Emergency alert standards bill passes California Senate, moves to Assembly

A bill that would require all counties follow statewide standards for how and when to warn people about emergencies, including wildfires, floods and earthquakes, is heading to the state Assembly after clearing the Senate last week.

Senate Bill 833 passed with a unanimous and bipartisan vote on May 31.

Spurred by the lack of effective public alerts in October when wildfires burned into communities across Northern California, North Coast lawmakers, including state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, wrote the legislation to require local emergency officials follow first-ever statewide standards for public warnings.

The bill would ensure counties have an emergency alert program capable of pushing messages to cellphones and spreading messages through other means, such as radio and television.

In October, Sonoma County officials and emergency mangers relied on opt-in emergency warning systems that failed to reach and warn most people about fires heading into their neighborhoods. The county’s failures were underscored in a state report, which found emergency officials were unprepared and had an outdated understanding of technology.

- Julie Johnson