Plan released in time for grant awards

By John Bicknell
Congressional Quarterly
DHS Press Release on the National Emergency Communications Plan
DHS Fact Sheet

WASHINGTON — The DHS unveiled its National Emergency Communications Plan on Thursday, in time to ensure that states would receive interoperability grant money.

The Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program was established under Sept. 11 Commission legislation (PL 110-53) that also mandated that the Homeland Security Department complete and submit the National Emergency Communications Plan before the department could award grant money.

Earlier this month, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, pointed out that DHS was facing a tight deadline because it was planning to announce its grant awards Friday, and have the money distributed no later than Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The plan was originally due in April.

At the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response where Chairman Cuellar made his remarks, fellow Democrat Nita M. Lowey of New York noted a lack of urgency on the part of DHS in delivering the plan.

"So, I think maybe you can take a message back that this committee is really upset with the bureaucrats who are holding this up because we may not be able to get the money by the end of the year if this continues to delay and delay," Lowey said at the July 15 hearing.

Robert Jamison, undersecretary of DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate, was confident at the hearing that the plan would meet the extended deadline.

"It's very achievable to get the grants out in the time frame that we laid out as well as getting the report up here, and I think you're going to find that it all aligns once you get the report," Jamison said at the time.

The April deadline was missed, he said, because DHS was "doing intensive stakeholder engagement and part of that engagement was the development of the statewide plans," he said.

The Future of Emergency Communications

The result of that engagement was a National Emergency Communications Plan that outlines three goals designed to establish "communications operability, interoperability, and continuity of communications for emergency responders nationwide":

• By 2010, 90 percent of all high-risk urban areas designated within the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.
  
• By 2011, 75 percent of non-UASI jurisdictions are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.
  
• By 2013, 75 percent of all jurisdictions are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within three hours of a significant event as outlined in national planning scenarios.

"The future of emergency communications capabilities will depend on the commitment of DHS, and all the key players to support the recommendations of the National Emergency Communications Plan," Cuellar said Thursday. "I want to personally commend the Office of Emergency Communications under the leadership of Director [Chris] Essid for completing this forward thinking strategic plan. It is my sincere hope that this plan will be the critical instrument in the nation's effort to achieve full interoperability."

Full committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., emphasized the federalism aspect of the plan.

"We must not lose sight of the fact that this is a nationwide strategy, not one dictated by the federal government," Thompson said. "That is why cooperation and coordination at all levels of government is necessary for the successful implementation of the plan."

Dan Fowler and Rob Margetta contributed to this story.

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