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About the Emergency Response Program
Did you know?
Every year NOAA responds to over a thousand natural and human-induced incidents threatening life, property, and NOAA trust resources. Federal, State, and local agencies and governments across the country rely on NOAA support for wildfires, oil and chemical spills, marine animal strandings and entanglements, vessel groundings, search and rescue, navigation hazards, harmful algal blooms, national special security events, coral disease/bleaching events, and other emergencies. NOAA expertise is critical to mitigate harm, provide critical information for allocation of response assets, restore adverse effects on natural resources, aid planning and response decision-making, and document damages.
How NOAA prevents and prepares
NOAA:
- Provides health, safety, and skill training for emergency responders;
- Conducts exercises to promote preparedness;
- Conducts research to develop tools and techniques to improve response efficiency, increase scientific accuracy, and decrease harm to life, property, and the environment; and
- Prevents, identifies, determines sources of, and reduces marine debris and its adverse impacts on the marine environment and navigation safety.
How NOAA responds
NOAA:
- Provides accurate, timely, and relevant scientific data, information, products, services and advice to organizations charged with responding to and mitigating the consequences of natural and human-induced disasters;
- Provides on-site 24/7 meteorological support to incident commanders and first responders involved in natural and man made hazardous events to ensure the safety of personnel and the affected public, and mitigation of threats to nearby infrastructure;
- Detects and locates aviators, mariners and land-based users in distress;
- Assesses injury to NOAA trust resources and risk to human health and to pursue natural resource damages for the purpose of restoring adverse effects when authorized under OPA, Superfund, or NMSA; and
- Provides data and other support to NOAA programs and entities conducting long-term restoration, remediation, and research.
Customers, Products and Partners
NOAA responders and support staff provide critical decision support information, tools and services to:
- Emergency managers for hazardous materials response, natural hazards (storms, hurricanes, tsunamis), and other events;
- Shippers, pilots, port authorities, the U.S. Coast Guard, fisherman and others who rely on safe and efficient marine navigation;
- The Department of Homeland Security in support of the National Incident Management System and National Response Plan;
- Coastal Resource Managers to significantly improve federal, state, and local coastal resource managers' ability to prevent, prepare for, respond, and recover from injuries to natural resources;
- State and local port infrastructure planners to facilitate (re)development of port infrastructure in an environmentally sound manner;
- Emergency responders and other officials protecting the life and property of the general public; and
- Academia - The program awards grants and promotes other collaborative activities to support extramural research and development, particularly with respect to oil spill research and navigation technologies.
Where you can find NOAA responders
NOAA responders are strategically located across the United States and its territories in weather forecast offices, U.S. Coast Guard facilities, National Marine Sanctuaries, and other federal coordination positions. See the OR&R Across the U.S. link for more information.
How to reach us
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- OR&R across the U.S. The location of Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) field staff thoughout the United States.
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