2014 Conferences, Meetings & News
2014 was a busy year of meetings for the AHC and its Working Groups. Below is a listing of some of the highlights of the efforts:
2014 was a busy year of meetings for the AHC and its Working Groups. Below is a listing of some of the highlights of the efforts:
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– FEMA Leadership (Craig Fugate) – US DOT Meeting – FEMA, DOE, AHC, EEI Meeting – AHC Board of Directors Meeting at EEI – CATEX 2014 Workshop – Government/Private Partnership – NEMA Meeting in Atlanta, GA – White House ISE (Information Sharing Environment) – DHS Public-Private Partnership Conference – NAMA Group meeting – CATEX 2014 Regional Information Sharing Drill |
1/3/14 “Power Moves” Article for Intransition Magazine
The New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority published an article about the AHC and the FRWG in their Fall 2013 issue of InTransition Magazine . The article is entitled, “Power Moves,” and focuses on a grassroots description of the fleet mobilization and the challenges facing the private sector and states when fleet are mobilized for major events. Several members of the Multi-State Fleet Response Working Group were interviewed, including Steve Gutkin at the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, Chris Eisenbrey at the Edison Electric Institute, and John Shaner of PEPCO Holdings, Inc. Other interviewees included Ernie Cadiz at PSG&E, as well as other members.
This article provided both government and private sector leaders a grassroots perspective of the issues and potential solutions going on at the state level with regard to fleet movement and power and utility restoration efforts.
Learn more: http://www.intransitionmag.org/Fall_2013/utility_mobilization_during_sandy.aspx
Jan 2014 – FRWG Annual Meeting in Philadelphia , PA
On Thursday, January 30, 2014 the FRWG held its Third Annual Meeting at the Headquarters of PECO Energy in Philadelphia, PA. This one day meeting brought together stakeholders from twelve different states, major urban areas, and 15 plus utilities from around the region to share information and conduct a tabletop exercise, focusing on the impacts of the new Regional Fleet Movement Coordination process between multiple states and the electric sector. In the morning, updates were provided on the accomplishments of the Multi-State Fleet Response Working Group and its efforts to drive out simple, operational short-term successes during 2013. A number of achievements that the Working Group had accomplished with the states were discussed including:
· Training and Educational Products
· CATEX Annual Exercise Series
· Expedited Regional Information Sharing
· Development of Joint Operational Information Sharing Solutions
· Educational Website for the FRWG
· Development of a Regional Secure Information Sharing Pilot to support regional fleet movement
· E-ZPass Commercial Accounts Guidebook to expedite fleets through toll stations in 15 states
· Regional E-ZPass Pilot Project to test the Delaware commercial E-ZPass account process to operate multiple vehicles under single transponder for emergencies
There was also a joint panel conducted on the impacts of the fleet movement process with states and companies. Participants included representatives from states and private sector utilities. Following the panel discussion was a tabletop exercise which focused on the Regional Fleet Movement Coordination process and the related information being. Recommendations were gathered from the audience that were focused on the operational process, the participants, the time lines, the way to communicate and educate the process, and a variety of other topics. The tabletop exercise produced feedback that the Steering Committee will use to help frame the 2014 agenda.
Learn More: http://www.fleetresponsemember.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/FINAL-2014-Fleet-WG-Agenda-Guide-1_28_2013.pdf
Jan 2014 – EC3 and FRWG joint meeting on CATEX 2014 exercise
On January 19, a meeting was held between the AHC’s public and private sector workgroups (e,g, the EC# and FRWG) to begin planning the CATEX 2014 exercise. Members from the regional states, urban areas, and the FRWG came together to discuss the objectives for the 2014 exercise. The electric sector proposed inclusion of the food and fuel sectors and the states recommended to include FEMA Region 2 and 3 states in order to expand the geographic coverage of the exercise. Building upon CATEX 2013, the planning team agreed to focus CATEX 2014 on expediting information sharing for the purpose of resolving operational issues identified in electric, fuel and food sectors.
February 11 - Operational Fleet Movement Coordination Process Activated for Winter Storms
On February 11, 2014 the FRWG implemented a Regional Fleet Movement Coordination effort in support of the snow and ice storms for that week.
Instead of a conference call, this time the FRWG decided to use an email campaign and focus the specific requests for guidance from states on weigh stations and declarations, as opposed to a broader request for more information. Emails were sent out to a database of both private and public sector stakeholders who had participated in the last Regional Fleet Movement Coordination Initiative, as well as through the FEMA External Affairs Officers and the U.S. Department of Energy and Transportation contacts. Additionally, partners at Edison Electric Institute (EEI), American Electric Power (AEP), and the Southeast Electric Exchange (SEE) were involved in the distribution of emails.
