Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an all-hazard response agency established by U.S. president Jimmy Carter's executive order in 1979. FEMA has the mission of planning for and responding to disasters of any type, ranging from natural catastrophes (floods, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, etc.) to deliberate attacks (terrorist bombings; biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiological epidemics). FEMA's 2,600 full-time employees work at headquarters in Washington, D.C., 10 regional offices, the Mt. Weather Emergency Assistance Center in Berryville, Virginia, and the FEMA training center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. There are also 5,000 stand-by emergency reservists.

If a disaster event warrants, FEMA assumes the responsibilities of the lead federal agency for consequence management. FEMA works closely with the FBI and other agencies on the Federal Response Plan team, as well as the American Red Cross. FEMA also oversees Urban Search and Rescue Teams, each of which is composed of 62 specialists from four major functional elements—search, rescue, technical, and medicine.

FEMA provides a source of funding in addition to the communications infrastructure necessary for multiple-agency recovery efforts. For example, after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., the agency distributed more than $285.5 million in individual assistance (for mortgage and rental payments, food stamps, unemployment checks, or business grants) to 52,500 people affected by the disaster. Financial assistance from FEMA is not only given to individuals: for example, in August 2002 FEMA pledged $4.5 billion in aid to help rebuild the infrastructure of lower Manhattan.

Along with consequence management activities FEMA trains state and local governments in domestic [Page 136]terrorism preparedness. In the area of planning, for example, FEMA published, in cooperation with the FBI and other key agencies, the 2001 U.S. Government Interagency Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan (CONPLAN). CONPLAN outlines a federal strategy and an interagency coordination and management structure in anticipation of or following a domestic terrorist threat, particularly one involving weapons of mass destruction. FEMA created the Rapid Response Information System, a database that contains an inventory of key federal assets available for state and local disaster response efforts. FEMA also participates in interagency activities that provide security and the appropriate level of preparedness at important events that may be targeted by terrorists, such as international conferences or the Olympic Games.

FEMA develops, delivers, and financially supports terrorism-related courses for state and local emergency management personnel and first-responders, particularly fire specialists. Many of the training exercises FEMA teaches are simulations of realistic crisis scenarios, such as No-Notice Exercise Top Officials (TOPOFF) 2000, a training mission that included two concurrent scenarios of a chemical attack in a metropolitan area on the East Coast followed by a biological attack in the Midwest. Future training scenarios will include lessons learned from actual terrorist attacks, such as the possibility of loss of senior staff immediately prior to or during a disaster.

To enhance coordination of all federal programs dealing with weapons of mass destruction consequence management, FEMA set up the Office of National Preparedness (ONP) in May 2001 at its headquarters and added an ONP element to each regional office. FEMA's director is a member of the Office of Homeland Security.