Emergency Preparedness:
State DOT Role
Stephan A. Parker, TRB
AASHTO Standing Committee
on Public Transportation
Multi-State Technical
Assistance Program
(MTAP) Winter Meeting
Savannah, Georgia
December 6-9, 2010
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A Guide to Emergency Response
Planning at State Transportation
Agencies
NCHRP Project 20-59(23)
Published as NCHRP Report 525, Vol. 16
5
Project Purpose



Project 20-59(23) initiated to
replace 2002 Guide to Updating
Highway Emergency Response
(ER) Plans for Terrorist Incidents
Expand scope
Implement new national policy
and guidance
6
Project Objective
. . . to develop a recommended
guide for use by state transportation
agencies in planning and developing
their organizational functions, roles,
and responsibilities for emergency
response within the all-hazards
context of NIMS (the National
Incident Management System)
7
Why NIMS is Important


National uniformity in emergency management
Multi-agency cooperation:
• Collaborative planning
• Interoperable communications

Incident Command System
• Unified Command
• Structured response, even to minor incidents
• Flexibility to grow/adapt to meet complexities
of large-scale events


Standardize resource definitions
Continued improvement through after-action
reporting and inclusion in emergency
operations plans
8
Project Overview—
2002 Guide





A Guide to Updating Highway Emergency
Response (ER) Plans for Terrorist Incidents
Quick, direct response to 9/11
Addressed terrorist attacks, emphasis on
weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
Highway oriented
Preliminary guidelines
9
Update Project Stimuli

New national initiatives:
 National Incident Management System
(NIMS) all-hazards approach,
Incident Command System (ICS)
 National Response Framework (NRF)
Guidance
 National Preparedness Guidelines (NPG)
Examples
 Consistency through 15 standardized
Emergency Support Functions (ESFs)
• National Unified Goal (NUG)
for Traffic Incident Management (TIM)
10
Update Project Stimuli
(cont’d)

Build on completed research:
• Guide to Emergency Transportation
Operations (ETO)
• Complements risk management guidance,
including Costing Asset Protection: An All
Hazards Guide for Transportation Agencies
(CAPTA)

A different approach from 2002:
• Now have how-to Comprehensive
Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101
• Emphasis on NIMS/NPF/NUG compliance
• Much of 2002 Guide still useful
11
2010 Guide Differences





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Emergencies―larger scale
All hazards―more than traffic issues
Multimodal―more than highways
Operationally oriented and practical
NIMS/NRF/NPG―more application and
emphasis
State transportation agency in support role
(ESF #1, etc.)
Covers preparedness functions to support state
and local emergencies to include:
• Plan, organize, staff, train, exercise,
manage, implement, and fund preparations
Not a how-to-plan Guide―refer to
Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101
12
Some Key Tenets of Emergency
Management Planning Principles




Agency-wide emergency operations
plan
State transportation agency plans and
procedures complement state’s overall
emergency structure and plans
Agency plans to adhere to all-hazards
approach
Use conventional emergency
management planning cycle
(plan, prepare, respond, recover)
13
Key Tenets (cont’d)




Acknowledge that different state transportation
agencies (particularly DOTs) view their
response roles differently
Encourage agencies to be full players within
state emergency management community
Recognize need for agencies to understand
basic NIMS concepts of incident command
system (ICS), including unified command
Encourage agencies to reallocate resources
used originally to prepare for terrorist incident
responses to pre-event preparedness efforts
that enable agency response to full range of
emergencies
14
National Context
for Emergency Response
15
Implementation of HSPD-5,
Management of Domestic Incidents
16
Implementation of HSPD-7,
Infrastructure Identification,
Prioritization, and Protection
17
Implementation of HSPD-8,
National Preparedness
18
Emergency Management
Planning Process
Plan
Recover
Prepare
Respond
19
PLAN Steps



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Form collaborative planning team
Research state’s hazards and their
consequences
Analyze information
Determine goals and objectives
Develop and analyze courses
of action and identify resources
20
PLAN Steps (cont’d)




Write plan
Approve and implement plan
Train staff on plan
Exercise the plan
• Evaluate its effectiveness
• Create list of improvements
demonstrated in exercise

Review, revise, and maintain plan
21
PREPARE Steps




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Develop approaches to implement state
transportation agency roles and responsibilities
during emergencies, as specified in state’s EOP
and supporting annexes and referenced
materials
Establish protocols to communicate
with employees and general public
Develop plans and procedures to manage
traffic under emergency conditions
Develop mobilization plans to ensure readiness
to deploy agency personnel and resources
Ensure cost tracking and accountability
22
RESPOND Steps


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Initiate emergency response
Address emergency needs
and requests for support
Coordinate emergency response
with state transportation agency
providing support
Support evacuation/shelter-in-place/
quarantine in conjunction with law
enforcement
Conclude response
23
RECOVER Steps




Restore services and traffic
to affected area
Identify and implement lessons
learned
Learn–learn–learn
Replan
24
Agency Involvement
by Incident Level
25
State Transportation Agency
Planning Contexts

Within role as transportation lead
in State Emergency Operations Plan
(EOP)
• Primary: ESF #1―Transportation
• Secondary: ESF #3―Public Works
ESF #6―Mass Care
ESF #13―Public Safety/Security
ESF #14―Long-Term Recovery
– others as needed

Within agency’s own EOP
26
2010 Guide Products


Guide
• Summary
• Overview for state transportation agencies
(authorities, etc.)
• High-level requirements based on national
policies and guidelines
• High-level self-assessment w/pointers toward
Section 6
Section 6: Resource Guide
• Organizational/staffing/position guidance
• Decision-making sequences
• Detailed self-assessment and resource lists
27
2010 Guide Products (cont’d)
Appendices (A–M)
• Applicable parts of 2002 Report (A)
• Details of material summarized
in Sections 1–5 (B–G)
• Links to model emergency operations plans
(H)
• Policy/procedural memoranda/MOUs (I)
• Training/exercise plans (J)
• Annotated bibliography (K)*
• White Paper on Emergency Levels (L)*
• PowerPoint presentation (M)*
*Available by download

28
TRB Web site:
http://www.trb.org/SecurityPubs
Search for
A Guide to Emergency Response
Planning at State Transportation
Agencies
Graphic courtesy of Michigan State University,
Critical Incident Protocols, a Public-Private Partnership
29
Security-, Emergency Management-, and Infrastructure
Protection-related Projects In Development (December 2010)
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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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10.
11.
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Research Support for Transit Industrial Control Systems and Cyber Security
Role of Transportation in the Incident Command System (ICS) Structure & the
National Incident Management System (NIMS) Structure
Securing Transportation Structures, Systems & Facilities — Long Term R&D Plan
Catastrophic Transportation Emergency Management Guidebook
Debris Management Handbook for State and Local DOTs
Voice and Data Interoperability for Transportation
Synthesis of Airport Closings and Emergency Evacuation Problems
Regional Transportation Disaster Response Template
Integration of Security Training into Routine Operations Training
Public Transportation Response Plan for a Pandemic
Using Pictograms to Make Transit Easier to Navigate for Customers with
Communication Barriers
A Guide To Public Transportation Policing and Security for the Small and Medium
Transit System
Integrating Geographic Information Systems into Communications among Airports
and Community EMS Partners
Using Integrated Emergency Data Communication Systems at Airports
Integrating Community Emergency Response Teams at Airports
Multi Modal Transportation Workshop to Support the Rebuilding of Haiti
30
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May-June 2007
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www.TRB.org/NASecurityProducts
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