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COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY 12/7/2023-AMENDED AND REPORTED OUT TO THE FLOOR 11/09/2023-REPORTED OUT TO THE COMMITTEE ON RULES AND JUDICIARY BILL NO. 35-0175 Thirty-Fifth Legislature of the Virgin Islands October 18, 2023 An Act amending title 23 Virgin Islands Code, chapter 10, relating to emergency communications during an emergency and major disasters by adding a subchapter V establishing an Auxiliary Communications Unit within the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency and providing an auxiliary communications resource to any department agency and autonomous or semi-autonomous instrumentality of the Government of the Virgin Islands PROPOSED BY: Senators Kenneth L. Gittens, Franklin D. Johnson, Ray Fonseca, Dwayne M. DeGraff and Angel L. Bolques, Jr. WHEREAS, amateur radio operators residing in the territory have provided critical 1 communications capabilities in the territory during natural disasters when other methods of 2 communication were damaged and rendered inoperable; 3 WHEREAS, territorial amateur radio operators are listed in the territorial emergency 4 operations plan as an integral part of emergency communications response; 5 WHEREAS, the pool of qualified territory volunteer amateur radio operators has 6 traditionally been sufficient to provide communication support solely to the Virgin Islands 7 Territory Emergency Management Agency; 8 WHEREAS, recent growth in the number of amateur radio operators within the territory 9 creates an opportunity to provide additional communications services to other Virgin Islands 10 governmental agencies; and 11 2 WHEREAS, emergency preparedness and disaster response across the territory would 1 be improved with a recognized, integrated, and unified communications auxiliary unit to 2 support any agency of the territorial government; and 3 WHEREAS, the territory desires to encourage amateur radio operators to volunteer as 4 Auxiliary Communicators by limiting their risk of tort liability when acting in a non-negligent 5 manner on behalf of Virgin Islands government agencies; Now, Therefore, 6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the Virgin Islands: 7 SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the “Virgin Islands Auxiliary Communications 8 Act of 2023”. 9 SECTION 2. Title 23 Virgin Islands Code, chapter 10 is amended by adding a 10 subchapter V to read as follows: 11 “Subchapter V. Auxiliary Communications 12 § 1081. Definitions 13 As used in this subchapter, the term: 14 (1) “Activation" means all activities performed by Auxiliary Communicators from 15 when they leave their residence or other location for auxiliary communications deployment 16 until they have returned to their home or other location at the end of deployment. 17 (2) “Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)” means the public service branch 18 of the ARRL. 19 (3) "American Radio Relay League (ARRL)” means the national association for radio 20 amateurs. 21 (4) "Auxiliary Communicator" means an amateur radio operator licensed by the United 22 States Federal Communications Commission under 47 CFR 97 who meets the auxiliary 23 communication training requirements, is credentialed by the Virgin Islands Territorial 24 Emergency Management Agency and serves as an authorized volunteer of the Virgin Islands 25 Territorial Management Agency for purposes of section 1082. 26 3 (5) “Auxiliary Communications Unit” or “AuxComm Unit” means the volunteer 1 Auxiliary Communicators unit within the Virgin Islands Territorial Management Agency, the 2 successor entity to any territorial RACES organization referenced in any law, regulation, or 3 plan. 4 (6) “Director” means the Director of the VITEMA or the Director’s designee. 5 (7) “Incident Command System or “ICS” means the standardized emergency hierarchy 6 utilized for the command, control, and coordination of emergency response used by the Virgin 7 Islands planning and response agencies. 8 (8) “Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)” means, as defined in 47 CFR 9 § 97.3, a government service branch of ARES; 10 (9) “Section Manager” means the lead volunteer amateur radio representative for 11 auxiliary communications, the manager of ARES, and the lead supervisor of deployed 12 Auxiliary Communicators ARRL member elected as the section manager by ARRL Virgin 13 Islands members of the ARRL or the section manager’s designee. 14 (10) “VITEMA” means the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency 15 established in 3 V.I.C. § 23. 