From: "Mark A. Smith" 
Subject: SNET: FEMA -- CIVIL ASPECTS OF CRISES MANAGEMENT
Date: 14 Jan 1999 21:17:10 -0500
To: SNET , L & J 


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           [ABOUT FEMA]

              PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE SEMINAR ON CIVIL ASPECTS OF
            CRISES MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND GOOD
                           NEIGHBOURLY RELATIONS

           I want to say thanks you to our host the Swedish
           agency for civil emergency planning for presenting
           this opportunity for dialogue on the issues of common
           interest to us all. I know that we are short on time,
           pressing up against the lunch hour, but I had to tell
           you that my presence here today is one of FEMA's bet
           efforts at emergency management of late.

           After being informed only ten days ago of the need for
           me to make a presentation at this event due to Kay
           Goss' schedule and a family emergency for Dr. Blong, I
           got off the plane last night with different
           presentations in hand. Only after seeing the final
           program, last night which clearly identified what the
           other speakers were presenting, was I able to make a
           decision as to which talk to give =85to bad for you.

           I apologise in advance for what I am about to put you
           through, but as a good friend once wrote to a dear
           companion, 'please forgive this very long and drawn
           out letter, I did not have time to write you a short
           one'.

           TERRORISM'S CHALLENGE TO CIVIL EMERGENCY PLANNING AND
           MANAGEMENT=85FEMA'S APPROACH

           Terrorism represents a wide range of challenges that
           we have not faced before, particularly when we
           consider what is involved with responding to an event
           involving chemical, biological or nuclear agents.

           Terrorism adds a new dimension to our capability to
           prepare and respond, a dimension that has much
           uncharted territory associated with it.

           Primary among that uncharted territory has been one
           simple principle - we have to do everything that we
           possibly can to ensure that emergency responders,
           whether fire, police, medical, or emergency
           management, do not become the "canaries" of a
           terrorist event.

           Soon, just about any individual and any country or
           sub-national entity will be able to build a weapon of
           mass destruction-all they will need is the desire:

           1. The cult in Japan proves groups can develop
           chemical and biological weapons;

           2. The flow of drugs into the United States proves
           these devices can be smuggled into the United States,
           and;

           3. The World Trade Center and Oklahoma City prove that
           groups that have the desire to strike at the United
           States can do so.

           4. We have entered and era when nuclear, chemical, and
           biological materials must be controlled based upon
           their use - just as drugs are based upon their use.

           Terrorism is escalating to the point that Americans
           and other nations soon might have to choose between
           civil liberties and more intrusive means of
           protection, Defense Secretary William Cohen concluded
           after eight months of studying threats under the
           Pentagon microscope. He said the government must step
           up its efforts to penetrate terrorists groups.

           Militias may have deadly microbes. A FBI
           counterterrorism report posted its Web site
           www.fbi.gov alleges that several militia groups
           already possess deadly microbe cultures.

           After the war in Iraq, authorities discovered that
           hundreds of deadly cultures (including anthrax and
           botulism) were sent from American research facilities
           to Iraq (for more details, see
           (www.chronicillnet.org>).

           There are very definite risks associated with a
           terrorist event that are not present during a natural
           or technological disaster and we owe it to our
           emergency responders to ensure your safety and that of
           the general public in every possible way.

           That is a guiding principle of everything that we as
           FEMA do. Presently at the Federal, State and local
           levels we are preparing for terrorism. A brief
           historical perspective on how the program developed.

           Oklahoma City galvanized the United States into action
           and President Clinton was in the forefront of taking
           executive action and proposing legislation to Congress
           to provide a system for building preparedness and
           response capability in this country to respond to the
           consequences of terrorism.

           President Clinton took three immediate actions.

           First, President Clinton signed a presidential
           directive that clearly stated the U.S. policy on
           counter-terrorism. It has formed the basis for the
           Federal Government's preparedness for and response to
           terrorism.

           Second, the President also issued an Executive Order,
           which addressed the issue of Critical Infrastructure
           Protection. It established a commission to assess
           vulnerabilities and threats to our public to recommend
           protection policy and strategy and propose
           infrastructure statutory or regulatory changes.

           It also established an Infrastructure Protection Task
           Force to issue threat and warning notices and provide
           training and education and coordinate operational
           expertise in prevention and response.

           Third, President Clinton proposed legislation to
           Congress.

