Page 1 of 7 NIMS Basic - Ongoing Management and Maintenance FEMA 501-7 March 23, 2006 Revision 0 I. Purpose: This document describes the structure and function of the NIC. II. Scope: A. HSPD-5 HSPD-5 requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a mechanism for ensuring the ongoing management and maintenance of the NIMS. The Secretary of Homeland Security: • Will establish and administer the NIC. • Has ultimate authority and responsibility for publishing revisions and modifications to NIMS-related documents, including supplementary standards, procedures, and other materials, in coordination with other Federal, State, local, tribal, and private entities with incident management and emergency responder responsibilities, expertise, and experience. B. Extract This document is extracted from FEMA 501, National Incident Management System. Refer to the NIMS in the event of conflicting information. III. Table of Contents: I. Purpose: ............................1 II. Scope:..............................1 A. HSPD-5 ..............................1 B. Extract .............................1 III. Table of Contents..................1 IV. Definitions:........................2 V. Process: ............................2 A. NIMS Revision........................2 B. Concepts and Principles..............3 1. Participation .......................3 2. Input ...............................3 C. NIC .................................3 1. Structure and Process................3 2. Responsibilities ....................3 Page 2 of 7 a) Education and Awareness .............4 b) Compatibility .......................4 c) Publications.........................4 d) Assessment Criteria..................4 e) General Training ....................4 f) Training and Exercises ..............4 g) Publication Management ..............4 h) Qualification and Certification .....5 i) Documentation........................5 j) Data Maintenance.....................5 k) Credentialing........................5 l) Communications ......................6 m) Resource Typing......................6 n) Information Systems .................6 o) Technology ..........................6 p) Clearinghouse Repository.............7 VI. References: ........................7 VII. Supersedure:.......................7 IV. Definitions: DHS: Department of Homeland Security HSPD-5: Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 NIC: NIMS Integration Center NIMS: National Incident Management System R&D: Research and Development S&T: Science and Technology V. Process: A. NIMS Revision The NIC will develop a process to incorporate revisions and/or updates to the NIMS in an ongoing fashion. Revisions to the NIMS and other corrective actions can be proposed by: • Local entities and their preparedness organizations. • State entities and their preparedness organizations. • Tribal entities and their preparedness organizations. • Federal departments and agencies. • Private entities, including: Page 3 of 7 o Business and industry. o Volunteer organizations. o Academia. O Non-profit and non-governmental organizations. • NIMS-related professional associations. B. Concepts and Principles 1. Participation The process for managing and maintaining the NIMS ensures that all users and stakeholders, including various levels of government, functional disciplines, and private entities are given the opportunity to participate in NIC activities. To accomplish this goal, the NIC will: • Be multi-jurisdictional. • Be multi-disciplinary. • Maintain appropriate liaison with private organizations. 2. Input The NIMS management and maintenance process relies heavily on: • Lessons learned from actual incidents and domestic incident management training and exercises. • Recognized best practices across jurisdictions and functional disciplines. C. NIC 1. Structure and Process A multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary NIC will: • Provide strategic direction for and oversight of the NIMS. • Support both routine maintenance and the continuous refinement of the system and its components over the long term. • Include mechanisms for direct participation from or regular consultation with: O Other Federal departments and agencies. O State, tribal, and local incident management entities. o Emergency responder and incident management professional organizations. o Private sector and nongovernmental organizations. Proposed changes to the NIMS will be submitted to the NIC for consideration, approval, and publication. 2. Responsibilities The NIC will conduct the following actions. Page 4 of 7 a) Education and Awareness Develop a national program for NIMS education and awareness that includes: • Specific instruction on the purpose and content of the NIMS document. • Instruction on the NIMS in general. b) Compatibility Promote compatibility between national-level standards for the NIMS and those developed by other public, private, and professional groups. c) Publications Facilitate the development and publication of: •Materials such as supplementary documentation and desk guides. •Standardized templates to support implementation and continuous refinement of the NIMS. d) Assessment Criteria Develop: • Assessment criteria for the various components of the NIMS. • Compliance requirements and compliance timelines for Federal, State, local, and tribal entities regarding NIMS standards and guidelines. e) General Training Facilitate the definition of general training requirements