HomeMy WebLinkAboutHomeland Security LetterMEMORANDUM FOR:
FROM:
U.S, Department of homeland Security
W ishin ;ton, D(.: 20S28
Homeland
Security
March 1, 2004
Cabinet Secretaries
Agency Directors
Members of Congress
Governors
Tribal Leaders
Mayors
County, Township, and Parish Officials
State Homeland Security Advisors
Homeland Security Advisory Council
State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal First Responders
Tom Ridge /).r
SUBJECT: National Incident Management System
In Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5, Management of Domestic Incidents, the President
directed me to develop, submit for review to the Homeland Security Council, and administer a National Incident
Management System (NIMS). This system will provide a consistent nationwide approach for Federal, State,
local, and tribal governments to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and
recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity.
The NIMS has undergone extensive vetting and coordination within the Federal family, The development
process has also included extensive outreach to State, local, and tribal officials; to the emergency response
community; and to the private sector. As a result, the NIMS incorporates the best -practices currently in use by
incident managers at all levels. In addition, effective incident management in the homeland security
environment we now face involves new concepts, processes, and protocols that will require additional
development and refinement over time. The collective input and guidance from all of our homeland security
partners has been, and will continue to be, vital to the further development of an effective and comprehensive
NIMS.
IISPT)-5 requires all Federal departments and agencies to adopt the NIMS and to use it in their individual
domestic incident management and emergency prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation
programs and activities, as well as in support of those actions taken to assist State, local, or tribal entities. The
directive also requires Federal departments and agencies to make adoption of the NIMS by State, tribal and
local organizations a condition for Federal preparedness assistance beginning in FY 2005. Compliance with
certain aspects of the NIMS will be possible in the short-term, such as adopting the basic tenets of the Incident
Command System identified in this document, Other aspects of the NIMS, however, will require further
development and refinement to enable compliance at future dates.
I ask for your continued cooperation and assistance as we further develop and implement the NIMS and the
associated National Response Plan (NRP). 1 look forward to working with you as we continue our collective
efforts to better secure the homeland and protect our citizens from both natural disasters and acts of terrorism.
www.dhs.gov