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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Western Australia Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 Contents 1. Short title 2 2. Commencement 2 3. Act amended 2 4. Section 3 amended 2 5. Sections 4 to 6 replaced 4 4. Emergency management agencies 4 6. Part 2A inserted 4 Part 2A -- Hazards and hazard management agencies 10A. Term used: hazard 4 10B. Minister or State Emergency Coordinator may make hazard declaration 5 10C. Variation or revocation of hazard declaration 7 10D. Hazard management agencies 7 10E. Delegation by hazard management agency 9 7. Section 13 amended 9 8. Section 14 amended 10 9. Section 16 amended 10 10. Section 21 amended 11 11. Section 26 amended 11 12. Section 30 amended 12 13. Section 32 amended 12 14. Section 35 amended 12 15. Section 41 amended 13 16. Part 3 Division 3 heading replaced 14 Division 3 -- Powers of local government relating to cyclone area 17. Section 45 amended 14 18. Section 46 amended 14 19. Section 47 amended 15 174--2 page i Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 Contents 20. Part 4 heading replaced 15 Part 4 -- Emergency situation 21. Section 50 amended 15 22. Section 72 amended 17 23. Part 6 Division 3A inserted 18 Division 3A -- Powers exercisable before emergency situation or state of emergency is declared 76B. Powers of emergency management officers before emergency situation or state of emergency is declared 18 24. Section 76 amended 20 25. Section 85 amended 21 26. Section 86 amended 21 27. Section 88 amended 21 28. Section 89 replaced 22 89. False or misleading information 22 29. Section 99 amended 22 30. Section 100 amended 22 31. Section 104 replaced 23 104. Transitional provision: local emergency management plans 23 32. Schedule 1 deleted 23 33. Other provisions amended 24 page ii Western Australia LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (As amended during consideration in detail) Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 A Bill for An Act to amend the Emergency Management Act 2005. The Parliament of Western Australia enacts as follows: page 1 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 1 1 1. Short title 2 This is the Emergency Management Amendment Act 2016. 3 2. Commencement 4 This Act comes into operation as follows -- 5 (a) sections 1 and 2 -- on the day on which this Act 6 receives the Royal Assent; 7 (b) the rest of the Act -- on a day fixed by proclamation, 8 and different days may be fixed for different provisions. 9 3. Act amended 10 This Act amends the Emergency Management Act 2005. 11 4. Section 3 amended 12 (1) In section 3 delete the definitions of: 13 combat agency 14 emergency management agency 15 hazard 16 hazard management agency 17 support organisation 18 (2) In section 3 insert in alphabetical order: 19 20 emergency management agency means -- 21 (a) a hazard management agency; or 22 (b) a public authority, or other person, prescribed 23 under section 4(1); 24 emergency management aspect means an aspect of 25 emergency management described in paragraph (a), 26 (b), (c) or (d) of the definition of emergency 27 management; page 2 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 4 1 emergency management officer has the meaning given 2 in section 76B(1); 3 essential services means the services prescribed by the 4 regulations for the purposes of this definition; 5 hazard has the meaning given in section 10A; 6 hazard declaration means a declaration made under 7 section 10B(1); 8 hazard management agency means a hazard 9 management agency prescribed under section 10D(1) 10 or appointed under section 10D(2); 11 local emergency management plan has the meaning 12 given in section 41(1); 13 response has the meaning given in paragraph (c) of the 14 definition of emergency management; 15 terrorist act has the meaning given in The Criminal 16 Code section 100.1 set out in the Schedule to the 17 Criminal Code Act 1995 (Commonwealth); 18 19 (3) In section 3 in the definition of emergency management delete 20 "the management of the adverse effects of an emergency 21 including --" and insert: 22 23 all aspects of managing the adverse effects of an emergency, 24 namely -- 25 26 (4) In section 3: 27 (a) in the definition of emergency management after each 28 of paragraphs (a) and (b) and in the definition of 29 personal details after each of paragraphs (a) and (b) 30 insert: 31 32 and 33 page 3 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 5 1 (b) in the definition of public authority after each of 2 paragraphs (a) to (d) insert: 3 4 or 5 6 5. Sections 4 to 6 replaced 7 Delete sections 4 to 6 and insert: 8 9 4. Emergency management agencies 10 (1) A public authority, or other person, may be prescribed 11 by the regulations to be an emergency management 12 agency responsible for an activity prescribed by the 13 regulations that relates to emergency management (a 14 prescribed emergency activity). 