Chapter Appendix A - Recommendations
Section Logistics and Evacuation
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Critical Challenge: Logistics and Evacuation
Lesson Learned: The Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with State and local governments and the private sector, should develop a modern, flexible and transparent logistics system. This system should be based on established contracts for stockpiling commodities at the local level for emergencies and the provision of goods and services during emergencies. The Federal government must develop the capacity to conduct large-scale logistical operations that supplement and, if necessary, replace State and local logistical systems by leveraging resources within both the public sector and the private sector. The Department of Transportation, in coordination with other appropriate departments of the Executive Branch, must also be prepared to conduct mass evacuation operations when disasters overwhelm or incapacitate State and local governments.
Recommendations:
38. DHS should partner with State and local governments, other Federal agencies and the private sector to develop an efficient, transparent and flexible logistics system for the procurement and delivery of goods and services during emergencies. DHS should develop a logistics system, utilizing an integrated supply chain management approach, capable of supporting large-scale disaster operations by leveraging resources within both the public sector and the private sector.
a. DHS should identify private sector resources that can be leveraged to supplement and provide surge capacity to the Federal support to disaster operations, execute direct vendor delivery contingency contracts with these sources prior to disasters, and encourage State and local governments to do the same. Such contracting practices would eliminate time-consuming and inefficient negotiations during emergencies. By utilizing direct vendor delivery contracts, shipments are sent directly to the customer from the supplier, bypassing unnecessary storage points. Participating State governments would identify their anticipated requirements and coordinate with DHS to ensure that contingency contracts are executed to meet those needs.
b. DHS should require that local and State governments establish contracts with private sector vendors for disaster relief supplies in advance of an emergency with the assurance of reimbursement should these contracts be activated in a post disaster declaration environment.
c. Federal government should allocate strategic goods and services or conduct re-supply operations during a catastrophic disaster when shortfalls occur in local and State resources. The new logistics system developed in concert with State and local governments, and the private sector should be transparent to all managers within the system (Federal, State and local governments and the private sector). The system should be comprehensive so that the full range of logistical requirements and the flow of goods and services can be tracked from provider to receiver. The system should take into account all the sources of logistical provisions such as mutual aid agreements within States, EMAC agreements between States, contracts between the private sector and Federal and State governments, and agreements between non-governmental, community, faith-based and volunteer organizations and Federal and State governments. The system should be designed to allow all Federal, State and local logistics managers to monitor the execution of mutual aid agreements between Federal homeland security regions, and to allow Federal prioritization of strategic logistics resources in circumstances where State and/or regional resources are depleted.
d. DHS should improve planning and coordination with State and local partners, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. DHS should ensure that its logistics system leverages the capabilities within local and State governments and all other potential reliable and credible resources. DHS should work with the National Emergency Management Association to ensure the full coordination of Federal logistical support, provided under the Stafford Act, with State logistical support provided under EMAC. The use of commercial logistics best practices in supply chain management should be used to minimize the need for the Federal government to stockpile materials. Charities and faith based organizations should be fully integrated into resource planning and be incorporated into the supply chain in their local areas. Federal, State, and local logistical planners should use the best practices from successful large private sector companies as well as from DOD as the standard to develop improved operational capabilities and coordination procedures in the new logistics system.
e. DHS, in cooperation with other departments and agencies, should develop the capability to identify sources of assets within the Federal government, and to track the movement of supplies during a disaster. This information would be extremely useful to resource managers at all levels of government during disasters.
f. DHS should establish a Chief Logistics Officer to oversee all logistics operations across multiple support functions. The Chief Logistics Officer (CLO) would be responsible for developing and maintaining an integrated supply chain management system. This system should be structured in ways that are compatible with the structure of the National Incident Management System. The CLO would guide and assist those Federal, State and local organizations that manage emergency response assets and commodities, enabling them to procure and deliver supplies for emergency operations. The CLO would be responsible for logistics technology and software solutions that allow emergency managers to have visibility of all assets in the supply chain and to be able to access those supplies. A CLO should also be established in each homeland security regional office.
g. DOD should detail logistics planners to DHS to assist in developing this logistics system. DOD and DHS should review and consider supply chain management best practices in developing the DHS logistics system. DOD should assist DHS in developing its logistics system; train DHS personnel in logistics management; exercise the DHS logistics system; and assist operating DHS’ logistics management system until a fully mature capability exists.
