National Response Center (NRC)

1. National Response Center (NRC) • The primary function of the National Response Center is to serve as the sole national point of contact for reporting all oil, chemical, radiological, biological, and etiological discharges into the environment anywhere in the United States and its territories. • It provides notification to specific DOT and National Transportation Safety Board offices of transportation related incidents that meet certain pre-established criteria.

2. National Response Center (NRC) • The NRC is staffed by Coast Guard personnel who maintain a 24 hour per day, 365 day per year telephone watch. • NRC watch standers enter telephonic reports of pollution incidents into the Incident Reporting Information System (IRIS) and immediately relay each report to the pre-designated Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC).

3. Duties of the NRC • Provides emergency response support to the FOSC's. • Includes extensive reference materials, state of the art telecommunications and operation of automated chemical identification and chemical dispersion information systems.

4. National Response Center • Government's mechanism for emergency response to discharges of oil and the release of chemicals into the navigable waters or environment of the United States and its territories. • Initially, this system focused on oil spills and selected hazardous polluting substances discharged into the environment. • It has since been expanded by other legislation to include hazardous substances and wastes released to all types of media.

5. National Response Center • On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Coast Guard , the National Response Center: • Briefs the White House , Office of Homeland Security , Secretary of Transportation, and Chiefs of Modal Administrations regarding all significant transportation emergencies reported to the Center; • Provides information the Coast Guard's Office of Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental Protection as needed for a variety of reports, studies, or Congressional Inquiries; • Receives and relays reports of incidents reportable under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act ; • Provides electronic and hard copy incident reports to various DOT agencies;

6. NRC and Terrorism • Any incident related to terrorism or possible terrorist activity requires telephonic notification to the National Response Center. • Includes bombings, bomb threats, suspicious letters or packages, and incidents related to the intentional release of chemical/biological/radioactive agents. • National Response Center Watch Standers have been trained to ask specific questions for such reports and will immediately pass the information to the proper agencies for response.

7. Components of the National Response Center • The NRC has various components related to emergency responses

8. Federal On-Scene Coordinators (FOSC) • The FOSC is a federal official, pre-designated by EPA for inland areas and by the Coast Guard for coastal or major navigable waterways. • Coordinate all federal containment, removal, disposal efforts, and resources during an incident. • Coordinates federal efforts with the local community's response. • Anyone responsible for reporting releases should be aware of which FOSC has responsibility for the affected area. • For locations near the coast or a major waterway, there may be both a Coast Guard and EPA FOSC with assigned responsibilities within jurisdictional boundaries of various state or local entities.

9. National Response Team (NRT) • The National Response Team's membership consists of 16 federal agencies with interest and expertise in various aspects of emergency response to pollution incidents. • The NRT is a planning, policy, and coordinating body; providing national level policy guidance prior to an incident and does not respond directly to an incident. • They can provide assistance to an FOSC during an incident, usually in the form of technical advice or access to additional resources and equipment at the national level.

10. Regional Response Team (RRT) • RRT's are the next organizational level in the federal response system. Currently, there are 13 RRTs, one for each of the ten federal regions, plus one each for Alaska, the Caribbean and the Pacific Basin. • Each team maintains a Regional Contingency Plan and both the state and federal governments are represented. • RRTs are primarily planning, policy and coordinating bodies. • Provide guidance to FOSCs through the Regional Contingency Plans and work to locate assistance requested by the FOSC during an incident. • May provide assistance to state and local governments in preparing, planning or training for emergency response.

11. NRC Special Forces • The four NRC special force components are; • Coast Guard National Strike Force (NSF) • EPA Environmental Response Team (ERT) • Coast Guard Public Information Assist Team (PIAT) • Scientific Support Coordinators (SSC)

12. Coast Guard National Strike Force (NSF) • The NSF is composed of three strategically located strike teams and a coordination center. • The strike teams have specially trained personnel and are equipped to respond to major oil spills and chemical releases. • The coordination center maintains a national inventory listing of spill response equipment and assists with the development and implementation of an exercise and training program for the National Response System.

13. Coast Guard Public Information Assist Team (PIAT) • The PIAT is a highly skilled unit of public affairs specialists prepared to complement the existing public information capabilities of the Federal On-Scene Coordinator.

14. EPA Environmental Response Team (ERT) • The ERT is a group of specially trained scientists and engineers based in Edison, NJ and Cincinnati, OH. Its capabilities include multimedia sampling and analysis, hazard assessment, cleanup techniques and technical support.

15. Scientific Support Coordinators (SSC) • The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides SSC in coastal and marine areas. The SSC serves on the FOSC staff as the lead of a scientific team. • This support team provides expertise in environmental chemistry, oil slick tracking, pollutant transport modeling, natural resources at risk, environmental tradeoffs of countermeasures and cleanup, information management, contingency planning and liaison to the scientific community and the natural resource trustees.

17. National Response Plan • The National Response Plan established a comprehensive all-hazards approach to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents.  

18. National Response Plan • The plan incorporated best practices and procedures from incident management disciplines — homeland security, emergency management, law enforcement, firefighting, public works, public health, responder and recovery worker health and safety, emergency medical services, and the private sector — and integrates them into a unified structure.  

19. National Response Plan • The National Response Plan formed the basis of how the federal government coordinates with state, local, and tribal governments and the private sector during incidents.

20. National Response Plan • The National Response Plan (NRP) was an all-discipline, all-hazards plan that establishes a single, comprehensive framework for the management of domestic incidents. • It provided the structure and mechanisms for the coordination of Federal support to State, local, and tribal incident managers and for exercising direct Federal authorities and responsibilities. • The NRP assisted in the important homeland security mission of preventing terrorist attacks within the United States; reducing the vulnerability to all natural and manmade hazards; and minimizing the damage and assisting in the recovery from any type of incident that occurs.

21. National Response Framework • National Response Framework became effective March 2008 and replaced the National Response Plan. • As a result of problems identified during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, changes were identified

22. National Response Framework • Important changes include: • Removing criteria for “Incident of National Significance” • Incidents will include actual or potential emergencies • Includes all-hazard events that range from accidents and natural disasters to actual or potential terrorist attacks • Will continue to use the Annexes from the NRP