Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 20, § 1 (2026)

§ 1. Purpose and policy

(a) Because of the increasing possibility of the occurrence of disasters or emergencies of unprecedented size and destructiveness resulting from all-hazards and in order to ensure that preparation of this State will be adequate to deal with such disasters or emergencies; to provide for the common defense; to protect the public peace, health, and safety; and to preserve the lives and property of the people of the State, it is found and declared to be necessary:

(1) to create a State emergency management agency, and to authorize the creation of local and regional organizations for emergency management;

(2) to confer upon the Governor and upon the executive heads or legislative branches of the towns and cities of the State the emergency powers provided pursuant to this chapter;

(3) to provide for the rendering of mutual aid among the towns and cities of the State; with other states and Canada; and with the federal government with respect to the carrying out of emergency management functions; and

(4) to authorize the establishment of organizations and to carry out the provisions of this chapter as necessary and appropriate.

(b) It is further declared to be the purpose of this chapter and the policy of the State that all emergency management functions of this State be coordinated to the maximum extent with the comparable functions of the federal government including its various departments and agencies, of other states and localities, and of private agencies of every type, to the end that the most effective preparation and use may be made of the nation’s resources and facilities for dealing with any emergencies resulting from all-hazards. (Amended 1989, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2005, No. 209 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2021, No. 20, § 111; 2023, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.), § 25, eff. July 1, 2024.)