           Congressional action resulted in the Defense against
           Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996. It is
           commonly known now as the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Act,
           named for the three United States Senators who were
           the chief sponsors of the bill.

           I'd just like to mention an interesting fact here. The
           original Nunn-Lugar Cooperative threat Reduction
           Program, which passed Congress in 1991, authorized
           more than $1.5 billion over the last five years for
           de-nuclearization efforts in the former Soviet Union.
           Under the program, Belarus, Khazakstan and Ukraine we
           believe have become nuclear-free.

           The current Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Act provides resources
           to improve the ability of major metropolitan areas to
           respond to a terrorist incident involving weapons of
           mass destruction by allowing access to the technical
           expertise and resources resident in the Department of
           Defense and other Federal Departments and agencies. It
           is a unique approach to a unique problem.

           While the Department of Defense is coordinating the
           preparedness and response to terrorism, it would not
           have the lead in an actual response operation. It goes
           back to its regular supportive role at that point.

           Department of Defense support will focus on the needs
           of civil authorities for emergency medical services,
           fire and rescue, HAZMAT, and law enforcement. These
           include:

              * Specialized detection and monitoring equipment;

              * Training and exercises for first responders and
                health providers;

              * Medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and treatment
                protocols;

              * The ability to handle contaminated mass
                casualties; and

              * A centralized chemical/biological information
                source and handbooks and references for emergency
                responders.

           I would like to take just a moment here to tell you
           what is being done under the category of specialized
           detection and monitoring equipment for the fire
           community.

           There are 27 Metropolitan Medical Strike Teams, or
           MMSTs, being initiated through the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici
           non-proliferation program. This program is being
           managed by the Public Health Service of the Department
           of Health and Human Services.

           These teams will consist of a highly trained, readily
           deployable and fully equipped team of medical
           professionals to support other local personnel in
           treating the victims of a chemical, biological or
           nuclear attack.

           The team members, will include physicians, advanced
           life support personnel authorized to perform invasive
           procedures, and basic life support technicians.

           Team members will receive specialized instruction,
           including training on self-contained breathing units
           and hazardous material decontamination devices.

           The team will be equipped with pharmaceutical supplies
           to treat exposure to chemical and biological agents,
           as well as agent monitoring and protective equipment.

           We have begun working directly with local cities to
           prepare.

           A standard categories of base line is available for
           cities.

              * Personal protection;
              * Detection
              * Decontamination
              * Communication; and
              * Training aids.

           This equipment is tailored to meet training and
           operational needs for cities in our target training
           programs.

           The baseline equipment is suitable for both training
           and operational use request for training is being
           reviewed by a Senior Interagency Coordinating Group,
           which will be discussing shortly.

           There is a $300,000 ceiling for loaned training
           equipment that will complement MMST operational
           equipment.

           The Department of Health and Human Services has
           announced that $3 million in contracts have been
           awarded to 7 of the 27 target cities. It is expected
           that an additional 18 cities will receive awards later
           this year.

           What is being done by the Department of Health and
           Human Services/Public Health Service is indicative of
           both the levels of effort and the primary concern
           given to protecting first responders and civil
           emergency managers.

           How the overall process works.

           Ms. Goss, Associate Director for Preparedness,
           Training, and Exercises co-chairs, along with the
           Executive Associate Director for Response and
           Recovery, at FEMA, an Advisory Group of senior
           representatives from Federal Departments and agencies
           that serves as the core element of this process by
           addressing policy formulation and issues.

           The Department of Defense has coordinated closely with
           the key Departments and agencies with responsibilities
           in this area, including --

           the Departments of Justice, (which includes the
           Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of
           Justice Assistance), Health & Human Services, Energy,
           Transportation and Agriculture;

           the Environmental Protection Agency;

           the National Communications System;

           the General Services Administration; and

           The Federal Emergency Management Agency.

           A number of activities are underway simultaneously.

           The primary focus is on training and exercises -- many
           of which fall under the purview of the Federal
           Emergency Management Agency and, in particular, the
           Preparedness, Training, and Exercises Directorate,
           lead by Ms. Goss.

           Much of our focus is dedicated to ensuring the
           integration of the activities of the various levels of
           government and the respective roles that each level of
           government will play, as well as ensuring coordination
           with local fire, law enforcement, medical, and other
           responder groups. It is an interagency,
           intergovernmental, and interdisciplinary effort.

