations," shall remain in effect for 30 days from the onset of the disaster or until emergency relief is no longer necessary, as determined by the Secretary of Public Safety in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, whichever is earlier.
F. The discontinuance of provisions authorized in paragraph E above may be implemented and disseminated by publication of administrative notice to all affected and interested parties by the authority I hereby delegate to the Secretary of Public Safety, after consultation with other affected Cabinet-level Secretaries.
G. The authorization of a maximum of $100,000 for matching funds for the Individuals and Household Program, authorized by The Stafford Act (when presidentially authorized), to be paid from state funds.
H. The implementation by public agencies under my supervision and control of their emergency assignments as directed in the COVEOP without regard to normal procedures pertaining to performance of public work, entering into contracts, incurring of obligations or other logistical and support measures of the Emergency Services and Disaster Laws, as provided in § 44-146.28(b) of the Code of Virginia. Section 44-146.24 of the Code of Virginia also applies to the disaster activities of state agencies.
I. Designation of members and personnel of volunteer, auxiliary, and reserve groups including search and rescue (SAR), Virginia Associations of Volunteer Rescue Squads, Civil Air Patrol, member organizations of the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services, volunteer fire fighters, Citizen Corps Programs such as Medical Reserve Corps, Citizen Emergency Response Teams, and others identified and tasked by the State Coordinator of Emergency Management for specific disaster related mission assignments as representatives of the Commonwealth engaged in emergency services activities within the meaning of the immunity provisions of § 44-146.23(A) and (F) of the Code of Virginia, in the performance of their specific disaster-related mission assignments.
J. The authorization of appropriate oversight boards, commissions, and agencies to ease building code restrictions and to permit emergency demolition, hazardous waste disposal, debris removal, emergency landfill siting, and operations and other activities necessary to address immediate health and safety needs without regard to time-consuming procedures or formalities and without regard to application or permit fees or royalties.
K. The activation of the statutory provisions in § 59.1-525 et seq. of the Code of Virginia related to price gouging. Price gouging at any time is unacceptable. Price gouging is even more reprehensible after a natural disaster. I have directed all applicable executive branch agencies to take immediate action to address any verified reports of price gouging of necessary goods or services. I make the same request of the Office of the Attorney General and appropriate local officials.
Upon my approval, the costs incurred by state agencies and other agents in performing mission assignments through the VEOC of the Commonwealth as defined herein and in § 44-146.28 of the Code of Virginia shall be paid from state funds and/or federal funds. In addition, up to $100,000 shall be made available for state response and recovery operations and incident documentation, with the Department of Planning and Budget overseeing the release of these funds.
Effective Date of this Executive Order
This Executive Order shall be effective retroactively to August 23, 201l, and shall remain in full force and effect until June 30, 2012, unless sooner amended or rescinded by further executive order.
Given under my hand and under the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia, this 31st day of August, 2011.
/s/ Robert F. McDonnell
Governor
EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 39 (2011)
Multidisciplinary Taskforce on Economic Competitiveness and Versatility
Importance of the Issue
The Commonwealth of Virginia continues to be recognized by many as the most business-friendly, entrepreneurial, and dynamic economy in the nation. Maintaining this status requires the constant monitoring of market forces; agile adaptation to new information; vigilance against new programs and trends that would extend government beyond core services; and swift response even to risk factors outside of our immediate legislative or budgetary control. Modern Virginians are the beneficiaries of over a century of sound fiscal management and we will pass that good inheritance to future generations. Virginia has held its treasured AAA bond rating from each of the three rating agencies longer than any other state in the Union.
Today we are faced with the stark reality that our federal government has not followed Virginia's example of thrift, moderation, and restraint. For the first time, the credit rating of the world's greatest economy has been downgraded by at least one rating agency. While we may doubt the wisdom and timing of that downgrade, there is no doubt that the size, scope, debt, and spending of the federal government has grown at an unconscionable and unsustainable pace. Because it has not lived within its means for decades, the federal government is now forced to take bold steps to change course. Virginia welcomes those necessary and inevitable federal budget reforms and will, as it has in every prior change of course in federal spending, do its part in preparing for the impact and come out stronger than before. That includes a continuing effort to diversify our state's economy into multiple high and long-term growth sectors.
