State Agencies

munity Development; Rocco J. Gabriele, Fire
Marshal; Elliott Robinson, American Red
Cross; Thomas W. Schmidt, Secretary of Public
Safety and Correctional Services; Thomas
Tharp, State Firemen's Association; Col. Wilbert
T. Travers, Jr., Superintendent, Maryland State
Police; Paul E. Welsh, Public Affairs Consul-
tant.

The State Emergency Management and Civil
Defense Agency's principal mission derives from
the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950 (Public
Law 920, 81st Congress) with its 1958, 1976, and
1980 amendments. The act outlines the intent of
Congress to provide a system of civil defense for
the protection of life and property in the United
States from attack and to provide relief and assis-
tance to people in areas of the United States
struck by disaster other than disasters caused by
enemy attack.

The Agency, known as the Maryland Civil De-
fense Agency from 1950 to 1970, was in its earli-
est years primarily concerned with statewide nu-
clear attack preparedness and related missions
(Chapter 563, Acts of 1949).

With the passage of the Disaster Relief Acts of
1969 (Public Law 91-79), 1970 (Public Law
91-606), and 1974 (Public Law 93-288), increased
emphasis was placed on natural disaster pre-
paredness under the direction of the Federal Di-
saster Assistance Administration (FDAA) in the
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Changes in state law and the Agency name
changes during this period are indicative of this
change in focus: Maryland Civil Defense and
Emergency Planning Agency (1970-74) and
Maryland Civil Defense and Disaster Prepared-
ness Agency (1975-80). The emphasis on non-nu-
clear attack preparedness was further enlarged by
the creation of the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency (FEMA) in 1979. FEMA assumed
responsibility for civil defense functions of the
Defense Civil Preparedness Agency (DCPA), di-
saster relief functions of the FDAA, and emer-
gency resources management functions of the
FPA. At the same time FEMA absorbed the
Federal Insurance Administration and the Na-
tional Fire Prevention and Control Administra-
tion. By this consolidation, the Agency's respon-
sibilities increased to include flood plain manage-
ment, flood insurance initiatives, community
preparedness programs for weather emergencies,
earthquake hazard reduction, dam safety, emer-
gency broadcast system, emergency warning, and
terrorist incidents.

The 1970s also brought changes in the Agen-
cy's nuclear attack preparedness missions. In

Public Safety and Correctional Services/281

1972 the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency was
established in the U.S. Department of Defense.
At this time, increased awareness of the
U.S.S.R.'s impressive crisis evacuation capability
contributed significantly to the development of
the present Nuclear Civil Protection (NCP) pro-
gram. NCP is intended to reduce vulnerability to
a major attack. NCP offers two options: crisis re-
location and in-place shelter protection. Crisis
Relocation Planning (CRP) assumes that several
days or more of deep international tension prior
to an actual war would permit movement of peo-
ple from high risk to low risk areas, provided
pre-crisis plans had been developed. This plan-
ning could be adaptable to natural disaster and
other peacetime emergencies. In-place shelter pro-
tection is to be used when time does not permit
implementation of crisis relocation.

The Three Mile Island Incident of 1979 trig-
gered additional Federal emphasis on radiological
emergency planning. During 1980 and 1981 the
Agency expended considerable effort in the pro-
duction of radiological emergency plans to cope
with accidents at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Pow-
er Plant and the Peach Bottom Atomic Power
Station. These plans were tested in 1981 and will
be maintained and tested in the future.

Effective July 1, 1981, Article 16A—Civil De-
fense—of the Annotated Code of Maryland was
repealed and reenacted with amendments. It is
now titled Article 16A—State Emergency Man-
agement and Civil Defense. Essentially, the new
law expanded the emergency powers of the Gov-
ernor, changed the Agency's name to the State
Emergency Management and Civil Defense
Agency (MEMCDA), and established a new ad-
visory council for emergency management. The
law makes the Governor responsible for Emer-
gency Management in the State. The Governor
now has additional emergency powers to tempo-
rarily suspend State statutes, direct evacuations,
control access, clear debris, and use private
property when necessary. After the Governor has
declared a State of Emergency, the Director of
the State Emergency Management and Civil De-
fense Agency is responsible for coordinating the
emergency activities of the offices of the State
government and those of political subdivisions
included in the declaration. The law also estab-
lished the Emergency Management Advisory
Council to advise the Governor on all matters
pertaining to State emergency management and
civil defense. The Council is appointed by the
Governor and includes representatives from ma-
jor State Departments, local government, and
volunteer organizations, such as firefighters and
rescue squads.