Emergency Authority & Immunity Toolkit
The Emergency Authority & Immunity (EAI) Toolkit addresses key concepts regarding federal and state emergency declarations and the various response authorities and liability protections these declarations can initiate. The toolkit component documents are designed to be used as a resource to assist in education, training, and planning activities to prepare for emergencies, as well as to serve as a quick reference resource during an emergency response to an event. The EAI Toolkit is one of six toolkits in ASTHO’s Legal Preparedness Toolkit Series. Please see the Introduction document for additional background on the project and the other toolkits.
Intended Audiences
These documents are specifically designed to address the different needs of discrete audiences within a state health agency:
- State health officers, agency directors, or other senior governmental officials may find the executive overviews and fact sheets of particular interest.
- Preparedness directors and other programmatic staff will find the fact sheets, issue briefs, state analysis guides, and resource materials useful in understanding and gaining more in-depth knowledge about particular concepts and legal issues.
- Legal counsel will find the fact sheets about particular federal laws and regulations, issue briefs, state analysis guides, and citations within the resource materials a good basis from which to conduct additional research and analyze their particular state’s authorities on these issues.
- The current issue updates are a good resource for all audiences to learn the latest developments on issues related to the toolkit topic.
EAI Toolkit Contents
All documents are listed alphabetically within each document category
Executive Overviews
One-page snapshots of key concepts and issues
- Key Emergency Authority and Immunity Concepts
- Key Federal Laws and Policies Regarding Emergency Authority and Immunity
Fact Sheets
One-page documents addressing fundamental issues or legal authorities
- Emergency Declarations and Authorities
- Emergency Management Assistance Compact
- Federal Emergency Preparedness Directives and Systems
- Immunity Issues in Emergencies
- Liability Issues and Emergencies
- Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreements
- National Emergencies Act, Sections 201 and 301
- Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act
- Public Health Service Act, Section 319: Public Health Emergencies
- Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act
- Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
- Social Security Act Section 1135 Waivers
- Workers’ Compensation Issues in Emergencies
Issue Briefs
In-depth information and analyses of fundamental issues
State Analysis Guides
Aids to assist states in identifying and analyzing their own statutes, regulations, and policies
- Emergency Declarations and Authorities (Word document will download)
- Liability, Immunity, and Workers’ Compensation Issues (Word document will download)