Amends TCA Title 58, Chapter 8.

Present law provides that the purposes of the existing Mutual Aid and Emergency and Disaster Assistance Agreement Act of 2004 are to authorize mutual aid and to enhance public safety and homeland security by facilitating assistance among governmental entities in any state of emergency or declared disaster while conforming to federal guidelines relative to reimbursement of costs for assistance rendered. This bill clarifies that authorizing mutual aid as used in this provision only means doing so during an occurrence.<br /> <br /> Present law defines an "occurrence" as the imminent threat of an event or an actual event and its aftermath, whether natural or man-made, that could lead to (i) substantial bodily injury or property damage and (ii) the declaration of a state of emergency. This bill rewrites this definition to remove the requirement that the bodily injury or property damage be substantial and to remove the requirement that the threat of an event, or an actual event and its aftermath, could lead to the declaration of a state of emergency.<br /> <br /> Present law provides that if a governmental entity is affected by an occurrence that its resources will not be adequate to handle, then the entity may request aid through the appropriate emergency management employee or official, or a county or municipality may declare a local state of emergency and request assistance by communicating the request to a potential responding party or multiple potential responding parties. This bill defines an "emergency management employee or official" as an employee or official of a governmental entity with the authority to request aid.<br />