and the development of national-level training standards and course curricula associated with the NIMS, including: • The use of modeling and simulation capabilities for training and exercise programs. • For all NIMS users: o Field-based training. O Specification of mission-essential tasks. O Requirements for specialized instruction and instructor training. O Course completion documentation. • Review and recommend discipline-specific NIMS training courses in coordination with national professional organizations and Federal, State, local, tribal, private sector, and non-governmental entities. f) Training and Exercises Facilitate the development of national standards, guidelines, and protocols for incident management training and exercises, to include consideration of existing exercise and training programs at all jurisdictional levels. g) Publication Management Facilitate: • Establishment and maintenance of a publication management system for documents supporting the NIMS and other NIMS- Page 5 of 7 related publications and materials. • Development or coordination of general publications for all NIMS users. • Issuance via a NIMS publication management system. Review discipline-specific publication management requirements submitted by professional organizations and associations: • In coordination with appropriate national professional standards-making, certifying, and accrediting organizations. • With input from Federal, State, local, tribal private sector and non-governmental entities. h) Qualification and Certification Facilitate the development and publication of national standards, guidelines, and protocols for the qualification and certification of emergency responder and incident management personnel where appropriate. Review and approve where appropriate, the discipline-specific qualification and certification requirements submitted by emergency responder and incident management organizations and associations with: • The assistance of national professional organizations. • Input from Federal, State, local, tribal, private sector, and non-governmental entities. i) Documentation Facilitate the establishment and maintenance of a documentation and database system related to qualification, certification, and credentialing of incident management personnel and organizations as appropriate, including: Review and approve the discipline-specific requirements submitted by functionally-oriented incident management organizations and associations: • In coordination with national professional organizations. • With input from the Federal, State, local, tribal, private sector and non-governmental entities. j) Data Maintenance Establish a data maintenance system to provide incident managers with the detailed qualification, experience, and training information needed to credential personnel for prescribed “national” incident management positions. k) Credentialing Coordinate minimum professional certification standards and facilitate the design and implementation of a credentialing system that can be used nation-wide. Page 6 of 7 l) Communications Facilitate the establishment of standards for the performance, compatibility, and interoperability of incident management equipment and communications systems, including: • Facilitate the development or publication of national standards, guidelines, and protocols for equipment certification, including the incorporation of standards and certification programs already in existence and used by incident management and emergency response organizations nationwide, in coordination with appropriate Federal agencies, standards-making, certifying, and accrediting organizations, and appropriate State, local, tribal, private sector, and non-governmental organizations. • Review and approve lists of equipment that meet these established equipment certification requirements, in coordination with national professional organizations and with input from Federal, State, local, tribal, private sector, and nongovernmental entities. • Collaborate with organizations responsible for emergency responder equipment evaluation and testing. m) Resource Typing Facilitate development and issuance of national standards for the typing of resources. n) Information Systems Facilitate definition and maintenance of the information framework required to guide the development of NIMS information systems, including the development of data standards for the following: • Incident notification/ situation reports. • Status reporting. • Analytical data. • Geospatial information. • Wireless communications. • Identification and authentication. • Incident reports, to include lessons learned reports. o) Technology Coordinate establishment of technical and technology standards for NIMS users in concert with the DHS Under Secretary for S&T and recognized standards development organizations. Integrate the incident management science and technology needs of departments, agencies, disciplines, private sector, and non-governmental organizations operating within the NIMS at all levels into the national R&D agenda in coordination with the DHS Under Secretary for S&T. Page 7 of 7 p) Clearinghouse Repository Establish and maintain a repository and clearinghouse for: •Reports and lessons learned from actual incidents, training, and exercises. •Best practices, model structures, and model processes for NIMS-related functions. VI. References: FEMA 501, National Incident Management System VII. Supersedure: Original