A Guide to Emergency Response
Planning at State Transportation
Agencies
NCHRP Project 20-59(23)
Published as NCHRP Report 525, Vol. 16
Project Purpose
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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
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)
Why NIMS is Important
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National uniformity in emergency
management
Multi-agency cooperation:
• Collaborative planning
• Interoperable communications
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Incident Command System
• Unified Command
• Structured response, even to minor incidents
• Flexibility to grow/adapt to meet complexities
of large-scale events
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Standardize resource definitions
Continued improvement through after-action
reporting and inclusion in emergency
operations plans
Project Overview—
2002 Guide
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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
Update Project Stimuli
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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)
Update Project Stimuli (cont’d)
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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)
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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
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
Some Key Tenets of Emergency
Management Planning
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Agency-wide emergency operations
plan
State transportation agency plans and
procedures complement state’s overall
emergency structure and plans
Agency plans adhere to all-hazards
approach
Use conventional emergency
management planning cycle
(plan, prepare, respond, recover)
Key Tenets (cont’d)
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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
National Context
for Emergency Response
Implementation of HSPD-5,
Management of Domestic Incidents
Implementation of HSPD-7,
Infrastructure Identification,
Prioritization, and Protection
Implementation of HSPD-8,
National Preparedness
Emergency Management
Planning Process
Plan
Recover
Prepare
Respond
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
PLAN Steps (cont’d)
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Write plan
Approve and implement plan
Train staff on plan
Exercise the plan
• Evaluate its effectiveness
• Create list of improvements
demonstrated in exercise
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Review, revise, and maintain plan
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
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
RECOVER Steps
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Restore services and traffic
to affected area
Identify and implement lessons
learned
Learn–learn–learn
Replan
Agency Involvement
by Incident Level
State Transportation Agency
Planning Contexts
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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
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Within agency’s own EOP
2010 Guide Products
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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
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
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TRB Web site:
http://www.trb.org/SecurityPubs
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A Guide to Emergency Response
Planning at State Transportation
Agencies
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