Office of Emergency Services: public alert and early warning software: master contract.
AB 2474
California Bills
20250AB__247498AMD INTRODUCED 2026-02-20 AMENDED_ASSEMBLY 2026-04-08 2025 AB AMD Introduced by Committee on Emergency Management (Assembly Members Ransom (Chair), Bains, Bennett, and Calderon) LEAD_AUTHOR ASSEMBLY Committee on Emergency Management Assembly Members Ransom (Chair), Bains, Bennett, and Calderon
An act to add and repeal
Section 8607.05 of the Government Code, relating to emergency services. emergency services Office of Emergency Services: public alert and early warning software: master contract. Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services (OES) within the office of the Governor, and sets forth its powers and duties, including responsibility for addressing natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, including activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property.
Existing law requires OES, in coordination with all interested state agencies with designated response roles in the state emergency plan and interested local emergency management agencies, to jointly establish by regulation a standardized emergency management system for use by all emergency response agencies, as specified.
The act requires each local agency, in order to be eligible for any funding of response-related costs under disaster assistance programs, to use the standardized emergency management system to coordinate multiple-jurisdiction or multiple-agency operations, except that a local agency is eligible for repair, renovation, or any other nonpersonnel costs resulting from an emergency.
This bill would require OES, on or before July 1, 2027, in consultation with certain entities, to develop an implementation plan for entering into a statewide master contract for a public alert and early warning software that is capable of supporting interoperable public safety alerting across state, regional, and local governmental entities. The bill would require the implementation plan, among other requirements, to include a draft request for proposal under which the public alert and early warning software, among other things, is interoperable across state, regional, and local governmental entities.
The bill would require the office, upon completion of the implementation plan, to send the plan to the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management and the Senate Committee on Emergency Management. The bill would make the implementation of the plan to enter into a statewide master contract for the creation of a public alert and early warning software subject to approval by the Legislature. If the public alert and early warning software is implemented, the bill would require a city or county that issues public safety alerts to utilize the public alert and early warning software.
The bill would specify, among other things, that it is the primary responsibility of the public emergency warning system operator in each city or county to send out emergency alerts to their residents. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2030.
Existing law requires OES, at least annually, through its California Specialized Training Institute and with involvement of representatives from the access and functional needs community, as specified, to develop an alert and warning training that includes certain information, including the evaluation, purchase, and operation of federal Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and federal Emergency Alert System (EAS) equipment and software, as specified.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>This bill would require the next annual development of an alert and warning training on or after January 1, 2028, to include the public alert and early warning software created pursuant to the bill’s provisions.</xhtml:p>"?> The bill would include findings and declarations relating to its provisions.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.</xhtml:p>"?> MAJORITY NO YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. (
a) California is a disaster-prone state that continues to face a high frequency of severe emergencies and disasters such as wildfires, floods, earthquakes, extreme heat, and other threats that require timely, accurate, and coordinated public alert and warning capabilities. (
b) Effective alert and early warning systems are a critical component of the state’s emergency management framework and are essential to protecting life, property, and public safety, particularly for vulnerable populations. (
c) Public alert and warning capabilities currently vary across the state as each local jurisdiction individually contracts with differing software platforms, resulting in inconsistent functionality, limited interoperability, increased costs, and potential delays in sending alerts and warnings. (
d) A single, interoperable alert and early warning platform would ease coordination efforts between state, regional, and local agencies that cross jurisdictional boundaries to ensure alerts and warnings are provided in a timely fashion. (
e) Requiring local governments to adopt a common alert and early warning platform pursuant to a state master contract will strengthen California’s ability to operate as an integrated emergency response system while preserving local control over the issuance and content of alerts. <caml:Num>SEC. 2.</caml:Num><caml:ActionLine action="IS_AMENDED" xlink:href="urn:caml:codes:GOV:caml#xpointer(%2Fcaml%3ALawDoc%2Fcaml%3ACode%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'TITLE'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'2.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'DIVISION'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'1.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'CHAPTER'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'7.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'ARTICLE'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'6.5.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawSection%5Bcaml%3ANum%3D'8593.7.'%5D)" xlink:label="fractionType: LAW_SECTION" xlink:type="locator">Section 8593.7 of the <caml:DocName>Government Code</caml:DocName> is amended to read:</caml:ActionLine><caml:Fragment><caml:LawSection id="id_BBBF8A09-AFBF-4CA7-A77B-38D74AE7FAEE"><caml:Num>8593.7.</caml:Num><caml:LawSectionVersion id="id_4CE58204-09DB-4D22-8A4D-40AD26AB72BB"><caml:Content><xhtml:p>(a)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>On or before July 1, 2022, the Office of Emergency Services, in consultation with, at minimum, telecommunications carriers, the California cable and broadband industry, radio and television broadcasters, the California State Association of Counties, the League of California Cities, the access and functional needs community, including people with disabilities, as described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subdivision (
