In support of FEMA’s Strategic Plan, the agency is pleased to announce the release of the “National Response Framework, Fourth Edition,” and the “Emergency Support Function #14 – Cross-Sector Business and Infrastructure Annex.” Both documents incorporate lessons learned from the 2017 hurricane and wildfire season.
The updated framework remains scalable, flexible and adaptable, using the core capabilities identified in the National Preparedness Goal, and continues to focus on the capabilities necessary to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs during disasters. The National Preparedness Goal defines what it means for the whole community to be prepared for all types of disasters and emergencies. Key updates to the NRF include:
- Additional emphasis on non-governmental capabilities to include the role of individuals and private sector/industry partners in responding to disasters.
- A new Emergency Support Function to leverage existing coordination mechanisms between the government and infrastructure owners/operators.
- Focus on outcomes-based response through the prioritization of the rapid stabilization of Community Lifelines.
The new ESF #14 supports the coordination of cross-sector operations, including stabilization of key supply chains and Community Lifelines, among infrastructure owners and operators, businesses, and their government partners.
The Community Lifelines Implementation Toolkit provides comprehensive information and resources for implementing lifelines during incident response. Toolkit 2.0, featuring refined content based on lessons learned and stakeholder feedback over the past year, will be released in November to support the NRF rollout.
In addition, FEMA is hosting a series of one-hour webinars to describe the updates and answer participants’ questions. These webinars are intended for the whole community, including individuals and communities, private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, and federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners.
To download the documents and view the full webinar schedule, please visit https://www.fema.gov/national-preparedness-resource-library. Advance registration is required for the webinars and admission is on a first-come, first-served basis. Captioning will be available for each webinar.
Please direct all questions to [email protected].