           With that framework in mind, we have identified a
           series of actions that must be undertaken in order to
           ensure effective preparation for and response to the
           consequences of terrorism in the United States.

           The focus for Federal Department and agency staff is
           centered on partnership with the State and local
           governments in the development of the preparedness and
           training programs that are key to Nunn-Lugar-Domenici
           activities and on defining roles, responsibilities,
           processes and procedures to be followed in response
           operations.

           For State and local governments, the primary focus is
           on hazard analysis, priorities, assessed capabilities,
           and available resources.

           Analyzing the hazards is important because we can't
           assume that every location around the country will be
           vulnerable to the same type of risk. Although we can't
           precisely determine the exact nature of every hazard,
           it is possible for us to narrow down the
           possibilities.

           Determining priorities is critical because there is a
           distinct difference between what is considered
           priority for State and local governments versus the
           priorities of the Federal Government. We cannot afford
           to have conflicting priorities, either before or after
           an incident.

           Oklahoma City provides perhaps a case study of the
           differences that occur between Federal, State, and
           local perspectives. Federal, State and local fire
           emergency officials were primarily focusing on saving
           lives and rescuing those who were still trapped,
           Federal, State and local law enforcement officials
           were concerned about maintaining the crime scene for
           investigative purposes so that any possible evidence
           could be obtained.

           Both of these are very important functions - but, in
           order to save lives and rescue those still trapped, it
           was necessary to disrupt the crime scene. It worked
           out well in the end because there was incredible
           coordination between all parties, but I'm raising this
           issue because it shows the type of conflicts that can
           arise that could seriously disrupt a response
           operation.

           I also want to note with pride that it worked well,
           according to Oklahoma City officials, because they,
           along with first responders, emergency managers, and
           others, had taken FEMA's Integrated Emergency
           Management Course some months before the incident.
           They said that it was invaluable in helping them
           coordinate their response efforts. We all are very
           grateful that they were able to have the benefit of
           the training.

           We must remember that neither side is right or wrong -
           many of the priorities are often of equal importance.
           That's why it's critical that we make sure that we all
           recognize these issues before an incident occurs so
           that absolutely nothing interferes with the primary
           task of saving lives.

           If we identify our deficiencies beforehand and take
           the necessary corrective actions, then we are in a far
           better position to address response operations. Given
           that time is such an urgent element of the response to
           a terrorist incident, the preparations that we make
           beforehand in these areas are vital to a successful
           operation.

           Now that I've covered the general overarching elements
           of the program with regard to Federal, State and local
           governments, I'd like to address how we are going to
           implement this program.

           There are essentially four elements involved in the
           process that is being developed at this time.

           1. Pre-positioned resources, which allows all levels
           of government to have the necessary databases,
           communications links, inventories of assets,
           equipment, availability of experts, and other critical
           requirements.

           2. Law enforcement, which allows local and State
           police and the FBI to know from the outset what their
           roles will be and how they can avoid either
           duplication of efforts or conflicts during the
           performance of their respective functions. Careful
           planning beforehand and extensive coordination during
           an operation can substantially reduce, or even perhaps
           eliminate, many of the problems that could disrupt the
           response operation.

           3. Crisis management, which encompasses all of the
           operations to prevent an incident after a threat has
           occurred, seeking out and/or arresting perpetrators
           before lives are lost, and rescue and response
           operations during the first minutes and hours after an
           incident to mitigate its consequences. This is a
           vitally important process because the marshaling of
           resources, deploying of personnel, staging of
           equipment and on-scene operations will not be chaotic,
           with a strong crisis management function in place.

           The FBI is the lead agency for crisis management in
           response to a domestic terrorist threat or incident.
           It is responsible for identifying, acquiring and
           planning the use of resources needed to prevent and/or
           respond to a potential or actual terrorist incident.

           4. FEMA is lead for Consequence management, which
           covers immediate and long-term response and recovery
           issues. This is a complex issue because it involves
           dozens of Federal Departments and agencies, fire, law
           enforcement, private relief organizations, the careful
           handling of the press, and a host of other issues.

           Consequence management differs from crisis management
           in that it involves preparedness and response for
           dealing with the consequences of a terrorist incident,
           including alleviating damage, loss, hardship, or
           suffering caused by the incident.

           It also includes public health and safety, the
           restoration of essential government services, and
           providing emergency assistance.

