A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the dissemination of electronic emergency notifications

Int. No.

By Council Member Dromm

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the dissemination of electronic emergency notifications

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

                     Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 30 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 30-115 to read as follows:

§ 30-115 Emergency notifications. a. Any emergency alert originated by a city office or city agency that is issued through a commercial mobile service alert system established pursuant to section 1201 of title 47 of the United States code shall, to the extent practicable, be issued in no fewer than the two most commonly spoken languages within the area covered by the emergency alert as determined by the commissioner in consultation with the department of city planning, provided that this requirement shall not prohibit the immediate issuance of an emergency alert in a single language if necessary due to exigent circumstances or technical limitations.

b. Any emergency notification system operated and controlled by the office of emergency management for the purposes of aggregating information obtained from other offices or agencies to inform the public about emergencies or disruptive events through e-mail, text, phone, or internet-based feed shall offer each notification in no fewer than the seven most commonly spoken languages within the city as determined by the commissioner in consultation with the department of city planning, provided that this requirement shall not delay or prohibit the immediate issuance of notifications in any individual language. Notifications shall be disaggregated into separate feeds for each language. A general version of each notification may be used when a real-time translation is unavailable, provided that priority shall be placed upon making notifications available with the greatest specificity possible. Any dissemination limitation applicable to an English language notification may be applied to its equivalent notification in another language, provided that if no potential recipient is registered for a specific language then such a limited notification shall not be required to be disseminated in that language.

§ 2. This local law shall take effect one year after it becomes law, except that the commissioner of emergency management shall take all actions necessary for its implementation, including the promulgation of rules, prior to such effective date.

BJR

LS 6383

8/10/16  12:59PM