Department of Homeland Security's National Response Plan.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced completion of the National Response Plan, which establishes a unified and standardized approach within the United States for protecting citizens and managing homeland security incidents. All federal departments and agencies that may be required to provide assistance or support during a national incident--whether involving threats or acts of terrorism, major natural disasters, or manmade emergencies--will use this plan.

The National Response Plan standardizes federal incident response actions by integrating existing and formerly disparate processes. Using the National Incident Management System (NIMS), it establishes standardized training, organization, and communications procedures for multi-jurisdictional interaction and clearly identifies authority and leadership responsibilities. It also provides a comprehensive framework for private and nonprofit institutions to plan and integrate their own preparedness and response activities, nationally and within their own communities.

The National Response Plan was developed by teams of experts from federal departments and agencies; state, local, and tribal officials; and incident response and private-sector communities from around the nation. When fully implemented, it will supersede the Initial National Response Plan (INRP), the Federal Response Plan (FRP), the U.S. Government Interagency Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan (CONPLAN), and the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan (FRERP).

With support from the NIMS, the National Response Plan establishes incident management processes to

* improve coordination and integration between federal, state, local, tribal, regional, private-sector, and nongovernmental-organization partners;

* integrate the federal response to catastrophic events;

* improve incident management communications and increase cross-jurisdictional coordination and situational awareness;

* improve federal-to-federal interaction and emergency support;

* maximize use and employment of incident management resources; and

* facilitate emergency mutual aid and federal emergency support to state, local, and tribal governments.

The National Response Plan further recognizes the potential magnitude of threats from weapons of mass destruction and severe natural disasters by adoption of a new term, "Incident of National Significance." An incident of national significance is described as an incident with high impact requiring an extensive and well-coordinated response by federal, state, local, tribal, and nongovernmental authorities to save lives, minimize damage, and provide the basis for long-term community and economic recovery.

For more information on the plan, visit www.dha.gov.