AN ACT relating to animal health emergencies and declaring an emergency.

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AN ACT relating to animal health emergencies and declaring an emergency. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 39A.020 is amended to read as follows: 3
As used in KRS Chapters 39A to 39F, unless the context requires otherwise: 4
(1) "Adjutant General" means the executive head of the Department of Military Affairs 5
vested with general direction and control authority for the department and the 6
division of emergency management; 7
(2) "Animal health emergency" means an incident or situation which poses a major 8
threat to the safety or health of livestock as defined in KRS 246.010, poultry as 9
defined in KRS 246.010, or other domesticated animal so as to cause or threaten 10
to cause the spread of disease, starvation, deadly injury, or other potent ial loss of 11
life; 12
(3) "Catastrophe" means a disaster or series of concurrent disasters which adversely 13
affect the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky or a major geographical portion 14
thereof; 15
(4)[(3)] "Chief executive officer" means a: 16
(a) County judge/executive of a county; 17
(b) Mayor of a consolidated local government; 18
(c) Mayor of an urban-county government; 19
(d) Chief executive officer of a charter county government; 20
(e) Chief executive officer of a unified local government; or 21
(f) Mayor of a city; 22
(5)[(4)] "Comprehensive emergency management program" means the public safety 23
program developed, organized, implemented, administered, maintained, and 24
coordinated by the Division of Emergency Management and local emergency 25
management agencies created pursuant to the provisions of KRS Chapters 39A to 26
39F, to assess, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, or recover from, an emergency, 27
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declared emergency, disaster, or catastrophe, or threat of any of those, as 1
contemplated in KRS 39A.010 or as defined in this section; 2
(6)[(5)] "Coordination" means having and exercising primary state or local executive 3
branch oversight for the purpose of organizing, planning, and implementing; 4
(7)[(6)] "County" means a county, urban -county government, charter county 5
government, consolidated local government, or unified local government; 6
(8)[(7)] "Declared emergency" means any incident or situation declared to be an 7
emergency, disaster, or catastrophe by executive order of the Governor , or a county 8
judge/executive, or a mayor, or the chief executive of other local governments in 9
the Commonwealth pursuant to the provisions of KRS Chapters 39A to 39F; 10
(9)[(8)] "Director" means the director of the Division of Emergency Management of 11
the Department of Military Affairs; 12
(10)[(9)] "Disaster" means any incident or situation declared as such by executive 13
action of the Governor, or the President of the United States, pursuant to federal 14
law; 15
(11)[(10)] "Disaster and emergency response" means the performance of all emergency 16
functions, other than war -related functions for which military forces are primarily 17
responsible, including but not limited to: direction and control, incident command, 18
or management; communications; fire protection services; po lice services; medical 19
and health services; ambulance services; rescue; search and rescue or recovery; 20
urban search and rescue; engineering; alerting and warning services; resource 21
management; public works services; nuclear, chemical, biological, or other 22
hazardous material or substance monitoring, containment, decontamination, 23
neutralization, and disposal; emergency worker protection, site safety, site 24
operations and response planning; evacuation of persons; emergency welfare 25
services; emergency transportation; physical plant protection; temporary restoration 26
of public utility services; emergency lighting and power services; emergency public 27
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information; incident investigation, hazards analysis, and damage assessment; and 1
other functions related to effectiv e reaction to a disaster or emergency or 2
catastrophe, or the potential, threatened, or impending threat of any disaster or 3
emergency or catastrophe, together with all other activities necessary or incidental 4
to the preparation for and carrying out of the functions set out in this subsection; 5
(12)[(11)] "Division" means the Division of Emergency Management of the Department 6
of Military Affairs; 7
(13)[(12)] "Emergency" means any incident or situation which poses a major threat to 8
public safety so as to cause, or threaten to cause, loss of life, serious injury, 9
significant damage to property, or major harm to public health or the environment; 10
(14)[(13) (a)] "Executive action": 11
(a) Means: 12
1. All orders and guidelines related to a COVID -19 declared emergency 13
issued by the Governor or any state agency, the President of the United 14
