Proclamation Process

If a local government determines effects of an emergency are beyond the capability of local resources to mitigate effectively, the local government must proclaim a local emergency. It should be noted a local emergency proclamation is not required for fire or law mutual aid; direct state assistance, Red Cross assistance; a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG); or disaster loan programs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

​Local Emergency Proclamation

A local emergency proclamation can only be issued by a governing body (city, county, or city and county) or an official designated by local ordinance. The proclamation should be issued within 10 days of the incident and ratified by the governing body within 7 days. Renewal of the resolution should occur every 60 days until terminated.

​State of Emergency

Pursuant to California Government Code Section 8625, the Governor may proclaim a State of Emergency in an area affected by a natural or intentional disaster, when he is requested to do so by the governing body of the local agency affected, or he finds the local authority is inadequate to cope with the emergency. A local jurisdiction should request the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency when the governing body of a city, county, or city and county determine emergency conditions are beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single county, city, or city and county, and emergency conditions require the combined forces of a mutual aid region(s) to combat.

​Initial Damage Estimate (IDE)

​When the local proclamation of emergency is submitted to Cal OES’ Regional Operations, the package should include an IDE. An IDE is the local governments’ identification of the impacts and local response and recovery activities. The IDE assists Cal OES to understand the jurisdiction's damages and prioritize Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) efforts, which in turn can lead to a state or federal disaster declaration. An Operational Area must include all its affected governing bodies (cities, towns, etc.), special districts (school districts, water districts, community services districts, etc.), and private non-profit organizations within the IDE.

An IDE should include:

• Type and extent of public and private sector damage;
• Estimates of damages and emergency response costs; and
• Any acute public health and environmental issues

The IDE is evaluated, and if warranted, a State assessment is conducted by Cal OES Recovery.

The Recovery Proclamation Team works with local jurisdictions’ emergency management and/or public safety agencies in the Operational Areas affected by the disaster event to accomplish these assessments.