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2012

RCPGP Educational Workshop

September 24^th– 25^th 2012

International Monetary Fund Building
Washington, D.C.

Details posted here!

Regional Situational Awareness Workshop
August 16^th, 2012

MITRE Headquarters,
McLean, VA

"Click Here for More Details"

Regional Integrated Planning Update: April 2012 Newsletter

The All Hazards Consortium would like to provide you with another a brief update on some of its integrated planning initiative programs, projects and activities within the Mid-Atlantic and North East Regions.

March was a very active month for everyone. We did not issue a March update but have combined the March & April updates into this issue.

Private sector owner/operators should take particular notice to the new FEMA training in Item #2 below on public/private partnerships. The AHC also encourages the vendor community to participate in this training and share this newsletter/link with their commercial customers/clients to help support the efforts of educating all industry stakeholders large and small to the importance and value proposition of public/private partnerships.

Initiatives, Products & Projects:

1) NEW Eastern Urban Area Executive Committee (EUAEC)

As the states and urban areas of the AHC began working with the private sector owner/operators in 2011, several new corridor related projects emerged in the areas of ports security, rail security and catastrophic planning that required a broader coordination across the region, particularly between the major cities of Washington DC, and New York City. 

In 2011 the urban areas of Washington DC, New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia decided to form a regional executive level working group to help coordinate these types of regional corridor efforts to leverage the collective efforts and investments of government and the private sector on specific projects and initiatives.

Following several planning meetings of a small steering committee, an initial meeting was conducted in December, 2011, which brought together the urban areas of New York City, Nothern New Jersey, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. along with FEMA (Headquarters, Region 2 & Region 3) and the state emergency management directors in Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. The collective group agreed to work together on integrated planning issues surrounding catastrophic planning and improving coordinated engagement and outreach to the owners and operators of the region's critical infrastructure.

The group will be called the Eastern Urban Area Executive Committee (EUAEC) and will consist of a steering committee and general committee members comprised of the leadership in the urban areas, states and federal partners from DHS/FEMA. 

2) NEW Public / Private Partnerships Training Course by FEMA

Attention private sector businesses owners and operators!!!

Is your business interested in learning how to better handle disasters? How to get your business back to business faster? How to partner with government under the new "whole of communities" initiative? How to better prepare your employees for disasters?

This is a great FREE training course produced by FEMA and representatives from the private sector designed to educate your business or your commercial customers on the importance, the roles, and the value propositions offered by public/private partnerships.

This course provides an introduction to the role of public-private partnerships in emergency preparedness and planning. The goal of this training is to establish a common vocabulary and perspective for both government and private sector companies (both large and small) interested in utilizing or forming partnerships to improve response, recovery and resilience.

Course link: Click Here

3) Regional Social Media "Trends Reporting" Pilot Project Announced 

The states and urban areas of the All Hazards Consortium (AHC) have been working to develop integrated planning initiatives with the private sector owners and operators in the power, transportation, communications, food and other sectors as a way to help businesses get back to business faster following a major event

Along the way, the AHC has identified new "social media" related approaches, solutions, research and operational approaches that could benefit government and the region/nation if they could be integrated into a trusted framework with state/local governments. A pilot project resulted from discussions with the power, communications and financial services sectors regarding their uses of social media and their desire to synchronize information flows with state/local government Emergency Operations Centers, emergency management leadership and public & private operation teams to enhance real-time decision making during events and overall coordination and communications.

This social media "trends reporting" pilot project is designed to synchronize the delivery of "social media trending" reports to both government and the private sector in order to inform decision makers of real-time information related to specific events. By effectively and efficiently monitoring the thousands of social media sites on the Internet, this service will deliver the following social media trending information to support emergency management operations: 

• Early warnings of power or communications outages
• Downed trees, wires and other obstacles that are blocking strategic transportation routes
• Citizens in need of assistance that do not have access to landline telephones, but are tweeting about their emergency situation and location
• Threats to relief and disaster recovery operations
• Plans to compromise systems critical to emergency management operations Threats to critical infrastructure
• Looting and other criminal activities that harm citizens, relief workers, the private sector and others

This is a "game-changing" capability according to one state's emergency management officials. If harnessed and integrated into standard operating procedures/systems, this type of social media information can provide real-time "situational awareness" to inform emergency management officials in government and industry to support decision making, validate assumptions, provide early warnings of events, and improve overall coordination and communications during disasters.