States or any federal agency, or a local governmental agency; and 15
2. Industry-specific guidelines related to a COVID -19 declared emergency 16
adopted by a state agency that govern the industry; and 17
(b) Does not["Executive action"]: 18
1. [Does not ] Mean informal or indefinite statements or recommendations 19
made by government officials; or[and] 20
2. [Does not ]Create a duty of care; 21
(15)[(14)] "Integrated emergency management system" means the unified and 22
multidisciplinary disaster and emergency response infrastructure developed in the 23
Commonwealth, under the coordination of the division, using methods which align 24
state or local administrative, organizational, and operational resources, to 25
accomplish t he mission, goals, and objectives of the comprehensive emergency 26
management program of the Commonwealth; 27
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(16)[(15)] "Local disaster and emergency services organization" means that organization 1
of public and private entities developed to carry out the multi agency disaster and 2
emergency response of a city, county, urban -county or charter county pursuant to 3
KRS Chapters 39A to 39F; 4
(17)[(16)] "Local emergency management agency" means the agency created, operated, 5
and maintained to coordinate the local comprehe nsive emergency management 6
program and disaster and emergency response of a city, county, and urban -county 7
or charter county government pursuant to KRS Chapters 39A to 39F; 8
(18)[(17)] "Local emergency management director" or "Local director" means the 9
executive head of the local emergency management agency, appointed pursuant to 10
the provisions of KRS Chapters 39A to 39F; 11
(19)[(18)] "State emergency management agency" means the Division of Emergency 12
Management of the Department of Military Affairs; and 13
(20)[(19)] "State emergency management director" means the director of the Division of 14
Emergency Management. 15
Section 2. KRS 39A.100 is amended to read as follows: 16
(1) In the event of the occurrence or threatened or impending occurrence of any of the 17
situations or events enumerated in KRS 39A.010, 39A.020, or 39A.030, the 18
Governor may de clare, in writing, that a state of emergency exists. The Governor 19
shall have and may exercise the following emergency powers during the period in 20
which the state of emergency exists: 21
(a) To enforce all laws, and administrative regulations relating to disas ter and 22
emergency response and to assume direct operational control of all disaster 23
and emergency response forces and activities in the Commonwealth; 24
(b) To require state agencies and to request local governments, local agencies, 25
and special districts to r espond to the emergency or disaster in the manner 26
directed; 27
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(c) To seize, take, or condemn property, for the duration of the emergency, and 1
only for public use as defined in KRS 416.675, excluding firearms and 2
ammunition, components of firearms and ammunit ion, or a combination 3
thereof, for the protection of the public or at the request of the President, the 4
Armed Forces, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United 5
States, including: 6
1. All means of transportation and communication; 7
2. All stocks of fuel of whatever nature; 8
3. Food, clothing, equipment, materials, medicines, and all supplies; and 9
4. Facilities, including buildings and plants, but excluding houses of 10
worship, except to the extent that such houses have become unsafe to a 11
degree tha t would justify condemnation in the absence of a state of 12
emergency. 13
Compensation for property seized, taken, or condemned under this paragraph 14
shall be determined using the process in KRS 416.540 to 416.670 to 15
determine value; 16
(d) To sell, lend, give, or distribute any of the property under paragraph (c) of this 17
subsection among the inhabitants of the Commonwealth and to account to the 18
State Treasurer for any funds received for the property; 19
(e) To make compensation for the property seized, taken, or cond emned under 20
paragraph (c) of this subsection; 21
(f) To exclude all nonessential, unauthorized, disruptive, or otherwise 22
uncooperative personnel from the scene of the emergency, and to command 23
those persons or groups assembled at the scene to disperse. A pers on who 24
refuses to leave an area in which a written order of evacuation has been issued 25
in accordance with a written declaration of emergency or a disaster may be 26
forcibly removed to a place of safety or shelter, or may, if this is resisted, be 27
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arrested by a peace officer. Forcible removal or arrest shall not be exercised as 1
options until all reasonable efforts for voluntary compliance have been 2
exhausted; 3
(g) To declare curfews and establish their limits; 4
(h) To prohibit or limit the sale or consumption of goods, in the event of a 5
shortage of goods, excluding firearms and ammunition, components of 6
