Developing a Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies (2020)

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1 SUMMARY Countermeasures Assessment and Security Experts (CASE™) and Western Management and Consulting (WMC) conducted research with the objective to develop a guide to emergency management (herein referred to as the 2020 Guide) for use by state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and other local/state/regional transportation agencies in emergency management within the all-hazards context of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The research effort focused on developing a primer that should be suitable for adoption by the AASHTO Special Committee on Transportation Security and Emergency Management (SCOTSEM) or its successor and includes approaches and recommendations applicable by all transportation modes under state control or influence. NCHRP REPORT 525: SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY, VOLUME 16: A GUIDE TO EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING AT STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES (2010) (herein referred to as the 2010 Guide) provided an approach to all-hazards emergency management and documented current practices in emergency response planning. The guide was designed to help executive management and emergency response planners as they assess their emergency plans and identify areas needing improvement. Since the guide was published, recent guidance at the national level has been reshaping the focus and long-term directions of transportation agencies. Hazards have continued to evolve and the risk of adverse natural and man-made events occurring is growing more common due to many pressures including aging infrastructure. There have been significant advances in transportation emergency management approaches to support state DOTs activities. Transportation plays a critical role in emergency management. As succinctly captured in the National Response Framework (NRF), “The ability to sustain transportation services, mitigate adverse economic impacts, meet societal needs, and move emergency relief personnel and commodities will hinge on effective transportation decisions at all levels.” Transportation’s unique role stems from the broad range of capabilities and responsibilities a transportation agency has: large and distributed workforces, easy access to heavy equipment and a robust communications infrastructure. In most states the only other agency capable of sustained mobilization of personnel and equipment to plan for or respond to any emergency is the National Guard. As noted in the 2015 Fundamental Capabilities of Effective All Hazards Infrastructure Protection, Resilience and Emergency Management for State DOT report, today there are higher expectations for transportation system performance and reliability and lower tolerance for delays. Even small events can have major consequences since the impact of any incident is magnified when a transportation network is operating at or past its capacity – as is the case in portions of many states as travel demand on their transportation networks grows. The research team considered the NCHRP 20-59(51)B project as an undertaking to incorporate updates and advances made in recent years to emergency management to the still relevant information, tools and resources contained in the 2010 Guide. By synthesizing the most recent (since 2010) existing literature and resources; layering in current NIMS, Traffic Incident Management System (TIMS) and other applicable national concepts, policy, guidance, and

2 procedures (such as National Preparedness Framework and National Transportation Recovery Strategy); and factoring in federal and state requirements (such as MAP-21 and the FAST Act), the research team approach has updated the material gathered in the 2010 Guide. Training and exercises are critical to effective emergency management. The sections addressing training and exercises were updated and expanded. Changes to NIMS compliance issues that have occurred since the 2010 Guide’s publication were incorporated into the 2020 Guide. In addition, the relevance of Traffic Incident Management (TIM) and security awareness training/exercises is discussed. Training implementation is particularly difficult for agencies with significant budget and resource constraints. Effective delivery of training to frontline personnel is another challenge. Interactive training solutions and training technologies such as those described in the NCHRP SYNTHESIS REPORT 468 (2015) and information on how to leverage existing programs and partnerships using shared resource models and interjurisdictional and interagency training activities to address these issues are included. To produce Developing a Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies, the research team reviewed the structure and organization of the 2010 Guide. Most sections of the current guide were retained, but the team did consolidate or reorganize some sections or appendices. The goal of the research project was to provide a resource for state DOTs with a focus on usability and implementation that supports the establishment of effective emergency management programs.