The email simply focused on getting specific guidance for expediting fleet movement through state weigh stations, as well as getting copies of any state declarations and the details associated with those declarations that impact fleet movement. Emails were sent out mid-morning on February 11. By that evening, multiple states had replied back with specific information that had a direct positive impact on fleet movement, based on private sector comments. A new part of the process was also a new email that was established specifically for fleet movement. States were instructed to send an email to a specific email address, which then immediately was forwarded to the private sector without human intervention. This proved to be a very effective and efficient way to distribute information from the states. The email approach was a much more effective way for early warning information capture. Daily updates were sent throughout the storm, and a final summary was provided to all involved.
Feb 11, 2014 Baltimore Urban Area Meeting
Members of the FRWG briefed the public sector members of the Baltimore Urban Area on CATEX 2014 and the results from the FRWG’s efforts to date. Attendees at this meeting included public-sector representatives from emergency management, transportation, health, public safety, fire, emergency management services, county public works, the private sector and the Mayor’s office. The members agreed to assign a representative to the FRWG and participate in the CATEX 2014 planning.
April 9, 2014 – Southeast Electric Exchange RMAG Meeting
Representatives from the FRWG attended the Southeastern Electrical Exchange meeting of the Regional Mutual Aid Group. This is the group responsible for coordinating mutual assistance between many of the electric sector companies in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Briefings were provided to the group on the status of the FRWG efforts in planning, the solutions being produced, and preparations for the annual CATEX 2014 exercise in the fall. The membership was supportive and planned to participate.
April 16 – Virginia Private Sector Emergency Management Symposium
Representatives from the FRWG attended this workshop held in Virginia sponsored by the Virginia Private Sector Program. This workshop together the Virginia Department of Emergency Management together with Virginia officials and private sector critical infrastructure providers from around the region. This meeting provided the FRWG and opportunity to discuss some of its issues and solutions being developed and further enhance the partnership with Virginia and it's private sector members of it's Business Emergency Operation Center.
May 5 – North Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group (NAMAG) Meeting in Atlantic City, NJ
FRWG members attended the 2nd Annual Meeting of the North Atlantic Mutual Aid Group (NAMAG). This meeting was held in Atlantic City and brought together senior operators from the electric sector companies across the entire Northeast and New England areas. John Shaner, Chair of the FRWG, provided an overall briefing to NAMAG regarding the FRWG's efforts. This NAMAG was very impressed with what had been accomplished by working with states on an operations level and wanted to continue the dialog. They also agreed to have representatives participate in the CATEX 2014 exercise and to provide representation on the FRWG.
May 20 – National Homeland Security Conference
Members of the AHC at FRWG participated in several panel discussions at the 2014 National Homeland Security Conference held in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. A panel was conducted on Regional Public Private Partnership's by the Department of Homeland Security Infrastructure Protection which featured several organizations including the FRWG. This panel focused on how Regional Public Private Partnership help with private/public sector coordination, communications and improving overall critical infrastructure resilience.
A second panel was held that focused how major urban areas communicate and coordinate during disasters like SANDY. This panel included members of the East Coast Corridor Coalition Work Group from the National Capital Region, Philadelphia, Newark/NJ and New York City/NY. This conference provided working group members of the AHC’s Integrated Planning Framework a great deal of exposure and created a high level of interest in how public and private sector operations professionals can work together to resolve common issues.
May 21 – FEMA Region III meeting
In May 2014, representatives of the AHC and the FRWG with FEMA Region III leadership to discuss a closer coordination with the electric sector during the upcoming hurricane season, along with joint participation in training and exercises going forward. Following this meeting all agreed to coordinate closely on an upcoming FEMA exercise in July, attending the AHC’s East Coast Corridor Coalition (ECCC) meeting later that year, and FEMA assigning a liaison to the FRWG.
May 30 – FEMA Region II meeting
FRWG members met with senior leadership for FEMA Region II, which covers New Jersey and New York. The purpose of this meeting was to continue to develop a partnership and coordination between FEMA and the FRWG. FEMA officials agreed to support the efforts of the FRWG and expressed a desire to continue the partnership between public and private sectors.
May 10 – Delaware E-ZPass Meeting
Members of the FRWG met with Delaware State Toll Administration officials and their vendor Transcore that runs Delaware’s E-ZPass system. At this meeting a solution was discussed that would allow out-of-region utilities to open a commercial Delaware E-ZPass account, upload all of their vehicles into the online account database, and use the E-ZPass lanes as-needed for emergency purposes. All agreed on a way forward that would involve joint approvals by the E-ZPass vendor, the State of Delaware officials, and the FRWG members. The unique part of this process was that it did not require a transponder to be on every truck. This approach in Delaware removes one of the single biggest impediments to fleet movement by allowing out-of-region trucks to come in and out of the E-ZPass region for large emergencies without having to stop at toll stations.