firearms and ammunition, or a combination thereof, or commodities for the 7
duration of the emergency; 8
(i) To grant emergency authority to pharmacists pursuant to KR S 315.500, for 9
the duration of the emergency; 10
(j) To request any assistance from agencies of the United States as necessary and 11
appropriate to meet the needs of the people of the Commonwealth; 12
(k) Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of State, to decla re by executive 13
order a different time or place for holding elections in an election area for 14
which a state of emergency has been declared for part or all of the election 15
area. The election shall be held within thirty -five (35) days from the date of 16
the suspended or delayed election. The executive order shall remain in effect 17
until the date of the suspended or delayed election regardless of the time 18
limitations in KRS 39A.090 and shall not be changed except by action of the 19
General Assembly. The State Board of Elections shall establish procedures for 20
election officials to follow. Any procedures established under this paragraph 21
shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of State and the Governor by 22
respective executive orders; and 23
(l) Except as prohibi ted by this section or other law, to take action necessary to 24
execute those powers enumerated in paragraphs (a) to (k) of this subsection. 25
(2) Within thirty (30) days of a declared emergency, and every thirty (30) days 26
thereafter, the Governor shall report to the General Assembly, if in session, or to the 27
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Legislative Research Commission if the General Assembly is not in session, on a 1
form provided by the Commission detailing: 2
(a) All expenditures relating to contracts issued during the emergency under KRS 3
45A.085 or 45A.095, or under any provision for which a state agency does not 4
solicit bids or proposals for a contract; and 5
(b) All revenues received from the federal government in response to the declared 6
emergency, any expenditures or expenditure plan for the federal funds by 7
federal program, the state agency or program that was allocated the federal 8
funds, and any state fund expenditures required to match the federal funds. 9
(3) In the event of the occurrence or threatened or impending occurrence of any of the 10
situations or events contemplated by KRS 39A.010, 39A.020, or 39A.030, which in 11
the judgment of a local chief executive officer is of such severity or complexity as 12
to require the exercise of extraordinary emergency measures, the county 13
judge/executive of a county other than an urban -county government, or mayor of a 14
city or urban -county government, or chief executive of other local governments or 15
their designees as provided by ordinance of the affected county, city, or urban -16
county may declare in writin g that a state of emergency exists, and thereafter, 17
subject to any orders of the Governor, shall have and may exercise for the period as 18
the state of emergency exists or continues, the following emergency powers: 19
(a) To enforce all laws and administrative regulations relating to disaster and 20
emergency response and to direct all local disaster and emergency response 21
forces and operations in the affected county, city, urban -county, or charter 22
county; 23
(b) To exclude all nonessential, unauthorized, disruptive, or uncooperative 24
personnel from the scene of the emergency, and to command persons or 25
groups of persons at the scene to disperse. A person who refuses to leave an 26
area in which a written order of evacu ation has been issued in accordance 27
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with a written declaration of emergency or a disaster may be forcibly removed 1
to a place of safety or shelter, or may, if this is resisted, be arrested by a peace 2
officer. Forcible removal or arrest shall not be exercise d as options until all 3
reasonable efforts for voluntary compliance have been exhausted; 4
(c) To declare curfews and establish their limits; 5
(d) To order immediate purchase or rental of, contract for, or otherwise procure, 6
without regard to procurement codes or budget requirements, the goods and 7
services essential for protection of public health and safety or to maintain or 8
to restore essential public services; and 9
(e) To request emergency assistance from any local government or special district 10
and, through the Governor, to request emergency assistance from any state 11
agency and to initiate requests for federal assistance as are necessary for 12
protection of public health and safety or for continuation of essential public 13
services. 14
(4) In the event of the occurr ence or threatened or impending occurrence of any 15
animal health emergency, which in the judgment of the Commissioner of 16
Agriculture in consultation with the state veterinarian, is of such severity or 17
complexity as to require the exercise of extraordinary e mergency measures, the 18
