County Department of Emergency Services: Emergency Operations Plan

Virginia is continuously threatened by emergency and disaster situations such as flash flooding, hurricanes, hazardous materials incidents, and resource shortages. The Virginia Emergency Services and Disaster Law of 1973 requires that the state, and each county and city within the state, develop and maintain a current Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) which addresses their planned response to such extraordinary emergency situations. This plan for Washington County is designed to meet this responsibility and to include the county in the mutually supportive statewide emergency management system.

The Washington County Emergency Operations Plan actually consists of two plans. The development and maintenance of these plans is the basis of the local emergency management program:

(1) The Basic Plan describes the concept of emergency operations and assigns duties and responsibilities to agency heads or organizations which are either part of, or will serve in support of, local government in time of emergency. It becomes the organizational and legal basis for emergency operations. Functional annexes and hazard-specific appendices to the Basic Plan provide additional guidance and set forth detailed procedures as needed to assure an appropriate level of emergency preparedness.

(2) The federal Superfund and Reauthorization Act (SARA Title III) requires the development and maintenance of detailed procedures for identifying facilities with extremely hazardous materials and for assuring an adequate emergency response capability by these facilities and by local emergency services. A SARA Title III Plan has been developed (Hazard Specific Appendix 2) which supplements the EOP by providing additional procedures for a hazardous materials incident response.

This plan was developed by the County Department of Emergency Services with assistance from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM). Input was requested and received from other local officials as well. Funding for local emergency operations plans development assistance in Virginia is provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and all plans are developed in accordance with guidance provided by that agency. The current EOP was adopted by the Washington County Board of Supervisors in February, 2003 and is comprehensively updated every 5 years with periodic updates as needed.

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