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12/19/2001 Monroe County Emergency Management 2002-2003 E.M.P.A.T.F. Project Proposal Hazardous Materials Response Team Equipment Monroe County Emergency Management Hazardous Materials Response Team Equipment Letter of Transmittal Monroe County has never had a Hazardous Materials Response Team. There are several reasons for this, most notable are budget constraints associated with start-up costs. However it has long been agreed that this is one critical area in emergency response that can and should be addressed. Given the unique nature of the geography on the county, and the recent events and threatened events around the world involving the potential release of large amounts of chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction, it is obvious that the county should take steps to ensure a local response capability. Currently, Monroe County relies upon the Miami-Dade County hazardous materials response team. Miami-Dade has responded to Monroe County once during the previous ten years, and has provided technical guidance via telephone on two other occasions. The low volume of hazardous materials incidents should not be considered as a lack of potential hazards being present. Rather, the number of hazardous materials shipments, both large and small traveling the main access roadway is increasing. In much the same way that hurricane planning as a matter of if rather than when, it is not an over-estimate to assume that it is only a matter of time before Monroe County is faced with a technical hazardous materials incident beyond the current ability to respond locally. As mentioned above, current events related to terrorism, both credible and non-credible, simply increase the imperative nature of being able to respond safely to hazardous materials incidents. Life safety is a primary concern. The primary question of need revolves around the ability to rescue a first responder or other victim. Waiting for a response from outside the county could prove to be fatal for a downed first responding fire-fighter or law enforcement officer. The Monroe County Fire Marshal's Office, who would oversee all aspects of this proposal, is applying to purchase enough initial related equipment to outfit one hazardous materials response team. The equipment list is detailed and includes an itemization of costs involved. The proposed project will amount to a total expense of $154,500. The project will likely involve participation from numerous vendors, however all will be required to meet the requirements of Monroe County's purchasing policies, including the non-collusion requirement. This application is written in good faith and free of any collusion, with the sole intent of acquiring the equipment described. The signer of this application is the Mayor of the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners, who has full authority through that Board, to enter into agreement with the Department of Community Affairs for the completion of this project EMP A COMPETITIVE GRANT APPLICATION TITLE PAGE TITLE OF PROJECT Monroe County Hazardous Materials Response Equipment AMOUNT REQUESTED FROM STATE $ 154,500 AMOUNT MATCHING FUNDS COMMITTED $ 0 This is an application for a competitive grant under (indicate ONLY one): xx 1) Emergency Management Competitive Grant Program, or 2) Municipal Competitive Grant Program The application is submitted for consideration in the following category (select ONLY one): 1) A project that will promote public education on disaster preparedness and recovery issues. 2) A project that will enhance coordination of relief efforts of statewide private sector organizations, including public-private business partnerships. xx 3) A project that will improve the training and operations capabilities of agencies assigned lead or support responsibilities in the State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. 4) A project that will otherwise further state and local emergency management priorities identified in the Notice of Fund Availability. APPLICANT INFORMATION: Name of Organization: Monroe County Emergency Management Address of Organization: 490 63 rd St. Ocean Marathon, FL 33050 E-mail address:ManningJ@mail.state.fl.us Name of Chief Elected Official: Charles "Sonn "McCo Name of Chief Administrative Officer: James L. Roberts Name of Applicant Contact: Jeff Manning ~ Title of Applicant Contact: Emergency Management Planner 0 Telephone Number of Applicant Contact: (305) 289-6325 Federal Employee Identification (FEID) Nu 59-6000749 AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE rMust c application will not be scored] : Signature: Title: 2 Table of Contents Letter of Transmittal Title Page Proposed Project Presentation Budget Detail Statement Regarding County Match Tie Breaker Question 2 4 9 10 11 3 Group I. Monroe County Equipment for Hazardous Materials Response Team Proposed Project Presentation Description of Need, Proposed Solution, Expected benefits 1. The Monroe County Fire Marshal's Office has the lead responsibility for conducting hazardous materials response operations within the County. As the lead agency for Emergency Support Function 10, the Fire Marshal's Office coordinates all aspects of planning, preparation, response to and recovery from hazardous materials incidents, both large scale and isolated events. This aspect of emergency planning has the potential for being critically important due in part to the transportation infrastructure, notably U.S. 1. In the Monroe County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, pages 46 and 47, detail the potential for hazardous materials accidents. Large-scale natural disasters, such as hurricanes, threaten fixed-sight facilities that contain potentially harmful chemicals. Transportation accidents involving hazardous