15 (2) A public authority or person can be prescribed as an 16 emergency management agency responsible for a 17 prescribed emergency activity if, because of their 18 functions under any written law or specialised 19 knowledge, expertise or resources, the authority or 20 person is responsible for performing the prescribed 21 emergency activity. 22 23 6. Part 2A inserted 24 After section 9 insert: 25 26 Part 2A -- Hazards and hazard management 27 agencies 28 10A. Term used: hazard 29 For the purposes of this Act, a hazard is -- 30 (a) a cyclone, earthquake, flood, storm or tsunami; 31 or page 4 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 6 1 (b) a fire; or 2 (c) a road, rail or air crash; or 3 (d) a plague or an epidemic; or 4 (e) a disruption to essential services; or 5 (f) a terrorist act or an action, or threat of action, 6 that is reasonably suspected to be a terrorist act; 7 or 8 (g) the presence, or reasonably suspected presence, 9 of an animal or plant pest or an animal or plant 10 disease; or 11 (h) an actual, imminent or reasonably suspected 12 spillage, release or escape of a hazardous 13 substance; or 14 (i) an event, situation or condition that is 15 prescribed by the regulations that is capable of 16 causing or resulting in -- 17 (i) loss of life, prejudice to the safety, or 18 harm to the health, of persons or 19 animals; or 20 (ii) destruction of, or damage to, property or 21 any part of the environment; 22 or 23 (j) if a hazard declaration is in force under 24 section 10B -- the hazard that is the subject of 25 the declaration. 26 10B. Minister or State Emergency Coordinator may 27 make hazard declaration 28 (1) The Minister or the State Emergency Coordinator may 29 declare that a particular occurrence or imminent 30 occurrence of an event, situation or condition is a 31 hazard for the purposes of this Act. page 5 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 6 1 (2) A hazard declaration can only be made if the Minister 2 or the State Emergency Coordinator, as the case 3 requires, is satisfied that -- 4 (a) the event, situation or condition is not referred 5 to in section 10A(a) to (h) or prescribed by 6 regulations made for the purposes of 7 section 10A(i); and 8 (b) the event, situation or condition is capable of 9 causing or resulting in -- 10 (i) loss of life, prejudice to the safety, or 11 harm to the health, of persons or 12 animals; or 13 (ii) destruction of, or damage to, property or 14 any part of the environment; 15 and 16 (c) the occurrence or imminent occurrence of the 17 event, situation or condition is of such a nature 18 or magnitude that it requires a significant and 19 coordinated response. 20 (3) A hazard declaration may be made orally or in writing 21 but if made orally must be put in writing as soon as is 22 practicable. 23 (4) A hazard declaration is to include -- 24 (a) a description of the occurrence or imminent 25 occurrence of an event, situation or condition 26 that is declared to be a hazard; and 27 (b) the time when, and date on which, it is made. 28 (5) A hazard declaration has effect on and from the time it 29 is made. 30 (6) A hazard declaration must be -- 31 (a) published for general information as soon as is 32 practicable after the declaration is made in any page 6 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 6 1 manner that the Minister or the State 2 Emergency Coordinator, as the case requires, 3 considers to be appropriate having regard to the 4 circumstances and what is practicable; and 5 (b) published in the Gazette as soon as is 6 practicable after the declaration is made. 7 (7) The making of a hazard declaration does not prevent 8 the making of further hazard declarations in relation to 9 the same or a different event, situation or condition. 10 10C. Variation or revocation of hazard declaration 11 (1) The Minister may, in writing, vary or revoke a hazard 12 declaration made by the Minister. 13 (2) The State Emergency Coordinator may, in writing, 14 vary or revoke a hazard declaration made by the State 15 Emergency Coordinator. 