a) of
Section 8588.15, appropriate federal agencies, and the Standardized Emergency Management System Alert and Warning Specialist Committee, shall develop guidelines for alerting and warning the public of an emergency.
Those guidelines shall include, at minimum, the following:</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(1)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Timelines for sending alerts during an emergency.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(2)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Practices for sending advance warnings of an impending threat.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(3)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Practices for testing, training on, and exercising a city’s, county’s, or city and county’s alert and warning system.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(4)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Consideration for coordinating alerts with neighboring jurisdictions.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(5)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Guidelines and protocols for redundancy and utilizing multiple forms of alerts.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(6)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Guidelines and protocols for chain of command communications and accounting for staffing patterns to ensure a trained operator is always on call.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(7)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Practices for effective notifications to the access and functional needs population as defined in subdivision (
f) of
Section 8593.3.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(8)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Message templates.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(9)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Common terminology.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(b)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>(1)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The Office of Emergency Services shall provide each city, county, and city and county with a copy of the guidelines developed according to subdivision (a).</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(2)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Six months after the Office of Emergency Services provides the guidelines to each city, county, and city and county, the office may impose conditions upon a city’s, county’s, or city and county’s application for any voluntary grant funds that have a nexus to emergency management performance that the office administers, requiring that city, county, or city and county to operate its alert and warning activities in a manner that is consistent with the guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (a).</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(c)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>(1)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Within six months of making the guidelines available pursuant to subdivision (
b) and at least annually, the Office of Emergency Services, through its California Specialized Training Institute and with involvement of representatives from the access and functional needs community, including people with disabilities, as described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subdivision (
a) of
Section 8588.15, shall develop an alert and warning training.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(2)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The training developed pursuant to this subdivision shall include, at minimum, information regarding the following:</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(A)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The evaluation, purchase, and operation of federal Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and federal Emergency Alert System (EAS) equipment and software, including capabilities that address communications for the access and functional needs community.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(B)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The technical capabilities of the WEA and EAS function within an alert system, pursuant to current Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Federal Communications Commission regulations, as amended from time to time.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(C)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The alert and warning guidelines developed in subdivision (a).</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(D)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Upon the next annual development of an alert and warning training on or after January 1, 2028, the public alert and early warning software created pursuant to
Section 8607.05.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(d)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The safety of local communities requires designated alerting authorities to ensure that they have multiple operators, adequate testing and training, and functional equipment and software.
To the extent designated alerting authorities have difficulty acquiring or maintaining adequate alert and warning resources, they may consult with the Office of Emergency Services on best practices to achieve those goals.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(e)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>“Operator” means those personnel required by the designated alerting authority to transmit alert and warning messages.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(f)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The Office of Emergency Services (OES) may adopt emergency regulations to implement this section.
