In 1959, a Civil Defense OPERATIONS Plan was issued. This plan was developed under a federally-funded project supervised by the California Disaster Office. lt was applicable during a state of extreme emergency when an enemy attack was probable, imminent, or actual.
In 1961 membership of the State Disaster Council was amended to provide for alternates to be designated by and serve for the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Attorney General, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the Assembly.
A complete revision of the California Civil Defense and Disaster Plan was issued in November 1963. This provided the basic assumptions and concepts for the development of the Supporting Operations Plans, and legislation, executive orders, administrative orders, and other official references affecting civil defense and disaster activities in California.
In l968, Governor Ronald Reagan issued an Emergency Resources Management Plan, developed by the Disaster Office with the assistance of the private sector and government. It was designed to enable the best possible management of available resources, both human and material, should the nation be subjected to enemy attack. It was based on maximum reliance on the private sector of the economy to perform voluntarily in an emergency, under overall guidance and direction provided by government.
1970: Emergency Council and Office of Emergency Services
The 1970 California Emergency Services Act constitutes a complete revision of the former act. This revision established the legal basis for the Governor's response to emergency situations with which the state might be faced, regardless of the destructive force involved. The major objectives of this revision are to provide clarification of the many amendments to the Disaster Act since it was originally enacted in 1945.
This formed California's emergency management agency as we fundamentally know it today, with passage of the California Emergency Services Act; which superseded the California Disaster Act. The new act also re designated the State Disaster Council as the California Emergency Council, with no major changes in composition. powers, or duties. But it renamed the California Disaster Office as the Office of Emergency Services, retaining it in the Office of the Governor but providing civil service status for its employees."
Continues next week.