Los Angeles County Municipal Code Part 1 Definitions and General Provisions

This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the "emergency ordinance."

(Ord. 2020-0015U § 1, 2020.)

The declared purposes of this chapter are to provide for the preparation and carrying out of plans for the protection of life and property within the County of Los Angeles in the event of an emergency; the establishment, coordination and direction of the Los Angeles County operational area and emergency organization; the establishment, coordination and direction of the County of Los Angeles Emergency Management Council; the establishment, coordination and direction of the County of Los Angeles Office of Emergency Management; and the coordination of the preparatory and emergency functions of the County of Los Angeles with all other public agencies, organizations and individuals.

(Ord. 2020-0015U § 1, 2020.)

Unless the provisions or the context require otherwise, the general provisions, rules of construction and definitions set forth in this Part 1 shall govern the construction of this chapter.

(Ord. 2020-0015U § 1, 2020.)

Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, a public officer, the power may be exercised, or the duty may be performed, by a deputy of the officer or by a person authorized by the officer, pursuant to law or ordinance, unless this chapter expressly provides otherwise.

(Ord. 2020-0015U § 1, 2020.)

A.

"Board" means the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles;

B.

"California Emergency Services Act" means Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, now comprising sections 8550 to 8668, inclusive, and as amended;

C.

"Chair" means the Chair of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles;

D.

"Chief Executive Officer" means the Chief Executive Officer of the County of Los Angeles or his or her designee;

E.

"Sheriff" means the Sheriff of the County of Los Angeles;

F.

"Forester and Fire Warden and/or Fire Chief" means the Forester and Fire Warden of the County of Los Angeles and the Fire Chief of the Consolidated Fire Protection District of the County of Los Angeles;

G.

"Director of the Office of Emergency Management" means the Director of the County of Los Angeles Office of Emergency Management;

H.

"County" means the County of Los Angeles;

I.

"County District" or variant thereof includes the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, the Consolidated Fire Protection District within Los Angeles County, every county waterworks district within Los Angeles County, and every other type of district within Los Angeles County whose governing body is the Board;

J.

"Emergency" includes a "local emergency," "state of emergency," and a "state of war emergency" as defined in the California Emergency Services Act;

K.

"Emergency Operations Center" means the County Emergency Operations Center, which also serves as the operational area Emergency Operations Center;

L.

"Operational area" means the Los Angeles County operational area, which is an intermediate level of the State Emergency Services Organization, consisting of the County and all political subdivisions within the County;

M.

"Person" includes every person, firm and corporation;

N.

"Section" means a section of this chapter unless some other ordinance or statute is specifically mentioned;

O.

"Shall" is mandatory and "may" is permissive;

P.

"State" or variant thereof means the State of California; and

Q.

"Unified Coordination Group" means a variable group of senior County leaders who will be assembled and led by the Chief Executive Officer during a full activation, and potentially during a partial activation, of the Emergency Operations Center. The composition of the Unified Coordination Group will be determined, on a case-by-case basis, by the Chief Executive Officer depending on the particulars of the given emergency.

(Ord. 2020-0015U § 1, 2020.)