Meetings, Events & Partnerships:

4) HS PPD-8 Program Webinar

In January, the states and urban areas of the AHC hosted a webinar on the topic of the new Presidential Policy Directive #8 (HS PPD-8). 

National Preparedness is aimed at strengthening the security and resilience of the Nation by preparing for the full range of 21st century risks that threaten national security, including weapons of mass destruction, cyber attacks, terrorism, pandemics, transnational threats and catastrophic natural disasters. National preparedness is a shared responsibility. As such, the PPD is designed to facilitate an integrated, all-of-nation/whole-community, capabilities-based approach to preparedness. Involving federal partners, state, local and tribal leaders, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, faith based and community organizations ─ and, most importantly, the general public - is vital to keeping people and communities safe and preventing the loss of life and property when disasters strike

Implementation of the PPD requires extensive outreach, collaboration and input from stakeholders at all levels of government, the private and non-profit sectors and also from the public. FEMA will coordinate closely with our partners throughout the homeland security and emergency management community, the private and non-profit sectors, and with the public to implement the requirements included in PPD-8

This webinar was an interview with the PPD-8 Program's Executive Director Donald "Doc" Lumpkins.  

Webinar Link: Click Here 

HS PPD-9 Website Link: Click Here
(This website contains information and documents maintained by DHS/FEMA) 

Online HS PPD-8 Presentation: Click Here 

5) Communications Interoperability Tabletop Exercise - NCR UASI

On May 24, 2012, government members of the National Capital Region will conduct the an NCR focused Communications Interoperability Tabletop Exercise in Silver Spring, Maryland as a follow-up to last September's 2nd Annual Forum and to address some new emerging needs since that time. The Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory [JHU/APL] and the All Hazards Consortium [AHC] have been retained to assist with this event.

 The exercise will focus on practical interoperability challenges facing Frederick, Montgomery and Prince George's Counties along with the State of Maryland and other NCR partners. Successes as well as gaps will be documented and serve as support for future funding opportunities, highlight achievements, and illustrate the value of past investments.

During the exercise a scenario will be discussed. Two months later, a drill at the command bus rally will demonstrate the identified successes and challenges. In this fashion the joint interoperability capability will be demonstrated, both in theory and practice

Objectives:

1. Identify gaps in planning, training, equipping or personnel
2. Demonstrate that planning, training, and equipping throughout the region

For more information, or for an agenda, Click Here

Summary:

As always, this update only reflects a small portion of the "private sector integration" efforts going on within the region and around the country. The AHC would like to express its appreciation for the organizations and individuals who have embraced this "integrated planning initiative" so quickly.

Future regional initiatives updates will include:

• AHC Procurement Service Produces $2Mill+ in Match For Government Grants
• Information Sharing Initiatives with Government and Private Sector
• Regional PIV-I Credentialing Initiative
• New Partnership with US Dept of Justice on Suspicious Activity Reporting with Private Sector
• AHC Website Updates
• Fall 2012 Situational Awareness Workshop

Working together, companies and governments will become better prepared to face hazards of any type and develop more resilient "communities and economies" across the region.

The All Hazards Consortium

Regional Integrated Planning Update: February 2012 Newsletter

The All Hazards Consortium would like to provide you with another a brief update on some of its integrated planning initiative programs, projects and activities within the Mid-Atlantic and North East Regions.

These activities have all been designed to promote coordination and integration of planning efforts on specific projects and investments between state/local governments and the private sector "life line sector" owner/operators of the critical infrastructure.

