JP 3-28, Civil Support - Federation of American Scientists

1. General
APPENDIX D
OVERVIEW OF THE NATIONAL RESPONSE PLAN AND
NATIONAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
a. This appendix provides information about the NRP and the NIMS with a focus on how
NIMS provides for multiagency coordination through the JFO. It identifies the key roles,
authorities, and structure with explanation about how the JFC integrates into the federal
coordinated response. It is important to note that the NRP does not cover all CS operations, e.g.,
it does not cover periodic planned support or CD, but parts of it can be used for other non-
Stafford incidents.
b. The NRP and NIMS are companion documents designed to improve the nation’s incident
management capabilities and overall efficiency. The NRP represents a concerted national effort to
prevent terrorist attacks within the United States; reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, major
disasters, and other emergencies; and minimize the damage and recover from attacks, major disasters,
and other emergencies that occur. The NIMS provides a template for incident management regardless
of size, scope, or cause. Use of this template enables federal, state, local, and tribal governments and
private-sector and NGOs to work together effectively and efficiently to prevent, prepare for, respond
to, and recover from actual or potential domestic incidents regardless of cause, size, or complexity.
Together, the NRP and the NIMS integrate the capabilities and resources of various governmental
jurisdictions, incident management and emergency response disciplines, NGOs, and the private sector
into a cohesive, coordinated, and seamless national framework for domestic incident management.
c. The JFO is a temporary federal facility established locally to provide a central point for
federal, state, local, and tribal executives with responsibility for incident oversight, direction,
and/or assistance to effectively coordinate protection, prevention, preparedness, response, and
recovery actions. The JFO utilizes the scalable organizational structure of the NIMS in the
context of both pre-incident and post-incident management activities. The JFO does not manage
on-scene operations. Instead, the JFO focuses on providing support to on-scene efforts and
conducting broader support operations that may extend beyond the incident site.
2. National Response Plan Basics
a. As required by HSPD-5, the NRP establishes a single, comprehensive approach to
domestic incident management to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist
attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. The NRP is an all-hazards plan built on the
template of the NIMS. The NIMS provides a consistent doctrinal framework for incident
management at all jurisdictional levels regardless of the cause, size, or complexity of the incident.
b. The NRP, using the NIMS, provides the structure and mechanisms for national-level policy and
operational direction for domestic incident management. The NRP can be partially or fully implemented
in the context of a threat, anticipation of a significant event, or in response to an incident requiring a
coordinated federal response. This includes events with potential national or long-term implications
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