Erie County is launching a new online portal to help local employers identify who is an essential worker during snowstorms and other emergencies that require a driving ban to be declared.
The travel exemption portal will identify who would be exempt from a travel ban and allowed to travel to and from work. They will be defined by specific categories of workers using a tiered system.
Instead of county leaders waiting for the city to request snow-clearing help, the county, city and state will all have a game plan going in. The plan would not apply to regular snowstorms, but to extreme weather events that the National Weather Service typically shades in purple on geographic weather maps.
That already includes law enforcement and other public safety personnel, along with healthcare and utility maintenance workers.
County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz said that under the New York State Public Officers law, a driving ban can be issued only after a state of emergency has been declared by the head of a local municipality.
Driving bans are issued mainly to protect life and property or to help bring an emergency situation under control by opening up the roads while restoring essential services as quickly as possible.
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