What is the relationship between the National Response Framework and the National Incident Management System?

The National Response Framework is a guide to how the United States responds to all types of disasters and emergencies. It is built on scalable, flexible, and adaptable concepts identified in the National Incident Management System to align key roles and responsibilities across the United States. Issued in 2008, this Framework describes specific authorities and best practices for managing incidents that range from the serious but purely local to large-scale terrorist attacks or catastrophic natural disasters. It includes actions to save lives, protect property and the environment, stabilize communities, and meet basic human needs following an incident. It also includes the execution of emergency plans and actions to support short-term recovery. The National Response Framework details the principles, roles and responsibilities, and coordinating structures for delivering the core capabilities required to respond to an incident and further describes how response efforts integrate with those of the other mission areas. Scalable, flexible, and adaptable coordinating structures are essential in aligning the key roles and responsibilities to deliver the Response mission area’s core capabilities. The flexibility of such structures helps ensure that communities across the country can organize response efforts to address a variety of risks based on their unique needs, capabilities, demographics, governing structures, and non-traditional partners. This Framework is not based on a one-size-fits-all organizational construct, but instead acknowledges the concept of tiered response which emphasizes that response to incidents should be handled at the lowest jurisdictional level capable of handling the mission. Because government resources alone cannot meet all the needs of those affected by major disasters, the Framework is is an all-inclusive concept intended to be used by the whole community. It enables a full range of stakeholders—individuals, families, communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, and local, state, tribal, territorial, insular area, and Federal governments to participate in national preparedness activities and to be full partners in incident response. In implementing the National Response Framework to build national preparedness, partners are encouraged to develop a shared understanding of broad-level strategic implications as they make critical decisions in building future capacity and capability. The response protocols and structures described in the NRF align with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which provides the incident management basis for the NRF and defines standard command and management structures. Standardizing national response doctrine on NIMS provides a consistent, nationwide template to enable the whole community to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the effects of incidents regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity.

• Ensure that the country is able to respond effectively to all types of incidents, ranging from those that are adequately handled with local assets to those of catastrophic proportion that require marshalling capabilities

• Describe scalable, flexible, and adaptable coordinating structures, as well as key roles and responsibilities for integrating capabilities across the whole community, to support the efforts of local, state, tribal, territorial, insular area, and Federal governments in responding to actual and potential incidents

• Describe, across the whole community, the steps needed to prepare for delivering the response core capabilities

• Foster integration and coordination of activities within the Response mission area

• Outline how the Response mission area relates to the other mission areas, as well as the relationship between the Response core capabilities and the core capabilities in other mission areas

• Provide guidance through doctrine and establish the foundation for the development of the supplemental Response Federal Interagency Operational Plan (FIOP)

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• A unique and harmonized framework for emergency response has been established.

Lessons Learned

• This Framework is a living document, and it will be regularly reviewed to evaluate consistency with existing and new policies, evolving conditions, and the experience gained from its use. The first review will be completed no later than 18 months after the release of the Framework. Subsequent reviews will be conducted in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the Framework on a quadrennial basis.

Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5, Management of Domestic Incidents, directed the development and administration of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable Federal, State, local  and tribal governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to work together to:

• prevent,
• protect against,
• respond to,
• recover from, and
• mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity.

NIMS works hand in hand with the National Response Framework (NRF). NIMS provides the template for the management of incidents, while the NRF provides the structure and mechanisms for national-level policy for incident management. NIMS represents a core set of doctrines, concepts, principles, terminology, and organizational processes that enables effective, efficient, and collaborative incident management. NIMS includes:

• a unified approach to incident management called the Incident Command System (ICS);
• standard command and management structures; and
• an emphasis on preparedness, mutual aid and resource management.

EPA's Office of Emergency Management began implementation of NIMS in 2005 providing ICS training to On Scene Coordinators and Response Support Corp members. Training concepts are tested during annual exercises both at the regional and national level. Additionally, each region has established Incident Management Teams, with trained and EPA certified personnel in ICS Key Leadership Positions (KLP) which are critical to EPA responses.

EPA has also established a National Incident Management Assistance Team (NIMAT) to provide support to impacted regions during large scale or long duration responses such as hurricanes or earthquakes. The NIMAT provides a team of ICS experts who can provide coaching or step in to a KLP when needed. The NIMAT is deployed to support the region by the National Incident Coordinator (Director, Office of Emergency Management) in consultation with the impacted region.

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The NIMS and NRF are companion documents and are designed to improve the Nation’s incident management and response capabilities. While NIMS provides the template for the management of incidents regardless of size, scope or cause, the NRF provides the structure and mechanisms for national level policy of incident response.

Together, the NIMS and the NRF integrate the capabilities and resources of various governmental jurisdictions, incident management and emergency response disciplines, non-governmental organizations, and the private-sector into a cohesive, coordinated, and seamless national framework for domestic incident response.