Initiatives, Products & Projects:

1) Regional Rail Security Integrated Planning Initiative

As a direct outcome of the AHC's Private Sector integration initiative launched in 2011, this regional rail initiative was initiated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and the NJ UASI. Participants include both passenger and freight rail carriers, multiple state/UASI representatives, and DHS' Transportation Security Administration.

The initiative will focus on the development of specific projects and a public/private rail owners/operators framework for critical decision making built on the existing inter-dependencies between these public/private organizations with an emphasis on state and local integration.

The initiative will identify systems, technologies, policies, and protocols that enhance regional rail security and response operations within the North East and Mid-Atlantic regions. It will also leverage and build upon existing investments, lessons learned, research and initiatives already underway in both the public and private sectors. The first project reviewed operational readiness including identifying and modifying best practices; operational plans, prevention considerations and identified technologies for rail provider's recommended use in the study area for the purpose of ensuring a consistent regional response to a threat or event.

2) Regional Rapid CI/KR Restoration Initiative

This initiative brings critical infrastructure owners and operators from energy, communications, IT and other sectors together with state/local/federal transportation, emergency management, public safety, homeland security and other officials, as appropriate, to discuss the challenges and propose solutions and projects to facilitate and expedite the multi-state transit of mutual assistance with the private sector repair fleets/vehicles to increase speed of restoration of power & telecommunications services within the region.

Historically, the rapid movement of large convoys of mutual assistance resources (e.g. repair trucks and related vehicles) across multiple state/local boundaries to support power & communication response and recovery efforts following major disasters is slowed or disrupted by the need to address and adhere to varying local and state requirements such as stopping at weigh stations or other types of screening. This ongoing project will determine gaps/requirements and possible approaches to resolve challenges facing inter-state fleet movement for the private sector.

To date, an initial meeting was held with the private sector and public officials from PA & NJ. A small Steering Committee was formed by the private sector to oversee the progress. A proposal is being developed for state consideration to further develop the project and next steps. Partners include DHS NPPD/Office of Infrastructure Protection, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and sector reps from the power, telecommunications, transportation, finance, retail & chemical sectors.

3) Regional Disaster Food Distribution Project

This project is initially focusing on determining best practices in the Food Sector resiliency planning efforts. As part of this project, the AHC will be using targeted workshops and webinars to identify successful Food Sector resiliency planning efforts. Other states and entities including New York City, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia have signed on to participate in helping to determine a regional set of recommendations for an implementable Food Sector resiliency plan. Suggested outputs of this project include:

• Building a regional model for supporting the requirements for the food sector to accelerate their ability to being operations in impacted areas
• Developing suggested memorandums of agreement for private and public partnerships that will facilitate regional coordination among AHC states
• Providing recommendations for consideration that will promote interstate coordination between government and regional food providers supporting recovery from a major catastrophic event impacting several AHC states
• Developing recommendations for State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) integrating industry operational personnel in Emergency Support Functional operational personnel in Emergency Support Functional operations
• Assessing present or developing public private partnerships allowing for the integration of the food sector/industry into ongoing catastrophic planning efforts
• Assessing existing tools and systems that have been put in place to address the private/public relationship in the food sector (ALAN, AID Matrix, and EMAC)
• Identify "best practices" that improve the ability to industry to accelerate the process of getting "business back to business" and building resiliency into the food sector in supporting the food requirements of our citizens
• Develop an operational guide and integration template for industry and states utilizing identified and validated best practices
• A face-to face meeting of the participating government entities is scheduled for the first week of March, with a follow-on collaboration meeting between these public entities and private food sector companies is planned for the mid-April time frame. Project is scheduled to be finalized in the July 2012 time frame.

Meetings:

1) 2012 AHC Planning Calendar

As the All Hazards Consortium prepares for 2012 it has created a planning calendar which is now available on the Consortium's website. This calendar will outline the topics tracks that the Consortium is planning to use with each of the Private Sectors. The calendar will outline the Integrated Planning Meetings as well as other status meetings focused on individual projects and initiatives. 

