Texas Disaster Law Guide

This guide provides answers about legal considerations emergency responders and managers must face when dealing with natural disasters and catastrophic situations.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey knocked power out across a wide swath of Texas, including to the Arkema plant in Crosby. Without electricity, chemicals stored there caught fire and numerous first responders tasked with enforcing the evacuation perimeter were exposed to toxic fumes. A similar situation occurred in 2010, when first responders lacked the specialized equipment and necessary expertise to deal effectively with the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This volume provides information about the legal considerations emergency responders and managers face when dealing with disasters, whether man-made or natural. Intended to assist Texas organizations and communities, many of the issues—such as mandatory evacuations and curfews, oil spills and hazardous materials and commandeering private property—will be of interest to agencies around the country. Flowcharts are included that can be reduced to a pocket-sized guide for personnel involved in mitigating the impact of catastrophes. The authors contend that a well-structured legal framework in disaster law increases a city’s resilience and ultimately reduces human suffering and costs. This guide is divided into three parts: Disaster Response Law; Identifying Authority; and Responsibility, Accountability and Liability. It also includes appendices and tables, skillsets and agency duties. It will be indispensable for increasing disaster preparedness in order to protect human life and property.

Meant to aid State & local emergency managers in their efforts to develop & maintain a viable all-hazard emergency operations plan. This guide clarifies the preparedness, response, & short-term recovery planning elements that warrant inclusion in emergency operations plans. It offers the best judgment & recommendations on how to deal with the entire planning process -- from forming a planning team to writing the plan. Specific topics of discussion include: preliminary considerations, the planning process, emergency operations plan format, basic plan content, functional annex content, hazard-unique planning, & linking Federal & State operations.

One of Stephen T. Zamora’s former students entered law school with little idea about his future direction. He was fortunate to have a class on contracts with Zamora, Sten Gustafson writes, because “after that first year with him, my path became clear.” The professor made a topic intriguing that could easily be esoteric and tedious, and “opened my eyes to a career path that I could not have imagined otherwise.” This collection of 19 academic essays honors the memory of Dr. Stephen T. Zamora, the Leonard B. Rosenberg Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, who died unexpectedly in 2016. An international authority in the field, Zamora’s areas of expertise were international trade and investments, international banking, conflicts of laws, international economic relations, Mexican law and US-Mexico relations. In addition, he was the driving force behind the establishment of the Center for U.S. and Mexican Law, the only one of its kind at a US law school. Written by colleagues and friends, the scholarly articles included in this volume reflect Zamora’s commitment to Mexican law, education and the promotion of US-Mexico cooperation. Topics such as regulating lawyers and legal education, environmental issues and dispute settlement are covered, and articles include “Economic Sovereignty and Oil and Gas Law,” “What Should Immigration Law Become?” and “Freer Trade between the United States and the European Union?” Through this collection, Zamora’s contemporaries aim to expand his legacy and continue his life-long work as an educator, attorney and uniter of peoples.

Does the identification number 60 indicate a toxic substance or a flammable solid, in the molten state at an elevated temperature? Does the identification number 1035 indicate ethane or butane? What is the difference between natural gas transmission pipelines and natural gas distribution pipelines? If you came upon an overturned truck on the highway that was leaking, would you be able to identify if it was hazardous and know what steps to take? Questions like these and more are answered in the Emergency Response Guidebook. Learn how to identify symbols for and vehicles carrying toxic, flammable, explosive, radioactive, or otherwise harmful substances and how to respond once an incident involving those substances has been identified. Always be prepared in situations that are unfamiliar and dangerous and know how to rectify them. Keeping this guide around at all times will ensure that, if you were to come upon a transportation situation involving hazardous substances or dangerous goods, you will be able to help keep others and yourself out of danger. With color-coded pages for quick and easy reference, this is the official manual used by first responders in the United States and Canada for transportation incidents involving dangerous goods or hazardous materials.

This century's major disasters from Hurricane Katrina and the Fukushima nuclear meltdown to devastating Nepalese earthquakes and the recent crippling volcanic eruptions and tsunamis in Tonga have repeatedly taught that government institutions are ill-prepared for major disaster events, leaving the most vulnerable among us unprotected. These tragedies represent just the beginning of a new era of disaster – an era of floods, heatwaves, droughts, and pandemics fueled by climate change. Laws and government institutions have struggled to adapt to the scope of the challenge; old models of risk no longer apply. This Handbook provides timely guidance, taking stock of the field of disaster law and policy as it has developed since Hurricane Katrina. Experts from a wide range of academic and practical backgrounds address the root causes of disaster vulnerability and offer solutions to build more resilient communities to ensure that no one is left behind.