June 2014 – Meeting with FEMA Director Craig Fugate
On Tuesday, June 24th, representatives from the All Hazards Consortium and the FRWG met with FEMA Director Craig Fugate. The focus of the meeting was to brief FEMA executives on the efforts of the state and private sector stakeholders of the FRWG. The meeting focused on a dialog around electric sector issues, the role of liaisons within state operation centers, and information sharing of sensitive information. In the end, Director Fugate assigned a representative from his office to act as a liaison to FRWG and recommended that several organizations also be briefed on this activity, including the National Governors Association’s, Homeland Security Committee, and executives from the U.S. Department of Energy. Additionally, Director Fugate offered to have a regional liaison assigned from FEMA Regions I, II, III, IV, and VI to the FRWG.
June 25 – FRAC TTWG Meeting
The FRWG members attended and presented at the First Responder Access and Credentialing Technology Transfer Working Group meeting in Arlington Virginia. This workgroup is a collection of state and federal operators working on identity management issues for credentialing programs utilizing the PIV-I standard for both physical and logical access. This group holds quarterly meetings, and the FRWG has become an integral part of their discussions as they look to strengthen public/private relationships over the next 12 to 18 months. The focus of their effort with the FRWG is for sensitive information sharing between private and public sectors for response and recovery efforts.
July 16 – FEMA Tabletop Exercise in Phila, PA
Representatives from the All Hazards Consortium and the FRWG participated in a tabletop exercise posted by FEMA Region III in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. This was an information sharing exercise that involved multiple sectors included banking and finance, telecommunications, public health, transportation and supply chains. Additionally, this was the first exercise that involved FEMA Regions II and II. This tabletop exercise accomplished some unique objectives by focusing on cross-sector information sharing issues, and improving situational awareness and decision-making. This activity also strengthened the relationship between FEMA Regions II and II at the regional level with the private sector who operate critical infrastructure throughout the East Coast.
July 28 - Joint US Department of Transportation & Department of Energy Meeting
On July 28, representatives from the FRWG and the AHC met with officials from FEMA, U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Department of Energy. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a briefing of the FRWG’s governance structure, as well as its legal framework, members, geographic coverage, products, and to explore opportunities to work together for the 2014 hurricane season. The first half of the meeting focused on the FWG’s characteristics and outputs. Several items were of interest to the federal agency representatives, including
- the Energy Liaison Officer (ELO) Guide
- the Commercial E-ZPass Account Process
- the Hours of Exemption Information
- the FWG’s hurricane season resource webpage (http://www.fleetresponse.org/resources/hurricane-season/)
- the Multi-State Fleet Coordination process.
The federal representatives all agreed they need is the ability to understand what problem needs to be solved and what people need to be involved from the federal agencies to address the problems. A second discussion focused on “blue-sky-day” issues like training and exercises year round in order to build a better understanding of the private sector needs, the state capabilities, and the federal government agency capabilities to help support them.
July 31 – EC3 (East Coast Corridor Coalition) Working Group Meeting in DC
On July 31, a regional meeting of the AHC’s public sector East Coast Corridor Coalition (EC3) working group was held in Washington, D.C., at the Emergency Operations Center for the District of Columbia. Hosted by Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), this meeting brought together emergency management directors from around the region, along with FEMA Region II, Region III, and FEMA Headquarters, and senior leadership from the regional urban areas of Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey, and New York City.
The purpose of this meeting was to develop a common level of understanding of the Regional Integrated Planning and Governance Framework, the role and products of the FRWG, and the role of the East Coast Corridor Coalition (EC3) in the private sector’s Regional Fleet Movement Coordination Process.
In the end, all agreed to some next steps and that this is an important effort for the region and that sustaining this type of regional discussion is important to state, local and federal government, as well as the private sector.
Aug 25 – AHC Board Retreat at EEI
On August 25-26, 2014, the Board of Directors for the All Hazards Consortium met for two days’ worth of meetings at their Annual Board Summit Meeting. This Summit was held in Washington, DC at the headquarter offices of Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a national trade association for the publicly trade of electric utilities. The 2014 Summit focused on a number of key issues, including sustainment of key initiatives, formalizing partnerships, further developing the public/private partnership model, and new innovative regional initiatives.
Sept 4 – CATEX Workshop Long Island City, NY
The 3rd annual CATEX exercise planning workshop was entitled the “Lifeline Sectors Response Coordination Workshop”. This workshop brought together multiple states and cities in the Northeast along with the electric, food, and fuel sector operations professionals to explore the expediting of regional information sharing to resolve specific sector operational issues as outlined by the private sector. Planning teams were formed into Sector Focused Working Groups to address each sector’s unique operational issues. The workshop identified and confirmed the top operational issues that were faced by each sector during Super Storm Sandy. Following this, each issue was then explored to determine the people involved for the issue, the information sharing processes used across the region, and essential elements of information needed to resolve the issue or to expedite response efforts surrounding the issue. A workshop report was issued.
