29C.8  Powers and duties of director.
  1.  The department of homeland security and emergency management shall be under the management of a director who shall be appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate, and who shall serve at the pleasure of the governor.
  2.  The director shall be vested with the authority to administer emergency management and homeland security affairs in this state and shall be responsible for preparing and executing the emergency management and homeland security programs of this state subject to the direction of the governor.
  3.  The director, upon the direction of the governor, shall:
  a.  Prepare a comprehensive emergency plan and emergency management program for homeland security, disaster preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, emergency operation, and emergency resource management of this state. The plan and program shall be integrated into and coordinated with the homeland security and emergency plans of the federal government and of other states to the fullest possible extent. The director shall also coordinate the preparation of plans and programs for emergency management of the political subdivisions and various state departments of this state. The plans shall be integrated into and coordinated with a comprehensive state homeland security and emergency program for this state as coordinated by the director to the fullest possible extent.
  b.  Make such studies and surveys of the industries, resources, and facilities in this state as may be necessary to ascertain the vulnerabilities of critical state infrastructure and assets to attack and the capabilities of the state for disaster recovery, disaster planning and operations, and emergency resource management, and to plan for the most efficient emergency use thereof.
  c.  Provide technical assistance to any commission requiring the assistance in the development of an emergency management or homeland security program.
  d.  Implement planning and training for emergency response teams as mandated by the federal government under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. §9601 et seq.
  e.  Prepare a critical asset protection plan that contains an inventory of infrastructure, facilities, systems, other critical assets, and symbolic landmarks; an assessment of the criticality, vulnerability, and level of threat to the assets; and information pertaining to the mobilization, deployment, and tactical operations involved in responding to or protecting the assets.
  f.  Approve and support the development and ongoing operations of homeland security and emergency response teams to be deployed as a resource to supplement and enhance disrupted or overburdened local emergency and disaster operations and deployed as available to provide assistance to other states pursuant to the interstate emergency management assistance compact described in section 29C.21. The following shall apply to homeland security and emergency response teams:
  (1)  A member of a homeland security and emergency response team acting under this section upon the directive of the director or pursuant to a governor’s disaster emergency proclamation as provided in section 29C.6 shall be considered an employee of the state for purposes of section 29C.21 and chapter 669 and shall be afforded protection as an employee of the state under section 669.21. Disability, workers’ compensation, and death benefits for team members working under the authority of the director or pursuant to the provisions of section 29C.6 shall be paid by the state in a manner consistent with the provisions of chapter 85, 410, or 411 as appropriate, depending on the status of the member, provided that the member is registered with the department as a member of an approved team and is participating as a team member in a response or recovery operation initiated by the director or governor pursuant to this section or in a training or exercise activity approved by the director.
  (2)  Each approved homeland security and emergency management response team shall establish standards for team membership, shall provide the department with a listing of all team members, and shall update the list each time a member is removed from or added to the team. Individuals so identified as team members shall be considered to be registered as team members for purposes of subparagraph (1).
  (3)  Upon notification of a compensable loss to a member of a homeland security and emergency management response team, the department of administrative services shall process the claim and seek authorization from the executive council to pay as an expense paid from the appropriations addressed in section 7D.29 those costs associated with covered benefits.
  g.  Implement and support the national incident management system as established by the United States department of homeland security to be used by state agencies and local and tribal governments to facilitate efficient and effective assistance to those affected by emergencies and disasters.
  h.  Carry out duties related to the flood mitigation program and the flood mitigation board under chapter 418.
  4.  The director, with the approval of the governor, may employ a deputy director and such technical, clerical, stenographic, and other personnel and make such expenditures within the appropriation or from other funds made available to the department, as may be necessary to administer this chapter.
  5.  The department may charge fees for the repair, calibration, or maintenance of radiological detection equipment and may expend funds in addition to funds budgeted for the servicing of the radiological detection equipment. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A providing for the establishment and collection of fees for radiological detection equipment repair, calibration, or maintenance services and for entering into agreements with other public and private entities to provide the services. Fees collected for repair, calibration, or maintenance services shall be treated as appropriated receipts as defined in section 8.2 and shall be used for the operation of the department’s radiological maintenance facility or radiation incident response training.
[C62, §28A.4, 28A.5; C66, 71, 73, 75, §29C.4, 29C.5; C77, 79, 81, §29C.8]
88 Acts, ch 1190, §1; 92 Acts, ch 1139, §6 – 8; 99 Acts, ch 86, §2
; 2001 Acts, 2nd Ex, ch 1, §23, 24, 28
; 2002 Acts, ch 1117, §54, 56; 2003 Acts, ch 179, §104, 157; 2005 Acts, ch 119, §5; 2006 Acts, ch 1185, §62; 2011 Acts, ch 69, §4; 2011 Acts, ch 131, §22, 158; 2012 Acts, ch 1094, §1, 18; 2013 Acts, ch 29, §17; 2014 Acts, ch 1014, §2; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §2163; 2024 Acts, ch 1185, §111
Referred to in §22.7(45), 29C.20, 135.141
Confirmation, see §2.32
Subsection 5 amended