STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8322
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 20, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GONZALEZ-ROJAS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law and the administrative code of the
city of New York, in relation to requiring emergency alerts to be
issued in the ten most commonly spoken languages in the area covered
by such emergency alert
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 3 of section
2 22 of the executive law, as amended by section 3 of part B of chapter 56
3 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
4 (3) a system for warning populations who are or may be endangered. Any
5 emergency alert issued through e-mail, text, phone, social media plat-
6 form, or internet-based feed shall be issued in no fewer than the ten
7 most commonly spoken languages within the area covered by such emergency
8 alert. Such notifications shall be separated into distinct messages in
9 separate feeds for each language. A general version of each notification
10 may be used when a real-time translation is unavailable, provided that
11 priority shall be placed upon making notifications available with the
12 greatest specificity possible;
13 § 2. Section 30-115 of the administrative code of the city of New
14 York, as added by local law number 31 of the city of New York for the
15 year 2017, is amended to read as follows:
16 § 30-115 Emergency notifications. a. Any emergency alert originated by
17 a city office or city agency that is issued through a commercial mobile
18 service alert system established pursuant to section 1201 of title 47 of
19 the United States code shall, to the extent practicable and to the
20 extent permissible under regulations enacted pursuant to such section,
21 be issued in no fewer than the [two] ten most commonly spoken languages
22 within the area covered by the emergency alert as determined by the
23 commissioner in consultation with the department of city planning,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13171-01-1
A. 8322 2
1 provided that this subdivision does not require the issuance of an emer-
2 gency alert in a language if exigent circumstances prohibit the issuance
3 of an alert in such language.
4 b. Any emergency notification system operated and controlled by the
5 office of emergency management for the purposes of aggregating informa-
6 tion obtained from other offices or agencies to inform the public about
7 emergencies or disruptive events through e-mail, text, phone, social
8 media platform, or internet-based feed shall offer each notification in
9 no fewer than the [seven] ten most commonly spoken languages within the
10 city as determined by the commissioner in consultation with the depart-
11 ment of city planning, provided that this requirement shall not delay or
12 prohibit the immediate issuance of notifications in any individual
13 language. Notifications shall be separated into distinct messages in
14 separate feeds for each language. A general version of each notification
15 may be used when a real-time translation is unavailable, provided that
16 priority shall be placed upon making notifications available with the
17 greatest specificity possible. Any dissemination limitation applicable
18 to an English language notification may be applied to its equivalent
19 notification in another language. If no potential recipient is regis-
20 tered for a specific language, then a notification need not be dissem-
21 inated in that language.
22 § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
23 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
24 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
25 of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
26 completed on or before such effective date.