Sept 24 – TSCP Fall Conference Panel
A public/private panel discussion was held at the Fall 2014 event of the Trans Global Secure Collaboration Program Annual Meeting. This panel focused on the results of the FRWG in helping to create an environment to share trusted information between both public and private sector operations professionals. The specific focus of the panel was on identity management and utilizing ways to address cyber security issues within information sharing. Representatives from Virginia, District of Columbia and New Jersey attended along with private sector representatives from Dominion Power, PEPCO Holding Inc, and the Edison Electric Institute. This panel was helpful for the mostly federal attendees to better understand the role of identity management in the public/private operational information sharing process.
October 8, 2014 - Edison Electric Institute Mutual Assistance Conference - St. Louis, MO
Semi-annual meeting for investor-owned electric utilities, contractors, and vendors. An investor-owned electric utility member of the Multi-State Fleet Response Executive Committee updated the attendees on EZ Pass Pilot Program, and U.S. Canadian Border Crossing best practices.
Oct 8 – FirstNet ICAM Conference
Representatives from the FRWG were invited to attend an important meeting around identity management and it's relationship to the FirstNet Public Safety Communications Initiative. The meeting was held in Washington, DC and was attended by numerous federal agency officials, state and local public safety officials, representatives from the White House Information Sharing Environment and the FirstNet Initiative Program Office. The meeting focused on public-sector usage and access rights of users to share information. Over the long-term, it is hoped that the private sector will also become part of these discussions as the FRWG continues to coordinate with state and federal officials as part of the FRWG’s efforts.
A final report was issued, and can be downloaded at: https://cloud.iir.com/public.php?service=files&t=1ab729905afd62db4486b417f055a4d0&download
Oct 9-10 – NEMA Conference Atlanta, GA
Several members of the FRWG attended the fall meeting of the national emergency managers Association. Purpose of this meeting was to discuss a demonstration project that would bring public and private sector operations together as part of a national mutual aid effort to help improve coordination going to public and private sector. This was the first of several meetings to discuss this initiative. In the future, the FRW gym looks to form a close partnership with the states as part of the EM AC , The emergency management assistance contact, process the state used to share information sources during disasters.
Oct 15-16 DHS Resilience Conference Panel on Identity Management and Information Sharing
Representatives of the FRG attended this important DHS conference at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC to discuss access and credentialing as part of the overall conference on resilience. Double private sector companies were in attendance including southern corporation, PHII, Bank of America, lowes, Along with several states including Maryland, DC, North Carolina.
The panel focused on a discussion for how various sectors utilize access and credentialing to resolve the road internal issues. Panel also discussed ways the private sector could work with public-sector to leverage identity management to support excess credentialing issues in both public and private sector going forward
Oct 16 – Energy Consortium Mtg New Hampshire
Several representatives from the FRWG attended this meeting in the New England area which brought together several electric companies along with states to discuss several issues facing our restoration. A briefing was provided by the FRWG regarding its activities, planning framework, annual exercises, and operational products being produced. Members of this meeting were impressed with the progress of the FRWG and several committed to participate in the upcoming Catex 2014 exercise.
Nov 12-14 SEE Fall Conference
Several representatives for dissipated in discussion at the S EE fall conference guarding the FRWG's progress with regards to regional fleet movement and information sharing. Although many of the participants were well aware, there were several that were new to the effort and express their interest in learning more about it. S EE has played important role in the FRWG's growth and continues to support the effort as the overall regional coordination with state improve
Nov 19, 2015 November 24 CATEX 2014 Regional Information Sharing Drill Update
On November 19, 2014, the All Hazards Consortium, in partnership with the Regional Catastrophic Planning Team of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania conducted a regional information sharing drill/exercise across three states and New York City.
The drill focused on identifying the people to resolve several key operational issues in the electric, fuel, and food sectors across the Northeast.
The drill also identified regional information sharing processes and organizations that were related to transportation, situational awareness, waivers, declarations, and a variety of other public and private sector issues.
Learn more: http://www.fleetresponse.org/productsservices/annual-exercise/catex-2014/
December 18 2014 DHS Science and Technology Conference
On December 18, 2014 representatives from the All Hazards Consortium provided a briefing to researchers from around the world who had participated in DHS Science and Technology projects over 2014.
This briefing was focused on the secure information-sharing pilot being conducted by the All Hazards Consortium’s The Multi-State Fleet Response Working Group and its partner the Trans Global Secure Collaboration Program (TSCP).
TSCP is a non-profit that provides support to the PIV-I standard being used by over fifty million public and private sector users in the aerospace industry. They use this standard along with secure processes to digitally share information across the globe.
Through a grant provided by DHS Science and Technology to TSCP, the AHC’s The Multi-State Fleet Response Working Group will be conducting a pilot designed to share sensitive operational information from the private sector with state & local emergency managers and law enforcement officials. This pilot will run during the first half of 2015.
