But with a state of emergency still in effect through most of Massachusetts, public transportation shut down and the roads closed by a storm that dumped as much as a yard of snow on some areas, the NHL decided to postpone Saturday's game between the Lightning and the Bruins.

WSJ: Northeast storm disrupts schedule for sports teams

There are also several recommended procedures called for in the event of an emergency, but none of them have anything to do with a mechanism to shut anything down, and the director would be expressly prohibited from requiring owners to use any specific mechanism.

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Many plants have been shut down for inspections and several are undergoing safety-related upgrading on an emergency basis.

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Hurricane Sandy, the Category 1 storm bearing down on the East Coast, has already forced nine states to declare states of emergency, hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate their homes, and public transport to shut down.

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The current drought has forced disaster declarations in 26 states and a spate of emergency conservation orders, including in Warrenton, where the city ordered residents to stop watering their lawns, shut down commercial car washes and banned and just about every other non-essential use of water.

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