Ministério da Administração Interna (Ministry of Internal Administration)
Decree-Law
(This is not an official translation of the law)
Taking forward the Public Administration modernizing and optimising process and, consequently, the improvement of the quality of public services, Decree-Law No 126-B/2011, of 29 December, reinforced powers of Autoridade Nacional de Proteção Civil (the National Civil Protection Authority), within the scope of operational central services of the Ministry of Internal Administration, in matters of civil protection policy, especially by absorbing powers previously granted to the Conselho Nacional de Planeamento Civil de Emergência (the National Council for Civil Emergency Planning) relating to the planning and coordination of national needs in the area of civil emergency planning. As such, this statutory instrument aims for the integration of that new field of action, which was also determined by Decree-Law No 126-A/2011, of 29 December.
This amendment to the structure of the Autoridade Nacional de Proteção Civil, limited to that purpose, also defines the functioning rules for bodies that assume the powers and competences of emergency planning committees, in the part related to civil emergency planning.
Therefore:
Pursuant to paragraph 1 a) of article 198 of the Constitution, the Government hereby decrees as follows:
Article 1
Purpose
This Decree-Law amends Decree-Law No 75/2007, of 29 March, which approves the structure of Autoridade Nacional de Protecção Civil - ANPC (the National Authority for Civil Protection), setting out its powers with respect to civil emergency planning.
Article 2
Amendment to Decree-Law No 75/2007, of 29 March
Articles 2, 5, 10, 14 and 26 of Decree-Law No 75/2007, of 29 March, are hereby amended to read as follows:
«Article 2
Mission and powers
1 - The ANPC’s mission is to plan, coordinate and implement the civil protection policy, namely, in the scope of the prevention and reaction to serious accidents and disasters, the protection and relief of populations and the monitoring of fire service activities, as well as to ensure the planning and coordination of national needs in the area of civil emergency planning, with a view to meeting situations of crisis or war.
2 - The ANPC shall perform the following tasks within the area of risk forecast and management and civil emergency planning:
a) To ensure the civil emergency planning operation, specifically with a view to meeting situations of serious accident, disaster, crisis or war;
b) To contribute to the definition of the national policy for civil emergency planning, namely by drawing up general guidelines, promoting emergency studies and plans, providing technical support and issuing opinions on their preparation by sector-specific entities;
c) To promote the outline, forecast and assessment of collective risks of natural or technological origin and the study, standardisation and application of appropriate prevention and relief techniques;
d) To organise a national alert and warning system;
e) To regulate, license and monitor the fire safety area;
f) To guarantee the articulation between public or private services in charge of tasks related with civil emergency planning, so that, in the event of a serious accident, disaster, crisis or war, the maintenance of government action, population protection and national heritage can be guaranteed.
3 - The ANPC shall perform the following tasks within the area of protection and relief operations:
a) To guarantee the organic and territorial continuity of the relief operation control system;
b) To monitor all protection and relief operations at local and autonomous regional levels, and to foresee the need for the intervention of additional means;
c) To plan and guarantee the use, under the law, of private or public means available to deal with situations of serious accidents or disasters;
d) To ensure the horizontal coordination of all civil protection actors and other structures and public services playing a protection-and-relief-related role.
4 - The ANPC shall perform the following tasks within the area of fire service activities:
a) To guide, coordinate and monitor the activity of fire brigades;
b) To promote and encourage the participation of volunteers and other forms of assistance in the missions of humanitarian firemen associations and fire brigades;
c) To ensure the provision of training to Portuguese firemen and to promote the operational improvement of staff of fire brigades;
d) To ensure the health prevention, hygiene and safety of staff of fire brigades as well as the investigation of accidents that take place during relief operations.
Article 5
Cooperation duty
1 -...
2 -...
a) Public servants and officials of legal persons of public law, as well as members of public companies’ management bodies;
b) ...
c) ...
d) ...
e) ...
f) ...
g) ...
h) ...
i) ...
j) Bodies in charge of forests, nature conservation, industry and energy, transports, communications, water resources, meteorology, geophysics, agriculture, sea, food, environment and cyberspace;
k) [Former point l).]