The adoption, amendment, repeal, or readoption of a regulation authorized by this
section is deemed to address an emergency, for purposes of Sections 11346.1 and 11349.6, and OES is hereby exempted for this purpose from the requirements of subdivision (
b) of
Section 11346.1.</xhtml:p></caml:Content></caml:LawSectionVersion></caml:LawSection></caml:Fragment></caml:BillSection>"?>
SEC.
Section 8607.05 is added to the Government Code , to read: 8607.05. (a)
(1) On or before July 1, 2027, the office shall, in consultation with the entities described in paragraph (2), develop an implementation plan for entering into a statewide master contract for a public alert and early warning software that is capable of supporting interoperable public safety alerting across state, regional, and local governmental entities.
(2) The office shall develop the implementation plan in consultation with all of the following entities: (
A) Telecommunications representatives. (
B) California State Association of Counties (CSAC). (
C) League of California Cities. (
D) California Emergency Services Association (CESA). (
E) The access and functional needs community, including persons with disabilities, as described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (
a) of
Section 8588.15. (
F) Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFIRE). (
G) Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). (
H) Department of Technology. (
I) Standardized Emergency Management System Alert and Warning Specialist Committee. (
J) Any appropriate federal agencies, including the National Weather Service (NWS). (
b) The implementation plan shall do all of the following: (b)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Under the master contract,</xhtml:p>"?>
(1) Include a draft request for proposal under which the public alert and early warning software shall, at a minimum, meet all of the following requirements: (1)</xhtml:p>"?> (
A) Be interoperable across state, regional, and local governmental entities. (2)</xhtml:p>"?> (
B) Integrate with federal and state public alert systems, including, but not limited to, the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), the federal Emergency Alert System (EAS), and federal Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). (
C) Integrate with relevant local government alert systems, including, but not limited to, local siren systems. (3)</xhtml:p>"?> (
D) Allow for real-time coordination and situational awareness among authorized users during emergencies. (c)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Under the master contract, the public alert and early warning software shall be created and ready for use by January 1, 2028.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(d)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>On and after January 1, 2028, each local government that issues public safety alerts shall utilize the public alert and early warning software procured pursuant to the statewide master contract created by the office pursuant to subdivision (a).</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(e)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>It shall be the primary responsibility of the public emergency warning system operator in each local government to send out emergency alerts to their residents.</xhtml:p>"?> (
E) Require appropriate telecommunication carrier requirements to support the public alert and early warning software.
(2) Outline the process by which a local government adopts the public alert and early warning software and the requirements for a local government to use the software.
(3) Determine the level of systems structure needed to effectively and safely provide timely alerts and warnings at both the state and local government level.
(4) Provide guidance to local governments, including, but not limited to, guidance on software adoption, public messaging, templates, staffing, data integrity, use of alerting, and managing multijurisdictional alerts.
(5) Determine the level of support needed from the federal government and state Legislature.
(6) Provide timeline estimates for final implementation of the software, if approved.
(7) Analyze financial responsibility options for the state and local governments, as applicable.
(8) Assess data ownership and personally identifiable information responsibility.
(9) Include cybersecurity safety standards.
(10) Consider coordination with, or necessity of, existing software available at the statewide level. (
c) Upon completion of the implementation plan, the office shall send the plan to the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management and the Senate Committee on Emergency Management. (
d) Implementation of the plan to enter into a statewide master contract for the creation of a public alert and early warning software shall be subject to approval by the Legislature. (
e) If the public alert and early warning software is implemented, each local government that issues public safety alerts shall utilize the public alert and early warning software. (
f) Nothing in this
section shall be construed to limit the authority of a local government to determine when and how to issue public safety alerts within its jurisdiction. (
g) For purposes of this section, “local government” means a city, including a charter city, county, or city or county, including a charter city or county. (
h) This
section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that
Section of this act adding
Section 8607.05 to the Government Code addresses a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in
Section of
Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore,
Section of this act applies to all cities, including charter cities. <caml:Num>SEC. 5.</caml:Num><caml:Content><xhtml:p>If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to