| US gets a National Continuity Coordinator
The directive establishes a National Continuity Policy and sees the appointment of The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, currently Ms Frances Townsend, as ‘National Continuity Coordinator’, responsible for the coordination, development and implementation of Federal continuity policies, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The Continuity Policy Coordination Committee (CPCC) will be the main day-to-day forum for such policy coordination. The directive also establishes ‘National Essential Functions (NEFs), prescribes continuity requirements for all executive departments and agencies, and provides guidance for State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector organizations “in order to ensure a comprehensive and integrated national continuity program that will enhance the credibility of our national security posture and enable a more rapid and effective response to and recovery from a national emergency”. The directive states that: - Continuity requirements shall be incorporated into daily operations of all executive departments and agencies. - Emphasis will be placed upon geographic dispersion of leadership, staff, and infrastructure in order to increase survivability and maintain uninterrupted Government functions. - Risk management principles shall be applied to ensure that appropriate operational readiness decisions are based on the probability of an attack or other incident and its consequences. - The Secretary of Homeland Security shall serve as the President's lead agent for coordinating overall continuity operations and activities of executive departments and agencies. - The National Continuity Coordinator, in consultation with the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies, will lead the development of a National Continuity Implementation Plan, which shall include prioritized goals and objectives, a concept of operations, performance metrics by which to measure continuity readiness, procedures for continuity and incident management activities, and clear direction to executive department and agency continuity coordinators, as well as guidance to promote interoperability of Federal Government continuity programs and procedures with State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate. The National Continuity Implementation Plan must be submitted within 90 days of the date of the directive (9 May). - Recognizing that each branch of the Federal Government is responsible for its own continuity programs, an official designated by the Chief of Staff to the President shall ensure that the executive branch's COOP and COG policies in support of ECG efforts are appropriately coordinated with those of the legislative and judicial branches in order to ensure interoperability and allocate national assets efficiently to maintain a functioning Federal Government. - Federal Government COOP, COG, and ECG plans and operations shall be appropriately integrated with the emergency plans and capabilities of State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate, in order to promote interoperability and to prevent redundancies and conflicting lines of authority. Read the full text of the directive. More information on Frances Townsend.
•Date: 17th May 2007 • Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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