Year In Review

35. HURRICANE KATRINA TASK FORCE SUBCOMMITTEE EXAMINES NATION'S LEGAL AUTHORITIES TO MEET CATASTROPHIC EVENTS

Following the events of September 11, 2001, national focus turned to response and recovery from a terrorist attack of catastrophic proportions as an essential element of national defense. Hurricane Katrina raised many doubts about our nation’s ability to respond quickly and effectively to protect lives, property, and public health and safety during catastrophic events, and became a reminder that the safety and security of the public requires an ability to respond effectively during catastrophes of all types.

The American Bar Association, through its Task Force on Hurricane Katrina, called on the Standing Committee on Law and National Security to evaluate current legal authorities available to meet catastrophes and other national disasters and emergencies. The Standing Committee, together with the Section of State and Local Government Law and the Section of Administrative Law and Practice, set out to look at the over-arching question – were laws and regulations applicable to the response by state and federal officials sufficient to deal with this natural disaster? The question soon became whether authorities were clarified in such a way as to be easily understood and implemented, not whether authority did exist.

Highlights of the group's report include an assessment of the laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels to determine authorities under existing laws. The report begins with the U.S. Constitution and examines laws related to catastrophic events and emergencies. Federalism and the challenges it creates are explored by looking at the response authority of the President and the federal executive departments and agencies. The report then looks at issues related to state and local government and authority, including that of First Responders, followed by an analysis of the laws and regulations which control military support to civilian authorities in catastrophic events. The subcommittee's report can be downloaded here [PDF], and a RealPlayer audio file of a related program from the 2006 Midyear Meeting, "ThePerfect Storm: Katrina as Prologue to Pandemic," is available here.

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