Counties of Fresno and Stanislaus, California

Regional All-Hazards Food and Agriculture Detection, Mitigation and Response Plan Template

June 2006 – Present

James Lee Witt Associates (JLWA) is developing an all-hazards County Agricultural Emergency Response Plan for use by Fresno and Stanislaus counties in California's Central Valley. The plan will include modular Incident Command System organization and position descriptions and will address regional food and agricultural detection, mitigation and response.

When completed and formally reviewed by both county agricultural commissioners' offices the CAER plan will ensure:

• Appropriate integration between the counties' agricultural and emergency response plans and the state and federal agricultural and emergency operations plans
• Effective coordination of resources between local governments and collaboration with state and federal entities
• Inclusion of public and private organizations whose concerns are plant, animal, environmental health, transportation and public safety (all of which may become engaged in an agricultural emergency)
• Inclusion of a categorical alert system template for an agricultural emergency
• Conformity and compliance with all requirements and guidelines of the Standardized Emergency Management System, ICS and the Federal National Incident Management System

The plan will be written in a template format with matrices of roles and responsibilities, including the Joint Operations Center structure, essential support functions, checklists, damage assessment instructions, alert system and media release templates for agriculture emergencies by category.

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