16 (3) An instrument of variation or revocation under 17 subsection (1) or (2) must be published in the Gazette 18 as soon as is practicable after it is made. 19 10D. Hazard management agencies 20 (1) A public authority, or other person, may be prescribed 21 by the regulations to be -- 22 (a) a hazard management agency for emergency 23 management of a hazard; or 24 (b) a hazard management agency for one or more 25 emergency management aspects of a hazard. 26 (2) The State Emergency Coordinator may, in writing, 27 appoint a public authority, or other person, to be a 28 hazard management agency for either or both of the 29 following emergency management aspects of a hazard 30 referred to in section 10A(j) -- 31 (a) response; page 7 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 6 1 (b) recovery. 2 (3) Regulations under subsection (1) or an instrument of 3 appointment under subsection (2) must specify the 4 whole of the State, or an area of the State, as the area 5 for which the public authority or person is a hazard 6 management agency. 7 (4) A public authority or person can be prescribed as a 8 hazard management agency under subsection (1) if, 9 because of their functions under any written law or 10 specialised knowledge, expertise or resources, the 11 authority or person is responsible for emergency 12 management of the hazard, or the relevant emergency 13 management aspect of the hazard, in the relevant area. 14 (5) If the hazard management agency is not an individual 15 or a body corporate, the regulations or instrument of 16 appointment must designate -- 17 (a) one or more persons who are authorised to act 18 in the name of the hazard management agency 19 for the purposes of sections 50 and 53; and 20 (b) one or more persons who are authorised to act 21 in the name of the hazard management agency 22 for the purposes of authorising persons to act as 23 hazard management officers under section 55. 24 (6) In sections 50, 53 and 55 a reference to a hazard 25 management agency is to be taken to include a 26 reference to a person who is designated to act in the 27 name of a hazard management agency under 28 subsection (5) for the purposes of that section. 29 (7) The State Emergency Coordinator may, in writing, 30 vary or revoke an appointment under subsection (2). page 8 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 7 1 10E. Delegation by hazard management agency 2 (1) A hazard management agency, with the approval of the 3 State Emergency Coordinator, may delegate to an 4 officer or employee of the agency any power or duty of 5 the hazard management agency under any or all of 6 sections 50, 53 and 55. 7 (2) The delegation is to be in writing. 8 (3) A delegate exercising or performing a power or duty 9 that has been delegated under this section is to be taken 10 to do so in accordance with the terms of the delegation 11 unless the contrary is shown. 12 (4) Nothing in this section limits the ability of a hazard 13 management agency to act through an officer or person 14 representing the agency. 15 16 7. Section 13 amended 17 (1) Delete section 13(3) and insert: 18 19 (3) The Minister must ensure that each member of the 20 SEMC has expertise or experience that, in the 21 Minister's opinion, is relevant to the functions of the 22 SEMC. 23 (4A) A member of the SEMC is to be paid the remuneration 24 and allowances (if any) determined in his or her case 25 by the Minister on the recommendation of the Public 26 Sector Commissioner. 27 28 (2) In section 13(2) after each of paragraphs (a) to (c) insert: 29 30 and 31 page 9 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 8 1 8. Section 14 amended 2 After section 14(e) insert: 3 4 (fa) to carry out, and report to the Minister on, a 5 review of the extent to which any 6 recommendations made as the result of an 7 inquiry or investigation into an emergency have 8 been implemented; 9 (fb) The Minister must cause a copy of any report 10 received by the Minister under section 14(fa) to 11 be laid before each House of Parliament within 12 30 sitting days after the day on which the 13 Minister receives the report. 14 15 9. Section 16 amended 16 Delete section 16(1) and insert: 17 18 (1) The SEMC may designate an area of the State as a 19 cyclone area on the advice of -- 20 (a) the hazard management agency for emergency 21 management of cyclones in the relevant area; or 22 (b) a hazard management agency for an emergency 23 management aspect of cyclones in the relevant 24 area. 25 page 10 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 10 1 10. Section 21 amended 2 After section 21(3) insert: 3 4 (4A) A member of a sub-committee is to be paid the 5 remuneration and allowances (if any) determined in his 6 or her case by the Minister on the recommendation of 7 the Public Sector Commissioner. 