materials can and will continue to threaten the county and its residents. An event representing either scenario will obviously over tax current local resources. Monroe County Fire-Rescue has limited personnel trained in hazardous materials response operations, but without the proper safety equipment to outfit a response team, the County must rely on out of county resources. This can be especially time consuming if a vehicular accident, whether directly involving a hazardous material or one far removed from a Haz-Mat scene, disrupts or prevents traffic flow. Monroe County can and does suffer from events that isolate it from the mainland. One notable recent example was in during the County's preparations for Hurricane Debby in 2000, when a tanker truck carrying gasoline overturned on that section ofU.S.1 known as "the Stretch", between Florida City and Key Largo. In that case, traffic was able to be diverted to Card Sound Road, however the increased traffic volume there soon resulted in another truck accident, effectively cutting off all in and out bound traffic from the Florida Keys. Also, during the wildfires that affected the Everglades in 2001, portions ofU.S.1 and Card Sound Road were repeatedly closed. Had either of these events coincided with a hazardous materials incident elsewhere in the County, an effective, 4 safe, and timely response by the trained and equipped team from Miami- Dade County would have been impossible. Given the likelihood that a large-scale natural disaster, like a hurricane, could threaten the integrity of hazardous materials storage facilities, and the coinciding likelihood that such an event would have a regional impact, most notably on Miami-Dade County, it is quite possible that Miami-Dade County's Hazardous Materials Response Team would be involved in operations in Dade County and would be unavailable for service in Monroe County. The result would be that Monroe County would be forced to wait until Miami-Dade had available resources, or for Monroe to request assistance from other Mutual Aid signatories, or the State. Either of which could potentially result in increased negative impact to the residents of Monroe County. The Monroe County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan identifies 29 facilities which, if impacted by a hazardous materials incident, would have a significant impact on the surrounding geographic area, threatening residents and the sensitive ecology of most areas of the Keys. Transportation accidents involving hazardous materials would also threaten the safety of residents, and would likely stop traffic flow on U.S.1 for durations that cold threaten the economic continuity of the tourist-based businesses, and the continued delivery of emergency services. This project is proposed as a method of allowing the Monroe County Fire Marshal as lead agency for ESF 10, and Monroe County Fire / Rescue as support agency, to improve their training and operations capabilities. The proposal is consistent with Category 3 as outlined in the Department of Community Affairs Notice of Funding Availability, in that it will improve both the training and operations capability of those agencies assigned a lead role in Emergency Support function 10. The costs associated with training, while not outlined in this proposal, will necessarily be paid by Monroe County. The identification of personnel who will actually be placed on a newly developed hazardous materials team has not taken place. Preferably, the team will consist of those members of Monroe County Fire/Rescue and Emergency Medical Services who are presently trained to the "operations" level of hazardous materials response, who could more quickly be trained to 'technician" level, and who could make effective use of this equipment in a timely manner. This proposal seeks to correct a glaring deficiency in the County's ability to protect the lives and health its emergency responders and its citizens, by providing equipment for a trained hazardous materials team to respond to incidents which can and do have a wide variety of effects on the County. Specifically, the proposal seeks the acquisition of related equipment, to include the following; SCBA and spare bottles, air respirators, and 5- minute escape bottles to equip a team of four persons, as well as other 5 equipment necessary to respond such as non-permeable backboards, level "A" suits, level "B" suits, a decontamination trailer, air monitors, Dreager tubes, and other consumables. Also included in the proposal is the purchase of a laptop computer and applicable hazardous materials software programs for on scene reference and training. Specific items are detailed in the budget summary included in this application package. It is the intent of Monroe County to develop and maintain a trained and capable hazardous materials response team, deployable in a timely and effective manner, as opposed to the current procedure which is to wait for outside resources. Such a deployment could take a number of hours, depending upon the size and location of the event. Monroe County envisions equipping and locating the hazardous materials response team in the Lower Keys, since that area contains the highest population density and is the farthest removed from resources on the mainland. The alternative to this proposal is to continue to rely upon Miami-Dade County for hazardous materials response, and accepting the time delay and potential for injury or loss of life concomitant in that scenario. 