U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20472 Grant Programs Directorate Information Bulletin No. 335 November 18, 2009 TO: All State Administrative Agency Heads All State Administrative Agency Points of Contact All State Homeland Security Directors All Urban Area Security Initiative Points of Contact All State Emergency Management Agency Directors All Eligible Regional Transit Agencies All Private Sector Transportation Security Partners All Public and Private Sector Port Security Partners All Tribal Nation Points of Contact FROM: Timothy W. Manning Deputy Administrator National Preparedness Federal Emergency Management Agency SUBJECT: Completion of Transition from FEMA Secure Portal to the Homeland Security Information Network This Information Bulletin pertains to all homeland security partners of the Grant Programs Directorate (GPD) and the National Preparedness Directorate (NPD) who share or will need to share Sensitive But Unclassified information in the conduct of, or in compliance with, Federal assistance programs managed by GPD and NPD, including all users of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Secure Portal (https://PreparednessPortal.dhs.gov). Such programs include but are not limited to: . Buffer Zone Protection Program . Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program . Tactical Interoperable Communications Planning . Information Technology and Evaluation Program . Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program . Metropolitan Medical Response System . Port Security Grant Program . Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program . Transit Security Grant Program . Universal Task List All stakeholders are informed that the migration of users and data from the FEMA Secure Portal to an upgraded version of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Homeland Security www.fema.gov Information Network (HSIN), as previously announced in Information Bulletin #317, has been completed. HSIN 2.1 is an information sharing and collaboration system operated by the DHS Office of Operations Coordination and Planning on behalf of Federal, State, territory, tribal, and local homeland security mission area partners. This upgraded, 2.1 version will co-exist with the established, SharePoint-based system until all other existing users have been transitioned to the upgraded system. Similar to the Secure Portal, authorized users access a suite of Web-based collaboration tools to share information within and across “Communities of Interest” (COIs). FEMA Secure Portal to be Decommissioned As of November 18, 2009, all stakeholders with requirements for sharing Sensitive But Unclassified information are requested to use HSIN 2.1 (https://portal.hsin.gov) in place of the FEMA Secure Portal. Henceforth, all published references to the FEMA Secure Portal (also known as the Preparedness Portal, the Grants & Training Portal, and the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) ESPortal) regarding existing FEMA programs should be interpreted as referencing HSIN 2.1 and future upgrades. The FEMA Secure Portal will be taken offline for final decommissioning at midnight (Eastern Standard Time) on November 20, 2009. Prior to this time, Portal organization administrators must download and transfer all necessary files dated later than September 14, 2009 from the Secure Portal to HSIN, because all such files were not included in the bulk file transfer. Administration of Communities of Interest FEMA Secure Portal organizations with ongoing grants, exercise, or mission support roles have been replicated in the “FEMA Grants and Preparedness” community under the DHS mission area in HSIN 2.1. Similarly, FEMA Secure Portal organizations devoted to State or territory use have been replicated as respective State or territory “Grants and Preparedness” COIs in the HSIN State, territory, local mission area hierarchy. Each State and territory State Administrative Agency (SAA) is the “COI Sponsor” of their State and territory Grants and Preparedness COI in HSIN. Each SAA must designate an employee (a “Nominator-Validator”) to authorize access to the COI and information stored therein. It is permissible for the current COI administrator to be selected as the COI Nominator-Validator. At the earliest opportunity, every SAA should provide the name and contact information of the individual designated to be COI Nominator-Validator to: David Marsh, HSIN Mission Advocate, David.Marsh@associates.dhs.gov, or (703) 888-4609. Urban Areas interested in setting up their own COI should also contact David Marsh. All FEMA Secure Portal members who were organization administrators were nominated to be COI administrators in HSIN 2.1, and are expected to continue their duties until the COI Sponsor designates a replacement. State or territory SAAs who wish to change their State or territory COI administrator or provide the contact information for a newly nominated administrator must provide the individual’s name and contact information along with the designated COI Nominator-Validator’s contact information to: David Marsh, HSIN Mission Advocate, David.Marsh@associates.dhs.gov or (703) 888-4609. The COI Sponsor, or their designated COI Validator must approve the individual’s account registration. HSIN Membership FEMA Secure Portal members have been automatically vetted for accounts in their replacement HSIN COIs. These individuals will receive an email from HSIN providing a hyperlink to complete the registration process on-line, and must complete this process regardless of any preexisting HSIN 1.0 membership. Individuals who received no registration invitation or otherwise need a new HSIN account must be nominated to the appropriate COI, and can request nomination either directly from the COI Nominator-Validator (if known) or through the HSIN Help Desk at: HSIN.Helpdesk@dhs.gov, or (866) 430-0162 or (703) 674-3003. Individual applicants fill in and email a Nomination-Validation New User Access Request Form to the appropriate COI Validator. The COI Validator verifies the applicant information, completes any remaining form fields, and submits the request to HSIN. The Nomination-Validation Form and standard procedure for nomination-validation are available from either the HSIN Help Desk (contact information above) or the Centralized Scheduling and Information Desk (CSID) at: askcsid@dhs.gov or (800) 368-6498. The administration of FEMA Grants and Preparedness COIs, including the nomination and validation of new applicants into these COIs, is governed by GPD and NPD policy directive GPD-FY2009-01. A copy of “Homeland Security Information Network Membership Requirements for FEMA Grants & Preparedness Communities of Interest” can be requested from CSID at: askcsid@dhs.gov or (800) 368-6498. Nomination and validation of new applicants into State or territory “Grants and Preparedness” COIs will be governed by state or territory policy. HSIN Training A self-paced HSIN orientation tutorial is available for HSIN users through the HSIN Welcome page “Help” link. In addition, regularly-scheduled, instructor-led Webinars are offered by the HSIN Program Management Office for both basic User (Viewer or Contributor) training, and advanced Administrator training. DHS policy requires users nominated to be COI administrators to attend an instructor-led HSIN Administrator training Webinar prior to being granted administrator privileges. HSIN users can reserve one or more spaces for the User Training and the Admin Training sessions, currently scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays, by navigating from the HSIN Central Web page to the Web page tabbed “Training.” Training is conducted via the HSIN Connect Web conferencing application. Questions regarding the system migration from the Secure Portal, GPD and NPD programs, and FEMA Grants and Preparedness COIs should be directed to the CSID helpdesk at 1-800-3686498 or via e-mail at askcsid@dhs.gov. Questions regarding designation of State or territory “Grants and Preparedness” COI Nominator-Validators and Administrators, and coordination between the State-level COI and “Grants and Preparedness” COI, should be directed to: David Marsh, HSIN Mission Advocate, David.Marsh@associates.dhs.gov, or (703) 888-4609. Questions concerning HSIN system issues, new accounts, and training should be directed to: HSIN Help Desk at: HSIN.Helpdesk@dhs.gov, or (866) 430-0162 or (703) 674-3003.