The IAB Charter encompasses the makeup of the IAB by laying out the organizational structure and responsibilities of the IAB members.  The IAB Chair and Vice Chair, the SubGroups/Committees, the Co-Chairs and the Membership are all defined and described within the Charter. The InterAgency Board is a user-working group supported by voluntary participation from various local, state, federal government, and private organizations. Click here to download the charter in pdf format from our Documents page.

The InterAgency Board (IAB) for Equipment Standardization and Interoperability is designed to establish and coordinate local, state, and federal standardization, interoperability, compatibility, and responder health and safety to prepare for, train and respond to, mitigate, and recover from any incident by identifying requirements for an all-hazards incident response with a special emphasis on chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive (CBRNE) issues.

The IAB supports local, state, and federal responders’ efforts in homeland security by:

• Providing an independent, operational viewpoint to federal agencies.
• Facilitating integration among local, state, and federal response communities to promote proper selection and use of the best available equipment and procedures to optimize safety, interoperability, compatibility, and efficiency.
• Developing, maintaining, and updating a Standardized Equipment List (SEL), which is aligned with the Authorized Equipment List (AEL) and provides the responder a reference to the type of equipment required to prepare for, train and respond to, mitigate, and recover from an all-hazards incident with a special emphasis on CBRNE issues.
• Advocating for, assisting in, and promoting the development and implementation of performance criteria, standards, requirements, and test protocols for AEL/SEL-listed all-hazards incident response equipment with a special emphasis on CBRNE issues.
• Encouraging the coordination of local and state response communities with established military and federal acquisition programs for procurement of AEL/SEL-listed all-hazards incident response equipment with a special emphasis on CBRNE issues.
• Sharing knowledge, expertise, and technology regarding the detection, identification, warning, protection, decontamination, response management, and medical management of all-hazards incidents among local, state, and federal response communities with a special emphasis on CBRNE issues.
• Providing a structured forum for the exchange of ideas among operational, technical, and support agencies for national preparedness to promote interoperability and compatibility among local, state, and federal response communities.
• Identifying and prioritizing all-hazards incident response equipment requirements with a special emphasis on CBRNE issues.
• Encouraging manufacturers and governmental, military, and private agencies to sponsor
priority research and development projects to satisfy local, state, and federal all-hazards incident response equipment requirements.
• Providing assistance and/or guidance to agencies, associations, and manufacturers, requiring operational testing of new and emerging equipment and technologies.
• Preparing and publishing an annual report to articulate the activities and accomplishments of the IAB.

IAB Chairperson: The IAB Chairperson is selected from the ranks of the local and state membership. Confirmation shall occur by a simple majority vote of the general membership present at the meeting at which the annual report is finalized. The Chairperson is elected to a two-year term starting the first meeting of odd years.

• If a vacancy occurs during term of the Chairperson, an immediate election process for a new Chairperson will be initiated.
• The Vice Chairperson will act as the interim Chairperson for the duration of the meeting and election.
• The Vice Chairperson is eligible to be nominated for this position.
• If the vacancy occurs during a general meeting, nominations will be open from the floor through the end of the meeting. The nominations can include a member or members who are not present but have been contacted and will accept. During the brief-out sessions on the last day of the meeting, the Vice Chairperson will close the nominations and hold the election under the same simple majority guidance set out above. A new Chairperson will be elected for the balance of the term.
• If the vacancy occurs between general meetings, the Vice Chairperson will be notified and will serve as the acting IAB Chairperson until a new Chairperson is elected. The Acting Chairperson will send an e-mail to the membership announcing the vacancy and that nominations will be open at the beginning of the next meeting and held open for the morning session. A vote will be held before the morning session ends, and a new Chairperson elected for the balance of the term.
• The Chairperson administers, organizes, and facilitates the actions of the IAB. The Chairperson provides recommendations to the Federal Agency Coordinating Committee (FACC) and direction to the SubGroup chairs.

IAB Vice Chairperson: The IAB Vice Chairperson is selected from the ranks of the local and state membership. Confirmation shall occur by a simple majority vote of the general membership present at the meeting at which the annual report is finalized. The Vice Chairperson is elected to a two-year term following the structure of the Chairperson election.

• The Vice Chairperson supports the Chairperson effort to complete the tasks of the Chairperson as identified in the above section.
• The Vice Chairperson will attend meetings that the Chairperson is unable to attend and IAB representation is valuable or necessary whenever available.
• The Vice Chairperson will chair the strategic planning group whose objectives will include providing a clear vision of future projects and monitoring the IAB mission statement.
• The Vice Chairperson will present the strategic planning group vision at the June meeting of each year.
• If a vacancy occurs during term of the Vice Chairperson, the Chairperson will be notified, and the state and local chairperson of the Standards Coordination Committee (SCC) will serve as acting Vice Chairperson until a new Vice Chairperson is elected.
• The Chairperson will send an e-mail to the membership announcing the vacancy and that nominations will be open at the beginning of the next meeting and held open for the morning session. A vote will be held before the morning session ends, and a new Vice Chairperson elected for the balance of the term.
• If the vacancy occurs during a general meeting, nominations will be open from the floor through the end of the meeting. The nominations can include a member or members who are not present but have been contacted and will accept. During the brief-out sessions on the last day of the meeting, the Chairperson will close the nominations and hold the election under the same simple majority guidance set out above. A new Vice Chairperson will be elected for the balance of the term.

