§ 717. Office of interoperable and emergency communications. 1. The office of interoperable and emergency communications shall be the principal state agency for all interoperable and emergency communications issues and oversee and direct the development, coordination and implementation of policies, plans, standards, programs and services related to interoperable and emergency communications, including those related to public safety land mobile radio communications. The office shall coordinate with federal, state, local, tribal, non-governmental and other appropriate entities.

2. The office shall be responsible for coordinating relevant grant programs and other funding sources to enhance interoperable and emergency communications, as consistent with the mission of the division. The director shall make final determinations regarding the distribution of grants, in consultation with the board.

3. The director of this office shall serve as the statewide interoperable and emergency communications coordinator.

4. To ensure appropriate coordination and consultation with relevant entities, the director shall be the chairperson of the statewide interoperable and emergency communication board as defined in section three hundred twenty-seven of the county law, and whose duties shall include, but not be limited to all the duties regularly assigned to the board as defined by section three hundred twenty-eight of the county law.

5. The commissioner, in consultation with the director of the office, shall promulgate rules and regulations which require municipalities to report, no less than annually, on prior and planned expenditures to develop and operate interoperable and emergency communications. The regulations shall permit municipalities which participate in county or multi-county regional coordinated interoperability efforts to submit a single report to the division for all participating municipalities, so long as all expenses which would have been reported if the participating municipalities had submitted individual reports are contained in the combined report. The regulations shall not require a municipality that incurred no relevant expenses and anticipates no relevant expenses to submit such a report. The division shall include a summary of such information in its annual report to the governor, temporary president of the senate, and speaker of the assembly provided for in subdivision seven of section seven hundred nine of this article, as well as submitting such information at the same time to the state comptroller.