Amy Sebring: On behalf of Avagene Moore and myself, welcome to the EIIP Virtual Forum! Avagene is on remote today, joining us from an airport in New York City! Amy Sebring: Today's topic is the current status of the National Response Plan. Many of you have been involved in the draft review and comment phase, and the good news is we are nearing the end of the process. Amy Sebring: The bad news is, Janet Benini had to cancel late yesterday afternoon. She sends her regrets, and we are very sorry she cannot be with us. She has been a long-time contributor to the EIIP, as some of you 'old-timers' may recall. Amy Sebring: Instead, we are working to set up another session devoted entirely to the Catastrophic Incident Response Plan for later in the year, and will try to time that around the release of some elements of the plan. Amy Sebring: For the benefit of first-timers, we will first have a presentation and then we will proceed to your questions and comments. We will provide further instructions just before we begin the Q&A section, but you may wish to jot down your questions or comments as we go along. Amy Sebring: Please do not send private messages to our speaker or the moderator, as we will be busy with the presentation. If you are a first-timer and need assistance, you may send a private message to Avagene. Amy Sebring: An edited transcript of today's session will be available by later this afternoon -- just check back on our home page or the background page (refresh the pages as needed). Amy Sebring: Finally, for those of you who were with us last time, we had some as yet unidentified technical difficulty. We are sorry for the inconvenience, and have our SysOp here today watching over us! We hope there will not be any repeat of the difficulty, ... Amy Sebring: but if so, please bear with us, and/or check out the transcript late this afternoon. We are thinking it is probably time for us to break down and update our chat software, and we are investigating alternatives. Amy Sebring: Now, it is my pleasure to introduce Barbara Yagerman, Associate Director, Operations and Response, with the Operations Integration Staff, Department of Homeland Security. Barbara is responsible for working on the development, interagency coordination, and implementation of the National Response Plan. Amy Sebring: Previously, she served as a Senior Program Specialist with the Response Division Planning Section of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). During her tenure in the FEMA Response Division she was responsible for issues relating to the Federal Response Plan ... Amy Sebring: terrorism, bio-terrorism and catastrophic disaster response planning. She served as FEMA representative on the DHS-White House National Response Plan (NRP), and other senior level counter-terrorism and natural disaster emergency management planning efforts. Amy Sebring: Barbara, welcome to the Virtual Forum, and I now turn the floor over to you to start us off please. Barbara Yagerman: Thank you Amy. The purpose of this update is to discuss the basic content of the NRP, the development process, and implementation strategy, but first let me give you a brief description of current status. Barbara Yagerman: The Base Plan is complete and was approved by the Homeland Security Council Deputies Committee on August 31. As of today, we are putting finishing touches on the annexes and expect NRP with Annexes was ready for review/ approval by the Homeland Security Council Deputies Committee. Barbara Yagerman: The Base Plan is complete and was approved by the Homeland Security Council Deputies Committee on August 31. As of today, we are putting finishing touches on the annexes and expect NRP with Annexes was ready for review/ approval by the Homeland Security Council Deputies Committee. Barbara Yagerman: a single comprehensive national approach, coordination structures/mechanisms, direction for incorporation/ concurrent implementation of existing plans, and a consistent approach to reporting incidents, providing assessments and making recommendations to the President, DHS Secretary and HSC. Barbara Yagerman: a single comprehensive national approach, coordination structures/mechanisms, direction for incorporation/ concurrent implementation of existing plans, and a consistent approach to reporting incidents, providing assessments and making recommendations to the President, DHS Secretary and HSC. Barbara Yagerman: a single comprehensive national approach, coordination structures/mechanisms, direction for incorporation/ concurrent implementation of existing plans, and a consistent approach to reporting incidents, providing assessments and making recommendations to the President, DHS Secretary and HSC. Barbara Yagerman: The NRP, as the core plan, is designed to link to an array of national-level