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When the next national disaster occurs, federal, state and local responders will be ready to react in partnership with mutually supporting capabilities to assure the safety and security of citizens. At least that's the idea behind the draft National Response Framework released by the Homeland Security Department earlier this month.

The draft document, when finalized, is to replace the National Response Plan that was released in the summer of 2005, shortly before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, wiping out 90,000 square miles of Gulf Coast territory and forcing more than a million Americans from their homes.

In ways large and small, the new National Response Framework aims to change the way officials at the federal, state and local level prepare for and respond to disasters, said retired Coast Guard Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson, now the deputy administrator and chief operating officer at the Federal Emergency Management Agency within DHS.

The National Response Plan made a "very nice doorstop," Johnson said during an interview Wednesday, but its size (a three-ring binder several inches thick) and dense bureaucratic language made it virtually impenetrable to all but the most determined readers. The replacement 84-page National Response Framework (plus 383 pages of detailed annexes available online) was renamed to more accurately reflect the document's purpose, which is to provide responders with a user-friendly, easy-to-read manual that outlines the organizational structure for emergency operations.

"Part of the goal was to make sure people actually pick it up and use it as opposed to just having it on their shelf and then pulling it out when a disaster occurs," Johnson said.

Johnson, who led the Coast Guard's West Coast support to the Hurricane Katrina response, said, "This document lays out much more clearly [than the 2005 National Response Plan] what the roles and responsibilities are across all levels [of government]. It will help people understand how they should communicate with each other, what they should expect from each other and when they should expect it."

The new framework also describes a clear structure for establishing a joint field office that can be scaled from small to catastrophic events and explains more clearly than the previous plan what role the military can and cannot play in domestic emergencies. Along those lines, the framework spells out the different authorities National Guard troops may exercise when operating in state status under the control of a governor, versus federal status under the control of a federal military commander -- an issue that proved confusing to some during the Katrina response.

The draft framework also addresses the issue of pets, something that was important in managing the mass evacuation of New Orleans in 2005. "That clearly was an issue that came out of Katrina," Johnson said. "Someone may not leave their home or get on a bus and evacuate unless they can take their pet with them."

Louisiana now has thousands of pet cages and vehicles specifically designed to move pets should the need arise, Johnson said. "It is a very significant issue if we want to have a successful evacuation," he said.

The draft document is available for review and public comment here.

COMMENTS

• I've been involved in FRP and then NRP major operations (earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, floods) for over 8 years. For the last five years I've also been involved in teaching federal responders various parts of it, particularly some of the ESF and Support Annexes. I'm still wading (literally) through this newest iteration. My initial impression is that DHS' goal for this 83 page document is to put local and states "on the hook" and be as vague as possible regarding corresponding Federal structures and actions. I concur fully with Mr Cumming's final series of questions: "1) exactly who will show up from the federal level, 2) what will their training and experience be, 3) what logistics systems will they use, 4) what equipment will they have, 5) what TOPOFF and other exercises will they have been involved in as players, not just observers? 6) And of course finally, but most important will be (because big events seem to love the fourth quarter of the fiscal year of the federal budget) what funding will they have? My assessment right now: It will still be "come as you are", and everyone will still be at the mercy of which FEMA region happens to be "mangaging?" "coordinating?" (but certainly not "LEADING") response operations. And if there is more than one Region involved, the rules will change as soon as you cross that border - because you are now in a different "Dukedom". Old Tar Posted September 27, 2007 10:34 AM
• The DHS IG concluded after long study that the NRP was effective April 12, 2005, several months before Hurricane Katrina. The FRP was adopted in early May 1992 several months before Hurricane Andrew. When final final I hope that more than a year elapses before the next "Big One" so that this time all levels of government, NGO's, the National Guard, NorthCom, and DOD will be knowledgeable. I hope the 800 PAS, non-career SES's, and schedule C's in DHS won't stop with the front 83 pages but will also review and learn the 383 pp of technical annex. Then of course is the election put into power the DEMS, a new 800 political appointees can start to learn it or will they all be tested for knowledge of it when it becomes final. The interesting thing is there still is no planning basis for the document. For example, how would 10-50 dead, 250,000 other casualties and 1-5M homeless be handled? These numbers come out of a 1980 FEMA study of a catastrophic earthquake in California produced in both an unclassified and classified version and never updated. Hey, its only almost 28 years later. Also, exactly who will show up from the federal level, what will their training and experience be, what logistics systems will they use, what equipment will they have, what TOPOFF and other exercises will they have been involved in as players, not just observers? And of course finally, but most important will be (because big events seem to love the fourth quarter of the fiscal year of the federal budget) what funding will they have? William R. Cumming Posted September 27, 2007 8:45 AM