As part of the pilot, information will be shared from private sector to public sector officials and vice versa. The pilot will test a private sector run process that has already been proven to share sensitive operational information in the electric sector with state & local governments in order to expedite power restoration efforts. Other members of the supply chain will be participating including food, fuel, and other lifeline segments.
The New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority published an article about the AHC and the FRWG in their Fall 2013 issue of InTransition Magazine . The article is entitled, “Power Moves,” and focuses on a grassroots description of the fleet mobilization and the challenges facing the private sector and states when fleet are mobilized for major events. Several members of the Multi-State Fleet Response Working Group were interviewed, including Steve Gutkin at the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, Chris Eisenbrey at the Edison Electric Institute, and John Shaner of PEPCO Holdings, Inc. Other interviewees included Ernie Cadiz at PSG&E, as well as other members.
This article provided both government and private sector leaders a grassroots perspective of the issues and potential solutions going on at the state level with regard to fleet movement and power and utility restoration efforts.
Learn more: http://www.intransitionmag.org/Fall_2013/utility_mobilization_during_sandy.aspx
Jan 2014 – FRWG Annual Meeting in Philadelphia , PA
On Thursday, January 30, 2014 the FRWG held its Third Annual Meeting at the Headquarters of PECO Energy in Philadelphia, PA. This one day meeting brought together stakeholders from twelve different states, major urban areas, and 15 plus utilities from around the region to share information and conduct a tabletop exercise, focusing on the impacts of the new Regional Fleet Movement Coordination process between multiple states and the electric sector. In the morning, updates were provided on the accomplishments of the Multi-State Fleet Response Working Group and its efforts to drive out simple, operational short-term successes during 2013. A number of achievements that the Working Group had accomplished with the states were discussed including:
· Training and Educational Products
· CATEX Annual Exercise Series
· Expedited Regional Information Sharing
· Development of Joint Operational Information Sharing Solutions
· Educational Website for the FRWG
· Development of a Regional Secure Information Sharing Pilot to support regional fleet movement
· E-ZPass Commercial Accounts Guidebook to expedite fleets through toll stations in 15 states
· Regional E-ZPass Pilot Project to test the Delaware commercial E-ZPass account process to operate multiple vehicles under single transponder for emergencies
There was also a joint panel conducted on the impacts of the fleet movement process with states and companies. Participants included representatives from states and private sector utilities. Following the panel discussion was a tabletop exercise which focused on the Regional Fleet Movement Coordination process and the related information being. Recommendations were gathered from the audience that were focused on the operational process, the participants, the time lines, the way to communicate and educate the process, and a variety of other topics. The tabletop exercise produced feedback that the Steering Committee will use to help frame the 2014 agenda.
Learn More: http://www.fleetresponsemember.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/FINAL-2014-Fleet-WG-Agenda-Guide-1_28_2013.pdf
Jan 2014 – EC3 and FRWG joint meeting on CATEX 2014 exercise
On January 19, a meeting was held between the AHC’s public and private sector workgroups (e,g, the EC# and FRWG) to begin planning the CATEX 2014 exercise. Members from the regional states, urban areas, and the FRWG came together to discuss the objectives for the 2014 exercise. The electric sector proposed inclusion of the food and fuel sectors and the states recommended to include FEMA Region 2 and 3 states in order to expand the geographic coverage of the exercise. Building upon CATEX 2013, the planning team agreed to focus CATEX 2014 on expediting information sharing for the purpose of resolving operational issues identified in electric, fuel and food sectors.
February 11 - Operational Fleet Movement Coordination Process Activated for Winter Storms
On February 11, 2014 the FRWG implemented a Regional Fleet Movement Coordination effort in support of the snow and ice storms for that week.
Instead of a conference call, this time the FRWG decided to use an email campaign and focus the specific requests for guidance from states on weigh stations and declarations, as opposed to a broader request for more information. Emails were sent out to a database of both private and public sector stakeholders who had participated in the last Regional Fleet Movement Coordination Initiative, as well as through the FEMA External Affairs Officers and the U.S. Department of Energy and Transportation contacts. Additionally, partners at Edison Electric Institute (EEI), American Electric Power (AEP), and the Southeast Electric Exchange (SEE) were involved in the distribution of emails.
The email simply focused on getting specific guidance for expediting fleet movement through state weigh stations, as well as getting copies of any state declarations and the details associated with those declarations that impact fleet movement. Emails were sent out mid-morning on February 11. By that evening, multiple states had replied back with specific information that had a direct positive impact on fleet movement, based on private sector comments. A new part of the process was also a new email that was established specifically for fleet movement. States were instructed to send an email to a specific email address, which then immediately was forwarded to the private sector without human intervention. This proved to be a very effective and efficient way to distribute information from the states. The email approach was a much more effective way for early warning information capture. Daily updates were sent throughout the storm, and a final summary was provided to all involved.
