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EPA ANNOUNCES HOMELAND SECURITY STRATEGIC PLAN ONE OF MANY EFFORTS TO ENSURE AGENCY'S ABILITY TO PROTECT, RESPOND AND RECOVER

Release Date: 10/02/2002
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Environmental News

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman today announced EPA's Strategic Plan for Homeland Security. The plan is intended to support the President's National Strategy for Homeland Security and the efforts undertaken by a new Department of Homeland Security. Since November 2001, EPA, at the direction of Administrator Whitman, has been examining its mission as it relates to homeland security. Using its core mission of protecting public health and safeguarding the environment, the senior leadership of EPA has closely examined the role of EPA in protecting against and responding to any future terrorist attacks.

The Agency's Strategic Plan identifies goals in four mission-critical areas. The plan will serve as a blueprint for the Agency's senior leadership on how to enhance EPA's ability to meet its homeland security responsibilities. The activities and initiatives in the plan represent an enhancement of EPA's capabilities to detect, prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from terrorist incidents. The plan is one of many steps the Agency took in the weeks and months following September 11th to ensure the Agency's ability to fulfill its homeland security responsibilities. As the federal government continues to address the issue of protecting the nation the plan will continue to be revised and improved. Some of the activities identified in the plan may eventually be carried out by the new Department of Homeland Security or other agencies.

“As President Bush and Governor Ridge have emphasized, we all have a role to play in homeland security,” said Whitman. “The EPA Homeland Security Strategic Plan we are releasing today is designed to ensure that this Agency is doing what it should to meet its responsibilities as part of that effort.”

"I commend EPA for their work on their Homeland Security Strategic Plan and hope that it will serve as a model for other departments and agencies," said Homeland Security Advisor Tom Ridge. "As we continue our efforts to defend the Homeland, it is important that we have well thought- out strategies so that our resources can be targeted to the most urgent priorities."

The goals of the plan announced today are separated into four distinct mission areas: critical infrastructure protection; preparedness, response, and recovery; communication and information; and protection of EPA personnel and infrastructure. The strategic plan unveiled today lays out goals, tactics and results in each of these areas.

In addition to announcing the Agency's proposed strategic plan, Whitman signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, one of EPA’s federal partners, designed to enhance the Agency’s work with the Center with respect to biological contaminants in water.

Finally, in coordination with the Office of Homeland Security, EPA is developing a National Decontamination Team, a cadre of highly specialized and experienced emergency responders, engineers and scientists dedicated to providing immediate technical decontamination expertise at the scene of a chemical, biological, or radiological attack.

Over the past several years, various Presidential Decision Directives and other orders have assigned EPA responsibility for some very important aspects of homeland security. These explicit responsibilities include being the lead federal agency charged with helping to protect the nation=s water infrastructure from terrorist attack, being the lead agency responsible for the cleanup of any biological or chemical attacks, and having significant responsibilities in certain radiological attacks.

More recently, President Bush=s National Strategy for Homeland Security names EPA as the lead federal agency for reducing the vulnerability of the chemical industry and hazardous materials sector of the nation=s critical infrastructure.

EPA for the past year has been committed to assessing its homeland security responsibilities and capabilities. In addition to calling for the development of the Strategic Plan unveiled today, Administrator Whitman directed the Agency to undertake a thorough "lessons learned" study to determine what the agency had done well and what things needed to be done better in response to the September 11th attacks.

Since September 11th the EPA has taken a number of steps to ensure its abilities to meet its homeland security responsibilities. The Agency is adding 75 response staff personnel to strengthen its ability to respond simultaneously to multiple incidents. In addition, the Agency is providing advanced training and state of the art equipment to those who will respond to any chemical, biological, or radiological incident and is establishing a new Environmental Response Team West in Las Vegas to provide a quicker response time to any incidents that may happen in the western United States. The Agency has already awarded nearly $50 million in grants to the nation's largest drinking water facilities to assess their vulnerabilities and make security improvements and upgraded its Cincinnati facility to handle level three contaminants. Last week, Whitman announced a Homeland Security Research Center in the Agency's Cincinnati labs to coordinate research in areas such as building decontamination, rapid risk assessment and drinking water protection.

Attached are the Agency's goals in each mission area. To view the Agency's strategic plan log on to
www.epa.gov


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Critical Infrastructure Protection GoalsCritical Infrastructure Pro icalCritical Infrastructure Protection Goals Infrastructure Protection Goals

1. EPA will work with the states, tribes, drinking water and wastewater utilities (water utilities), and other partners to enhance the security of water and wastewater utilities.
2. EPA will work with the states, tribes, and other partners to enhance security in the chemical and oil industry.
3. EPA will work with other Federal agencies, the building industry, and other partners to help reduce the vulnerability of indoor environments in buildings to chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) incidents.
4. EPA will help to ensure that critical environmental threat monitoring information and technologies are available to the private sector, Federal counterparts, and state and local government to assist in threat detection.
5. EPA will be an active participant in national security and homeland security efforts pertaining to food, transportation, and energy.
6. EPA will manage its Federal, civil, and criminal enforcement programs to meet our homeland security, counter-terrorism, and anti-terrorism responsibilities under Presidential Decision Directives (PDD) 39, 62, and 63 and environmental civil and criminal statutes.

Critical Infrastructure Protection GoalsCritical Infrastructure PPreparedness, Response and Recovery GoalsInfrastructure Protection Goals

1. EPA will be prepared to respond to and recover from a major terrorist incident anywhere in the country. To do this, the Agency will maintain trained personnel and effective communications, ensure practiced coordination and decision-making, and provide the best technical tools and technologies to address threats.
2. EPA will communicate to Federal, state, and local agencies the Agency’s roles, responsibilities, authorities, capabilities, and inter-dependencies under all applicable emergency plans. The Agency will also understand the roles, responsibilities, authorities capabilities, and inter-dependencies of its partners.
3. EPA will support and develop the preparedness of state, local, and tribal governments and private industry to respond to, recover from, and continue operations after a terrorist attack.
4. EPA will advance the state of the knowledge in the areas relevant to homeland security to provide first responders and decision-makers with tools and the scientific and technical understanding they need to manage existing or potential threats to homeland security.

Critical Infrastructure Protection GoalsCritical Infrastructure Pro icaCommunication and Information GoalslInfrastructure Protection Goals

1. EPA will use reliable environmental information from internal and external sources to ensure informed decision-making and appropriate response.
2. EPA will effectively disseminate timely, quality environmental information to all levels of government, industry, and the public, allowing them to make informed decisions about human health and the environment.
3. EPA will exchange information with the national security community to prevent, detect, and respond to terrorist threats or attacks.
4. EPA will continually and reliably communicate with employees and managers.

Critical Infrastructure Protection GoalsCritical Infrastructure Pro icProtection of EPA Personnel and Infrastructure GoalsalInfrastructure Protection Goals

1. EPA will safeguard its employees.
2. EPA will ensure the continuation of the Agency’s essential functions and operations.
3. EPA will maintain a secure technology infrastructure capable of supporting lab data transport and analysis functions, 24x7 telecommunications to all EPA locations, and management of critical data and information.
4. EPA will ensure that the Agency’s physical structures and assets are secure and operational.