(1) Because of the existing and increasing possibility of the occurrence of disasters of unprecedented size and destructiveness as defined in *RCW 38.52.010(5), and in order to insure that preparations of this state will be adequate to deal with such disasters, to insure the administration of state and federal programs providing disaster relief to individuals, and further to insure adequate support for search and rescue operations, and generally to protect the public peace, health, and safety, and to preserve the lives and property of the people of the state, it is hereby found and declared to be necessary:

(a) To provide for emergency management by the state, and to authorize the creation of local organizations for emergency management in the political subdivisions of the state;

(b) To confer upon the governor and upon the executive heads of the political subdivisions of the state the emergency powers provided herein;

(c) To provide for the rendering of mutual aid among the political subdivisions of the state and with other states and to cooperate with the federal government with respect to the carrying out of emergency management functions;

(d) To provide a means of compensating emergency management workers who may suffer any injury, as herein defined, or death; who suffer economic harm including personal property damage or loss; or who incur expenses for transportation, telephone or other methods of communication, and the use of personal supplies as a result of participation in emergency management activities;

(e) To provide programs, with intergovernmental cooperation, to educate and train the public to be prepared for emergencies; and

(f) To provide for the prioritization, development, and exercise of continuity of operations plans by the state.

(2) It is further declared to be the purpose of this chapter and the policy of the state that all emergency management functions of this state and its political subdivisions be coordinated to the maximum extent with the comparable functions of the federal government including its various departments and agencies of other states and localities, and of private agencies of every type, to the end that the most effective preparation and use may be made of the nation's manpower, resources, and facilities for dealing with any disaster that may occur.

*Reviser's note: RCW 38.52.010 was amended by 2017 c 312 s 3, changing subsection (5) to subsection (6). RCW 38.52.010 was subsequently amended by 2019 c 207 s 1 and by 2019 c 471 s 2, changing subsection (6) to subsection (9). RCW 38.52.010 was amended by 2022 c 203 s 2, changing subsection (9) to subsection (13).

Severability—1986 c 266: See note following RCW 38.52.005.