The State and Province Emergency Management Assistance Memorandum of Understanding is hereby enacted into law and entered into by the State of South Dakota with all other states legally joining the agreement, in the form substantially as follows:

ARTICLE I — PURPOSE AND AUTHORITIES

The State and Province Emergency Management Assistance Memorandum of Understanding, hereinafter referred to as the compact, is made and entered into by and among such of the jurisdictions as shall enact or adopt this compact, hereinafter referred to as participating jurisdictions. For the purposes of this compact, the term, jurisdictions, may include any or all of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin, and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, and such other states and provinces as may hereafter become a party to this compact. The term, states, means the several states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and all territorial possessions of the United States. The term, province, means the ten political units of government within Canada.

The purpose of this compact is to provide for the possibility of mutual assistance among the participating jurisdictions in managing any emergency or disaster when the affected jurisdiction or jurisdictions ask for assistance, whether arising from natural disaster, technological hazard, manmade disaster, or civil emergency aspects of resource shortages. This compact also provides for the process of planning mechanisms among the agencies responsible and for mutual cooperation, including civil emergency preparedness exercises, testing, or other training activities using equipment and personnel simulating performance of any aspect of the giving and receiving of aid by participating jurisdictions or subdivisions of participating jurisdictions during emergencies, with such actions occurring outside emergency periods.

ARTICLE II — GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION

Each participating jurisdiction entering into this compact recognizes that many emergencies may exceed the capabilities of a participating jurisdiction and that inter-governmental cooperation is essential in such circumstances. Each participating jurisdiction further recognizes that there will be emergencies that may require immediate access and present procedures to apply outside resources to make a prompt and effective response to such an emergency because few, if any, individual jurisdictions have all the resources they need in all types of emergencies or the capability of delivering resources to areas where emergencies exist. On behalf of the participating jurisdictions in the compact, the legally designated official who is assigned responsibility for emergency management is responsible for formulation of the appropriate inter-jurisdictional mutual aid plans and procedures necessary to implement this compact, and for recommendations to the participating jurisdiction concerned with respect to the amendment of any statutes, regulations, or ordinances required for that purpose.

ARTICLE III — PARTICIPATING JURISDICTION RESPONSIBILITIES

(a) FORMULATE PLANS AND PROGRAMS — It is the responsibility of each participating jurisdiction to formulate procedural plans and programs for inter-jurisdictional cooperation in the performance of the responsibilities listed in this section. In formulating and implementing such plans and programs the participating jurisdictions, to the extent practical, may:

(1) Share and review individual jurisdiction hazards analyses that are available and determine all those potential emergencies the participating jurisdictions might jointly suffer, whether due to natural disaster, technological hazard, man-made disaster or emergency aspects of resource shortages;

(2) Share emergency operations plans, procedures, and protocols established by each of the participating jurisdictions before entering into this compact;

(3) Share policies and procedures for resource mobilization, tracking, demobilization, and reimbursement;