The connection between Virginia and the federal government is well-known both politically and economically, but difficult to accurately quantify. Less than five percent of Virginia workers are federal employees; moreover, 92 percent of all the jobs created since February 2010 are in the private sector. Still "[t]he people of Virginia are acutely aware of the integral role military and national security facilities play in the economic vitality of the Commonwealth. The estimated $56 billion the Department of Defense alone is projected to spend in the Commonwealth in 2010 translates to business for Virginia and high-quality jobs for our citizens." (Governor's Exec. Order No. 22 (2010))
In 2009, Virginia ranked first among the states in total per capita federal expenditures. The Commonwealth also ranked first in per capita spending for procurement, second in defense spending, fourth in salaries and wages, and fifth in retirement and disability payments. Conversely, Virginia ranked 39th in per capita federal spending for direct payments and next to last in per capita federal grant spending. Because of this wide diversity in the measurement of federal spending in Virginia, and because we do not know what form anticipated federal reforms will take, we have to take steps now to prepare for the potential impact on our revenue from personal withholdings and corporate income taxes, as well as the secondary impact on sales and other taxes. In addition, while we have a relatively low unemployment rate around 6 percent, there are far too many Virginians out of work. We must continue to focus our efforts on the expansion, retention, and recruitment of jobs.
Virginia will be vigilant in protecting the military and national security assets located in the Commonwealth as authorized in Executive Order 22, but must continuously seek new opportunities for growth. To that end, the Lieutenant Governor, in his capacity as Chief Job Creation Officer, will be charged with leading a multidisciplinary taskforce to identify strategies to further strengthen the Commonwealth's economic diversity and competitiveness in light of future federal action.
To accomplish this, in accordance with the authority vested in me by Article V of the Constitution of Virginia and by Section 2.2-134 of the Code of Virginia, I hereby create the Multidisciplinary Taskforce on Economic Competitiveness and Versatility.
The Multidisciplinary Taskforce on Economic Competitiveness and Versatility
The Taskforce will consist of the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of Finance, the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, the Secretary of Technology, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, the Senior Economic Advisor, the Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the President and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, as well as others appointed by the Governor who will serve at his pleasure and at his discretion.
The Multidisciplinary Taskforce's responsibilities shall include the following:
1. Analyze and report to the Governor the state of Virginia's workforce and its degree of versatility to respond to future contraction in federal spending, both in terms of individual regions and economic sectors.
2. Identify appropriate opportunities for further diversifying Virginia's economy to help reduce private sector reliance on federal spending and provide alternative employment for potentially displaced federal workers.
3. Receive from the private sector, economic development allies, institutions of higher education, legislators, elected officials, and other interested parties ideas for promoting Virginia's economic versatility and analyzing those ideas for further action by the Governor.
4. Manage the communication among the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction as established in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law No: 112-25), and the Virginia congressional delegation relative to any budget reform proposals and their impacts on the Commonwealth.
5. Quantify and report to the Governor the impact to the Commonwealth, its subdivisions, and private industry of any such proposals to address the federal deficit.
6. Identify the regions, localities, and economic sectors most readily affected by federal contraction or budget reform proposals.
7. Support and foster collaboration among local and regional entities in identifying appropriate strategies for adaptation to changes in federal spending and policies.
8. Determine the best and most efficient manner to foster and promote business, technology, transportation, education, economic development and other efforts to support, attract and retain a broad array of new private sector businesses to the Commonwealth.
9. Determine, in conjunction with the Commission on National Security Facilities, the best and most efficient manner to foster and promote business, technology, transportation, education, economic development and other efforts to support and retain existing military and non-military national security facilities in the Commonwealth.
10. Inform the Governor on a regular basis on all pertinent findings and recommendations.
Multidisciplinary Taskforce Staffing and Funding
Necessary staff support for the Multidisciplinary Taskforce's work during its existence shall be furnished by the Office of the Governor and the Office of the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, and such other agencies and offices as designated by the Governor. An estimated 150 hours of staff time will be required to support the work of the Interagency Taskforce. No public funds will be expended in support of this Taskforce.
The Taskforce shall report quarterly, beginning on October 1, 2011, to the Governor and shall issue such other reports and recommendations as necessary or as requested by the Governor.
Effective Date of the Executive Order
This Executive Order shall be effective upon its signing and pursuant to Section 2.2-135 of the Code of Virginia shall remain in force and effect until August 31, 2012, unless amended or rescinded by further executive order.
Given under my hand and under the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia, this 1st day of September 2011.
/s/ Robert F. McDonnell
Governor
