National Academies Press: OpenBook

Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning Guidelines for Transportation Agencies (2005)

Chapter: Chapter 4 - Capabilities Survey (Task 2)

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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Capabilities Survey (Task 2)." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning Guidelines for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13553.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Capabilities Survey (Task 2)." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning Guidelines for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13553.
×
Page 13
Page 14
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Capabilities Survey (Task 2)." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning Guidelines for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13553.
×
Page 14

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12 CHAPTER 4 CAPABILITIES SURVEY (TASK 2) Because much of the COOP planning effort will be spent building on existing processes within the agency, the team must begin its activity with a clear understanding of • The agency’s vulnerability to emergencies that could disrupt internal operations, and • How the agency currently would manage a major inter- nal disruption. Before beginning specific elements of the COOP planning process, the team can review the results of previously con- ducted threat and vulnerability assessments to determine potential hazards and analyze the agency’s current capabili- ties to manage those hazards. This activity is called a Capa- bilities Survey. In some agencies or in the business commu- nity, it might also be called a vulnerability assessment or risk analysis. In this activity, the team can also review internal plans and policies, including any applicable guidance or regulations. The team may also identify codes and regulations with effect on agency activities, as well as existing agreements to pro- vide support to other agencies or emergency responders. The capabilities survey will enable the agency to better determine what resources will be required to continue its operations. This step will also serve as an assessment of the overall readiness of the agency to handle any emergency sit- uation regardless of whether or not it requires COOP activa- tion. To complete this activity, the COOP team is advised to • Analyze capabilities, • Inventory resources, • Examine personnel assignments, • Determine vulnerabilities, • Review internal plans and policies, and • Evaluate lines of coordination. To complete this activity, the COOP team will require access to documents, assessments, plans and procedures, training materials, and other internal materials that describe the agency’s existing processes and procedures for managing internal disruptions. Worksheet 9 is a template team members can use to request documentation. Worksheet 10 is a template the team can use to identify vulnerabilities and capabilities and to provide an overall assessment regarding the level of disruption that may be experienced by the agency. In completing these worksheets, the COOP team is advised to first enter emergencies that could result in disruptions suf- ficient to trigger the COOP plan. As indicated in the tem- plates, these emergencies are categorized as: Natural Disas- ters, Security and Terrorism Emergencies, Loss of Utilities and Services, Equipment or System Failure, Information Security Emergencies, and Other Emergencies. Agencies would be wise to complete separate capabilities surveys based on each of the above categories. Once poten- tial emergencies have been identified, they can be assessed using a normative scale for their probability and effects. Then, the existing capabilities of the transportation agency to manage the potential emergency, were it to occur, can be identified. Finally, the overall disruption potential can be determined, by assessing the probability and effect of the emergency against the transportation agency’s capability to manage it. Based on this activity, the transportation agency will be able to distinguish specific types of emergencies as “Priority,” “High,” “Medium,” “Low” or “Very Low.” EVENTS REQUIRING ACTIVATION OF THE COOP PLAN Various circumstances may trigger full or partial COOP plan activation. In a recent survey conducted for this project in the fall of 2004, state DOTs, TMCs, and transit agencies identified the following emergencies as most likely to result in a situation that would require COOP capabilities: • Fire (41%); • Snow/ice storm (41%); • Power failure (40%); • Building/facility failure (38%); • Flooding (37%); • Terrorist event (35%); and • Interoperable communications failure (31%). Survey results from state DOTs, TMCs, and transit agencies are presented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Although

13 • Transit agencies are most concerned with fires, flood- ing, and power failures. SUMMARY The team’s completion of the capabilities survey will result in documentation of current capabilities. This documentation can be used to help assess the threats to the essential func- tions the agency chooses to focus on during emergencies that might require COOP activation. these results show similarities among the types of emergen- cies about which all transportation agencies are concerned, they also highlight distinct differences in the types of emer- gencies selected by state DOTs, TMCs, and pubic trans- portation agencies as most significant: • State DOTs are most concerned about terrorist attacks, power failures, and snow or ice storms. • TMCs are most concerned with facilities, communica- tions and power failures, and snow or ice storms. Figure 1. State DOT emergencies most likely to require COOP activation. Figure 2. TMC emergencies most likely to require COOP activation. 4% 4% 8% 8% 12% 12% 12% 12% 12% 19% 19% 19% 19% 19% 23% 31% 35% 38% 38% 38% 42% 42% 46% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Terrorist Event Power Failure Snow/Ice Building/Facility Failure Fire Flooding Tornado Cyber Attack/Virus Bomb Threat Communications Failure Earthquake/Tsunami Hurricane Major Systems Failure Terrorist Threat Biological Agent Release/Epidemic Chemical Agent Release Explosion Hazmat Release Workplace Violence Radiological/Nuclear Release Other Civil Disturbance Tropical Storm 3% 3% 3% 6% 9% 9% 12% 12% 15% 18% 21% 21% 21% 24% 27% 30% 30% 33% 33% 33% 42% 42% 45% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Snow/Ice Building/Facility Failure Communications Failure Earthquake/Tsunami Fire Power Failure Bomb Threat Terrorist Event Flooding Tornado Hazmat Release Hurricane Major Systems Failure Cyber Attack/Virus Tropical Storm Biological Agent Chemical Agent Release Explosion Radiological/Nuclear Release Terrorist Threat Civil Disturbance Workplace Violence Other

14 Figure 3. Transit agency events most likely to require COOP activation. 0% 0% 5% 5% 11% 11% 11% 11% 11% 16% 21% 21% 21% 21% 26% 26% 26% 32% 32% 32% 47% 53% 58% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Fire Flooding Power Failure Building/Facility Failure Major Systems Failure Snow/Ice Communications Failure Hurricane Terrorist Event Civil Disturbance Earthquake/Tsunami Explosion Tropical Storm Hazmat Release Bomb Threat Cyber Attack/Virus Terrorist Threat Tornado Other Biological Agent Chemical Agent Release Radiological/Nuclear Workplace Violence

Next: Chapter 5 - Identifying Essential Functions (Task 3) »
Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning Guidelines for Transportation Agencies Get This Book
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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 525: Surface Transportation Security and TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 86: Public Transportation Security series publications have jointly published Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning Guidelines for Transportation Agencies. The report is Volume 8 in each series. The report is designed to assist transportation agencies in evaluating and modifying existing operations plans, policies, and procedures, as called for in the National Incident Management System.

The planning guidelines in this report are supplemented online with downloadable worksheets, a template for a completed COOP plan, a series of brochures that can be used to explain the COOP planning process to staff, a draft PowerPoint presentation that may be customized and presented to transportation executive leadership, and more than 300 resource documents organized in an electronic COOP library. The supplement material can be downloaded in either a .ISO CD-ROM based format or a .ZIP format.

Download the TCRP/NCHRP COOP Library in the .ZIP format

Links to instructions on burning an .ISO CD-ROM and to the download site for the TCRP/NCHRP COOP CD-ROM are below.

Help on Burning an .ISO CD-ROM Image

Download the TCRP/NCHRP COOP Library in the .ISO CD-ROM Image format

NCHRP Report 525: Surface Transportation Security is a series in which relevant information is assembled into single, concise volumes—each pertaining to a specific security problem and closely related issues. The volumes focus on the concerns that transportation agencies are addressing when developing programs in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed. Future volumes of the report will be issued as they are completed.

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