3 - ...
4 - ...
Article 10
[...]
1 - ...
a) To promote and to coordinate activities related to civil emergency planning, both at national level and at the level of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in close liaison with competent public services in each sector;
b) [Former point a).]
c) To advise the Government in matters related to civil protection and civil emergency planning;
d) [Former point c).]
e) [Former point d).]
f) [Former point e).]
2 - In case of failure to comply with ANPC determinations or of infringement of standards and technical requirements that apply to activities subject to licensing, authorization, certification or monitoring by ANPC, its chairman is entitled:
a) To suspend or cancel the granted licenses, authorizations and certifications, under the terms laid down in the respective regulations;
b) To order the cessation of activities, immobilisation of equipment or the closure of premises until the situation of non-compliance or of infringement no longer applies;
c) To request the collaboration of police authorities to enforce rules and determinations that for safety reasons must be immediately observed in the scope of public management measures;
d) To apply other penalties provided for in the law.
3 - Without prejudice to provisions in the Estatuto do Pessoal Dirigente (the Status of Senior Officials), the chairman shall be appointed following the hearing of Comissão Nacional de Protecção Civil (the National Civil Protection Commission).
4 - [Former paragraph 3.]
5 - The chairman shall be replaced, in his absences or impediments, by the national director he indicates for the purpose.
Article 14
[...]
1 - The national directorate for emergency planning is the service within ANPC responsible for the following tasks:
a) To contribute to the definition of the national policy for civil emergency planning and to ensure the civil emergency planning operation;
b) To promote the forecast and to ensure the monitoring and assessment of collective risks;
c) To assess vulnerabilities in risk situations;
d) To develop and maintain a national alert and warning system;
e) To guarantee the development and coordination of civil emergency planning;
f) To draw up appropriate technical guidelines for prevention and relief;
g) To regulate, license and monitor the fire safety area.
2 - In the field of civil emergency planning, it is the particular duty of the national directorate for emergency planning:
a) To draw up general guidelines for civil emergency planning to meet civil and military needs;
b) To contribute to the establishment of guidelines adapting public services to situations of crisis or war;
c) To assess the plans, in the scope of civil emergency planning, prepared by public services with powers for the purpose, as well as by other bodies;
d) To provide prior approval to information and proposals presented by national representatives to the corresponding committees of NATO’s Civil Emergency Planning Committee (CEPC);
e) To identify public or private services that must play a role related to civil emergency planning;
f) To ensure the implementation of guidelines and plans approved by the Government, requesting the information deemed to be necessary;
g) To obtain the cooperation of public and private competent services, or of experts, when preparing studies and information;
h) To promote the clarification of populations on problems related to civil emergency planning;
i) To provide opinion or information on all subjects submitted by the member of the Government in charge of the internal administration area;
j) To put forward proposals on how to adjust legislation so as to meet national needs and commitments undertaken in the framework of NATO;
k) To observe powers and competences related to safety standards set out in the law.
3 - As regards civil emergency planning, in the framework of NATO, it is the particular duty of the national directorate for emergency planning:
a) To assess the most relevant documents and information presented at CEPT;
b) To require the development of studies to competent public services;
c) To set out the standards for identification and preparation of national representatives and technicians appointed for NATO civil wartime agencies;
d) To guarantee enforcement of safety standards issued by NATO and by the Autoridade Nacional de Segurança (the National Security Authority), namely the registration, control and distribution of NATO mail, the regular inspection of NATO control posts, depending on it, as well as to promote and verify the accreditation of Portuguese citizens to whom access to classified information related to civil emergency planning should be granted;
e) To coordinate the application in Portugal of NATO’s doctrine laid down in the scope of the Civil Protection Group (CPG) and respective workshops;
f) To define the national delegation and to ensure its presence at CEPT’s plenary sessions.
Article 26
Succession
ANPC shall assume the powers of the Conselho Nacional de Planeamento Civil de Emergência (the National Council for Civil Emergency Planning).»