8 9 11. Section 26 amended 10 (1) In section 26(2) delete "with the relevant hazard management 11 agency," and insert: 12 13 with the relevant hazard management agency (if any), 14 15 (2) In section 26(3): 16 (a) delete paragraphs (b) and (c); 17 (b) in paragraph (d) delete "agency;" and insert: 18 19 agency (if any); and 20 21 (3) After paragraph 26(3)(a) insert: 22 23 and 24 page 11 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 12 1 12. Section 30 amended 2 In section 30(a) delete "for the district in the development and 3 maintenance of emergency management arrangements for its 4 district;" and insert: 5 6 for the purposes of the performance of that committee's 7 function under section 32(1); 8 9 13. Section 32 amended 10 Delete section 32(1) and insert: 11 12 (1) It is a function of a district emergency management 13 committee to assist in the establishment and 14 maintenance of effective local emergency management 15 plans by local governments with local government 16 districts that are in, or partly in, the emergency 17 management district for which the district emergency 18 management committee is established. 19 20 14. Section 35 amended 21 In section 35(5) delete "section 16(2)" and insert: 22 23 sections 16(2) and 32 24 page 12 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 15 1 15. Section 41 amended 2 (1) Delete section 41(1) and (2) and insert: 3 4 (1) A local government must ensure that a plan (a local 5 emergency management plan) for emergency 6 management in the local government's district is 7 prepared. 8 9 (2) In section 41(3) delete "Local emergency management 10 arrangements are to be consistent with" and insert: 11 12 A local emergency management plan must comply with, and be 13 consistent with, 14 15 (3) In section 41(4) delete "Local emergency management 16 arrangements are to" and insert: 17 18 A local emergency management plan must 19 20 (4) In section 41(5): 21 (a) delete "arrangements," (each occurrence) and insert: 22 23 plan, 24 25 (b) delete "they are" and insert: 26 27 the plan or amendment is 28 29 Note: The heading to amended section 41 is to read: 30 Local emergency management plans page 13 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 16 1 16. Part 3 Division 3 heading replaced 2 Delete the heading to Part 3 Division 3 and insert: 3 4 Division 3 -- Powers of local government relating to 5 cyclone area 6 7 17. Section 45 amended 8 (1) In section 45 delete "The powers" and insert: 9 10 (1) The powers 11 12 (2) At the end of section 45 insert: 13 14 (2) A power under section 46 or 47 can be exercised 15 whether or not any particular cyclonic activity is 16 occurring or is imminent. 17 18 18. Section 46 amended 19 In section 46: 20 (a) delete "any vegetation or premises" and insert: 21 22 any vegetation or premises, or any loose material or 23 thing, 24 25 (b) delete "the cyclonic" and insert: 26 27 cyclonic 28 page 14 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 19 1 (c) delete "premises." and insert: 2 3 premises, material or thing. 4 5 Note: The heading to amended section 46 is to read: 6 Power of local government to destroy dangerous vegetation, 7 premises or other things in cyclone area 8 19. Section 47 amended 9 (1) In section 47(1): 10 (a) delete "any vegetation or premises" and insert: 11 12 any vegetation or premises, or any loose material or 13 thing, 14 15 16 (b) delete "the cyclonic" and insert: 17 18 cyclonic 19 20 20. Part 4 heading replaced 21 Delete the heading to Part 4 and insert: 22 23 Part 4 -- Emergency situation 24 25 21. Section 50 amended 26 (1) In section 50(1A) delete "may, in writing," and insert: 27 28 may 29 page 15 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 21 1 (2) Delete section 50(1) and insert: 2 3 (1) A hazard management agency may declare that an 4 emergency situation exists in an area of the State in 5 respect of -- 6 (a) a hazard of which it is the hazard management 7 agency for emergency management in the area; 8 or 9 (b) a hazard of which it is the hazard management 10 agency for either or both of the following 11 emergency management aspects in the area -- 12 (i) response; 13 (ii) recovery. 14 (2A) A declaration under subsection (1A) or (1) may be 15 made orally or in writing but if made orally must be put 16 in writing as soon as is practicable. 