hazard-specific contingency plans, such as the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). These plans can be implemented independently during localized incidents, or concurrently with the NRP during Incidents of National Significance. Barbara Yagerman: The NRP includes the Base Plan and supporting annexes and appendices. The Base Plan outlines the coordinating structures and the processes for the national incident management. The Base Plan includes the concept of operations, roles & responsibilities, specific incident management activities and plan Barbara Yagerman: management and maintenance. Barbara Yagerman: Emergency Support Function Annexes group capabilities and resources into functions most likely needed during an incident. The ESF Annexes describe the responsibilities of primary and support agencies that are involved providing support to a State or other Federal agencies during Incidents of National Significance. Barbara Yagerman: Support Annexes provide the procedures and administrative requirements common to most incidents, such as Public Affairs, Financial Management, and Worker Safety and Health. Barbara Yagerman: Incident Annexes describe the procedures and roles and responsibilities for specific contingencies, such as bioterrorism, radiological response, catastrophic incidents, etc. In many cases, these annexes are typically supported by more detailed supporting plans. Barbara Yagerman: The Appendices contain other relevant information including terms, definitions etc. Also included is a compendium providing a complete listing and summary of national interagency plans, which serve as support plans to the NRP. Barbara Yagerman: The NRP establishes the national framework for assessing domestic incidents to determine the appropriate level of Federal involvement, and for coordinating interagency incident management efforts for events considered Incidents of National Significance Barbara Yagerman: The definition of Incidents of National Significance is directly based on the criteria established in HSPD-5: 1) when another Federal department or agency has requested DHS assistance; 2) when State/local capabilities are overwhelmed and Federal assistance is requested; & Barbara Yagerman: 3) when an incident substantially involves more than one Federal department/agency; 4) when the Secretary has been directed by the President to assume incident management responsibilities. Barbara Yagerman: A basic premise of the NRP is that incidents are handled at the lowest level possible. DHS becomes involved through the routine reporting and monitoring of threats and incidents, and/or & Amy Sebring: Barb is having a problem ... Amy Sebring: so I will continue on with her presentation ... Amy Sebring: when notified of an incident or potential incident of the severity, magnitude, complexity and/or threat to homeland security that it is considered an Incident of National Significance. Barbara Yagerman: when notified of an incident or potential incident of the severity, magnitude, complexity and/or threat to homeland security that it is considered an Incident of National Significance. Amy Sebring: (ok, please go ahead Barbara) Barbara Yagerman: DHS establishes multiagency structures at the headquarters, regional and field level to coordinate efforts and provide support to the on- scene incident command structures. Other Federal agencies carry out their incident management and emergency response authorities within this overarching framework. Barbara Yagerman: The NRP has been developed through an interagency process designed to incorporate input from a wide range of stakeholders. The plan was drafted by an interagency Writing Team based on 1) guiding principles established by the Homeland Security Council, 2) input from various stakeholder groups, and & Barbara Yagerman: 3) feedback from multiple rounds of review. Throughout the process, the Homeland Security Council continued to provide guidance and served as the multiagency body for review and approval. Barbara Yagerman: The NRP reflects 3 rounds of stakeholder review on the Base Plan and 2 rounds of review on the annexes totaling over 8000 individual comments. Through 3 rounds of review, there were 4260 total comments on the Base Plan. More than 70% of these were accepted and incorporated into the plan. Barbara Yagerman: Of the remainder 17% were rejected, primarily due to being outside the scope of the plan or contrary to the guiding principles, 6% were noted and required no changes; and 6% were forwarded for action elsewhere for example, some issues raised were NIMS issues and were sent to the NIMS Integration Center. Barbara Yagerman: Stakeholder feedback was the most critical component of the development process and substantially determined the final content of the plan. Barbara Yagerman: I will now wrap up