Article 3
Addition to Decree-Law No 75/2007, of 29 March
Articles 26-A and 26-B are hereby added to Decree-Law No 75/2007, of 29 March, which shall read as follows:
«Article 26-A
Criteria for selecting staff
The performance of tasks at the Conselho Nacional de Planeamento Civil de Emergência shall be the general and abstract criterion for selecting the staff required to carry out ANPC’s tasks.
Article 26-B
Assets
The immoveable assets allocated to the activity of the Conselho Nacional de Planeamento Civil de Emergência shall remain under the administration of the Ministry of National Defence.»
Article 4
Dependence
Bodies working in the areas of industry and energy, transports, communications, agriculture, sea, environment, health and cyberspace, with responsibilities related to civil emergency planning shall be in a position of occupational dependence towards ANPC’s chairman in the framework of their activity in civil emergency planning matters.
Article 5
Objectives
Bodies referred to in the preceding paragraph shall contribute to the definition and permanent update of civil emergency planning policies within their sector, in order to ensure the continuity of government action, the Nation’s survival and capacity of resilience, the protection of populations, the support to Armed Forces and the safeguard of national heritage in crisis or war situations.
Article 6
Duties
In the scope of their civil emergency planning operations, bodies referred to in article 4 shall:
a) Draw up and submit to the approval of the competent authority the statutory instruments and plans that reflect the sector’s civil emergency planning policies;
b) Prepare studies and information, obtaining, where appropriate, the collaboration of public and private competent services, or of experts;
c) Identify public or private services that must play a role related to the sector’s civil emergency planning, promoting or supporting studies for their adjustment to situations of crisis or war;
d) Request the necessary data and information from public or private bodies;
e) Guarantee that the sector is prepared and ready to implement the approved plans;
f) Participate in the clarification of populations as regards civil emergency planning issues, in coordination with ANPC;
g) Participate in and to support national representation in activities developed at the level of international organizations in the scope of civil emergency planning;
h) Put forward proposals on how to adjust legislation so as to meet national needs and commitments undertaken in the framework of international organizations in matters concerning their objectives;
i) Prepare the respective sector, by participating in and conducting exercise and training events;
j) At NATO level, participate in sector committees and other activities in their scope;
k) Propose the appointment of national representatives, expert technicians and other elements for NATO’s crisis management civilian structures and their preparation and participation in exercises and training events.
Article 7
Safety officer
Each of the bodies referred to in article 4 shall be provided with a safety officer, under the technical dependence of ANPC, who shall be responsible for enforcing the competences set out in Resolution of the Council of Ministers No 50/88, of 3 December, as amended by Resolution of the Council of Ministers No 13/93, of 6 March.
Article 8
Articulation rules
ANPC’s chairman shall define by order the rules for articulation with bodies referred to in article 4.
Article 9
Repealing provision
1 - Article 8 of Decree-Law No 75/2007, of 29 March, is hereby repealed.
2 - Decree-Law No 153/91, of 23 April, as amended by Decree-Laws No 287/92, of 26 December, and 128/2002, of 11 May, and by Law No 30/2008, of 10 July, is hereby repealed.
3 - Regulatory Decree No 13/93, of 5 May, as amended by Regulatory Decrees No 9/98, of 12 May, and 1/2001, of 2 February, and by Decree-Law No 128/2002, of 11 May, is hereby repealed.
Checked and approved in the Council of Ministers of 1 March 2012. – Pedro Passos Coelho - Luís Filipe Bruno da Costa de Morais Sarmento - Paulo de Sacadura Cabral Portas - José Pedro Correia de Aguiar-Branco - Miguel Bento Martins Costa Macedo e Silva - Miguel Fernando Cassola de Miranda Relvas - Álvaro Santos Pereira - Maria de Assunção Oliveira Cristas Machado da Graça - Paulo José de Ribeiro Moita de Macedo - Nuno Paulo de Sousa Arrobas Crato.
Promulgated on 19 March 2012.
Let it be published.
The President of the Republic, ANÍBAL CAVACO SILVA.
Counter-signed on 22 March 2012.
The Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coelho.