17 18 (3) Delete section 50(5A) and insert: 19 20 (5A) If a declaration under this section is made by the State 21 Emergency Coordinator in respect of a hazard in an 22 area of the State, the State Emergency Coordinator 23 must, as soon as practicable after the declaration is 24 made, notify the appropriate hazard management 25 agency. 26 (5B) For the purposes of subsection (5A), the appropriate 27 hazard management agency is -- 28 (a) the hazard management agency for emergency 29 management of the hazard in that area; or page 16 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 22 1 (b) the hazard management agency for either or 2 both of the following emergency management 3 aspects of the hazard in that area -- 4 (i) response; 5 (ii) recovery. 6 (5C) If there is more than one hazard management agency of 7 a kind described in subsection (5B), the appropriate 8 hazard management agency is the hazard management 9 agency of that kind that the State Emergency 10 Coordinator considers most appropriate in the 11 circumstances. 12 13 (4) In section 50(6) after "failure" insert: 14 15 to put a declaration in writing under subsection (2A), 16 17 (5) After section 50(2)(b)(i) insert: 18 19 or 20 21 22. Section 72 amended 22 (1) In section 72(1) in the definition of relevant information delete 23 "means --" and insert: 24 25 means the following -- 26 27 (2) In section 72(1) in the definition of welfare services delete 28 paragraph (e) and insert: 29 30 (e) financial assistance; page 17 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 23 1 (f) social services, as defined in the Children and 2 Community Services Act 2004 section 3. 3 4 (3) In section 72(7): 5 (a) delete "about --" and insert: 6 7 about the following -- 8 9 (b) in paragraph (d) delete "section; and" and insert: 10 11 section; 12 13 (4) After section 72(5)(a) insert: 14 15 and 16 17 23. Part 6 Division 3A inserted 18 After Part 6 Division 2 insert: 19 20 Division 3A -- Powers exercisable before emergency 21 situation or state of emergency is declared 22 76B. Powers of emergency management officers before 23 emergency situation or state of emergency is 24 declared 25 (1) In this section -- 26 emergency management officer means -- 27 (a) a police officer; or 28 (b) a person prescribed by the regulations for the 29 purposes of this section; page 18 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 23 1 movement and evacuation powers means powers of a 2 hazard management officer under section 67. 3 (2) An emergency management officer may exercise 4 movement and evacuation powers if the emergency 5 management officer is satisfied on reasonable grounds 6 that -- 7 (a) an emergency has occurred, is occurring or is 8 imminent in an area of the State; and 9 (b) there is an urgent need to exercise those powers 10 to prevent or minimise -- 11 (i) loss of life, prejudice to the safety, or 12 harm to the health, of persons or 13 animals; or 14 (ii) destruction of, or damage to, property; 15 or 16 (iii) destruction of, or damage to, any part of 17 the environment. 18 (3) A power cannot be exercised under subsection (2) in 19 relation to an emergency after the earlier of the 20 following occurs -- 21 (a) an emergency situation or state of emergency is 22 declared in relation to the emergency; 23 (b) the expiry of the period of 4 hours beginning 24 when notice is given under subsection (4) in 25 relation to the exercise of powers. 26 (4) As soon as is practicable after movement and 27 evacuation powers are first exercised under 28 subsection (2) in relation to an emergency, an 29 emergency management officer must give notice of the 30 emergency and the exercise of those powers to -- 31 (a) the appropriate hazard management agency; or 32 (b) if there is no appropriate hazard management 33 agency -- the State Emergency Coordinator. page 19 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 24 1 (5) For the purposes of subsection (4)(a), the appropriate 2 hazard management agency is -- 3 (a) the hazard management agency for emergency 4 management of the hazard in the area of the 5 State referred to in subsection (2)(a); or 6 (b) the hazard management agency for either or 7 both of the following emergency management 8 aspects of the hazard in the area of the State 9 referred to in subsection (2)(a) -- 10 (i) response; 11 (ii) recovery. 