________________________________________________________________________ Statement for the Record R. David Paulison Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency Before the United States House of Representatives House Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response & Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight Reforming FEMA: Are We Making Progress? February 28, 2007 ______________________________________________________________________ Chairman Cuellar, Ranking Member Dent, Members of the Subcommittee: As this is my first opportunity to appear before the 110th Congress, let me start by saying that I look forward to working with this Subcommittee and the entire Congress in not only reorganizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and building what we are calling a “New” FEMA, but also in returning later this spring to highlight some of the key changes that have occurred in FEMA since Hurricane Katrina and to present the President’s FY-08 Budget submission for FEMA. The budget reflects the President’s commitment to improving our Nation’s response system, and the first step in what will be a multi-year effort to significantly increase FEMA’s core capabilities and our capacity to better serve our Nation. Background Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Florida and the Gulf Coast States in late August 2005, and was followed soon afterwards by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma. These disasters will long be remembered for disrupting families, changing lives, and forcing Americans to rethink vulnerability and risk assumptions. In addition to these impacts, the hurricanes served as catalysts for significant changes in Federal policy and the organization of responsible Federal entities, notably within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and in particular within FEMA. Most of those changes were included in Title VI of the FY 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Act. Among other provisions, Title VI, officially titled the “Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006,” articulates expectations for FEMA, establishes new leadership responsibilities, brings an expanded scope of missions, and allows FEMA to undertake a broad range of activities involving prevention, protection, response, recovery and mitigation both before and after terrorist events, natural and manmade disasters. The Post-Katrina Act contains provisions that set out new law, amend the Homeland Security Act (HSA), and amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act). I am pleased to appear before the Subcommittee today to describe the New FEMA and the reorganization that is presently underway that reflects the mandate established by Congress last fall. The New FEMA The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act reorganizes DHS by reconfiguring FEMA with consolidated emergency management functions, including national preparedness functions. The newly-constituted FEMA will be established as a distinct entity, yet integral to DHS, similar to the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Secret Service. As required by the Act, the New FEMA will include the functions existing within FEMA as of June 1, 2006 and those elements of the Preparedness Directorate that were in the Preparedness Directorate as of June 1, 2006 and not specifically excluded by the Act. The New FEMA will be headed by an Administrator, I have been asked to serve in the newly titled position of Administrator. As required by the Post-Katrina Act, the organizational changes required for New FEMA will be effective on March 31, 2007. Significantly, and consistent with our analysis of Hurricane Katrina lessons learned, the New FEMA will not simply tack on new programs and responsibilities. The Act clearly invites a thorough assessment of the internal FEMA structure to incorporate lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and to integrate systematically new and existing assets and responsibilities within FEMA. That is precisely what we have done. The new organization reflects the expanded scope of FEMA’s responsibilities. It supports a more nimble, flexible use of resources. It will strengthen coordination among FEMA elements and with other DHS components. It will enable FEMA to better coordinate with agencies and departments outside of DHS. And it will deliver enhanced capabilities to partner at the state and local level with emergency management and preparedness organizations and to engage the capabilities of the private sector. While the Act allows FEMA to be structured with not more than four Deputy Administrators, at this time we will establish two Deputy Administrators. One will be the Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer. This will be the principal deputy, with overall operational responsibilities at FEMA. Harvey Johnson, currently the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of FEMA, will continue in this role. The other will be the Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness, a new directorate within FEMA. Nine Assistant Administrators will report through one of the two Deputy Administrators to the Administrator (see attached organizational chart). Seven of the Assistant Administrators will report to the Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer for the following directorates: Logistics Management, Disaster Assistance, Disaster Operations, Grants Management and Operations, U.S. Fire Administration, National Continuity Programs, and Mitigation. Two of the Assistant Administrators will report to the Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness: the National Integration Center (NIC) and the Readiness, Prevention, and Planning Directorate. National Preparedness The Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness will head a new directorate within FEMA, consolidating FEMA strategic preparedness assets. It will include both existing FEMA programs and certain legacy Preparedness Directorate programs. It will incorporate functions related to preparedness doctrine, policy and contingency planning. It will further contain the Department’s exercise coordination and evaluation program, emergency management training, along with the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program and the Radiological Emergency Preparedness