Commissioner of Agriculture may declare, in writing, that an animal health 19
emergency exists and, subject to any order of the Governor, may exercise 20
emergency powers for the period the animal health emergency exists or continues 21
to: 22
(a) Order the immediate purchase or procurement of or contract for veterinary 23
services from any veterinarian or veterinarian technician licensed in the 24
Commonwealth or any other state; 25
(b) Request the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet to issue any per mits 26
and waive any regulatory requirements relating to the transportation of 27
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animal feed stock or medicine, including but not limited to: 1
1. Vehicle weight limits; or 2
2. Driver safety restrictions; 3
and the secretary shall not deny the request absent good cause; 4
(c) Order the quarantine of any livestock, poultry, or other domesticated animal 5
and any articles or equipment capable of acting as a vector of 6
communicable disease; 7
(d) Establish roadblocks on any roadway within the Commonwealth in order to 8
prevent the transportation of the livestock, poultry, domesticated animal, 9
article, or equipment ordered quarantined, with the assistance of: 10
1. State law enforcement; 11
2. Local law enforcement; or 12
3. Game wardens employed by the Kentucky Department of Fish and 13
Wildlife Resources; 14
(e) Order the immediate purchase, procurement, or rental of or contract for, 15
without regard to procurement requirements established in KRS Chapter 16
45A, the goods and services, including materials and services needed to stop 17
the spread of a communicable disease, essential for the protection of public 18
health and safety or to maintain or restore essential public services; and 19
(f) Request any emergency assistance as is necessary for the protection of 20
public health and safety or for the continu ation of essential public services 21
from: 22
1. A local government or special district; 23
2. A state agency; or 24
3. The Governor in order to initiate any request for federal assistance. 25
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow any governmental enti ty to 26
impose additional restrictions on: 27
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(a) The lawful possession, transfer, sale, transport, carrying, storage, display, or 1
use of firearms and ammunition or components of firearms and ammunition; 2
(b) The right of the people to exercise free speech, free dom of the press, to 3
petition their government for redress of injuries, or to peaceably assemble; or 4
(c) The right of the people to worship, worship in person, or to act or refuse to act 5
in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief. 6
(6)[(5)] Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow any governmental entity to 7
impose restrictions on the right of the people to: 8
(a) Peaceably assemble; or 9
(b) Worship, worship in person, or to act or refuse to act in a manner motivated 10
by a sincerely held religious belief. 11
(7)[(6)] (a) A governmental entity shall not prohibit or restrict a religious 12
organization from operating or engaging in religious services during a 13
declared emergency to the same or any greater extent than other organizations 14
or businesses that provide essential servi ces necessary and vital to the health 15
and welfare of the public are prohibited or restricted. 16
(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not prohibit the Governor from requiring 17
religious organizations to comply with neutral health, safety, or occupancy 18
requirements that are applicable to all organizations and businesses that 19
provide essential services. However, no health, safety, or occupancy 20
requirement may impose a substantial burden on a religious organization or its 21
services unless applying the burden to the religion or religious service in the 22
particular instance is essential to further a compelling governmental interest 23
and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental 24
interest. 25
(c) A governmental entity shall not take any discriminatory action against a 26
religious organization. 27
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(8)[(7)] As used in this section: 1
(a) "Discriminatory action" includes any action taken by a governmental entity 2
wholly or partially on the basis that such organization is religious, operates or 3
seeks to operate during a state of emergency, or engages in the exercise of 4
religion as protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the 5
United States to: 6
1. Adversely alter in any way the tax treatment of, cause any tax, penalty, 7
or payment to b e assessed against, or deny, delay, or otherwise make 8
unavailable an exemption from taxation; 9
2. Disallow, deny, or otherwise make unavailable a deduction for state tax 10
purposes of any charitable contribution made to or by a religious 11
organization; 12
3. Impose, levy, or assess a monetary fine, fee, civil or criminal penalty, 13
damages award, or injunction; or 14
4. Withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, adversely alter the terms or 15
conditions of, or otherwise make unavailable or deny any: 16
a. State grant, contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement, 17
guarantee, loan, scholarship, or other similar benefit from or to a 18
religious organization; 19
b. Entitlement or benefit under a state benefit program from or to a 20
religious organization; or 21
c. License, certification, accre ditation, recognition, or other similar 22
benefit, position, or status from or to any religious organization; 23
(b) "Governmental entity" means: 24
1. The Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions; 25
2. Any agency of the state described in KRS 12.020; 26
3. Any person acting under color of state law; and 27
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4. Any private person suing under or attempting to enforce a law, rule, or 1
administrative regulation adopted by the state or any of its political 2
subdivisions; 3
(c) "Religious organization" means: 4
1. A house of worship, including churches, synagogues, shrines, mosques, 5
and temples; 6
2. A religious group, corporation, association, educational institution, 7
ministry, order, society, or similar entity, regardless of whether it is 8
integrated or affiliated with a church or other house of worship; or 9
3. Any officer, owner, employee, manager, religious leader, clergy, or 10
minister of an entity or organization described in this paragraph; and 11
(d) "Religious services" means a meeting, gathering, or assembly of two (2) or 12
more persons organized by a religious organization for the purpose of 13
worship, teaching, training, providing educational services, conducting 14
religious rituals, or other activities that are deemed necessary by the religious 15
organization for the exercise of religion. 16
(9)[(8)] A religious organization may assert a violation of subsection (5)[(4)](c), 17
(6)[(5)](b), or (7)[(6)] of this section as a claim against a governmental entity in any 18
judicial or administrative proceeding or as a defense in any judicial or 19
administrative proceeding without regard to whether the proceeding is brought by 20
or in the name of the governmental entity, any private person, or any other party. 21
Sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity are waived to the extent of 22
liability created u nder this section. An action asserting a violation of this section 23
may be commenced, and relief may be granted, without regard to whether the 24
religious organization commencing the action has sought or exhausted 25
administrative remedies. 26
(10)[(9)] Remedies a vailable to a religious organization under this section against a 27
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governmental entity include: 1
(a) Declaratory relief; 2
(b) Injunctive relief to prevent or remedy a violation of this section or the effects 3
of such violation; 4
(c) Compensatory damages for pecuniary and nonpecuniary losses; 5
(d) Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs; and 6
(e) Any other appropriate relief. 7
(11)[(10)] Remedies available to a religious organization under this section against a 8
person not acting under color of state law shall be limited to declaratory and 9
injunctive relief. 10
(12)[(11)] This section: 11
(a) Shall be construed in favor of a broad protection of free exercise of religion; 12
(b) Shall be in addition to the protections provided under state and federal laws 13
and constitutions. Nothing in this section shall be construed to: 14
1. Preempt or repeal any state law or local ordinance that is equally or 15
more protective of free exercise of religion; or 16
2. Narrow the meaning or application of any state law or local ordinance 17
protecting free exercise of religion; and 18
(c) Applies to, and in cases of conflict, supersedes: 19
1. Each statute of the Commonwealth that infri nges upon the free exercise 20
of religion protected by this section, unless a conflicting statute is 21
expressly made exempt from the application of this section; and 22
2. Any ordinance, rule, administrative regulation, order, opinion, decision, 23
practice, or oth er exercise of a governmental entity's authority that 24
infringes upon the free exercise of religion protected by this section. 25
(13)[(12)] A religious organization shall bring an action to assert a claim under this 26
section no later than two (2) years from th e date the person knew or should have 27
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known that a discriminatory action or other violation of this section was taken 1
against that religious organization. 2
Section 3. Whereas in the event of a natural disaster or declared animal health 3
emergency, it is imperative that critical resources and services be accessed immediately 4
in order to contain and remedy the disaster, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 5
Act takes effect upon its passage and approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise 6
becoming a law. 7