12 (6) If there is more than one hazard management agency of 13 a kind described in subsection (5), the appropriate 14 hazard management agency is the hazard management 15 agency of that kind that the emergency management 16 officer considers most appropriate in the 17 circumstances. 18 (7) An emergency management officer is to comply with 19 any directions given by the State Emergency 20 Coordinator when exercising a power under 21 subsection (2). 22 23 24. Section 76 amended 24 In section 76 in the definition of officer delete "authorised 25 officer or police officer." and insert: 26 27 an authorised officer, a police officer or an emergency 28 management officer who is not a police officer. 29 page 20 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 25 1 25. Section 85 amended 2 In section 85 delete "officer or an authorised officer in" and 3 insert: 4 5 officer, an authorised officer or an emergency management 6 officer in 7 8 Note: The heading to amended section 85 is to read: 9 Obstruction of hazard management officer, authorised officer or 10 emergency management officer 11 26. Section 86 amended 12 In section 86(1) delete "71 or 75" and insert: 13 14 71, 75 or 76B 15 16 27. Section 88 amended 17 In section 88 delete "officer or an authorised officer." and 18 insert: 19 20 officer, an authorised officer or an emergency management 21 officer. 22 23 Note: The heading to amended section 88 is to read: 24 Impersonation of hazard management officer, authorised officer 25 or emergency management officer page 21 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 28 1 28. Section 89 replaced 2 Delete section 89 and insert: 3 4 89. False or misleading information 5 A person must not give information that the person 6 knows to be false or misleading in a material particular 7 to -- 8 (a) a hazard management officer, an authorised 9 officer or an emergency management officer 10 exercising a power under this Act; or 11 (b) a person helping a hazard management officer, 12 an authorised officer or an emergency 13 management officer to exercise a power under 14 this Act. 15 Penalty: a fine of $50 000. 16 17 29. Section 99 amended 18 After section 99(1)(c) insert: 19 20 (da) that at a specified time a person was an 21 emergency management officer authorised to 22 act under section 76B; 23 24 30. Section 100 amended 25 (1) In section 100(6) in the definition of official after paragraph (f) 26 insert: 27 28 (ga) an emergency management officer; or 29 page 22 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 31 1 (2) In section 100(6) in the definition of official after each of 2 paragraphs (a) to (f) insert: 3 4 or 5 6 31. Section 104 replaced 7 Delete section 104 and insert: 8 9 104. Transitional provision: local emergency 10 management plans 11 (1) The regulations may exempt all local governments, or a 12 class of local governments, from complying with 13 section 41 during a transitional period specified in the 14 regulations beginning on the day on which the 15 Emergency Management Amendment Act 2016 16 section 15 comes into operation. 17 (2) An exemption under subsection (1) may be subject to 18 conditions specified in the regulations. 19 20 32. Schedule 1 deleted 21 Delete Schedule 1. page 23 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 33 1 33. Other provisions amended 2 Amend the provisions listed in the Table as set out in the Table. 3 Table Provision Delete Insert s. 36(a) effective local an effective local emergency emergency management management plan is arrangements are prepared and prepared and maintained for its maintained for its district; and district; s. 37(4)(a) emergency a local emergency management management plan arrangements s. 39(a) local emergency a local emergency management management plan is arrangements are established for its established for its district; and district; s. 39(b) local emergency the local emergency management management plan; arrangements; and and Pt. 3 Div. 2 heading Emergency Local emergency management management arrangements for plans local governments s. 42(1) arrangements are plan is s. 43(2) page 24 Emergency Management Amendment Bill 2016 s. 33 Provision Delete Insert s. 42(2) Local emergency A local emergency management management plan arrangements s. 43(1) and (3) arrangements plan 1 Note: The headings to the amended sections listed in the Table are to read as 2 set out in the Table 3 Table Amended section Section heading s. 42 Reviewing, amending and replacing local emergency management plans s. 43 Local emergency management plans to be available for inspection 4
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