39. DHS should streamline its procedures for issuing mission assignments to other departments and agencies. These mission assignments will be identified in advance of an emergency so that logisticians can operationalize assets and provide resource support rapidly. In addition, other departments and agencies should establish procedures for promptly executing mission assignments. The goal of these efforts is to minimize the delays observed during Hurricane Katrina when departments or agencies were slow to act because they either had not received a FEMA mission assignment, or did not have an effective system for executing the mission assignment once received.
40. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should consider the efficacy of the Executive Branch and departments and agencies having the flexibility to transfer funds across accounts in advance of supplemental funding for immediate use during catastrophes in order to execute the departments’ and agencies’ respective missions under the National Response Plan. Transferred funds would not supplant the Disaster Relief Fund that is controlled and dispersed by DHS through the mission assignment process. Rather, it would provide the flexibility to use all sources of funds to fund emergency response actions in the aftermath of a catastrophic event in circumstances where the DHS mission assignment process is insufficient or inappropriate to handle the requirements of responding to the disaster.
41. Designate DOT as the primary federal agency responsible for developing the Federal government’s capability to conduct mass evacuations when disasters overwhelm State and local governments. DOT should, in coordination with HHS, DOD, VA, DHS and the American Red Cross (ARC) plan, train and conduct exercises for the timely evacuation of patients and transportation of medical supplies and personnel. DOT, which is the primary agency for ESF-1, is best positioned to develop the capability to conduct and coordinate mass evacuation and associated critical tasks. DOT should identify, prioritize, and approve plans to: transport patients to and from all Federal medical treatment facilities, and; assemble and pre-deploy caches of medical supplies to strategic locations. Such proactive efforts should improve the ability of Federal agencies to conduct patient evacuations when State and local agencies are unable to do so in a timely or effective manner. DOT should coordinate directly with HHS, DOD, VA, USDA, DHS and ARC, as well as State and local agencies, to plan, train and exercise for mass evacuations. In addition to assisting States in planning and preparing for mass evacuations, ESF-1 would conduct evacuation operations when State and local governments are unable to do so. ESF-8 would retain primary responsibility for coordinating the evacuation of seriously ill or injured persons. In addition, USDA (one of the primary agencies for ESF-11: Agriculture and Natural Resources) would plan and manage the evacuation of animals. It should be understood that the development of these capabilities will take time and in most cases will be grown to full capacity incrementally.
42. DHS should require State and local governments, as a condition for receiving Homeland Security grants, to develop, implement, and exercise emergency evacuation plans and to cooperate fully with all Federal evacuation activities. DHS has commendably incorporated a similar requirement in its FY 2006 Homeland Security Grant Program. State and local governments should use the National Preparedness Goal’s Target Capabilities List (TCL) as a standard for the development of these evacuation plans. In addition to those TCL capabilities, State and local evacuation plans should specify procedures to address the pre-positioning of food, medical and fuel supplies. These plans should address establishing first-aid stations, tracking and coordinating movements of evacuees, evacuating pets, unaccompanied minors, the elderly, and evacuating people who lack the means to leave voluntarily. Each State, starting in FY 07, should receive an annual evacuation readiness status report. This report will be in the form of an evacuation readiness “report card” that will grade the ability of the State to conduct evacuation operations. The report card will be based on exercises, training, effective use of Federal grant monies, and other relevant criteria as a condition of further grant funding. Much like the President’s Management Agenda, States will be given the expected results which they need to accomplish with their grant funding. This assessment would not only classify each State on its level of evacuation readiness, but also track how well homeland security grant funds are spent for evacuation planning. States that do not use their grant funds effectively would have their grant funds reduced or terminated.
43. DHS should, in coordination with DOT, evaluate all State evacuation plans as well as the evacuation plans of the 75 largest urban areas. As the President declared when he addressed the Nation from Jackson Square in New Orleans, “Our cities must have clear and up-to-date plans for . . . evacuating large numbers of people in an emergency.” DHS reviewed State catastrophic planning, including evacuation planning, and submitted a Congressionally mandated report to Congress on February 10, 2006. In addition, DHS and DOT are jointly reviewing evacuation plans for the Gulf Region, their findings due to Congress on June 1, 2006. These two departments should report their findings to the President through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism concurrently with their submission to Congress. These reviews should specifically address special needs populations, people who lack the means to evacuate voluntarily, and the evacuation of animals, as well as other aspects of evacuation planning mentioned in Recommendation 5 above.
a. Consideration should be given to revising the Stafford Act to restrict reimbursement eligibility to only those States that have met basic performance requirements for critical functions such as mass evacuation.
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