WASHINGTON — The Federal Government and its partners today released three of five National Planning Frameworks. These National Planning Frameworks, document the roles and responsibilities of the whole community in all facets of national preparedness. The benefit of this unified effort is  a more informed, shared understanding of risks, needs, and capabilities across the whole community; and, in the end, a more secure and resilient nation.  The Frameworks outline how the whole community can take steps to collectively achieve the National Preparedness Goal.  The whole community—individuals and families, including those with access and functional needs; businesses and nonprofits; schools; media; and all levels of government—is encouraged to read and use each Framework.

The three Frameworks released today are:

• The National Prevention Framework. Focuses on avoiding, preventing, or stopping a threatened or actual act of terrorism. While other mission areas focus on all hazards, including natural disasters, Prevention focuses solely on terrorism. Specifically on imminent acts of terrorism on U.S. soil.
• The National Mitigation Framework. Refers to reducing the loss of life and property by lessening the effects of disasters. This means, for example, taking actions now that would reduce property damage when a hurricane strikes. Mitigation also involves actions that improve our ability to bounce back after disasters. Resilience is a key focus.
• The National Response Framework. Covers the capabilities necessary to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs after an incident has occurred. The National Response Framework was updated from the familiar 2008 version.

Two more Frameworks complete the set: the National Disaster Recovery Framework that was released in September 2011, and the National Protection Framework, which is currently under development to ensure it aligns with emerging national protection policy.

“The idea that everyone plays a role in national preparedness isn’t new. But this is the first time the Federal Government truly involved everyone in the whole community—not just the government—to document how we’re going to work together. That’s what the Frameworks do; they outline how everyone can take part in prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery activities in a coordinated and integrated way,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “The Federal Government brought everyone to the table so we can document how the whole community works together to achieve a secure and resilient nation.”

The National Planning Frameworks build on existing programs, authorities and best practices, such as the National Incident Management System.  Each one:

• Summarizes the roles and responsibilities of each part of the whole community
• Defines each mission area’s core capabilities, along with examples of critical tasks
• Defines coordinating structures—either new or existing—that enable the whole community to work together to deliver the core capabilities
• Describes the relationships to the other mission areas
• Identifies relevant information to help with operational planning
• Provides information that all levels of government can use to revise their operational plans
• Uses concepts from existing preparedness efforts, such as the National Incident Management System

This effort was completed in partnership with leaders of federal departments and agencies, and reflect input from state, local, tribal and territorial governments, private and nonprofit sector partners and the general public.

“As recent events in Boston have demonstrated, coordination among the public, the private sector and all levels of government is critical to our efforts to prevent, mitigate and respond to terrorist incidents and other disasters.  The three National Planning Frameworks released today provide a blueprint for such coordination going forward and outline how everyone in this country can contribute to our efforts to keep our people safe and our communities more secure,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.

“PPD-8 represents a truly integrated whole-of-government approach to prevent terrorism, mitigate the effects of disasters, and respond when an incident has occurred,” said James R. Clapper, director of national intelligence. “Preparedness is a shared responsibility and the PPD-8 frameworks not only embody the best practices of  inter-governmental collaboration, but exemplifies the partnerships required to work with the whole community to achieve a National Preparedness Goal.”

The National Planning Frameworks are part of the National Preparedness System, which outlines the tools and processes to help us achieve national preparedness.  To download the Frameworks and view the complementary tutorial, visit: www.fema.gov/national-planning-frameworks.