program. The Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness will oversee two major functional responsibilities: (1) Readiness, Prevention and Planning; and (2) the National Integration Center. While we are still working to finalize the organizational structure of these divisions within the FEMA National Preparedness Directorate, the Readiness, Prevention and Planning division will be the central division within FEMA responsible for preparedness policy and planning functions. This expanded division will likely include FEMA’s catastrophic planning activities and the following offices: (1) Exercise & Evaluation; (2) Contingency Preparedness; (3) Preparedness Doctrine & Policy; (4) Citizen Corps; and (5) the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program and the Radiological Emergency Preparedness program. The Readiness, Prevention and Planning division will be responsible, among other functions, for coordinating HSPD-8 (National Preparedness) implementation, the National Assessment and Reporting System, Nationwide Plan Review, the Federal Preparedness Coordinator program, and coordinating with the approximately 2,100 Citizen Corps Councils in all of the States and territories and the numerous governmental and non-governmental Citizen Corps partners. The directorate will also work seamlessly with Grants Management and Operations to develop the grant policy guidance and management and operations metrics for the full spectrum of grants for which FEMA will be responsible to administer. We also look to greater involvement in the development of grants management and operations guidance from other elements of DHS, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Office of Intelligence & Analysis. These components will assist FEMA by using their subject matter expertise to develop substantive guidance and accomplish meaningful and measurable progress toward our Preparedness goals. Within FEMA, the National Integration Center (NIC) will provide FEMA with the ability to elevate Preparedness and Emergency Management knowledge and capabilities across all jurisdictions: federal, state and local. The NIC will serve both as a center for training and doctrine development and for the delivery of high quality training to first responders from the Fire Academy, Emergency Management Institute, and the Noble Center across the full spectrum of preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation, as well as prevention in coordination with other organizations within DHS. The NIC will also be responsible for the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National Response Plan (NRP), as well as the annexes and supplements to the NRP, such as the Catastrophic Incident Annex and the Catastrophic Incident Supplement. In addition, the NIC will oversee the Training Division, the Systems Support Directorate, the Center for Domestic Preparedness and Noble Training Center, the NIMS Integration Center, the Emergency Management Institute, and relationships with FEMA’s training partners and external associations. Working with Citizen Corps, the NIC will also coordinate with the Corporation for National and Community Service to establish a process to better use volunteers and donations and to improve first responder activities with State, local and tribal governments, as well as non-governmental organizations. In carrying out these responsibilities, the Assistant Administrator of the NIC will closely coordinate with the Administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration, particularly with regard to efficient utilization of the National Fire Academy campus assets in Emmitsburg, Maryland, which are also transferred back to FEMA pursuant to the Act. I envision that the functions and organization of the U.S. Fire Administration will not substantially change with this reorganization. The U.S. Fire Administration will remain responsible for the National Fire Academy as well as for the data analysis, reporting, training and other coordination activities currently being done there. The offices currently within the Preparedness Directorate that will not be transferred to FEMA are explicitly delineated in the Act and include the Office of Infrastructure Protection, the National Communications System, the National Cyber Security Division, and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer. Other FEMA Headquarters Elements Also under this new organization, the DHS Office of Grants and Training will be moved to the New FEMA and reorganized as Grants Management and Operations with some elements moving to the National Preparedness Directorate. The Training and Systems Support Division of the Office of Grants and Training will be transferred to the NIC. The Office of the Citizen Corps within the Office of Grants and Training will be transferred into the National Preparedness Directorate’s Office of Readiness, Prevention and Planning. The Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs, and Executive Secretary positions within the Office of Grants and Training will transfer to their equivalents within Office of External Affairs. The current Grants and Training Business Office and Preparedness Programs Division will transfer into the immediate Office of the Assistant Administrator for Grants Management and Operations. A joint missions and planning team in FEMA with full participation of the current leadership of the existing DHS Office of Grants and Training has been meeting for the past several weeks to develop the mechanisms to manage these programs with a view towards enhancing our support of State and local partners and to operationalize the national preparedness efforts already underway. In addition to incorporating the Preparedness elements into FEMA, the New FEMA will also sharpen our focus on building core competencies in logistics, operational planning, incident management and the delivery of disaster assistance. These new core competencies will be evident in our organizational structure. For example, we will establish: (1) a Logistics Management Directorate to fulfill the mandate of the new HSA Section 636; (2) a Disaster Assistance Directorate incorporating elements of the current Recovery division; and (3) a Disaster Operations Directorate incorporating the existing FEMA Response Division and elements from the Preparedness Directorate’s National Preparedness Task Force. These three