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Local crews at New Hanover County Emergency Operations Center
Wilmington, NC, September 16, 1999 – Crews from all local county and cities man the (New Hanover) County Emergency Operations Center in Wilmington. (Photo Credit: FEMA)
The Fund Finder News
A Bi-Weekly Grants News and Information Update By Kurt Bradley
Issue 8, August 13, 2004

"Is Your Department Ready for NIMS?"

On February 28, 2003, President Bush issued Homeland Security Directive-5 (HSPD-5) which directed Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to develop and administer a National Incident Management System (NIMS). To be eligible for DHS grants, you must participate in NIMS – but there's a problem with that setup.

Mandatory Participation for Grant Eligibility
Part of that directive's language states that "Federal departments and agencies make the adoption of NIMS by state and local organizations a condition in order to participate in Federal preparedness programs by FY05". In other words, you have to be participating in NIMS to be eligible to apply for DHS grants after October 1, 2004.

NIMS is a comprehensive, national approach to management that is applicable to all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines. The whole intent of the NIMS program is twofold:

  • Be applicable across a full spectrum of potential incidents and hazard scenarios, regardless of size or complexity.
  • Improve coordination and cooperation between public and private entities in a variety of domestic incident management activities.

Local agencies can comply, in the short term, by adopting the ICS (Incident Command System). Other aspects of NIMS will require additional development and refinement to enable compliance at a future date.

The Problem
The problem with all of this is that currently DHS has not spelled out exactly what will constitute "compliance or adoption" of ICS or NIMS. There currently are no written rules published or promulgated to explain this, so that agencies can begin planning and taking the needed steps to assure that they are in compliance with NIMS.

In conversations with the National Incident Management System Integration Center, I asked them to clarify this. They stated that "compliance requirements will be phased in over time. The NIC has prepared guidance for the minimum FY 2005 requirements, which currently is being reviewed by DHS. When officially approved, the NIMS compliance standards will be published on the NIC website and the NIC will provide templates for legislation, executive orders and local ordinances or resolutions."

"Ramp-up Year"
"FY 2005 will be a NIMS ramp-up year," the Center added. "Full NIMS compliance will not be required until the end of FY 2006. However, given the urgency of moving forward, we encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with NIMS concepts and principles and begin activities that will lead to system implementation as soon as possible. For example, those agencies that are not already using the ICS, as taught by the DHS, should begin taking steps to institutionalize the use of ICS across their entire response systems.

ICS training developed by the Emergency Management Institute is available in the states to include the following:

  • ICS-100, Introduction to ICS
  • ICS-200, Basic ICS
  • ICS-300, Intermediate ICS
  • ICS-400, Advanced ICS

Those who would like to participate are encouraged to contact their state emergency management training office. EMI also offers Train-the-Trainer classes in ICS at its facilities in Emmitsburg, MD. At the local level, agencies may contact the fire department for information and training on ICS.

Guidance will be forthcoming on relevant training, standards, and technical support. Important information will be posted on the NIC website and distributed to jurisdictions and agencies. Agencies and jurisdictions will be encouraged to apply their FY 2005 preparedness grant funding to NIMS-implementation activities.

For updates on NIMS standards and compliance criteria, regularly check the NIC website. Jurisdictions also will receive notification via information bulletins. A series of questions and answers have already been posted on About the NIC. This listing will be updated as more information becomes available.

What Can Your Agency Do in the Meantime?
So what can agencies do to "prepare" themselves for possible requirements of compliance with NIMS? I would recommend several things in addition:

  • Read the White House-issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive -5 (HSPD-5)
  • Visit the FEMA NIMS homepage
  • Take the online NIMS Introductory Course that is offered through the National Emergency Training Center. This is an online "virtual campus" where you can take a self-paced course in NIMS and receive a certification upon completion. The course takes about three hours to complete. I have in fact taken the course (and received my certification) and can highly recommend this route of self-education. Go to the course
  • Follow developments of NIMS and compliance issues with CHIEF Grants News and Info
  • The NIMS / NIC maintains a help and assistance desk. You can email them for information and assistance at: FEMA-NIMS@dhs.gov

Decisive Action Needed
Sometimes the government appears to put the cart in front of the horse. They have done so here by announcing a requirement without stating specifically how to satisfy that requirement. It is obvious that the NIC is concerned about this and is trying to take the appropriate action to remedy this situation. Somebody needs to address this issue ASAP and ensure that agencies are given enough time to comply with this requirement.

Remembering the creation and integration issues behind the inception of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), we can only hope that history does not repeat itself in seeing a government agency work "fast". We all should bear in mind that the DHS was created faster than any other agency in the history of US government. There have been, and will continue to be, problems in the administration and operational aspects of doing this so quickly, especially given the scale of the agency and their tasks and duties at hand.

If the National Incident Management System Integration Center does not act quickly, this will surely slow the grants process even more and add to the growing chorus of complaints from constituents that DHS money is slow to be awarded. There are currently bills before Congress to "streamline" this process further. In the meantime, the number of agencies complaining grows daily.

All we can do at this point is hope that the powers that be take notice of the fast-approaching deadline and act upon it in a timely fashion. We can also try to prepare ourselves for this upcoming requirement by following the actions outlined above.

As for your department, get up to speed on NIMS so you can continue to be a part of the funding streams. We at CHIEF Grants will continue to do our part in keeping you informed of changes in a timely manner, and in turn you and your department can start by adopting ICS, and by preparing and planning for NIMS compliance.

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