           Even though the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
           has been tasked with the responsibility for
           coordinating consequence management of the Federal
           Government for terrorist events, will be supporting
           the efforts of the FBI through these activities.

           Another aspect of terrorism that we must focus on is
           the critical need for expert advice. Experts are
           important in natural and technological disasters as
           well, but the experts are normally predicting weather
           patterns to give advance warning or, as in the case of
           earthquakes, warning of future aftershocks and the
           problems they could cause.

           Expert advice in terrorism, on the other hand, may
           make the difference between life and death for
           thousands, particularly if chemical or biological
           weapons are used. There are so many different types of
           agents that could be used, with many variables in
           medical response, that expert advice must be quickly
           available to any community.

           That's another reason why pre-positioned and easily
           accessible databases are so invaluable. Thankfully,
           computerized access to vast sources of information
           makes quick answers to questions a possibility -- and,
           where chemical or biological agents are involved, time
           is of the essence.

           That gives you the general structure and format of
           what the U.S. Federal Government is doing today. What
           I'd like to do now is address more particularly how
           the Federal Emergency Management Agency is involved in
           this effort.

           In addition to coordinating consequence management,
           the Federal Emergency Management Agency was tasked
           with reviewing the Federal Response Plan to determine
           the capability for consequence management of
           terrorism, especially for acts of nuclear, biological
           and chemical terrorism.

           I'd like to just mention here that the Federal
           Response Plan is the overarching mechanism by which
           FEMA coordinates Federal disaster relief.

           It includes 29 Federal Departments and agencies and
           the American Red Cross, and has been an outstanding
           means of coordinating relief efforts in the many
           large-scale disasters that the U.S. has experienced
           recently. It provides the logical vehicle for the
           coordination of Federal consequence management
           operations.

           The Federal Response Plan implements the authorities
           given to the Federal Emergency Management Agency under
           the American emergency management law to assign
           missions to any Federal Department or agency in
           support of a disaster or emergency declared by the
           President.

           President Clinton also assigned the Federal Emergency
           Management Agency responsibility to ensure that State
           government plans are adequate and that their
           capabilities are tested for nuclear, biological, or
           chemical terrorist incidents. Our responsibilities
           also include training and exercises.

           The Federal Emergency Management Agency is now working
           through the National Governors' Association with
           respect to assessing State capabilities.

           Ms. Goss is also the co-chair of the Senior
           Interagency Coordination Group on Terrorism. This
           group is responsible for providing policy-level
           guidance in the development of a Government-wide
           terrorism training strategy, as well as addressing
           other issues related to consequence management, such
           as exercises.

           A sub-group of the Senior Interagency Coordination
           Group is the Interagency Training Task Group, which
           was established to identify training audiences and
           performance requirements, suggest training design,
           including the delivery systems that will be most
           effective, define relationships to existing and
           ongoing training and capabilities, and establish
           training priorities and plans for both short- and
           long-term activities.

           The Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Act provides one-year funding
           for training. The Senior Interagency Coordinating
           Group, mentioned before, is implementing this
           legislation by developing a strategy to target these
           funds to the largest cities in the U.S., plus any
           cities identified by the FBI as particularly high
           risk.

           Ultimately, 120 of the nation's largest cities will
           receive training in some of the unique aspects of
           response to terrorist events involving chemical or
           biological agents. They will also receive "equipment
           sets" required to continue the training and access to
           information and assistance related to chemical,
           biological or nuclear materials.

           The purpose of these visits is to determine training
           requirements and audiences and determine what training
           can be provided by the Department of Defense. The
           visits have already been held in a number of cities
           and are continuing.

           This initiative is scheduled to continue in Fiscal
           Years 1998 and 1999 with the provision of assistance
           to the other communities.

           However, while the initial training focus is on major
           metropolitan areas, the training materials developed,
           as a result of these initiatives will be available to
           other communities across the Nation.

           This initiative is being coordinated with the Federal
           Emergency Management Agency's training program, which
           will focus on providing similar training to
           non-metropolitan jurisdictions.

           The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
           requires the Department of Justice to work with the
           120 largest metropolitan areas, with a focus on
           pre-incident training, prevention, and awareness.

           FEMA has provided $1 million in 100 percent Federal
           funding to State governments to enhance planning
           resources and capabilities. It has also ensured that
           its guidance to State and local emergency managers
           authorizes States and local governments to incorporate
           terrorism planning and preparedness in their
           day-to-day operations.