entities within FEMA will be headed by Assistant Administrators. FEMA will also maintain directorates that focus more clearly on broader issues of preparedness, protection and mitigation, including the National Continuity Programs Directorate (formerly Office of National Security Coordination), and the Mitigation Directorate. Both will be headed by Assistant Administrators. I am also pleased to report that FEMA will establish a Disability Coordinator. The new position works with both the Disaster Assistance and Disaster Operations Directorate, ensuring that we incorporate considerations for the disabled in how we plan, respond and recover from disasters. The selection will be made following consultation with appropriate groups including disability interest groups as well as State, local and tribal groups. The Disability Coordinator is charged with assessing the coordination of emergency management policies and practices with the needs of individuals with disabilities, including training, accessibility of entry, transportation, media outreach, and general coordination and dissemination of model best practices, including evacuation planning. The Disability Coordinator will work closely with the Department’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The Act also requires that a National Advisory Council be created, the members of which will be appointed by the FEMA Administrator. The Council has already been established and membership is being sought. Also to be appointed within FEMA will be a Small State and Rural Advocate who will work within the Office of External Affairs. The Small State and Rural Advocate will be an advocate for the fair treatment of small States and rural communities. Under this reorganization, both the DHS Office of State and Local Government Coordination and the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives transfer to FEMA on March 31, 2007. FEMA’s headquarters administrative offices, which existed within FEMA on the date of enactment of the Post-Katrina Act (October 4, 2006), including the Executive Secretariat, the Office of Chief Counsel, the Office of Management (Human Resources, Information Technology, Acquisition and Facilities Management), the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and the Office of Equal Rights, will report to the Administrator through the Deputy Administrator/Chief Operating Officer. Operational and policy offices, including a new Law Enforcement Advisor to the Administrator and the Office of Policy and Program Analysis, will also report through the Deputy Administrator/Chief Operating Officer. FEMA will consolidate several former offices into a new Office of External Affairs, which will incorporate the Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs, Intergovernmental Affairs, and International Affairs offices. In the FY07 DHS Appropriations Act, $6.459 million was appropriated for the “National Preparedness Integration Program” (NPIP). DHS will be submitting an expenditure plan describing how the funding will be used. FEMA Regional Offices The Act codifies and expands FEMA’s regional office structure. The ten Regional Administrators provided for in the Act will report directly to the Administrator, and will be supported and coordinated by an Associate Deputy Administrator at FEMA headquarters. At the regional level, the Act provides for the creation of Regional Advisory Councils and at least one Regional Office Strike Team. The Regional Advisory Councils will provide advice and recommendations to the Regional Administrators on regional emergency management issues and identify weaknesses or deficiencies in preparedness, protection, response, recovery and mitigation for State, local and tribal governments based on their specialized knowledge of the region. The statute also establishes area offices for the Pacific and Caribbean jurisdictions as well as for Alaska in the appropriate regional offices. The Act also transfers the DHS Office of National Capital Region Coordination (NCRC) to FEMA. NCRC will continue its work with stakeholders to address the unique challenge resolving inter-agency and multi-jurisdictional issues of the National Capital Region. NCRC will report to the Administrator through the Deputy Administrator/Chief Operating Officer, but it will be supported as needed by the Associate Deputy Administrator who works with the FEMA Regions. The New FEMA Missions As of March 31, 2007, FEMA will have the responsibility to lead and support efforts to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the nation from all hazards through a risk-based system that focuses on the expanded comprehensive emergency management components of preparedness, response, recovery, and hazard mitigation. The statute also addresses a fifth component — protection; FEMA will work closely with the Department’s Office of Infrastructure Protection to help fulfill protection responsibilities through training, grants, planning, and other means. Among the specific activities given to FEMA in the Act are the following: • leading the nation’s comprehensive emergency management efforts (including protection) for all hazards, including catastrophic incidents; • partnering with non-federal entities to build a national emergency management system; • developing federal response capabilities; • integrating FEMA’s comprehensive emergency management responsibilities; • building robust regional offices to address regional priorities; • using DHS resources under the Secretary’s leadership; • building non-federal emergency management capabilities, including those involving communications; and • developing and coordinating the implementation of a risk-based all hazards preparedness strategy that addresses the unique needs of certain incidents. The Act added responsibilities, including ensuring first responder effectiveness, supervising grants, administering and implementing the NRP, preparing and implementing Federal continuity of government and operations plans, and maintaining and operating the National Response Coordination Center, among others. Incorporating Preparedness Into the New FEMA FEMA is focused on incorporating the concept of preparedness into all of our programs and making the protection and preparedness missions an integral part of a new, coherent Agency organization in support of a comprehensive National Preparedness and Emergency