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24 A Guide to Emergency Response Planning at State Transportation Agencies
of the emergency planning process taking place in the United States today. The 2009 publication
replaces State and Local Guide 101, Guide for All-Hazards Emergency Planning (SLG101) (SLG101,
1996) and emphasizes the following 12 principles of effective emergency planning:
1. Planning is an orderly, analytical, problem-solving process.
2. Plans guide preparedness activities.
3. Planning helps deal with complexity.
4. Emergency planning addresses all hazards.
5. Emergency planning does not need to start from scratch.
6. Planning depicts the anticipated environment for action.
7. Planning must involve all partners.
8. Planning assigns tasks, allocates resources, and establishes accountability.
9. Planning includes senior officials throughout the process to ensure both understanding and
buy-in.
10. Time, uncertainty, risk, and experience influence planning.
11. Effective plans not only tell those within the planning community what to do (the task) and why
to do it (the purpose), effective plans also inform those outside the jurisdiction about how to
cooperate and provide support and what to expect.
12. Planning is fundamentally a risk management tool.
There also is a distinction between a state transportation agency managing its specific responsi-
bilities, as directed, in large-scale evacuations as part of the larger EM activity versus actually man-
aging large-scale evacuations, which is not typically the agency's role. Put another way, in relatively
small incidents, the state transportation agency will play a proactive role in managing the incident,
perhaps in a supporting role to law enforcement; however, in a major incident/evacuation/shelter-
in-place/quarantine, while the agency's role might be a major one, it is expressly a supporting role.
With these fundamental principles in mind, the 2010 Guide's discussion of emergency plan-
ning begins by reviewing the steps necessary to create an effective emergency planning process,
realizing that emergency planning does not need to start from scratch. This is especially true in
today's post-9/11 and Hurricane Katrina environment in which most states have emergency
planning processes in place.
This 2010 Guide also recognizes that there are numerous, acceptable planning processes that
state transportation agencies can take that may not exactly match the processes discussed here. It
is important to note, however, that regardless of the approach used, each planning process should
address the key principles above and meet the requirements of NIMS and the NRF. Table 3, copied
from CPG 101, depicts the relationships among different planning processes.
The following provides updated guidance to state transportation agencies pertaining to the most
recent federal emergency planning policies and resources, including the all-hazards approach to
emergency management required by NIMS and the NRF. The format encourages agencies to con-
duct self-assessments and is intended to assist them as they evaluate their current emergency plan-
ning processes and determine if these processes are consistent with recent federal requirements and
guidelines. The discussion also provides resources to those agencies that find their emergency plan-
ning processes do need to be updated or modified. Being NIMS-compliant is important, as is devel-
oping workable emergency plans that meet all participants' expectations.
Step 1--Form a Collaborative Planning Team
CPG 101 states, ". . . planners achieve unity of purpose through horizontal coordination and
vertical integration of plans among all levels and sectors." Simply put, planning is a continuous and
ongoing process that requires the active participation of, involvement of, and coordination with
all levels of government. The reason for using a multi-organizational and multidisciplinary
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Develop an Emergency Preparedness Program 25
Table 3. Comparison of published planning processes.
Integrated CPG 101 NIMS NIMS Incident
Planning Preparedness Command
System
Form the planning team
Understand Understand Understand the Gather
the situation the situation situation information
· Conduct
research
· Analyze the
information
Determine Determine Establish Estimate
goals and goals and incident course and
objectives objectives objectives and harm
strategy
Determine
appropriate
strategic goals
Plan Develop the Develop the Assess
development plan plan options and
(analyze · Develop and resource
analyze requirements
courses of
courses of
action) action
· Identify
resources
Plan Plan Prepare and Plan and
preparation, preparation, disseminate the implement
review, review, plan actions
approval
approval
· Write the
plan
· Approve and
disseminate
the plan
Source: CPG 101, 2009
planning team is clear--a broad range of expertise is necessary to effectively implement the all-
hazards approach of emergency management prescribed by NIMS and Principle 4 (emergency
planning addresses all hazards).
Given the number and complexity of the different hazards a community may face, it is excep-
tionally difficult for any one individual, or even an organization, to be fully versed in how to best
prepare for, respond to, and recover from every hazard, particularly when the incident escalates.
Forming a collaborative planning team enables all participants to gain a better understanding of
the capabilities, needs, and response tactics of each organization involved in the response activ-
ities. Forming the team also addresses Principles 3 (planning helps deal with complexity) and 7
(planning must involve all partners) by enabling team participants to better understand how the
decisions made by emergency managers and responders at all government levels may affect the
ability of others to fulfill their response requirements. The four key phases in Step 1 are described
below.12
12
Recall that much of this information, including the supporting references, is summarized in tabular form in
"Organizational, Staffing, and Position Guidance" in Section 6.
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26 A Guide to Emergency Response Planning at State Transportation Agencies
PLAN Phase 01: Identify and Designate a Lead Emergency Planning
Coordinator (EPC) and Staff to Oversee the State Transportation Agency
Emergency Planning Process
Purpose. Designate the best-qualified individuals and team to lead the state transportation
agency's emergency planning function.
