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

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12 CHAPTER 5 AGENCY PRACTICES There have been significant advances in emergency management and transportation response planning since the 2010 Guide. Recent guidance at the national level has been reshaping the focus and long-term directions of transportation agencies. Hazards have also 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. Today’s transportation systems reflect increasing integration of cyber and physical systems as there continues to be significant deployment of new technologies to support DOT activities. Overall DOT efforts have improved emergency response planning and training since the 2010 Guide. When an emergency occurs, routine day-to-day operations give way to a focused, practiced, and resilient crisis management approach that requires professional skills throughout the breadth and depth of the organization. TIM provides processes and procedures for responders (firefighters, EMS, law enforcement, towing and recovery, safety patrols, transportation and maintenance crews, and 911 professionals) to work together as a team to clear incidents safely and quickly. NIMS integrates best practices into a comprehensive framework for use by emergency management personnel at the local, state, and federal levels. The Incident Command System (ICS) provides the integration of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications for emergencies. The goal of Task 4 of the research project was to review the current practices of transportation agencies in meeting the responsibilities of emergency management today and describe the range of transportation agency emergency management practices through illustrative case studies. In this task the research team analyzed collected information to acquire a current understanding of existing emergency management activities at a cross section of transportation agencies. Agency practices were identified related to the fundamental emergency management stages along with current information about the resilience and sustainability of operational systems were identified. The research team also has identified candidate organizations for the preparation of in-depth case studies that document effective emergency management practices that should be shared with the transportation community through the 2020 Guide. Outreach was used to gather information to prepare the in-depth case studies. Case study candidates were selected based on a variety of factors including diversity of hazards, geography and size, and effectiveness in meeting their emergency management responsibilities. The table below provides a summary of the selected case studies. State DOT  Description  Tennessee Department of  Transportation  Emergency Preparedness, Exercise Planning, and  Federal Reimbursement Program Practices  Iowa Department of Transportation  FHWA Emergency Relief (ER) and FEMA Public  Assistance (PA) Reimbursement Programs  Louisiana Department of  Transportation and Development  (DOTD)   Asset Documentation and Tracking, Procedures for  Emergency Transportation 

13 California Department of  Transportation (Caltrans)  Training and Emergency Management Technology   California Department of  Transportation (Caltrans)  MPO Emergency Management Coordination