Management System. Given the desire to take advantage of this opportunity to identify and incorporate the synergies that Congress envisioned for New FEMA, we have established a FEMA – Preparedness - DHS Senior Leadership Team to guide this transition effort. We have also established a number of functional teams to address the major transition management issues in the areas of personnel, finance, and information technology among others. We are reaching out for consultation and collaboration to other DHS components; the Federal interagency community; Congress; the White House; key emergency management, law enforcement and preparedness organizations; the policy community; and State, local and private sector leaders. We anticipate completing the administrative actions needed to integrate FEMA and preparedness organizationally by March 31, 2007, while full integration of FEMA and preparedness functions will be an ongoing effort over the months following. Our approach to the creation of the “New FEMA” is designed to: • Incorporate lessons learned and best practices into the new organization with a focus on core competencies to build a strong foundation for maximum effectiveness from the start; • Ensure a unified approach to the incorporation of protection, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation principles in foundational doctrines/documents such as the NRP, NIMS, the National Preparedness Goal, and the Target Capabilities List; • Employ new technologies where appropriate to enhance capabilities and efficiencies of services. In strong partnership with the Science and Technology Directorate using their CAPSTONE IPT process, the new FEMA will provide clear direction on the priority mission capability gaps so as to focus technology solutions to meet the highest priority incident management and first responder emergency communications requirements. • Develop strong partnerships with other DHS components, the Federal interagency community, State, local and private sector leaders, and other non-governmental organizations in support of a comprehensive approach to protection, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation efforts incorporating performance-based operating principles; • Emphasize increased ability to fully address terrorist and other man-made acts as well as natural disasters – a risk-based all-hazards approach; • Strengthen the culture of customer service, reinforced by best in class business practices for internal and external delivery of service; • Support development of a more robust national emergency management system and an expanded and coordinated “Culture of Preparedness” to engage all Americans and to build on the efforts of Under Secretary Foresman in helping the Nation address the multitude of challenges we face; and • Build strong regions as the essential field component that engages most directly with State and local partners, disaster victims, and the general public to both increase State and local preparedness and response capabilities to incidents when they occur. What It All Means At the end of the day, one could logically ask the question: What does a “New” FEMA mean for the American Public? In my view, it means that we will offer the American public a FEMA that will in fact, become the Nation’s preeminent emergency management agency. The New FEMA will develop operational core competencies and be strengthened by a dedicated and professional workforce that will be fully capable of: • Leading the Nation to better prepare against the risk of an all-hazard disaster; • Marshalling an effective national response and recovery effort; • Reducing the vulnerability to life and property; • Speeding the recovery of communities and individual disaster victims; and, • Instilling public confidence at the time that is needed most – in the hours and days following a disaster. New FEMA will be in touch with America, and be valued across all jurisdictions – Federal, State, local and tribal, and by the private sector and other non-governmental organizations, as an engaged, agile and responsive leader and partner in preparedness and emergency management. Should a disaster appear imminent, or even strike without warning, we will be prepared to work immediately with State and local officials. FEMA senior and regional staff will be in constant contact with our partners in State and local government as well as our colleagues in the Department and throughout the Federal government. We will preposition equipment and supplies and we will know what we have and where it is. Items will be moved to disaster scenes even before a request or a declaration is made, so that if they are needed, they are ready to deploy and use. We will execute the plans that we will have developed as collaborative partners in advance. When the immediate threat has passed, FEMA will be on the ground immediately to assess requirements for Federal assistance and then quickly provide that response and recovery assistance to State and local governments and individual disaster victims. Mobile facilities will arrive to register victims so that an individual assistance can be quickly available where needed. We will be able to help more people more quickly, and with greater protection against waste, fraud and abuse. First responders will also be better prepared, as they receive additional funds through grants and training that contribute measurably to enhanced preparedness, whether through the U.S. Fire Administration or by other FEMA staff. Planning for disasters will also improve as State and local officials receive hands-on assistance from FEMA staff. The public will have greater confidence in the abilities of their tribal, State and local officials as they see more and more of their leaders trained and certified in emergency management, and more and more of their first responders receiving similar and expanded training that meets their own needs. In short, the “New” FEMA will be more agile, significantly stronger, and leaning more forward to deliver assistance more effectively than before. We have heard you and are acting on what you have asked us to do. FEMA will be ready to take a leadership role where needed, provide support where appropriate and be on-hand across the country before and after any major event – that I commit to you. Thank you for your time today and I look forward to answering your questions.