FEDERAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS 2

Federal Emergency Response Plans

Since its early years the US federal government has always engaged in disaster
management. However, until 1950 when Congress passed Federal Civil Defense Act, the federal
government’s role in emergency response and management was usually reactive rather than
proactive (FEMA, 2016). After the passing of Civil Defense Act, other acts and directives were
passed in the following years. They established a comprehensive plan for emergency response by
the federal government, established one federal agency to deal with federal emergency response,
broadened the nature of emergencies that the federal government could respond to, and specified
roles and coordination mechanism of emergency response at various levels of government.
Following September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) was established to manage all federal emergency responses. It is DHS that inaugurated
National Response Plan (NRP) and later National Response Framework (NRF).

National Response Plan

The NRP was inaugurated in 2004 as a national plan guiding the US government’s
response to various emergencies such as terrorist attacks and natural disasters. The main role of
the plan was to ensure that response to emergencies by federal, state, and local agencies was
done in a coordinated manner (Congressional Research Service (CRS), 2011). The rationale of
the plan was the need to have coordinated and integrated national response plan in the wake of
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Before NRP there were around five different such plans
that provided structures for disaster and emergency responses (CRS, 2011).

FEDERAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS 3
According to this plan, it is local governments that have the primary responsibility of
responding to an emergency. If they are overwhelmed by the emergency due to, among other
factors, resource limitations then the county government steps in to help with the response
(FEMA, 2016). Likewise, if it exhausts its resources, state and then federal government
emergency management agencies intervene. While emergency response management follows
this chain, it is the role of the federal government to prepare professionals who manage
emergency responses at all government levels (FEMA, 2016).

National Response Framework

NRF, whose implementation began in 2008, is the successor of NRP. It provides guiding
principles and doctrine for a unified response to emergencies not just by different levels of
government but also other non-governmental organizations that may be involved in the response
(CRS, 2011). It has five main principles. These are engaged partnership, readiness to act, unity of
effort through unified command, scalable and flexible operational capabilities, and tiered
response.

Engaged partnership seeks to prevent any government level from being overwhelmed by
an emergency through having leaders at all levels work together to align their capabilities and
develop shared goals. The principle o readiness to act requires that all levels of government as
well as communities, households, and individuals be prepared to act appropriately in emergency
situations. Unity of effort through unified command principle seeks to establish proper
coordination in emergency response efforts to establish a simple chain of command to guide
various units involved in the response. The goal of the principle of scalable and flexible
operational capabilities is to have a highly flexible response that easily makes needed changes as

FEDERAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS 4
the complexity, scope, and size of the emergency changes. Lastly, tiered response promotes
efficient management of responses by having the lowest jurisdictional levels handle emergencies
first and only seek help from higher levels of government when need arises (FEMA, 2016).

Reasons for replacement of NRP with NRF

Hurricane Katrina was the first major disaster that was handled under NRP. Perceived
failures in the response exposed NRPs weaknesses and led to its replacement with NRF. NRP
was criticized for being too bureaucratic, lengthy, and complicated (CRS, 2011). Additionally,
critics also found it to be focused more on emergency preparedness and response at the federal
level at the expense of other government levels (CRS, 2011). NRF is simpler, shorter, and
provides appropriate focus to all jurisdictional levels that may be involved in emergency
response.

FEDERAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS 5

References

Congressional Research Service (CRS) (2011). The National Response Framework: Overview
and Possible Issues for Congress. Retrieved on 13 th October, 2019 from www.crs.gov

FEMA (2016). National Response Framework. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved on
13 th October, 2019 from
https://googleweblight.com/i?u=https://www.fema.gov/media-
library/assets/documents/117791&hl=en