my part of this presentation with the timeline of upcoming activities that I mentioned earlier. We are planning a coordinated roll-out effort to make sure that everyone can become familiar with the elements and implications of the plan. Barbara Yagerman: The Rollout Effort will include series of seminars in 5 cities to be announced shortly after approval of the plan is formally announced. Barbara Yagerman: We also have plans for ongoing education, training and exercises. Initial awareness level training will be posted on the web when the NRP is released. Amy Sebring: Thank you very much Barbara. First I will re-input some of the paragraphs we missed at the beginning ... Barbara Yagerman: Thank you That concludes my remarks. I will turn the floor back over to our moderator and I will taske your questions Amy Sebring: "Now, as many of you may already be aware, the development of a National Response Plan is mandated in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive #5 (HSPD-5), including & Amy Sebring: a single comprehensive national approach, coordination structures/mechanisms, direction for incorporation/ concurrent implementation of existing plans, and a consistent approach to reporting incidents, providing assessments and making recommendations to the President, DHS Secretary and HSC. Amy Sebring: The NRP will supersede the Federal Response Plan (FRP), Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan (CONPLAN), Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan (FRERP) and the Interim National Response Plan (INRP). Amy Sebring: Many of the familiar concepts and mechanisms associated with these plans will be carried over to the NRP, such as the Emergency Support Function (ESF) process of the FRP, and the elements introduced in the INRP, such as the Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC), Interagency Incident Management Group (IIMG), Principal Federal Official (PFO), Joint Field Office (JFO)." Amy Sebring: Ok, now our protocol for audience questions is to enter a question mark ? to indicate you wish to ask a question or make a comment... Amy Sebring: Then go ahead and compose your question or comment to have it ready, but do NOT hit your Enter key or click on the Send button until you are recognized by name. Please WAIT your turn. Amy Sebring: We will take questions in the order the question marks are sent to the screen. One question at at time please. If you have a follow up, please get back on line with a ? There is a system limitation on length of one entry, so please keep them reasonable in length. Ed Kostiuk: ? Amy Sebring: We are ready to begin now. Bill Nicholson: ? Amy Sebring: Ed, when you are ready please. Mike VanZummeren: ? Ed Kostiuk: Barbara, First off I applauded you and others with DHS/FEMA on providing us, in Emergency Management with guidelines on deploying our assets and resources to incidents. I have closely followed and requested changes (some of which has been approved) to the NRP over the past few months. Final remark I have sold it across our state since you are aware that Oklahoma has had its share of disasters and overwhelmingly it will be supported from the local EM to the State level. My question is: How are ot ray pena: ? Amy Sebring: put your question part back in please Ed. Ed Kostiuk: My question is: How are other Government and non-government entities accepting the NRP? I understand HSPD-5 "forces" them to comply but are they overall volunteering to accept its standards? As an IC I am concerned about calling in out of state resources and finding out others do not accept its concept! Barbara Yagerman: WE received more than 8000 total comments and recommendation. My sense is that the emergency management, responder, and private sector communities support the concepts and are anxious to participate. Amy Sebring: Bill N. next please. Bill Nicholson: What are the simarities and differences between the Base Plan and the Final Draft that came out recently? And how will rural Volunteer EMS and Fire Departments that do not have funding be able to comply? Ed Kostiuk: ? Barbara Yagerman: When the NRP is approved it will be posted on the DHS web site . . . Barbara Yagerman: There are differences in the final approved NRP and the draft that you may have seen... Barbara Yagerman: The implementation of the plan should enhance local capabilities but should not put any additional burden on those resources. Amy Sebring: Barbara, can you address Bill's notion of "compliance" .... Bill Nicholson: ? Barbara Yagerman: Ssure Barbara Yagerman: HSPD-5 mandates compliance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) . . . Barbara Yagerman: The NRP is based on the concept of support, coorperation and mechanisms for partnership and working together . . . Audra Kunf: ? Barbara Yagerman: There is no mandate for