Actions. Designate a lead Emergency Planning Coordinator (EPC) and staff to oversee the
agency's emergency planning process. Vest the EPC with adequate authority and resources to
fulfill the goals and objectives of the agency's emergency management program.
Focus. Develop a comprehensive EOP and coordinate state transportation agency emergency
planning and management activities with the state's NIMS coordinator. For the State EOP, the
State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) will likely have formed the team, with the trans-
portation agency being a lead agency for ESF #1 (Transportation) and ESF #3 (Public Works) and
supporting others. This team would typically include DHS and FEMA regional offices and per-
sonnel; state emergency management representatives; law enforcement personnel; public health
officials; emergency fire, medical and rescue services personnel; and even some local EMAs.
For the state transportation agency's EOP, the team will tend more toward regional and local lev-
els, including agencies that would be part of traffic incident and emergency response in the absence
of State EOC (SEOC) activation. There should be total consistency between the state's and the trans-
portation agency's EOPs from the top-down perspective, but the agency's EOP will have more details
and probably a broader set of partners--more locally oriented--than the State EOP. Appendix C
lists the typical stakeholders in TIM and ER and their typical roles and responsibilities. Delineation
of roles and responsibilities is discussed further in a white paper (see Appendix L).
National Incident Management System Compliance Issues. To achieve NIMS compliance,
· Adopt NIMS for all departments and agencies, as well as promote and encourage NIMS adop-
tion by associations, utilities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private-sector emer-
gency management and incident response organizations.
· Establish and maintain a planning process to communicate, monitor, and implement all
NIMS compliance objectives across the state/territory/tribe (including departments/agencies),
to include local governments. This process must provide a means for measuring progress and
facilitate reporting.
· Designate and maintain a single point of contact within government to serve as principal coor-
dinator for NIMS implementation jurisdiction-wide (to include a principal coordinator for
NIMS implementation within each department/agency).
Supporting Resources.
· Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning, http://www.fema.gov/pdf/plan/
0-prelim.pdf
· NCHRP Report 525: Surface Transportation Security, Volume 6: Guide for Emergency Transporta-
tion Operations, search for title at www.TRB.org/SecurityPubs
PLAN Phase 02: Establish Authority of EPC and Planning Team
Purpose. Ensure the state transportation agency's Emergency Planning Coordinator (EPC)
and Planning Team have adequate authority to perform the emergency planning function.
Actions. Demonstrate management's commitment and promote an atmosphere of coopera-
tion by authorizing the agency EPC and Planning Team to take the steps necessary to develop/update
the agency's emergency plans and response program. Support this action by participating in the State
EOP process.
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Develop an Emergency Preparedness Program 27
Establish a clear line of authority between team members and the state transportation agency
EPC. Upper management should appoint participants to the planning team in writing. Partici-
pant job descriptions could also reflect this assignment.
Focus. Develop a comprehensive EOP and coordinate state transportation agency emer-
gency planning and management activities with the state's NIMS coordinator.
National Incident Management System Compliance Issues. Establish and maintain a plan-
ning process to communicate, monitor, and implement all NIMS compliance objectives across
the state/territory/tribal departments and agencies, to include local governments. This process
must provide a means for measuring progress and facilitate reporting.
Supporting Resources.
· NRF Resource Center, http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nrf/mainindex.htm
PLAN Phase 03: Issue Mission Statement for the Planning Team
Purpose. Clarify the purpose of the state transportation agency's emergency planning function.
Actions. The state transportation agency Chief Executive Officer (CEO) should issue a mis-
sion and vision statement to demonstrate the agency's commitment to emergency planning.13
The statement should define and/or identify the following:
· Scope of activities to be performed by the EPC and Planning Team,
· The agency's high-level goals for the emergency planning process,
· Documents and/or programs to be developed by the agency's emergency planning team. The
statement should emphasize that the entire organization should be involved in creating these
documents and programs, and
· The authority and structure of the planning group.
Focus. Develop a comprehensive EOP and coordinate state transportation agency emergency
planning and management activities with the state's NIMS coordinator.
National Incident Management System Compliance Issues. Establish and maintain a plan-
ning process to communicate, monitor, and implement all NIMS compliance objectives across
the state/territory/tribal departments and agencies, to include local governments. This process
must provide a means to measure progress and facilitate reporting.
Supporting Resources.
· Using Highways During Evacuation Operations for Events with Advance Notice: Routes to Effective
Evacuation Planning Primer Series, http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/evac_primer/
00_evac_primer.htm
PLAN Phase 04: Establish Planning Team Schedule and Budget
Purpose. Ensure the state transportation agency EPC and Planning Team have adequate
resources and schedule to perform the emergency planning function.
Actions. The Emergency Management Team defines specific goals and objectives of the
emergency management process and performance metrics. Establish a work schedule and plan-
ning deadlines. Modify timelines as priorities become more clearly defined. Develop an initial
13
References to the Chief Executive Officer are not intended to imply that he or she performs the work indicated--
staff typically does that--but it is important that the CEO strongly endorse the work.
