The concept of an Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) was developed by the Southern Governors' Association in September 1992. EMAC provides the mechanism, legally and implementationally, for states to assist each other in times of disaster. It provides the parameters for recipient states to reimburse assisting states. It outlines the limits of liability for assisting states, an important concern in this litigious era. Perhaps most importantly, at a time of diminishing federal budgets, EMAC allows states to help themselves.

In August 1992, Hurricane Andrew ripped into Florida, leaving in its wake billions of dollars in damage before moving on to create more destruction in Louisiana. A few weeks later, the southern governors assembled in Charleston, South Carolina, for their annual meeting. With the Hurricane Andrew disaster still obviously fresh on his mind, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles suggested that the 19 member states and territories in the Southern Governors’ Association (SGA) create some means of mutual support in such situations. Outgoing SGA Chairman Carroll A. Campbell, Jr., was very supportive, given South Carolina’s experience with Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The governors discussed the issue and resolved to "develop a cooperative agreement":

That the Southern Governors’ Association in conjunction with the emergency management divisions of the member states will develop a cooperative agreement which sets forth an executive plan and inventory that will outline the operations, resources and activities that can be coordinated and activated when a disaster situation befalls one or more of the member states. (Southern Governors’ Resolution of September 1992)

For nearly a year afterward, members on a seven-state steering committee labored to produce a document acceptable to the full SGA membership. Built on the language of a decades-old civil-defense compact from the 1950s, the collectively drafted compact was signed by SGA’s governors in August 1993.

The compact addressed various issues, from evacuation procedures to interstate license recognition. But it was important to states in large part because it confronted the question of tort liability for the workers of assisting states working within a state that had requested aid. In short, EMAC would allow states to assist each other with some certainty of the expectations and responsibilities involved, which in turn would increase the likelihood of their doing so at considerably reduced risk of suit or of great expense. It also allows states to provide assistance to one another either in advance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid where it was forthcoming, or in place of FEMA aid where it was not.

During the compact’s development, a legal task force was established to review the question of tort liability and other issues. The task force was anxious to define in more detail the limits of tort liability for states lending assistance. The U.S. Supreme Court had in 1979 ruled in the case of Nevada v. Hall that the doctrine of sovereign immunity was invalid outside the borders of the state under suit. Under this doctrine, a state could not be sued for any harm caused in good faith by an agent of the state government. In its Nevada ruling, the court determined that this doctrine applied only within the borders of the state under suit.

The task force was concerned that any assisting state emergency worker in a recipient state might inadvertently put his own state at threat of suit when weighing whether or nor to send assistance. The legal group altered the liability clause to make it plain that in such situations, it would be unequivocally the recipient state that was responsible.

Because of state differences in constitutional and statutory laws, the task force recommended state legislative approval of EMAC by party states. The group reasoned that legislative ratification would be vital to obviate any lingering doubt that recipient states were responsible. Legislative endorsement would also resolve many legal questions associated with the compact, such as whether a governor, absent specific statutory authorization, had the power to grant good faith immunity to relief workers from another state or to spend money out of state on interstate assistance.

The compact was first called into use in April 1995. Virginia’s Governor George Allen used the compact for the basis of his executive order to send Virginia National Guard personnel and helicopters to Kentucky to help douse a raging forest fire.

In October 1995, Florida tried to use the agreement to solicit aid from Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Opal’s destruction. While Florida’s Governor Chiles had endorsed the compact, Mississippi officials were concerned that the Florida State Legislature had not passed the compact. Fortunately, the 1995 Mississippi Legislature had passed a law that authorized its governor to enter mutual-aid compacts with other states in the event of natural disaster. Hasty research revealed that Florida had a similar statute. Within three days and after considerable effort, the Opal-specific agreement was set, and Mississippi sent emergency helicopters to Florida.

One of the purposes of EMAC is to avoid such delays and to "automate" the provision of mutual aid. Under the terms of the compact, party states must draw up implementation plans. Special forms are available through the SGA to request aid. SGA has also produced a directory of party states’ point of contact and a guidebook which outlines the methods for requesting and agreeing to send assistance.

General Party State Responsibilities
(Article III)

• General Preparations:
• Review hazard analysis and determine potential emergencies.
• Develop a plan and mechanism for interstate provision and management of assistance.
• Develop procedures to fill gaps and resolve inconsistencies or overlaps. Develop procedures and plans for warning adjacent communities across state lines. Assure delivery of services, medicines, water, food, energy, search and rescue and other critical resources, both human and material.
• Inventory and set procedures for loan and delivery of human and material resources, and reimbursement or forgiveness.
• Provide for temporary suspension of conflicting laws.

Licenses and Permits
(Article V)

This clause is subject to limitations and conditions prescribed by the governor of the requesting state.

Liability
(Article VI)

"Good faith" does not include willful misconduct, gross negligence or recklessness.

Party States
As of July 1996:

• EMAC has fully been approved by the following state legislatures: DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MO, MS, OK, SC, SD, TN and VA.
• EMAC is under legislative review: AL, AK, MN, NC, ND and TX.
• A similar compact has been passed: NH.

EMAC Endorsers
As noted earlier, the 19 members of the SGA endorsed the EMAC in January 1995. In August 1995, the Midwestern Governors’ Conference endorsed the compact, urging Midwestern legislatures to pass it. The National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) endorses the EMAC for adoption by all states, and the Suggested State Legislation Committee of the Council of State Governments has developed a brief on the compact for recommendation to the states in the 1996 Suggested State Legislation publication.

SGA’s Continuing Role
SGA continues to serve as the facilitating association behind the compact’s development. SGA was asked to compose a "manual of use" for the compact, to be distributed to all participating states. Its contents would include a brief history of the compact, a methodology for requesting aid, a synopsis of each state’s legal authority to participate in compacts, and standardized forms for requesting assistance and keeping records. SGA was also asked to conduct a survey of participating states’ inventories of emergency management resources. The results would be presented in the form of two matrices, with check marks indicating states’ strengths and weaknesses in various categories of emergency activity.

SGA is also working with FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI) staff in western Maryland to devise the means to incorporate EMAC’s mutual-aid instruction into EMI’s curriculum for teaching emergency management officials from around the country. Also, SGA is providing EMAC conferees the opportunity to meet every six months during the associations’ meetings. For more information, contact Doug Munro at the Southern Governors’ Association, (202) 624-5897.

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