16 (11) “Auxiliary communications” means backup emergency radio communications 17 provided by volunteers who support public safety and emergency response professionals and 18 their agencies. 19 § 1082. Established, coordination, supervision, and direction of AuxComm 20 (a) The AuxComm unit is established in the VITEMA. The Director shall act as the 21 manager of the AuxComm Unit and shall set policy, qualify, credential, coordinate, and direct 22 the AuxComm activities. 23 (b) Jointly with the Director, the Section Manager shall establish programs for the 24 training and credentialing of Auxiliary Communicators to ensure they are suitably qualified to 25 conduct AuxComm missions. Auxiliary Communicators are limited to individuals certified by 26 4 the Director as meeting the applicable training and credentialing requirements. By being 1 credentialed to participate in AuxComm missions, Auxiliary Communicators are authorized to 2 transmit and receive radio communications on any radio frequency licensed to any agency of 3 the Virgin Islands Government, as well as install, operate, remove, program, adjust, or 4 otherwise maintain any communications equipment, including ancillary equipment within the 5 scope of their assignment, owned by any participating Virgin Islands governmental agencies. 6 (c) Auxiliary Communicators shall assume all the duties and possess all the authority 7 and responsibilities of the RACES 47 CFR 97.407 within the territory. Any reference to 8 RACES in any territorial law, regulation, or disaster plan refers to the AuxComm Unit. No 9 other individual, entity, association, or government agency may represent that it is a RACES 10 organization in the territory. 11 (d) The VITEMA shall recognize that Auxiliary Communicators are volunteers and 12 that they are responsible for securing the safety and welfare of their respective families before 13 fulfilling any activities for the AuxComm Unit. 14 (e) Auxiliary Communicators shall cooperate with the VITEMA and shall perform 15 tasks related to the primary AuxComm mission of auxiliary communications and such other 16 reasonable duties as may be defined by the Director, the Section Manager, or their designees. 17 (f) Auxiliary Communicators may not be asked to undertake any task that a VITEMA 18 employee in a comparable position would not typically perform. 19 (g) The Director shall determine the priority, order, and capacity in which other Virgin 20 Islands governmental agencies are served with AuxComm Unit resources. 21 (h) The Section Manager shall advise the Director regarding the availability, 22 assignment, and capability of AuxComm resources. 23 (i) Upon completion of acceptable application information, the Director shall issue 24 Auxiliary Communicators curfew passes or similar credentials recognized throughout the 25 5 territory for granting access to public roads, Government facilities, emergency operations 1 centers, incident command posts, disaster scenes, and other VITEMA specified locations. 2 § 1083. AuxComm Unit membership requirements 3 (a) Auxiliary Communicators: 4 (1) serve in a voluntary capacity; 5 (2) shall maintain a valid FCC amateur radio or FCC commercial operator’s 6 license; and 7 (3) shall maintain current certification in core ICS classes or successor classes, 8 as required by the VITEMA for AuxComm membership. 9 (b) All applications to serve as an Auxiliary Communicator must be submitted to the 10 Section Manager. The Section Manager shall evaluate candidates' capabilities and prior 11 experience with meeting AuxComm requirements and submit the evaluation to the Director. 12 (c) The Director may conduct criminal background investigations on candidates for 13 credentialing of Auxiliary Communicators in accordance with the agency's security needs. The 14 Director may deny credentialing to any candidate based upon the results of that background 15 check or any other reason. 16 (d) The Director may revoke AuxComm Unit membership of any Auxiliary 17 Communicator at any time and for any reason, which must be disclosed to the Section Manager. 18 (e) The Section Manager may be dismissed only upon the AuxComm Unit's 19 termination or another Section Manager's election. 20 § 1084. AuxComm activation and deactivation 21 (a) All activation requests, deactivation requests, or delegation notifications to or from 22 the Director or the Section Manager must be made in writing or by electronic means, including 23 e-mail or text, capable of being printed. Delegations must state the exact authority that is being 24 delegated and to whom. Voicemails or verbal requests are not valid methods for delegation, 25 6 activation, or deactivation requests. If duly activated from an Aux Comm member’s residence, 1 activation means all activities following the first Aux Comm’s assigned task. 2 (b) The Director shall notify the Section Manager of any request to activate 3 AuxComm. 