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C. Unification of Federal, State and Local Response

1. Introduction

Throughout the management of the terrorist incident, crisis and consequence management components will operate concurrentl(see Figure 3). The concept of operations for a Federal response to a terrorist threat or incident provides for the designation of an LFA to ensure multi-agency coordination and a tailored, time-phased deployment of specialized Federal assets. It is critical that all participating Federal, State, and local agencies interact in a seamless manner.

2. National Level Coordination

The complexity and potential catastrophic consequences of a terrorist event will require application of a multi-agency coordination system at the Federal agency headquarters level. Many critical on-scene decisions may need to be made in consultation with higher authorities. In addition, the transfer of information between the headquarters and field levels is critical to the successful resolution of the crisis incident.

Upon determination of a credible threat, FBI Headquarters (FBIHQ) will activate its Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC) to coordinate and manage the national level support to a terrorism incident. At this level, the SIOC will generally mirror the JOC structure operating in the field. The SIOC is staffed by liaison officers from other Federal agencies that are required to provide direct support to the FBI, in accordance with PDD-39. The SIOC performs the critical functions of coordinating the Federal response and facilitating Federal agency headquarters connectivity. Affected Federal agencies will operate headquarters-level emergency operations centers, as necessary.

Upon notification by the FBI of a credible terrorist threat, FEMA may activate its Catastrophic Disaster Response Group. In addition, FEMA will activate the Regional Operations Center and Emergency Support Team, as required.

3. Field Level Coordination

During a terrorist incident, the organizational structure to implement the Federal response at the field level is the JOC. The JOC is established by the FBI under the operational control of the FederalOSC, and acts as the focal point for the strategic management and direction of on-site activities, identification of State and local requirements and priorities, and coordination of the Federal response. The local FBI field office will activate a Crisis Management Team to establish the JOC, which will be in the affected area, possibly collocated with an existing emergency operations facility. Additionally, the JOC will be augmented by outside agencies, including representatives from the DEST (if deployed), who provide interagency technical expertise as well as inter-agency continuity during the transition from an FBI command post structure to the JOC structure.

Similar to the Area Command concept within the ICS, the JOC is established to ensure inter-incident coordination and to organize multiple agencies and jurisdictions within an overall command and coordination structure. The JOC includes the following functional groups: Command, Operations, Admin/Logistics, and Consequence Management (see Figure 4). Representation within the JOC includes officials from local, State and Federal agencies with specific roles in crisis and consequence management.

The Command Group of the JOC is responsible for providing recommendations and advice to the Federal OSC regarding the development and implementation of strategic decisions to resolve the crisis situation and for approving the deployment and employment of resources. In this scope, the members of the Command Group play an important role in ensuring the coordination of Federal crisis and consequence management functions. The Command Group is composed of the FBI Federal OSC and senior officials with decision making authority from local, State, and Federal agencies, as appropriate, based upon the circumstances of the threat or incident. Strategies, tactics and priorities are jointly determined within this group. While the FBI retains authority to make Federal crisis management decisions at all times, operational decisions are made cooperatively to the greatest extent possible. The FBI Federal OSC and the senior FEMA official at the JOC will provide, or obtain from higher authority, an immediate resolution of conflicts in priorities for allocation of critical Federal resources between the crisis and consequence management responses.

A FEMA representative coordinates the actions of the JOC Consequence Management Group, and expedites activation of a Federal consequence management response should it become necessary. FBI and FEMA representatives will screen threat/incident intelligence for the Consequence Management Group. The JOC Consequence Management Group monitors the crisis management response in order to advise on decisions that may have implications for consequence management, and to provide continuity should a Federal consequence management response become necessary.

Should the threat of a terrorist incident become imminent, the JOC Consequence Management Group may forward recommendations to the ROC Director to initiate limited pre-deployment of assets under the Stafford Act. Authority to make decisions regarding FRP operations rests with the ROC Director until an FCO is appointed. The senior FEMA official in the JOC ensures appropriate coordination between FRP operations and the JOC Command Group.

4. On-Scene Coordination

Once a WMD incident has occurred (with or without a pre-release crisis period), local government emergency response organizations will respond to the incident scene and appropriate notifications to local, State, and Federal authorities will be made. Control of this incident scene will be established by local response authorities (likely a senior fire or law enforcement official). Command and control of the incident scene is vested with the Incident Commander/Unified Command. Operational control of assets at the scene is retained by the designated officials representing the agency (local, State, or Federal) providing the assets. These officials manage tactical operations at the scene in coordination with the UC as directed by their agency counterparts at field-level operational centers, if used. As mutual aid partners, State and Federal responders arrive to augment the local responders. The incident command structure that was initially established will likely transition into a Unified Command (UC). This UC structure will facilitate both crisis and consequence management activities. The UC structure used at the scene will expand as support units and agency representatives arrive to support crisis and consequence management operations. On-scene consequence management activities will be supported by the local and State EOC, which will be augmented by the ROC or Disaster Field Office, and the Emergency Support Team, as appropriate.

When Federal resources arrive at the scene, they will operate as a Forward Coordinating Team (FCT). The senior FBI representative will join the Unified Command group while the senior FEMA representative will coordinate activity of Federal consequence management liaisons to the Unified Command. On-scene Federal crisis management resources will be organized into a separate FBI Crisis Management Branch within the Operations Section, and an FBI representative will serve as Deputy to the Operations Section Chief. Federal consequence management resources will assist the appropriate ICS function, as directed (see Figure 5).

Throughout the incident, the actions and activities of the Unified Command at the incident scene and the Command Group of the JOC will be continuously and completely coordinated.