FEMA announces advisory council membership

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has created a National Advisory Council to offer localized advice, as part of a response to post-Hurricane Katrina reform legislation.

FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison announced the proposed membership of the council last week after a formal selection process that began in February. The council will be made up of 30 people, who will be separated into 21 categories, ranging from public health to cybersecurity to tribal government.

Congress ordered the creation of the council in the 2006 Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee recommended the group with the goal of increasing FEMA cooperation with local emergency management and preparedness specialists.

"We called for a new FEMA that was less Washington-centric and more connected to the real work of preparing for disasters where they actually occur," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.

Calling the creation of the council "long overdue," Lieberman said the announcement was "a crucial step in making FEMA more effective in addressing disasters."

FEMA spokesman James Kaplan said the council will hold its first organizational meeting later this summer or early this fall. The group will have a great deal of independence in setting up its organizational structure, but Kaplan said FEMA does anticipate it will create subcommittees that will not necessarily be exclusive to members of the council.

Kaplan said there will be regional councils in addition to the national one, with national members bringing on region-specific colleagues.

National council members fall into three groups; some have been nominated for three-year terms, some for two-year terms and some for one-year terms. Eventually, terms will be set at three years, with the dates staggered so that one-third of the terms finish each year.

Kaplan said most of the council's role will be decided in the initial organizational meeting but that FEMA hopes for input on a number of documents and initiatives, which could include the national preparedness goal, a prioritization of risks and capabilities across the public and private sectors, and the National Response Plan, a guide for coordinating all levels of government and the private sector in case of a domestic disaster.

Kaplan said he is not sure whether the council will decide to review these plans and issue reports during its first meeting.

While the council reports to and advises the FEMA administrator directly, council members will interact with FEMA senior managers in addition to the administrator, Kaplan said. The group's reports and remarks will be forwarded through the administrator's office to the relevant officials.

The proposed council members are awaiting approval of ethics and financial disclosure forms. But according to Kaplan, each intends to accept the nomination.