           FEMA has provided an additional $1.3 million in
           training grants to States and are conducting training
           to support the development and enhancement of State
           and local governments in preparing for and responding
           to terrorism.

           FEMA also provided $2.5 million, or $50,000 per State,
           for terrorism training and equipment for the fire
           service.

           Our overall training effort include identifying
           courses needing new material and developing material
           to fill the gaps, providing community self-assessment
           tools, and developing special community plans with
           milestones. Phoenix and the State of Arizona are
           working well in this area.

           FEMA is strongly emphasizing the "train-the-trainer"
           approach, leveraging existing capabilities, and using
           performance objectives to accomplish these goals. The
           advantage to using this approach is that it will allow
           us to use existing resources while, at the same time,
           tailoring our efforts on a city-by-city basis
           according to their most critical needs.

           We are also coordinating the delivery of Federal
           counter-terrorism training from various Federal
           Departments and agencies to State and local government
           emergency responders and managers.

           The U.S. Congress has a bill HR1119, the National
           Defense Authorization Act for FY98 and FY99 which
           recommends an additional $7 million to support further
           development of the DoD first responder training
           strategy and the development of an exportable training
           package suitable for use by volunteer emergency first
           response organizations.

           The bill directs that the training program and
           priorities must be coordinated with State emergency
           management directors.

           In the area of exercises, FEMA is conducting 10
           tabletop exercises in FY 1997, one in each FEMA
           Region. These exercises are primarily designed to
           refine regional response operations.

           A set of five canned exercise scenarios or case
           studies, developed by EMI, will be available from the
           FEMA Warehouse this fall to support State and local
           preparedness and training initiatives.

           FEMA is also developing a database containing a master
           inventory of Federal assets; equipment and
           capabilities that may be of use in responding to
           incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. The
           database is focusing largely on the use of nuclear,
           biological, and chemical materials.

           When this inventory is established, it will be made
           available to Federal, State and local officials to
           assist them in assessing and obtaining the necessary
           equipment and resources for responding to terrorist
           incidents involving the use of nuclear, chemical or
           biological weapons.

           There is obviously a great deal of work underway, but
           still a tremendous amount to be done.

           This effort has a lot to accomplish and is barely in
           the beginning stages, so there are several points that
           you need to keep in mind regarding this program.
           (Winston Churchill quote.) This is not the end, this
           is not the beginning of the end. This is the end of
           the beginning.

           This is a very focused effort that is designed to be
           overlaid on existing capability so that it can augment
           rather than replace existing training.

           The initiative, as it is currently designed, provides
           services such as access to training or equipment sets
           - it does not focus on providing funding.

           I want to underscore that the Nunn-Lugar-Demenici Act
           is a Department of Defense initiative. FEMA and other
           Federal Departments and agencies are supporting the
           Department of Defense in implementing this initiative,
           in this process but we don't make the final decisions.

           We're all working in very close partnership with our
           State and local and emergency management and response
           communities to bring this initiative together. It's
           already demonstrating what working together can do by
           emphasizing the innovation and creativity that we all
           bring to the table for the common good and FEMA is
           very proud of that fact.

           In closing, I would like to share an extraordinarily
           meaningful quote that I believes reaches right to the
           heart of our preparations for and response to the
           consequences of terrorism.

           This statement was made in October 1996 by Professor
           Dr. Kurt Schuster, the German State Secretary in the
           Federal Ministry of the Interior:

           Whoever wants to be successful in countering terrorism
           must have staying power, persistence, endurance and
           courage. Terrorism is only as strong as our
           indecisiveness, our misconception of tolerance, our
           opportunism and our fatalism to allow it to happen.

           I believe that this quote captures in a most succinct
           way the essence of our efforts against terrorism. Dr.
           Schuster is absolutely correct when he says that
           "terrorism is only as strong as our indecisiveness"
           and I know that each of us here today has taken a
           strong position to ensure that we are not indecisive.

           FEMA believes that by acting decisively and sending a
           strong message to terrorist organizations that we are
           not complacent, that we have staying power and
           persistence, and that we have both the endurance and
           courage to survive, we can go a long way towards not
           only protecting our citizens but eliminating the
           scourge of terrorism.

           I look forward to working with all of our partners in
           this room today as we form a united front against
           terrorism so that we can say along with Mark Twain,
           "most of our worries do not come true."

           Updated: February 11, 1998
           [FOOTER: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY]

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