4 (c) An activation request must include, at a minimum, the scope of the activation, any 5 special equipment requests, the estimated number of Auxiliary Communicators required, 6 deployment location, and, if known, the estimated beginning and end time of the activation. 7 (d) Following receipt of an activation request from the Director, the Section Manager 8 shall respond to the Director with the names of available Auxiliary Communicators and 9 recommendations on which individuals to activate. 10 (e) The Director, if determined appropriate, shall approve the activation by responding 11 to the Section Manager with the individual names approved for activation. 12 (d) The Section Manager, or appointee, shall determine the assignment location for 13 individual Auxiliary Communicators based on the agency's needs and requests, the individual's 14 ability, and other risk factors, as required. 15 (f) The Director or Section Manager may request deactivation of Auxiliary 16 communicators. The request must list the names, specific locations, and dates and times of 17 Auxiliary Communicators to be deactivated. 18 (g) The party not requesting deactivation shall approve or deny the deactivation 19 request by responding to the deactivation requestor with the individual Auxiliary 20 Communicator names approved for deactivation. The deactivation approvals must come no 21 later than four hours following a deactivation request. 22 § 1095. Auxiliary Communicator participation, validation 23 (a) If requested by the Section Manager or designee, the Director shall establish a 24 system in which an Auxiliary Communicator may obtain written proof of AuxComm 25 7 participation to provide to the Auxiliary Communicator’s employer or other entity as 1 appropriate, which specifies: 2 (1) The VITEMA activated the auxiliary communicator to assist in a disaster; 3 (2) The name of the Auxiliary Communicator; 4 (3) The beginning and ending date and times of the Auxiliary Communicator's 5 involvement in supporting the VITEMA; and 6 (4) Other details as appropriate. 7 (b) Training exercises may be considered activations only if the Auxiliary 8 Communicator is called to service by the VITEMA to volunteer in a training exercise drill or 9 class conducted in preparation for a disaster, and the exercise, drill, or class is organized or 10 under the direction of the VITEMA, or other VITEMA- approved agency. 11 § 1086. Compensation 12 (a) Auxiliary Communicators: 13 (1) may not receive monetary compensation for their services; 14 (2) may receive periodic meals, if served, at deployment locations; 15 (3) at the sole discretion of the Director, may receive pre-paid gas coupons for 16 assignments requiring driving lengthy mileage distances as determined by the Director; 17 (4) are entitled to full pre-deployment payment of travel expenses if deployed to 18 an island other than their island of residence; 19 (5) are entitled to per-diem reimbursements, following proper expense 20 documentation and approval in accordance with the VITEMA’s expense reimbursement 21 policy; and 22 (6) are considered territorial members of the Civil Defense Volunteer Corps as 23 defined in 24 V.I.C. § 282. 24 (b) This section does not apply to a training exercise, drill, or class without the 25 Director's consent and approval. 26 8 § 1087. Exemption from liability 1 Any Auxiliary Communicator who, having been activated according to the process in 2 this subchapter, acting in the scope of their assignment, renders communications assistance to 3 the territory is not liable for civil damages for any personal injuries or property damage that 4 result from acts or omissions by the Auxiliary Communicator in rendering communications 5 assistance, which may constitute ordinary negligence. This immunity does not apply to acts or 6 omissions constituting gross, willful, or wanton negligence. 7 BILL SUMMARY 8 This bill establishes an Auxiliary Communicators Unit composed of volunteer amateur 9 radio operators licensed by the United States Federal Communications Commission who meet 10 the AuxComm training requirements and are credentialed by the VITEMA. The unit serves as 11 authorized volunteers of the VITEMA to assist with communications during emergencies. 12 BR23-0315/August 24, 2023/YLT 13 ..\..\..\..\AMENDS\35th Legislature\GITTENS, KENNETH L\Amendment 35-530\35- 14 530- DRAFTED ON YELLOW.docx 15