Local Emergency Operations Plans – New Format for 2014
- Details
Formerly referred to as Rapid Response Plans (RRP), and then Basic Emergency Operations Plans (BEOP), all towns are now required to prepared Local Emergency Operations Plans (LEOP) following a new format. Vermont statute requires every city and town to have an emergency operations plan on file at the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS). Adoption of an LEOP is one element of the new Emergency Relief and Assistance Fund (ERAF) Rule, which goes into effect on October 23, 2014. The Emergency Relief and Assistance Fund provide State funding to match Federal Public Assistance after federally-declared disasters.
A community’s Emergency Management Director holds the responsibility for updating or developing a Local Emergency Operations Plan. Emergency Management Directors have been notified of the revision of the template and the May 1, 2014 deadline for submission of a completed plan to the Windham Regional Commission. WRC is able to assist your Emergency Management Director in preparation of the plan. The LEOP is a community’s blueprint for preparing for, responding to, and recovering from a disaster. LEOPs also provide a framework that allows all municipalities to work collaboratively and assist each other during a widespread event like we saw in Tropical Storm Irene.
A Local Emergency Operations Plan working group, which included Emergency Management Directors and Regional Planning Commission Planners from all Public Safety Districts, developed the new template, which can be found at the following website: http://vem.vermont.gov/local_state_plans/local. For more information, please contact Dinah Reed at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (802) 257-4547 ext. 109. The letter from DEMHS explaining the new requirement to regional planning commissions is available here.
