Santa Clara County, California
ARES/RACES
As a result of the 1991 East Bay Hills Fire in Oakland, Senate Bill 1841 was passed by the legislature and made effective January 1, 1993. You can find this law in Section 8607 of the Government Code. The intent of this law is to improve the coordination of state and local emergency response in California.
The statute directed the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), in coordination with other state agencies and interested local emergency management agencies, to establish by regulation the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) The SEMS Regulations took effect in September of 1994.