Feb 11, 2014 Baltimore Urban Area Meeting
Members of the FRWG briefed the public sector members of the Baltimore Urban Area on CATEX 2014 and the results from the FRWG’s efforts to date. Attendees at this meeting included public-sector representatives from emergency management, transportation, health, public safety, fire, emergency management services, county public works, the private sector and the Mayor’s office. The members agreed to assign a representative to the FRWG and participate in the CATEX 2014 planning.
April 9, 2014 – Southeast Electric Exchange RMAG Meeting
Representatives from the FRWG attended the Southeastern Electrical Exchange meeting of the Regional Mutual Aid Group. This is the group responsible for coordinating mutual assistance between many of the electric sector companies in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Briefings were provided to the group on the status of the FRWG efforts in planning, the solutions being produced, and preparations for the annual CATEX 2014 exercise in the fall. The membership was supportive and planned to participate.
April 16 – Virginia Private Sector Emergency Management Symposium
Representatives from the FRWG attended this workshop held in Virginia sponsored by the Virginia Private Sector Program. This workshop together the Virginia Department of Emergency Management together with Virginia officials and private sector critical infrastructure providers from around the region. This meeting provided the FRWG and opportunity to discuss some of its issues and solutions being developed and further enhance the partnership with Virginia and it's private sector members of it's Business Emergency Operation Center.
May 5 – North Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group (NAMAG) Meeting in Atlantic City, NJ
FRWG members attended the 2nd Annual Meeting of the North Atlantic Mutual Aid Group (NAMAG). This meeting was held in Atlantic City and brought together senior operators from the electric sector companies across the entire Northeast and New England areas. John Shaner, Chair of the FRWG, provided an overall briefing to NAMAG regarding the FRWG's efforts. This NAMAG was very impressed with what had been accomplished by working with states on an operations level and wanted to continue the dialog. They also agreed to have representatives participate in the CATEX 2014 exercise and to provide representation on the FRWG.
May 20 – National Homeland Security Conference
Members of the AHC at FRWG participated in several panel discussions at the 2014 National Homeland Security Conference held in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. A panel was conducted on Regional Public Private Partnership's by the Department of Homeland Security Infrastructure Protection which featured several organizations including the FRWG. This panel focused on how Regional Public Private Partnership help with private/public sector coordination, communications and improving overall critical infrastructure resilience.
A second panel was held that focused how major urban areas communicate and coordinate during disasters like SANDY. This panel included members of the East Coast Corridor Coalition Work Group from the National Capital Region, Philadelphia, Newark/NJ and New York City/NY. This conference provided working group members of the AHC’s Integrated Planning Framework a great deal of exposure and created a high level of interest in how public and private sector operations professionals can work together to resolve common issues.
May 21 – FEMA Region III meeting
In May 2014, representatives of the AHC and the FRWG with FEMA Region III leadership to discuss a closer coordination with the electric sector during the upcoming hurricane season, along with joint participation in training and exercises going forward. Following this meeting all agreed to coordinate closely on an upcoming FEMA exercise in July, attending the AHC’s East Coast Corridor Coalition (ECCC) meeting later that year, and FEMA assigning a liaison to the FRWG.
May 30 – FEMA Region II meeting
FRWG members met with senior leadership for FEMA Region II, which covers New Jersey and New York. The purpose of this meeting was to continue to develop a partnership and coordination between FEMA and the FRWG. FEMA officials agreed to support the efforts of the FRWG and expressed a desire to continue the partnership between public and private sectors.
May 10 – Delaware E-ZPass Meeting
Members of the FRWG met with Delaware State Toll Administration officials and their vendor Transcore that runs Delaware’s E-ZPass system. At this meeting a solution was discussed that would allow out-of-region utilities to open a commercial Delaware E-ZPass account, upload all of their vehicles into the online account database, and use the E-ZPass lanes as-needed for emergency purposes. All agreed on a way forward that would involve joint approvals by the E-ZPass vendor, the State of Delaware officials, and the FRWG members. The unique part of this process was that it did not require a transponder to be on every truck. This approach in Delaware removes one of the single biggest impediments to fleet movement by allowing out-of-region trucks to come in and out of the E-ZPass region for large emergencies without having to stop at toll stations.
June 2014 – Meeting with FEMA Director Craig Fugate
On Tuesday, June 24th, representatives from the All Hazards Consortium and the FRWG met with FEMA Director Craig Fugate. The focus of the meeting was to brief FEMA executives on the efforts of the state and private sector stakeholders of the FRWG. The meeting focused on a dialog around electric sector issues, the role of liaisons within state operation centers, and information sharing of sensitive information. In the end, Director Fugate assigned a representative from his office to act as a liaison to FRWG and recommended that several organizations also be briefed on this activity, including the National Governors Association’s, Homeland Security Committee, and executives from the U.S. Department of Energy. Additionally, Director Fugate offered to have a regional liaison assigned from FEMA Regions I, II, III, IV, and VI to the FRWG.