2. The short-term goal envisioned in this proposal is the acquisition of the equipment necessary to field a hazardous materials response team to protect the safety of emergency responders and residents of Monroe County. The long-term goal inherent in this proposal is that once properly equipped and maintained, Monroe County will have the ability to maintain a trained hazardous materials response team indefinitely. This will allow the County to become more self-sufficient in dealing with hazardous materials issues, relieving any burden on Miami-Dade County's team, and providing for more immediate response to protect the residents of Monroe County. Resources necessary to continue the project are primarily the paid and volunteer members of the County's Emergency Medical Services and Fire / Rescue Departments, who would be called upon to staff the team, under the direction of the County Fire Marshal's Office. Once the initial equipment procurement has taken place, consumables can be replaced as needed easily and cost-effectively. The number of persons who would immediately benefit are the eight to ten fire-fighters and EMT's who would initially be trained to field the team. Secondary persons who would benefit are additional personnel who would receive training, and of course the residents of the County who will be impacted by hazardous materials incidents in the future. 6 Group II. Collateral Information for the Proposal 3. The State of Florida's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan clearly identifies the need for the existence of Emergency Support function 10, Hazardous Materials, and assigns that role at the State level to the Department of Environmental Protection. Similarly, Monroe County's Comprehensive Emergency Plan includes provisions to staff an ESF 10, assigning lead responsibility to the County Fire Marshal's Office. Under the County Plan, the Fire Marshal's Office and the support agency for ESF 10, Fire / Rescue, are tasked with coordination of personnel who would respond to an actual or potential release of hazardous materials resulting from a natural, technological, or man-made disaster. Monroe County's CEMP describes the potential for such incidents, including motor vehicle accidents, aircraft accidents, accidents on the water involving the transport of such materials, accidental or intentional dumping of radio-active materials or chemicals, and criminal or terrorist-related activities. The County Fire Marshal's Office is further tasked with coordinating an effective and efficient response to such incidents (Monroe CEMP, pp 46), detecting and identifying materials involved, and taking or directing appropriate action to ensure the safety of those residents involved. The CEMP further illustrates the hazard analysis discussed previously in this application, but most notably the potential for such an incident to such down transportation on the one main roadway within the county, as well as the potential proximity of residents to an incident at either a fixed site incident or a traffic related incident, due to the narrowness of the island chain. The Fire Marshal's Office is tasked with release assessment, scene command and control, and implementation of protective actions. In addition to the time delay involved in utilizing outside resources for a hazardous materials response, this action inevitably instills another layer of communication and protocol. A local response team would be better suited to working at the direction of the County Fire Marshal, who has daily contact with the personnel in both Fire / Rescue and Emergency Medical Services. 4. This approach is preferred to the current alternative of relying upon outside resources, as detailed elsewhere in this application. The most notable reason in support of outfitting and training a local hazardous materials response team is life - safety concerns, both for emergency responders and residents, that result from the untimely delay inherent in 7 the current procedure. A detailed, itemized budget indicating the equipment needed and the costs associated follows. The figures and equipment included are considered a minimum for outfitting one Hazardous Materials Team. The scope of the project is to equip, and then train a response team to handle hazardous materials incidents within Monroe County, and to provide a resource through mutual aid for other jurisdictions when necessary. The equipment is the logical first step in the process. Responders absolutely must be trained in and familiar with their safety equipment in order to respond to hazardous materials incidents. Please see the budget attachment on the following page. 8 Date: PROPOSED BUDGET $154,500 $154,500 100% $154,500 $154,500 100% 9 5. Monroe County has proposed no matching funds for this project. The County, recognizing the need to deliver this service to protect the residents of Monroe County, can easily provide for the training of personnel to fulfill this role through current operating budgets. The County budgets revenues for training on a regular basis, additional costs would be limited to over time if required, for personnel to attend training. More likely training will be accomplished within existing budget frameworks for salaries and training. 6. Bill Surina - Qualifications related to Hazardous Materials In Monroe County the duties and responsibilities of Hazardous Materials response are assigned to the Fire Marshal's Office. As Assistanct County fire Marshal, Mr. Surina has been assigned all Haz-Mat functions including program development, budgeting, training and implementation. Experience and training include: . 9 years experience in Fire Rescue/EMS · 6 years experience in the Fire Marshal's including response to all Haz-Mat calls in unincorporated Monroe County for assessment, command and control, and active operational roles. . FL State Certified Firefighter · FL State Certified Fire Inspector · FI. State Certified Fire Officer · FI. State Certified Fire Service Instructor · FL State Certified EMT · FI. State Licensed Building Contractor (inactive) FI. State Certificate of Competency - Hazardous Materials Technician 10