compliance with the NRP. State and local governments are "encouraged" to work within the concept of operstions. Amy Sebring: Thanks. Mandated compliance for NIMs is also for federal agencies ... Amy Sebring: local compliance is "voluntary"! Amy Sebring: Mike V. next please. Mike VanZummeren: My question was for Ms. Benini, but maybe Ms. Yagerman would be able to answer my question. From what I understand the NRP relates more to those who manage disasters. With that said, what role do you see the air medical transport community playing in relation to the NRP? Barry Hoerz: ? Barbara Yagerman: The role would be much the same as it was under the FRP, or any of the other Federal plans incorporated into the NRP. Amy Sebring: Ed next please. Ed Kostiuk: Without putting you on the spot, can you provide us with a more definitive timeline for release? Any chance of the 5 cities so we can book flights? Barbara Yagerman: I wish I could provide a difinitive timeline. . . Barbara Yagerman: I would say we are within a few weeks of final approval and announcement... Barbara Yagerman: As for the cities, I defer to Secretary Ridge to make that announcement. Amy Sebring: Bill N. next please. Bill Nicholson: When you say there will be no additional burden to local rural volunteer entities, do you mean that the NRP and NIMS can be adopted and complied with without the need for additional training in ICS, putting together Mutual Aid Agreements, modifying SOPs, and so on? Aren't these significant unfunded burdens for small rural response entities? Local compliance is "voluntary," but the stick of no federal FIRE Grants or EMPG funds is very real. Barbara Yagerman: You are correct, of course,,, Barbara Yagerman: The NIMS does require training, exercise, certifiction. I was referring to the NRP requirements... Barbara Yagerman: The NRP is built on existing systems and provides greater clarity on the roles and responsibilities of Federal departments and agencies... Barbara Yagerman: in support of, and in coordination with, State, local, tribal and private sector partners. Amy Sebring: Audra next please. Audra Kunf: what effect, if any, will the NRP consolidation of Federal plans have on planning efforts at the local level? Especially smaller jurisdictions which are compiling (frantically) the new Haz Mit plan with all the additional info (background, technical, historical, etc.) required? These plans are turning into encyclopedias....and federal requirements for all this additional paper keeps growing. Barbara Yagerman: Our goal was too preserve and mirror the existing structure of state emergency operations plans to the degree that we could .. . Isabel McCurdy: ? Audra Kunf: Thank you. Barbara Yagerman: There are only three new ESFs, some modifications to a few of the ESFs,.. Barbara Yagerman: The new structures in the plan -- the HSOC, the Joint Field Office, the Interagency Incident Management Group ... Barbara Yagerman: primarily impact the Federal partners. Amy Sebring: Ray next please. ray pena: Thanks Amy. Will the latest version (what s the date?) of the NRP and annexes be used/referenced for TOPOFF 3 in April? Barbara Yagerman: It would seem reasonable, but since I am not involved in the T3 planning, I cannot say. Amy Sebring: Barry next please. Amy Sebring: (Please input your ? at any time, and then have your question ready please.) Bill Nicholson: ? Amy Sebring: Barry, are you ready? Barry Hoerz: Will the "voluntary" cooperation of rural units be d?ependent on FEMA grant availability? Barbara Yagerman: I am not the right person to answer that. Perhaps you could get Gil Jamieson, who now heads the NIMS Integration Center to talk about the grant process. Amy Sebring: I think the question is, is the NRP related to federal grants, and correct me if I am wrong ... Amy Sebring: but the NRP is not directly related to the grant process. Is that correct Barbara? Barbara Yagerman: As far as I know, there are no Federal grants associated with the NRP... Jonathan Dunfee: ? Barry Hoerz: Sorry, had the question typed out and then it was gone! Yes, Amy, that's what I meant. Barbara Yagerman: The only grants that I know of are the EMPG and I believe that there is enough flexibility in those funds to permit NRP related planning activities. Amy Sebring: Thanks, Isabel next please. Isabel McCurdy: Barbara, was there consultation with Canada Public Safety during the plan process? Barbara Yagerman: We worked extensively with the Department of State . . . Barbara Yagerman: DHS Deputy Secretary Loy just recently went to Canada to meet with the Canadian emergency management leadership. . . Barbara Yagerman: NRP implementation and implication for cross-border coordination was definitely on the agenda. Amy Sebring: Jonathan next please. Amy Sebring: ? Jonathan Dunfee: Are there any planned exercises