[StBernard] FEMA

[Westley Annis]

Scares the hell outta me!

Jim





	
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	FEMA reaquires disaster authority under new Homeland Security
framework
	06:04 PM CST on Tuesday, January 22, 2008
	John Moreno Gonzales / Associated Press
	
	
	
	In the first overhaul of the nation's emergency response system
since Hurricane Katrina, government officials announced Tuesday that the
Federal Emergency Management Agency will once again take the lead role in
disaster response and that it will use an amenable, computer-driven doctrine
to coordinate federal, state, and local resources. 
	
	
	The so-called "National Response Framework" announced by Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is a 90-page electronic document that
can be changed by local emergency officials if they find kinks in its
guidelines after responding to an incident. It replaces the 427-page
"National Response Plan" that emphasized a response to terrorists attacks
and was set in stone when hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast in
2005. 
	
	
	"Unlike past plans, the national response framework is always
active, emphasizing and implementing lessons learned every single day," said
Chertoff at a Washington, D.C., news conference aired on the Internet. "This
is a living document." 
	
	
	Elected officials who lobbied for changes in the federal
government's disaster guidelines said equally significant was who would take
the lead in implementing the new framework. At Chertoff's side was FEMA
Administrator David Paulison, who will now serve as a primary adviser to the
President on disaster response. 
	
	
	FEMA's advisory role was diminished after the agency was placed
under the umbrella of Homeland Security in the wake of the World Trade
Center attack in 2001. Critics said the overlap contributed to the federal
government's paralysis during Katrina. 
	
	
	"I am particularly pleased the final national response framework,
unlike an earlier draft, recognizes the larger role the post-Katrina act
gave to the FEMA Administrator," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., one of
several officials who applauded the new disaster plan. 
	
	
	"But this is still just a framework," he said. "The success of the
plan will depend on the operational plans FEMA develops. We still have a
long way to go." 
	
	
	Paulison did not directly mention the responsibilities FEMA regained
under the plan, but alluded to a new working relationship. 
	
	
	"It's a whole new culture of how FEMA and the Department of Homeland
Security are going to respond to disasters," he said. "It's going to be a
partnership." 
	
	
	The framework still gives Homeland Security officials management
responsibilities if there is a disaster. But urgent decisions on where to
shift federal resources would be FEMA's call. 
	
	
	It also discards a rule that Homeland Security must name a disaster
an incident of national significance to allow a sweeping federal response, a
declaration that took days after Katrina. The framework also outlines
different responses to natural disasters and national security incidents. 
	
	
	Chertoff said in coming weeks the agencies would offer local
officials workshops on how to best use the new framework. Paulison said his
goal was to train FEMA officials in its use by June, before the hurricane
season arrives. 
	
	
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	On the Net: Federal Emergency Management Agency:
http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nrf/mainindex.htm