March 4, 2004
NOTE: This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the emergency management and response sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. It has been prepared by NATEK Incorporated for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on 1 March the approval of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which is the Nation's first standardized management plan that unifies Federal, state, and local governments for incident response.
According to the DHS Fact Sheet, NIMS establishes standardized incident management processes, protocols, and procedures that all responders-Federal, state, tribal, and local-will use to coordinate and conduct response operations. "With responders using the same standardized procedures, they will all share a common focus, and will be able to place full emphasis on incident management when a homeland security incident occurs-whether terrorism or natural disaster." Additionally, national preparedness and readiness in responding to and recovering from an incident will significantly improve since all of the Nation's emergency responders and their authorities will be using a common language and set of procedures. For these reasons, the EMR-ISAC welcomes NIMS because of its extensive benefits for the discipline of critical infrastructure protection (CIP).
NIMS incorporates incident management best practices developed and proven by thousands of response leaders across the United States. "These practices, coupled with consistency and national standardization, will now be carried forward throughout all incident management processes: exercises, qualifications and certifications, communications interoperability, doctrinal changes, training, publications, public affairs, equipping, evaluations, and incident management." DHS Secretary, Tom Ridge, affirmed: "All of these measures should unify the response community as never before by putting into practice the concept of one mission, one team, one fight." Ultimately, NIMS activities should also strengthen the protection of the personnel, physical assets, and communication systems (i.e., the critical infrastructures) that are essential for 24/7 response-ability.
The NIMS document link: www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NIMS-90-web.pdf
Security officials continuously express concern about the thousands of industrial plants throughout America that are using hazardous materials (HazMat). They allege these factories and the materials they utilize could be transformed into weapons of mass destruction (WMD). "Such plants represent a potential danger to neighboring communities because they are vulnerable to catastrophic accidents as well as terrorist attacks."
A government security expert offered some examples: "An ice cream plant might sound benign, but it uses volatile chemicals for refrigeration." Furthermore, he said, "At swimming pool companies, in parked rail cars, or in trucks, potentially lethal chemicals are stored in large amounts." A representative from the National Environmental Trust substantiated that chemical industry records indicate a disastrous release of chemicals in some instances would affect tens of thousands of people.
The presence of plants using HazMat should be a preparedness and response planning issue for local emergency managers and first responders. The EMR-ISAC applauds those many municipalities that have painstakingly identified and recorded the location of all factories or places with HazMat as well as the types of dangerous materials at each site. The thorough collection of this information should promote emergency plans and actions that ensure the protection of the critical infrastructures of all first response organizations in addition to the communities they serve.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Fact Sheet of 27 February explained that DHS adopted its first radiological and nuclear detector standards so first responders, government officials, and manufacturers can guarantee that equipment meets certain design, performance, and test guidelines. The standards were developed in partnership with the DHS Science and Technology Division, DHS Office of Domestic Preparedness, Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology, Energy Department's National Laboratories, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
The national standards ensure that equipment, gear, and other technologies do what they are intended to do. These standards can also be tied to federal grants to make certain agencies purchase equipment that adhere to approved guidelines. The four detector standards include:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) held a press conference on 26 February to announce the adoption of the first set of national standards for personal protective clothing and equipment to protect first responders against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents. They were developed in partnership with the National Fire Protection Association and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to help state and local governments make procurement decisions and to provide manufacturers with performance criteria.
Specifically, the standards provide manufacturers with test methods to confirm achievement of required performance levels. Therefore, the guidelines will assist state and local procurement officials and manufacturers to deliver the best available protective gear for emergency personnel. For more information, see the DHS Press Release at the following link: http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=3238
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DHS and the FBI encourage recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and/or the FBI. The DHS National Operation Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by email at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov.
The FBI regional phone numbers can be found online at www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm
For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by email at NICC@dhs.gov.
When available, each report submitted should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.
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