June 25 – FRAC TTWG Meeting
The FRWG members attended and presented at the First Responder Access and Credentialing Technology Transfer Working Group meeting in Arlington Virginia. This workgroup is a collection of state and federal operators working on identity management issues for credentialing programs utilizing the PIV-I standard for both physical and logical access. This group holds quarterly meetings, and the FRWG has become an integral part of their discussions as they look to strengthen public/private relationships over the next 12 to 18 months. The focus of their effort with the FRWG is for sensitive information sharing between private and public sectors for response and recovery efforts.
July 16 – FEMA Tabletop Exercise in Phila, PA
Representatives from the All Hazards Consortium and the FRWG participated in a tabletop exercise posted by FEMA Region III in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. This was an information sharing exercise that involved multiple sectors included banking and finance, telecommunications, public health, transportation and supply chains. Additionally, this was the first exercise that involved FEMA Regions II and II. This tabletop exercise accomplished some unique objectives by focusing on cross-sector information sharing issues, and improving situational awareness and decision-making. This activity also strengthened the relationship between FEMA Regions II and II at the regional level with the private sector who operate critical infrastructure throughout the East Coast.
July 28 - Joint US Department of Transportation & Department of Energy Meeting
On July 28, representatives from the FRWG and the AHC met with officials from FEMA, U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Department of Energy. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a briefing of the FRWG’s governance structure, as well as its legal framework, members, geographic coverage, products, and to explore opportunities to work together for the 2014 hurricane season. The first half of the meeting focused on the FWG’s characteristics and outputs. Several items were of interest to the federal agency representatives, including
- the Energy Liaison Officer (ELO) Guide
- the Commercial E-ZPass Account Process
- the Hours of Exemption Information
- the FWG’s hurricane season resource webpage (http://www.fleetresponse.org/resources/hurricane-season/)
- the Multi-State Fleet Coordination process.
The federal representatives all agreed they need is the ability to understand what problem needs to be solved and what people need to be involved from the federal agencies to address the problems. A second discussion focused on “blue-sky-day” issues like training and exercises year round in order to build a better understanding of the private sector needs, the state capabilities, and the federal government agency capabilities to help support them.
July 31 – EC3 (East Coast Corridor Coalition) Working Group Meeting in DC
On July 31, a regional meeting of the AHC’s public sector East Coast Corridor Coalition (EC3) working group was held in Washington, D.C., at the Emergency Operations Center for the District of Columbia. Hosted by Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), this meeting brought together emergency management directors from around the region, along with FEMA Region II, Region III, and FEMA Headquarters, and senior leadership from the regional urban areas of Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey, and New York City.
The purpose of this meeting was to develop a common level of understanding of the Regional Integrated Planning and Governance Framework, the role and products of the FRWG, and the role of the East Coast Corridor Coalition (EC3) in the private sector’s Regional Fleet Movement Coordination Process.
In the end, all agreed to some next steps and that this is an important effort for the region and that sustaining this type of regional discussion is important to state, local and federal government, as well as the private sector.
Aug 25 – AHC Board Retreat at EEI
On August 25-26, 2014, the Board of Directors for the All Hazards Consortium met for two days’ worth of meetings at their Annual Board Summit Meeting. This Summit was held in Washington, DC at the headquarter offices of Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a national trade association for the publicly trade of electric utilities. The 2014 Summit focused on a number of key issues, including sustainment of key initiatives, formalizing partnerships, further developing the public/private partnership model, and new innovative regional initiatives.
Sept 4 – CATEX Workshop Long Island City, NY
The 3rd annual CATEX exercise planning workshop was entitled the “Lifeline Sectors Response Coordination Workshop”. This workshop brought together multiple states and cities in the Northeast along with the electric, food, and fuel sector operations professionals to explore the expediting of regional information sharing to resolve specific sector operational issues as outlined by the private sector. Planning teams were formed into Sector Focused Working Groups to address each sector’s unique operational issues. The workshop identified and confirmed the top operational issues that were faced by each sector during Super Storm Sandy. Following this, each issue was then explored to determine the people involved for the issue, the information sharing processes used across the region, and essential elements of information needed to resolve the issue or to expedite response efforts surrounding the issue. A workshop report was issued.
Sept 24 – TSCP Fall Conference Panel
A public/private panel discussion was held at the Fall 2014 event of the Trans Global Secure Collaboration Program Annual Meeting. This panel focused on the results of the FRWG in helping to create an environment to share trusted information between both public and private sector operations professionals. The specific focus of the panel was on identity management and utilizing ways to address cyber security issues within information sharing. Representatives from Virginia, District of Columbia and New Jersey attended along with private sector representatives from Dominion Power, PEPCO Holding Inc, and the Edison Electric Institute. This panel was helpful for the mostly federal attendees to better understand the role of identity management in the public/private operational information sharing process.
