2 Introduction I am Catherine H. Light, the Director of the Office of National Security Affairs in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). On behalf of FEMA Director James Lee Witt, I thank you for the opportunity to discuss FEMA's terrorism-related activities with the Subcommittee. I will provide an overview of FEMA's responsibilities in terrorism preparedness and response; briefly describe the FEMA role in consequence management; and discuss FEMA programs and activities to better prepare State and local officials for dealing with the effects of terrorist incidents. FEMA Responsibilities The basis for FEMA's domestic preparedness and response activities derives from two Presidential Decision Directives. Under PDD-39 and reinforced under PDD-62, FEMA is responsible for the consequence management of domestic terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Under PDD-39, FEMA was given the responsibility to ensure that the Federal Response Plan (FRP) is adequate for consequence management activities in response to domestic terrorist attacks involving WMD. Also, FEMA was tasked to ensure that State response plans and capabilities are adequate and tested. Crisis Management and Consequence Management Crisis management focuses on causes and involves activities to address the threat or occurrence of a terrorist incident. It is predominantly a law enforcement function that includes measures to anticipate, prevent and/or resolve a threat or act of terrorism. The lead agency for crisis management is the FBI. Consequence management addresses the effects of an incident on lives and property. It includes measures to protect public health and safety, restore essential government services, and provide emergency relief to governments, businesses, and individuals affected by a terrorist incident. FEMA is the lead agency for consequence management. Federal Response Plan In an actual or potential terrorist incident, FEMA uses the structures and resources of the Federal Response Plan (FRP) to manage the Federal consequence management response. The FRP, first published in 1992 and recently updated, has been used in the past several years to respond to numerous disasters and emergencies declared by the President, including the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, as well as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes. The Plan brings together twenty-six Federal departments and agencies and the American Red Cross to organize Federal disaster response and recovery efforts and coordinate them with an affected State. Most importantly, it provides a known and flexible framework under which local, State and Federal officials can orchestrate their response to a disaster or emergency and make the most effective use of all available resources. FEMA has developed a special annex to the FRP to address the unique requirements involved in responding to a terrorist incident. 3 Domestic Preparedness Activities Although the general threat of a terrorist attack exists, FEMA is not in a position to identify the likelihood of a particular incident or the geographic location where an attack may take place. To ensure the broadest coverage in implementing domestic terrorism preparedness activities, we are emphasizing the following key considerations to ensure that: State and local first responders and emergency management personnel are the focus of Federal programs. Needs of the balance of the nation, particularly local jurisdictions beyond the largest cities and metro areas, are addressed with plans, training, exercises and equipment. • Initial training is reinforced and sustained with refresher information and updated instruction. • Existing plans, capabilities and systems are utilized as the foundation for addressing the unique requirements of WMD. National Domestic Preparedness Office FEMA Director Witt has been working closely with the Attorney General to better coordinate the interagency efforts for domestic preparedness, including support for the establishment of the National Domestic Preparedness Office (NDPO) to coordinate overall Federal activities with the States and their first responder and emergency management counterparts. In conjunction with the NDPO, FEMA will continue to support preparedness activities in the areas of planning, training, exercises and equipment to further assist the State and local response communities. We also will continue to maintain our traditional links to the States for implementing FEMA programs and activities as we work closely with the FBI to help ensure NDPO activities are fully coordinated with FEMA Regional Offices and the States. FY 1999 Terrorism Preparedness Budget In Fiscal Year 1999, FEMA is making some $12.2 million in grants available to State and local jurisdictions for terrorism-related preparedness activities. This includes $8.2 million for State emergency management agencies to support terrorism consequence management planning, training and exercise activities. It also includes $4.0 million for State fire training centers to support delivery of the FEMA National Fire Academy Emergency Response to Terrorism training curriculum. 