Rural Water - Quarter 2, 2008 - (Page 41) government supports the conversion of the SEMS software so that utilities will not have to redo their assessments using other costly, more-complicated and confusing models. National Infrastructure Protection Plan – The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) provides the framework for the Water Sector Specific Plan (SSP). The water SSP is a detailed plan that establishes national priorities, goals and requirements for the federal government to most effectively distribute funding to the most important assets in the country. It establishes another risk management framework for combining consequence, vulnerability and threat information to produce a comprehensive, systematic and rational assessment of national risk. Lastly, it identifies a process for water utilities to voluntarily report their security progress. The reporting parameters are much broader in scope than those being planned for reporting security progress by the EPA. National Response Framework – This new framework replaces the National Response Plan. The framework describes the activities and responsibilities for national, state and local officials to respond to an emergency. The plan is broad in scope and is not as specific as the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The plan covers all 18 critical infrastructures; however, specific guidance for the water sector is detailed in two of the annexes – the Essential Services Function (ESF) 3 Annex, which provides public works and engineering-related support guidance, and the Critical Infrastructure Key Resources (CIKR) Support Annex, which provides detailed coordination and integration guidance. NIMS Compliance – NIMS is a comprehensive, national standard for preparedness and disaster recovery for all levels of government and critical public infrastructure. Many state departments of homeland security or state drinking water/wastewater regulatory agencies are requiring utilities to become NIMS compliant. However, there is no federal requirement that outlines how to achieve compliance for the water sector. The Texas Rural Water Association (TRWA), in partnership with the U.S. DHS NIMS Integration Center, developed the “NIMS Implementation Guide for Small Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities.” This guide identifies the components of the NIMS guidance and the Incident Command Structure that are particularly applicable to smaller water utilities when responding to a localized disaster, as well as the procedures to be implemented when responding to a large-scale incident as part of a national response team. The guide is being integrated into the SEMS software that most utilities used to complete their VAs and ERPs. The new NIMS-compliant software will automatically extract the relevant information from the utilities’ ERPs they developed using “SEMS - Security” and walk the users through a step-wise approach that educates them about the importance of understanding NIMS (including the standard terminology), implementing the system in the field during emergencies and fully integrating their ERPs into the standardized management system. Second Quarter 2008 • 41 http://www.valmatic.com
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