Directive No. 104

March 31, 1988

Subject: Joint Emergency Management Councils

  1. PURPOSE:

    To enable municipalities with special needs, resource deficiencies or geographical limitations to form Joint Emergency Management Councils as a method to provide an improved and comprehensive Emergency Management program for each of the participating municipalities.

  2. ELIGIBILITY:

  • 2.1 Municipalities wishing to form a joint emergency management council must demonstrate an extraordinary need which must meet one or more of the following criteria:

    2.1.1 Limitations of geography; such as, a municipality surrounded by another municipality or a municipality located on a peninsula, which thereby greatly reduces direct mutual aid assistance.

    2.1.2 Limitations of population which do not provide an ample pool of residents to plan for, or respond to an emergency in an acceptable manner.

    2.1.3 Limitations of resources in several areas which cause a municipality to seek assistance from other jurisdictions for planning and emergency response.

    2.1.4 Limitations of other factors or circumstances which, in the opinion of the State Director, warrant that approval of a joint emergency management council.

  1. PROCEDURE

  • 3.1 Municipalities must make application on their official letterhead with supporting documentation demonstrating need to the State Director

    3.2 Application shall be submitted through the County and regional State Offices of Emergency Management for the review and concurrence of each Coordinator

    3.3 The State Director will review the application and if in his opinion there is a clear demonstration of need, approval will be given and notification forwarded to each municipal coordinator and to the county and regional coordinator

    3.4 On approval, each participating municipality shall be resolution, agree to the formation of and the participation in a joint council.

    3.5 Each municipality shall, by resolution, appoint an Emergency Management Coordinator and Deputy.

    3.6 The participating Emergency Management Coordinators shall select an Executive Coordinator approved by the governing bodies of each of the participating municipalities by resolution .

    3.7 The Executive Coordinator shall be chairperson of the Joint Emergency Management Council and shall have responsibility for all planning, programs and activities of the joint emergency management council.

    3.8 The duties and responsibilities of the municipal emergency management coordinators shall be as stated in state statute (N.J.S.A. A:0-33 et seq.), and also include coordinating the full participation of municipal agencies and resources in planning, programs and emergency response of joint emergency management council.

  1. MEMBERSHIP OF JOINT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL

    4.1 The membership of the joint emergency management council shall be selected by the municipal emergency management coordinators, with approval by resolution of the participating municipalities. The coordinators of each municipality shall be members and the executive Coordinator shall be the chairperson of the joint emergency management council.

      Other members should include representatives from the key emergency response agencies from within the participating jurisdictions which shall conform to State criteria.

    4.2 The responsibility of the joint emergency management council is to ensure that all the emergency management requirements of each municipality are met and that the joint Emergency Operations Plan equally meets the needs of each municipality.
  2. THE JOINT EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN

  • 5.1 The participating municipalities shall together, develop an Emergency Operations Plan that coordinates all resources of each jurisdiction for use during an emergency or disaster in one or all municipalities.

    5.2 The plan shall conform to state criteria for plan development and submission. It shall have the approval of each mayor and each coordinator.
    Clinton L. Pagano.