October 8, 2014 - Edison Electric Institute Mutual Assistance Conference - St. Louis, MO
Semi-annual meeting for investor-owned electric utilities, contractors, and vendors. An investor-owned electric utility member of the Multi-State Fleet Response Executive Committee updated the attendees on EZ Pass Pilot Program, and U.S. Canadian Border Crossing best practices.
Oct 8 – FirstNet ICAM Conference
Representatives from the FRWG were invited to attend an important meeting around identity management and it's relationship to the FirstNet Public Safety Communications Initiative. The meeting was held in Washington, DC and was attended by numerous federal agency officials, state and local public safety officials, representatives from the White House Information Sharing Environment and the FirstNet Initiative Program Office. The meeting focused on public-sector usage and access rights of users to share information. Over the long-term, it is hoped that the private sector will also become part of these discussions as the FRWG continues to coordinate with state and federal officials as part of the FRWG’s efforts.
A final report was issued, and can be downloaded at: https://cloud.iir.com/public.php?service=files&t=1ab729905afd62db4486b417f055a4d0&download
Oct 9-10 – NEMA Conference Atlanta, GA
Several members of the FRWG attended the fall meeting of the national emergency managers Association. Purpose of this meeting was to discuss a demonstration project that would bring public and private sector operations together as part of a national mutual aid effort to help improve coordination going to public and private sector. This was the first of several meetings to discuss this initiative. In the future, the FRW gym looks to form a close partnership with the states as part of the EM AC , The emergency management assistance contact, process the state used to share information sources during disasters.
Oct 15-16 DHS Resilience Conference Panel on Identity Management and Information Sharing
Representatives of the FRG attended this important DHS conference at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC to discuss access and credentialing as part of the overall conference on resilience. Double private sector companies were in attendance including southern corporation, PHII, Bank of America, lowes, Along with several states including Maryland, DC, North Carolina.
The panel focused on a discussion for how various sectors utilize access and credentialing to resolve the road internal issues. Panel also discussed ways the private sector could work with public-sector to leverage identity management to support excess credentialing issues in both public and private sector going forward
Oct 16 – Energy Consortium Mtg New Hampshire
Several representatives from the FRWG attended this meeting in the New England area which brought together several electric companies along with states to discuss several issues facing our restoration. A briefing was provided by the FRWG regarding its activities, planning framework, annual exercises, and operational products being produced. Members of this meeting were impressed with the progress of the FRWG and several committed to participate in the upcoming Catex 2014 exercise.
Nov 12-14 SEE Fall Conference
Several representatives for dissipated in discussion at the S EE fall conference guarding the FRWG's progress with regards to regional fleet movement and information sharing. Although many of the participants were well aware, there were several that were new to the effort and express their interest in learning more about it. S EE has played important role in the FRWG's growth and continues to support the effort as the overall regional coordination with state improve
Nov 19, 2015 November 24 CATEX 2014 Regional Information Sharing Drill Update
On November 19, 2014, the All Hazards Consortium, in partnership with the Regional Catastrophic Planning Team of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania conducted a regional information sharing drill/exercise across three states and New York City.
- The exercise had sixty active participants and over 100 observers.
- In addition to the public sector officials , critical infrastructure stakeholders from the electric, fuel, and food sectors participated in the exercise.
- Throughout the day, over thirty email injects with multiple questions were sent to the participants.
- Topic areas for the emails included transportation, waivers, and food/fuel supply chain outage impacts.
The drill focused on identifying the people to resolve several key operational issues in the electric, fuel, and food sectors across the Northeast.
The drill also identified regional information sharing processes and organizations that were related to transportation, situational awareness, waivers, declarations, and a variety of other public and private sector issues.
Learn more: http://www.fleetresponse.org/productsservices/annual-exercise/catex-2014/
December 18 2014 DHS Science and Technology Conference
On December 18, 2014 representatives from the All Hazards Consortium provided a briefing to researchers from around the world who had participated in DHS Science and Technology projects over 2014.
This briefing was focused on the secure information-sharing pilot being conducted by the All Hazards Consortium’s The Multi-State Fleet Response Working Group and its partner the Trans Global Secure Collaboration Program (TSCP).
TSCP is a non-profit that provides support to the PIV-I standard being used by over fifty million public and private sector users in the aerospace industry. They use this standard along with secure processes to digitally share information across the globe.
Through a grant provided by DHS Science and Technology to TSCP, the AHC’s The Multi-State Fleet Response Working Group will be conducting a pilot designed to share sensitive operational information from the private sector with state & local emergency managers and law enforcement officials. This pilot will run during the first half of 2015.
As part of the pilot, information will be shared from private sector to public sector officials and vice versa. The pilot will test a private sector run process that has already been proven to share sensitive operational information in the electric sector with state & local governments in order to expedite power restoration efforts. Other members of the supply chain will be participating including food, fuel, and other lifeline segments.