60-220 00-4 4 Planning The responsibility for developing plans and implementing response falls heavily on the States and the local governments. FEMA is applying its experience gained in responding to natural disasters to guide the development of terrorism consequence management preparedness plans and procedures at the local, State and Federal levels. In 1997, we published the FRP Terrorism Incident Annex describing policies and structures of the Federal government for coordinating crisis management and consequence management activities. A fundamental goal of the planning effort is to assist in the development of State and local plans for dealing with WMD contingencies. FEMA grant assistance is being used to enhance planning resources and capabilities at the State and local levels of government. The planning effort is being coordinated with the FBI utilizing existing plans and associated planning structures whenever possible to help ensure that crisis and consequence management plans are in place across the nation. Training FEMA has developed and delivered a number of terrorism-related courses for State and local emergency management personnel and first responders. FEMA is utilizing existing programs, networks and facilities to help support the training delivery. In particular, we are using the National Emergency Training Center, which includes the National Fire Academy and the Emergency Management Institute, as well as State fire and emergency management training systems to deliver terrorism-related training to State and local responders. FEMA continues to emphasize the "train-the-trainer" approach to leverage existing capabilities with performance objectives to accomplish training goals. The National Fire Academy (NFA) has developed courses for first responders in the fire community and other areas. Working with the Department of Justice, NFA developed and has fielded several courses in the Emergency Response to Terrorism (ERT) curriculum. The first offering, a Self-Study course, provides general awareness information for responding to terrorist incidents and has been distributed to some 35,000 fire/rescue departments; 16,000 law enforcement agencies; and over 3,000 local and State emergency managers in the United States. The Self-Study course is available on the FEMA internet site and will soon be available through the FBI Law Enforcement Online (LEO) intranet site. Other courses in the curriculum deal with Basic Concepts; Incident Management; and Tactical Considerations for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Company Officers, and HAZMAT Response. Approximately one thousand ERT instructors representing every State and major metropolitan area in the nation will have been trained under this program by July of this year. The NFA is utilizing the Training Resources and Data Exchange (TRADE) program to reach all 50 States and all major metropolitan fire and rescue departments with training materials and course offerings. To date, over 46,000 fire and emergency response personnel have received ERT training. 5 In addition, FEMA is using the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) to develop and deliver courses such as the Integrated Emergency Management Course on Terrorism that uses a terrorist attack scenario. This 4-day team-building program includes classroom instruction and a tabletop exercise specifically tailored for emergency response leaders from a particular community or jurisdiction. EMI also has developed and delivered a number of other terrorism-related courses such as incident command, mass fatalities, and emergency response to criminal and terrorist incidents. EMI is utilizing the State Emergency Management Training Officers (STOs) network to distribute materials and instruction to the emergency management community in all 50 States and six territories. FEMA's course development efforts have enhanced initiatives of both the Department of Exercises FEMA is working closely with the NDPO, the FBI and the States to ensure the development of a comprehensive exercise program that meets the needs of the first responder communities and other response elements. The FBI, in coordination with FEMA, DOD, DOE, HHS, and EPA, and other departments and agencies, will ensure the implementation of a comprehensive terrorism exercise program. State and local involvement in the planning, scheduling, and conduct of coordinated exercises will be a key component of the exercise effort. Equipment The NDPO has assumed the lead for developing a list of standardized equipment for the first responder community. FEMA, along with other Federal agencies and first responder communities, is helping to develop the required Standard Equipment List (SEL) to support acquisition of comparable equipment by DOJ for the first responder community. This equipment will conform to appropriate and applicable laws, regulations, and standards, such as those issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Fire Protection Association. FEMA has developed and implemented the Rapid Response Information System (RRIS), which contains an inventory of Federal assets that could be made available to assist State and local response efforts, and a database on chemical and biological agents and protective measures. The inventory is being made available to Federal, State and local officials to assist them in assessing and obtaining the necessary equipment and resources for responding to terrorist incidents involving the use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. 6 Conclusion Terrorism preparedness requires planning, training and exercising on a regular basis, and appropriate equipment, to ensure maximum readiness to respond to an actual incident. In responding to a terrorism incident, local responders will be the first to arrive at an incident site and may be forced to manage operations at the scene on their own for hours. From our consequence management perspective, we recognize the extreme importance of viable State and local response plans and capabilities as critical to this effort. FEMA is committed to work with the Federal interagency community in coordinating our activities and programs as part of the overall Federal efforts. And we are committed to doing everything we can to better prepare the States and local jurisdictions for dealing with this immense challenge. |