Federal Agency Coordinating Committee (FACC): A coordination committee that provides the interface between the IAB and sponsoring federal government agencies. The FACC consists of the federal officials from contributing agencies and departments. The FACC shall:

• Coordinate and leverage ongoing federal research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) efforts to meet the responder requirements as identified and prioritized by the IAB.
• Solicit and coordinate mission support for the IAB, which includes activities such as organizational staff support, contributory funding, project sponsors, meetings, technical support, the IAB business cycle, and resulting products.
• Meet with the IAB Chairperson and/or Vice Chairperson on a regular basis to review SubGroup recommendations and actions.
• Meet to coordinate federal requirements for action by the IAB.
• Attend general membership meetings.
• Review and approve the annual operating budget for the IAB and maintain a support staff to facilitate the operation of the IAB.

SubGroups: The IAB has five SubGroups as listed below. The SubGroups are composed of subject matter experts who address domestic preparedness equipment, systems, and protection issues related to a specific commodity area. The role of each Subgroup is to maintain and update its portion of the SEL and to address the ways and means by which technology can support all-hazards response concerns. Additionally, the SubGroups take the lead for developing the functional requirements for equipment, identify interoperability and compatibility issues, and develop priorities for standards development within their respective commodity areas. The SubGroups identify existing standards that may be incorporated into the Equipment Standards Suite without change, identify standards that may be incorporated into the suite after modification, and recommend areas for development of standards where none currently exist.

• Personal Protective and Operational Equipment (PP&OE)
• Detection and Decontamination (D&D)
• Interoperable Communications and Information Systems (ICIS)
• Medical (MSG)
• Training (TSG)

Committees: The following are the three additional IAB committees.

• Standards Coordination Committee (SCC) consisting of SubGroup and Committee Co-Chairs or designated representatives and subject matter experts (SMEs) from various standards development organizations. The SCC is responsible for coordinating all-hazards equipment, training, and operational standards projects of the IAB SubGroups with other organizations and enforcing authorities. As the various SubGroups of the IAB determine minimum performance, reliability, quality, and other qualification requirements for their respective commodities, the SCC—representing regulatory, consensus, and voluntary standards organizations—will endeavor to create national harmonization by incorporating the requirements into their standards. The SCC will also serve as a reviewer during the development of qualification requirements by other SubGroups to:
• alert SubGroups and request reconciliation when contradictory requirements for complementary equipment are proposed;
• alert SubGroups when proposed requirements are contradictory to federal or state regulations;
• raise attention to similar or additional requirements under internal development within the regulatory, consensus, and voluntary standards organizations; and
• provide technical and nontechnical advice for improvements.
• Science and Technology (S&T) consists of SubGroup and Committee member representatives and subject matter experts in the research and development (R&D) field. The mission of the S&T Committee is to identify interagency (local, state, and federal) first responder R&D requirements and innovative technologies (fieldable in the next 6 months to 5 years) that address all-hazards detection, individual and collective protection, medical support, decontamination, communications systems, information technology, training, and operational support.
• Compatibility and Interoperability Committee (CIC) consists of member representatives and SMEs who address domestic preparedness equipment, systems, and protection issues related to specific interoperability and compatibility issues.

Co-Chairs: Each SubGroup/Committee elects two Co-Chairs, one from the local and state ranks and a second from federal ranks. The Co-Chairs shall be elected for two-year terms with the elections for the local/state Co-Chair and the federal Co-Chair being conducted on alternating years. The first local and state Co-Chair will have a term of one year to achieve this alternating cycle. Co-Chairs may be re-elected when their term has ended; there are no “term limits” for the Co-Chairs. The duties of SubGroup/Committee Co-Chairs are as follows:

• Direct the efforts to accomplish the scope of IAB activities as identified in this charter.
• Provide liaison with the IAB Chairperson and/or Vice Chairperson.
• Complete and provide to the chair, via the support staff, all administrative reports as required by the chair.
• Serve as a member on the SCC.
• Provide membership recommendations. It is the responsibility of the Co-Chairs to review membership participation annually and to ensure SubGroup membership represents the interest across the entire responder community.
• Assign a SubGroup member representative to liaison with other SubGroups and committees as needed or directed by the IAB Chairperson and/or Vice Chairperson.

• Participate in the SubGroups/Committees and lend expertise and support to the IAB .
• SubGroup/Committee membership will be limited to 20 voting members.
• SubGroup membership may be augmented with additional SMEs, as nonvoting members, for specific projects, or with members of other SubGroups in a nonvoting status.
• Nomination for membership can be made by any IAB member to the SubGroup/Committee Co-Chairs.
• Members are appointed by a majority vote of the two SubGroup/Committee Co-Chairs and the IAB Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.
• Individuals may serve as voting members in only one SubGroup; however, they may participate in a nonvoting status in other SubGroups.

The IAB shall conduct its mission during three formal board meetings annually and SubGroup/ Committee sessions and working groups as needed.

• Meeting agendas will be set by the IAB Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.
• Agenda work items shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
• Publish an Annual Report of work.
• SEL data development and publication.
• Prioritization of equipment, standards, and training requirements.
• Evaluation of existing standards that link to AEL/SEL items.
• Establish the priority needs of the responder community regarding equipment, standards, interoperability and compatibility, and training issues and gaps.