(The Center Square) — An urban search and rescue team could come to western Pennsylvania at the behest of a bipartisan group of state lawmakers — but not with the endorsement of the state’s emergency response director.
Philadelphia hosts a federally funded PA Task Force 1, one of 28 federal urban search & rescue teams, while the rest of the commonwealth relies on smaller teams. Two bills, House Bill 843 and Senate Bill 792, would establish a similar task force based in Pittsburgh to respond to emergencies.
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Padfield, however, testified at a joint hearing Tuesday that the bills are the wrong approach.
“While I think it makes a perfect addition to the capabilities in the west, it also potentially detracts from the capabilities across the rest of the state for residents,” Padfield said. “I need to advocate for consistency across the state, readiness and preparedness across the state, and the concern that I would have is that this becomes an east and a west issue, and then we never get around to addressing what’s best throughout the rest of the state.”
In his written testimony, Padfield explained that a second task force is unnecessary.
“The capability we require, however, should be commensurate with our threat profile and our anticipated needs in the future,” Padfield wrote. “It should also be predicated on a tiered delivery model that places an appropriate level of capability throughout the state in first responder’s hands but allows for a scalable response for times when it is needed.”
Instead of a “unilateral investment” in a second task force, he argued for improving the “organized tiered response system” by reviewing the current system and considering “what it would cost for a statewide refresh of the in-state US&R system that aligns with the threats our regions face.”
The creation of a second task force as a result of the bill, however, won’t take away existing funds.
Task Force 1 in Philadelphia “is fully supported by federal funds,” Padfield said, about $1.5 million annually.
Legislators were skeptical of Padfield’s reluctance to support another task force.
“With the size of population of the Pittsburgh region, it is essential to have a well-trained and properly equipped search-and-rescue task force on this side of the commonwealth,” Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Pittsburgh, said.
Funding concerns could also be fixed by legislators, if that’s the core problem for PEMA.
“If money and resources need to be built out in other parts of this state because of difficulties that they have, we should do that too,” Rep. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, said. “Nobody is against making sure resources are available.”
Other states, however, have seen an expansion lead to government waste.
Padfield pointed to Maryland’s creation of a second task force that eventually was dissolved “because there wasn’t a significant need and they saw they could handle most of what they needed at a regional level.”
“The devil is always in the details regarding funding and sustainment of these types of resources,” Padfield said.
