Ghilarducci: California must protect emergency communications systems

As Director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergencies from 2012 to 2023, I oversaw some of California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfires, including the largest wildfire season on record in modern California history, during which more than 4.3 million acres burned.

My primary responsibility was to ensure the preparedness, safety, and security of our state and its residents during emergencies, regardless of cause, from wildfires, earthquakes, storms, floods, and mudflows to man-made events such as hazardous material releases, active shooters, or acts of terrorism. Critical to this goal was maintaining the operational capabilities of our state’s public safety communications infrastructure, such as 911 and the emergency response system, as a lifeline that connects our citizens to the help they need.

The importance of maintaining this system cannot be overstated, and public safety leaders like me strongly support House Bill 3179, which is a critical component of maintaining public safety communications and emergency response and recovery capabilities in our state.

AB 3179, authored by Assemblyman Juan Carrillo, D-Palmdale, was unanimously approved 71-0 in the State Assembly and 32-0 in the State Senate and is now on the Governor’s desk. This legislation addresses a critical loophole in the California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Fleet regulations. While the intent of the Clean Air Fleet regulations is commendable and an important tool to combat climate change, they have the unintended consequence of compromising our public safety communications and emergency response and recovery capabilities.

Existing law does not provide adequate exemptions for a narrow but important group of telecommunications response vehicles that are critical to maintaining the state’s public safety communications infrastructure, including assets such as boom lifts and portable mobile phones on wheels, known as COWs.

California first responders know these resources are essential to supporting ongoing public safety communications and repairing the telecommunications infrastructure that ensures our 911 and other emergency response systems function properly before, during and after emergencies and natural disasters.

COWs, or mobile cell towers, are essential assets that ensure responders can communicate effectively with each other, incident command posts, emergency operations centers, and public safety management to effectively coordinate efforts to provide mutual aid and emergency protection resources to save lives and property, and to restore or enhance communications in the event of a communications infrastructure failure or loss of commercial power. Boom lifts are essential for replacing damaged communications tower equipment or for vegetation management before, during, or after a wildfire.

In large-scale emergencies and disasters, it is imperative that all the tools in the toolbox are available to respond quickly and effectively recover communities. AB 3179 offers a practical, targeted, and phased-in solution to enable telecommunications providers to time and transition to Air Resources Board clean fleet compliance for COWs and aerial work platforms without compromising public safety, keeping California a world leader in both environmental protection and emergency response.

Mark S. Ghilarducci is the former director and homeland security adviser for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

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