NOTE: As always these dates may change slightly for planning purposes so to get the most current version of this please check back with the AHC's website frequently.

To view the calendar please click on the link below.  

Document:  2012 AHC Annual Planning Calendar  

Summary:

This update only reflects a small portion of the "private sector integration" efforts going on within the region and around the country. The AHC would like to express its appreciation for the organizations and individuals who have embraced this "integrated planning initiative" so quickly.

Future regional initiatives updates will include:

• Regional UASI's formed new Executive Committee in 2011
• AHC Procurement Service Produces $2Mill+ in Match For Government Grants
• Information Sharing Initiatives with Government and Private Sector
• Regional PIV-I Credentialing Initiative
• New Partnership with US Dept of Justice on Suspicious Activity Reporting with Private Sector
• AHC Website Updates
• Fall 2012 Situational Awareness Workshop

Working together, companies and governments will become better prepared to face hazards of any type and develop more resilient "communities and economies" across the region.

The All Hazards Consortium

2011

Regional Integrated Planning Update: December 2011 Newsletter

The All Hazards Consortium would like to provide you with a brief update on some of its programs, projects and activities within the Mid-Atlantic and North East Regions.  

These activities have all been designed to promote coordination and integration of planning efforts on specific projects and investments between state/local governments and the "life line sectors" within the private sector.  

Initiatives, Products & Projects:

1) The Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP)

The Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) addresses preparedness issues across the District of Columbia, the states of Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and the commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia. In order to manage a catastrophic incident that could occur in the region, the region must invest in critical preparedness efforts that support catastrophic planning. The program consists of multiple regional planning efforts that are designed to integrate and coordinate  with the outcome of a more harmonized region-based planning framework. The common components for the framework include; plans, policies, templates, checklists, technologies, SOP's and regional tools. The end state will be a regional catastrophic planning framework that is interoperable, flexible and all-hazards. The projects serve a four fold purpose:

o     Increase regional coordination between states regarding catastrophic event preparedness

o     Identify additional regional gaps in catastrophic event preparedness

o     Engender significant resource savings across the region

o     Coordination of private sector

To view the RCPGP project list please click on the link below:  

Document: RCPGP Projects Overview Document  

2) Regional Integrated Planning Project Listing

The All Hazards Consortium has been compiling a list of Regional Projects Funded by the States and Urban Areas that are susceptible for Integration with the Private Sector Operators.  

These projects range from systems integration to planning. Over the past 11 months the states have been working together with the private sector operators to meet in Integrated Planning meetings to expose the projects introduce the project teams and explore ways to identify Commercial and Federal Projects which will be identified and cataloged as well.  

This is part of the ongoing Regional Integrated Planning Initiative the states are conducting as part of the AHC Program for 2012. (Overview presentation)  

To view the most recent AHC Regional Integrated Projects list please click on the link below:

Document: AHC Intergrated Project Listing 

3) AHC Board Services Policy Announcement

In November of 2011 the Board of Directors of the All Hazards Consortium approved a new policy aimed at developing new services that the Consortium can offer to its Private Sector Members.

These services will be focused on a wide variety of the areas and look to further integrate the Private Sector Operators from a regional perspective into the State Planning and Operations. These services will range in capability from improving communications, sharing information, collaboration, contact directories, and project integration. As the services develop the board will review and improve them to being implementation.

Attached we have provided an overview of the policy that was passed by the board to receive this please click on the list below.

Document:  AHC Approved Services Program (Redacted)   

Meetings:

1) 1) AHC 2012 Planning Calendar

As the All Hazards Consortium prepares for 2012 it has created a planning calendar which is now available on the Consortium's website. This calendar will outline the topics tracks that the Consortium is planning to use with each of the Private Sectors. The calendar will outline the Integrated Planning Meetings as well as other status meetings focused on individual projects and initiatives.    

NOTE: As always these dates may change slightly for planning purposes so to get the most current version of this please check back with the AHC's website frequently.

To view the calendar please click on the link below.  

Document:  2012 AHC Annual Planning Calendar  

Summary: