Richland County emergency management outlines planning, grants and LEPC responsibilities

County emergency management staff briefed the Public Safety Standing Committee on the office’s responsibilities, funding and regional coordination at the June 6 meeting, describing how planning, grants and a new resiliency group feed long‑term mitigation work.

John (Emergency Management) outlined the emergency management cycle — preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation — and said the county’s role is established in statute “3 23 14,” with the head of emergency management duties described in “3 23 15.” He said the office maintains the county basic emergency plan and works to ensure municipal plans are compatible with state requirements.

“When a disaster does strike, I myself as the county emergency manager … become the emergency operations center manager,” John said, adding that the office coordinates damage assessments and requests for Wisconsin Disaster Fund or FEMA assistance. He described grant programs that support planning and staffing, noting EMPG (Emergency Management Planning Grant) pays a large share of salary and program work.

Staff described recent grant levels for the county: roughly $28,000 from the EMPG program and about $8,200 from EPRA/EPRA‑type funding, for approximately $39,000 total in state grant support this fiscal year. John said those grants come with planning and reporting requirements and that grant conditions have grown while some funding has tightened.

Jason and other staff described the county’s Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), which oversees hazardous‑substance planning for 13 facilities in the county and conducts exercises and plan reviews. The presenters noted that EPRA (the Emergency Planning and Community Right‑to‑Know Act framework) requires facility planning and community awareness.

John and Darren described a county resiliency group — led in part by the Southwest Regional Planning Commission — intended to sustain mitigation beyond project‑to‑project efforts by coordinating stakeholders and keeping mitigation plans active.

Committee members asked about professional certifications and staffing. John said he is working through federal and state course requirements and that a proposal to move a contract position into a full county emergency management coordinator role is expected to come to the committee on June 27.

Discussion only: committee received staff briefing and asked staff to return with staffing and contract proposals per the June 27 timeline.