in the near future to show/test the final NRP in action? Barbara Yagerman: We are working with ODP and EMI on training and exercise issues... Jonathan Dunfee: It was mentioned earlier that TOPOFF may not use NRP... Barbara Yagerman: There will be an online independent study available as soon as the plan is released... Barbara Yagerman: The course number is IS 800. Jonathan Dunfee: Thanks. Amy Sebring: To clarify .... Amy Sebring: I think Barbara meant that she assumes TOPOFF3 will, but cannot speak to that? Barbara Yagerman: That is correct Amy. I may be that the planning is too far along. Amy Sebring: Are any roles defined for the private sector and non-governmental organizations in this plan Barbara? Amy Sebring: At least liaison perhaps? Barbara Yagerman: Yes. Amy Sebring: (We are at the end of the line, and have time for a couple more questions, so please input your ? if there are any more) Bill Nicholson: Why were the NRP and NIMS not adopted pursuant to the requirements of the ?Administrative Procedures Act as rules, as was the NCP? Barbara Yagerman: We define the roles in the base plan and also have annexes on both private sector and donations management. Amy Sebring: Thanks Barbara. Please go ahead and address Bill's question. Barbara Yagerman: Can you please repeat the question. I am not sure what requirements you are referencing., Ed Kostiuk: ? Amy Sebring: I believe the question is ... Amy Sebring: will the NRP be further implemented through administrative rules? Bill Nicholson: The APA has notice and xomment and poublic hearing requirements, as well as evaluation of least intrusive options and lowest economic impacts (thankls to EOs during the Reagan era. Barbara Yagerman: The plan was developed in close coordination with the White House, the interagency and state and local stakeholders... Barbara Yagerman: We worked closely with DHS and White House attorneys throughout the process... Barbara Yagerman: And we adhered to all requirements that they stipulated were appropriate. Amy Sebring: Ed next please. Ed Kostiuk: Amy asked me to provide the link to the latest NRP version: http://all- hands.net/pn//modules/Downloads/store_folder/ICS/NRP_final__Draft_June-30-04.pdf Amy Sebring: ? Amy Sebring: Thanks Ed. Amy Sebring: Barbara, the federal agencies are currently operating under ... Amy Sebring: the Interim NRP? Will there be an after-action for the recent hurricane events ... Amy Sebring: (I assume there will) but my question is ... Amy Sebring: do you expect any impact on the final NRP? Ed Kostiuk: ? Barbara Yagerman: The final NRP includes an imple,mentation schedule ... Barbara Yagerman: that mandates a one-year review and revision based on real world and exercise experience... Barbara Yagerman: Since they are still operating under the INRP, I do not think these events would represent a true test for the NRP. Amy Sebring: Thanks. Last question, Ed please. Ed Kostiuk: I asked about AAR for the recent Hurricanes and have been promised they will be addressed under www.llis.gov and both the NIMS and NRP LL will be addressed (according to DHS officials) Amy Sebring: sorry, what is LL Ed? Ed Kostiuk: Lessons Learned Amy Sebring: right, was blank for a moment ... Ed Kostiuk: LLIS=Lessons Learned Information Shared Amy Sebring: That's all we have time for today. Thank you very much Barbara for taking the time to share this valuable information with us today. Please stand by while we make some quick announcements .... Amy Sebring: We have a new partner to announce, the State of Vermont Emergency Management, POC is Robert Weinert, Emergency Management Coordinator, and their URL is http://www.dps.state.vt.us/vem/ Barbara Yagerman: That is part of the standard process for all events. . . . Amy Sebring: (sorry Barbara, please continue) Barbara Yagerman: Just one last thing. The official NRP will be posted on DHS.gov as soon as it is released. The last official version of the plan to be circulated was August 24. Amy Sebring: Great. Amy Sebring: If your organization is interested in becoming an EIIP Partner, please see the link on our home page, Partnership for You. Barbara Yagerman: The August 24 version was a draft and has had changes since. Amy Sebring: Again, the transcript will be posted late this afternoon and you will be able to access it from our home page or the background page. We also have a great archive of transcripts which you can access by topic from the home page. Amy Sebring: If you are not currently on our mailing list, and would like to get program announcements and notices of transcript availability, please see the Subscribe link on our home page. Amy Sebring: Thanks to everyone for participating today. Great questions and comments. We stand adjourned but before you go, please help me show our appreciation to Barbara for a fine job. //gavel