The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not completed a full set of incident management plans associated with the National Planning Scenarios, according to an audit by the agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG concluded that the development and implementation time required by the Integrated Planning System, which guides the federal planning process, was part of the cause for the delay.
The 15 scenarios cover such manmade and natural incidents as improvised nuclear device and aerosolized anthrax attacks and major earthquake and hurricane disasters. The scenarios are designed to guide preparedness planning at all levels of government and with the private sector, and form the basis for federal planning, training, exercises and grants.
Among the recommendations included in the audit are that the DHS operations, coordination and planning director collaborate with Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives to:
- Provide guidance to federal departments to facilitate the incorporation of performance and effectiveness measures into operations plans
- Enlist resources and federal departments that have coordinating roles for the chemical and cyber attacks and pandemic influenza scenarios in order to pursue planning efforts for each scenario concurrently
- Open access to the repository for all unclassified federal incident management plans to all appropriate Homeland Security stakeholders
All affected parties agreed with the recommendations. Their statements are included in the OIG’s audit document, “DHS’ Progress in Federal Incident Management Planning (Redacted),” which is at dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIGr_10-58_Feb10.pdf.
The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, the national collective bargaining bill pending in both houses of Congress, was the subject of a House Education and Labor Subcommittee hearing in early March, moving the bill a step closer to a vote by that body.
The legislation would provide collective bargaining rights to firefighters, EMS personnel and other public safety officers employed by state or local governments. It also would prohibit public safety employers, employees and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes and would not invalidate existing collective bargaining units and agreements.
In his opening statement, Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), the bill’s author and a member of the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, said the legislation would create a minimum standard that states have the flexibility to implement, regulate and enforce as they see fit. He added that this bill is almost identical to one passed by the House in the 110th Congress and enjoyed wide bipartisan support, as evidenced by the nearly 200 co-sponsors who signed on to the House version.
The same bill has been introduced in the Senate and was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
The Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act was the subject of the day on March 3 as representatives of fire services, safety organizations and other stakeholders converged on Washington, D.C., to persuade members of Congress of the importance of the bill.
Most of the opposition to the sprinkler systems law has been due to its financial cost. To address this opposition, the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act would provide tax incentives for the installation of fire-activated water sprinklers in commercial properties, including apartment buildings and nursing homes. Specifically, the bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to include automatic fire sprinkler systems as a five-year depreciable property.
Congressional findings noted in the bill estimate that sprinklers are responsible for a 70-percent reduction in property damage from fires in large educational, residential and similar buildings. The findings also state that the National Fire Protection Association has no record of a fire killing more than two people in a facility with a complete sprinkler system.
Although the bill is a legislative priority for many in the fire services, it is not moving rapidly through Congress. The House bill, introduced in February 2009, is in the Committee on Ways and Means; the Senate bill, introduced in January 2010, is in the Finance Committee.
Many important aspects of the U.S. government’s progress in protecting the nation from WMD proliferation and terrorism received a failing grade on a report card submitted to Congress by the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
A failing grade was given to efforts to:
- Enhance the nation’s capabilities for rapid response to prevent biological attacks from inflicting mass casualties
- Reform congressional oversight to better address intelligence, homeland security and crosscutting 21st-century national security missions
- Implement education and training programs to recruit and retain the next generation of national security experts
Efforts to tighten government oversight of high-containment labs received a D+.
An ‘A’ grade was given to:
- A comprehensive review of the domestic program to secure dangerous pathogens
- The development of a national strategy for advancing bioforensic capabilities
- The designation of a White House principal adviser for WMD proliferation and terrorism
- The creation of a more efficient and effective policy coordination structure by restructuring the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council
The full report is at preventwmd.gov/static/docs/report-card.pdf.
A coalition of fire service organizations called for higher budgets for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program for fiscal year 2011 than the funding proposed by President Barack Obama. The president proposed to fund AFG and SAFER at $305 million each, less than the $390 million and $420 million, respectively, the programs received in 2010. [See the April 2010 Capitol Report.] This year’s AFG funding represented a 30 percent reduction from 2009 funding.
In their letters to the House and Senate appropriations committees and the homeland security subcommittees, the group also requested that Congress increase funding to the Urban Search and Rescue program by $17.5 million, which would bring the FY 2011 appropriation to $50 million. The letters said that the current $32.5 million covered only 70 percent of the costs associated with maintaining 28 teams nationwide, leaving local governments, which are currently experiencing fiscal restraints, responsible for the remaining expense.
The coalition includes the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Fire Protection Association and the National Volunteer Fire Council.
Links to the letters are at nvfc.org/page/626/show_item/1127/News.htm.
