§ 166A-19.11.  Powers of the Secretary of Public Safety.

The Secretary shall be responsible to the Governor for State emergency management activities. The Secretary shall have the following powers and duties as delegated by the Governor:

(1) To activate the State and local plans applicable to the areas in question and to authorize and direct the deployment and use of any personnel and forces to which the plan or plans apply, and the use or distribution of any supplies, equipment, materials, and facilities available pursuant to this Article or any other provision of law.

(2) To adopt the rules to implement those provisions of this Article that deal with matters other than those that are exclusively local.

(3) To develop a system to produce a preliminary damage assessment from which the Secretary will recommend the appropriate level of disaster declaration to the Governor. The system shall, at a minimum, consider whether the damage involved and its effects are of such a severity and magnitude as to be beyond the response capabilities of the local government or political subdivision.

(3a) To notify the Director of the Budget, the Office of the Governor, the chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees, the chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees on Justice and Public Safety, the Fiscal Research Division, and any other State entities deemed necessary of the potential for using Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to cover the nonfederal share of matching requirements for eligible programs at the following times:

a. June 1 of each year.

b. Within five days of a presidential disaster declaration for the State of North Carolina.

(3b) To report annually by December 1 to the chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees on Justice and Public Safety on the amount of State funds used to pay contractors for performing CDBG-DR activities that could have been paid for using federal CDBG-DR funds during the calendar year.

(4) Additional authority, duties, and responsibilities as may be prescribed by the Governor. The Secretary may subdelegate his authority to the appropriate member of the Secretary's department. (1951, c. 1016, ss. 3, 9; 1953, c. 1099, s. 3; 1955, c. 387, ss. 2, 3, 5; 1957, c. 950, s. 5; 1975, c. 734, ss. 9, 10, 14, 16; 1977, c. 848, s. 2; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1310, s. 2; 1995, c. 509, s. 124; 2001-214, s. 2; 2002-179, s. 12; 2009-192, s. 1; 2009-193, s. 3; 2009-196, s. 1; 2009-225, s. 1; 2011-145, s. 19.1(g); 2012-12, s. 1(b); 2019-250, s. 3.5(a).)