National Continuity Programs Directorate
Fact Sheet
The mission of FEMA's National Continuity Programs Directorate (NCP) is to serve the public by protecting our Nation's constitutional form of government.
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
FEMA's current emergency alert system, known as the Emergency Alert System (EAS), has been in place since 1994, replacing the Emergency Broadcast System that launched in 1963. The EAS allows the President to transmit a national alert within 10 minutes to citizens, and it allows state and local government officials to send messages during non-federal emergencies.
In 2007, NCP partnered with the Sandia National Laboratory to develop and deploy a pilot Web alert and relay system in the Gulf Coast States of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. The system known as the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) was piloted during this year's hurricane season. It includes an emergency telephone notification service with automated telephone message delivery to all residents in geographic areas affected by an emergency or disaster. IPAWS is designed to transform national emergency alerts from audio-only messages delivered over radios and televisions into a sophisticated system that can reliably and efficiently send alerts by voice, text in English, Spanish and American Sign Language.
Continuity Planning
In 2007, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, the Homeland Security Council and other key stakeholders, NCP drafted and published the National Continuity Implementation Plan, which was signed by the President in August of 2007. The Homeland Security Council Continuity Coordinator also appointed NCP as the Chair of the Interagency Continuity Advisory Group, the membership of which includes representatives from the Executive Office of the President, 15 federal departments, 53 federal agencies, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Last year, NCP also published two Federal Continuity Directives (FCD1 and FCD2) directing executive branch departments and agencies to carry out identified continuity planning requirements and assessment criteria. FCD 1 provides baseline continuity planning and program requirements, and FCD 2 provides specific guidance on identification, submission, review and validation processes for Mission Essential Functions and Primary Mission Essential Functions.
Also in 2007, NCP coordinated and provided national-level support to continuity exercises at the national, state and local levels across the nation. Specifically, in February 2007, NCP completed the Philadelphia Liberty Down, an inter-agency Continuity of Operations exercise in which over 700 key government officials participated. In March, NCP completed an exercise in St. Louis, Missouri, that included over 500 participants.
Looking forward
NCP will work to offer states a package of capabilities and vendors offering emergency communications technologies that meet national-level standards and that include the opt-in capabilities to send messages to cell phones and other devices, the emergency telephone notification [system], and warning services for the deaf and hard of hearing, in several foreign languages. Over the next year, NCP also will continue to work closely with other federal agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide a unified, integrated federal response.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 11:55:00 EDT