The Homeland Security Act established ONCRC within DHS to oversee  and coordinate federal programs for, and relationships with federal, state,  local, and regional authorities in the NCR. With regard  to coordination, the ONCRC was mandated to:    coordinate the activities of DHS relating to the NCR, including cooperation  with the DHS’ Office for State and Local Government Coordination;    coordinate with federal agencies in the NCR on terrorism preparedness to  ensure adequate planning, information sharing, training, and execution of  the federal role in domestic preparedness activities;    coordinate with federal, state, local, and regional agencies and the private  sector in NCR on terrorism preparedness to ensure adequate planning,  information sharing, training, and execution of domestic preparedness  activities among these agencies and entities;    serve as a liaison between the federal government and state, local, and  regional authorities, and private sector entities in the NCR to facilitate  access to federal grants and other programs. ONCRC also has responsibilities related to resource and needs  assessments and advocating for needed resources in the NCR, including:    assessing and advocating for resources needed by state, local, and regional  authorities in the NCR to implement efforts to secure the homeland; and    submitting an annual report to Congress that (1) identifies resources  required to fully implement homeland security efforts in the NCR, (2)  assesses progress in implementing homeland security efforts in the NCR,  and (3) includes recommendations to Congress regarding additional  resources needed to fully implement homeland security efforts in the NCR. The NCR is a complex multijurisdictional  area comprising the District of Columbia and surrounding county and city  jurisdictions in Maryland and Virginia. Develop and implement strategies for the use of the funds that identify  key goals and priorities;  2. Our May 2004 Report Showed the Need to Improve Management of First-Responder Grants in the NCR

As we reported in May 2004, in fiscal years 2002 and 2003, the  Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human  Services awarded about $340 million through 16 first-responder grants to  NCR jurisdictions to enhance regional emergency preparedness. Without the standards, a regionwide plan, and data  on available funds and spending, it will be extremely difficult to determine  whether NCR first responders have the ability to respond to threats and  emergencies with well-planned, well-coordinated, and effective efforts that  involve a variety of first responder disciplines from NCR jurisdictions. Recommendations in Our May 2004 Report Not Yet Fully Implemented

To help ensure that emergency preparedness grants and associated funds  are managed in a way that maximizes their effectiveness, our May 2004  report included three recommendations to the Secretary of the  Department of Homeland Security. Recommendation 1: Work with the NCR jurisdictions to develop a  coordinated strategic plan to establish goals and priorities for enhancing  first responder capacities that can be used to guide the use of federal  emergency preparedness funds. Actions taken: According to an ONCRC official, a final draft for review  has been circulated to key stakeholders. The NCR,  through the D.C. Office of Homeland Security, has a system for  tracking the use of UASI funds in the NCR and other homeland security  grant funds available to D.C., such as the State Homeland Security  Grants. However, at this time, it does not have an automated, uniform,  system to track non-UASI grant funds available and used by other NCR  jurisdictions. Recommendation 3: Identify and address gaps in emergency preparedness  and evaluate the effectiveness of expenditures in meeting those needs by  adopting standards and preparedness guidelines based on likely scenarios  for NCR and conducting assessments based on them. Actions taken: To date, no systematic gap analysis has been completed  for the region as a whole. The NCR plans to use the Emergency  Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) as a means of conducting  a gap analysis and assessing NCR jurisdictions against EMAP’s  standards for emergency preparedness—an effort expected to be  completed by March 2006. How this effort would be integrated with  DHS’ capabilities-based planning and assessments for first responders  has not yet been determined, pending the issuance of DHS’ final  version of the National Preparedness Goal in October 2005. As we noted in  the recent past, the ongoing security risk to the NCR requires a  comprehensive, coordinated, and carefully planned approach to the  expenditure of federal first responder grants. This requires a regionwide  strategic plan, performance goals, an assessment of preparedness gaps to  guide priority setting, and continuing assessments of the progress made in  closing identified gaps.
Why GAO Did This Study

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the National Capital Region (NCR)--the District of Columbia and nearby jurisdictions in Maryland and Virginia--was recognized as a significant potential target for terrorism. In fiscal years 2002 and 2003, about $340 million in emergency preparedness funds were allocated to NCR jurisdictions. In May 2004, GAO issued a report (GAO-04-433) that examined (1) the use of federal funds emergency preparedness funds allocated to NCR jurisdictions, (2) the challenges within the NCR to organizing and implementing efficient and effective preparedness programs, (3) any emergency preparedness gaps that remain in the NCR, and (4) the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) role in the NCR. The report made recommendations to the Secretary of DHS to enhance the management of first responder grants in the NCR. We also reported in September 2004 (GAO-04-1009) that the NCR's Governance Structure for the Urban Area Security Initiative could facilitate collaborative, coordinated, and planned management and use of federal funds for enhancing emergency preparedness, if implemented as planned DHS agreed to implement these recommendations.

What GAO Found

A coordinated, targeted, and complementary use of federal homeland security grants is important in the NCR and elsewhere. These grants are one means of achieving an important goal: enhancing the ability of first responders to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist and other incidents with well-planned, well-coordinated, and effective efforts that involve a variety of first responders from multiple jurisdictions. To oversee and coordinate federal emergency preparedness programs among federal, state, local, and regional authorities in the NCR, the Homeland Security Act established the Office for National Capital Region Coordination (ONCRC) within DHS. The ongoing security risk requires a comprehensive, coordinated, and carefully planned approach to the expenditure of federal first responder grants. This requires a NCR-wide strategic plan, performance goals, an assessment of preparedness gaps to guide priority setting, and continuing assessments of the progress made in closing identified gaps This testimony summarizes our prior work and provides information on the implementation of the three recommendations in our May 2004 report. First, we recommended that DHS work with the NCR jurisdictions to develop a coordinated strategic plan. DHS and NCR jurisdictions have completed a final draft for review that has been circulated to key stakeholders. Second, we recommended that DHS monitor's the plans implementation, which must await a final plan. To implement and monitor the future plan, data will be needed regarding the funding available and used for implementing the plan and enhancing first responder capabilities in the NCR--data that is not currently routinely available. The NCR, through the District of Columbia's Office of Homeland Security, has a system for tracking the use of Urban Area Security Initiative funds in the NCR as well as other homeland security grant funds available to Washington, D.C. However, the NCR does not currently track non-Urban Area Security Initiative funds available to and used by other NCR jurisdictions in an automated, uniform way. Rather, it obtains information about those funds through a variety of means, including teleconferences involving senior emergency preparedness officials. Third, we recommended that DHS identify and address preparedness gaps and evaluate the effectiveness of expenditures by conducting assessments based on established guidelines and standards. No systematic gap analysis has been completed for the region; however, by March 2006, the NCR plans to complete an effort to use the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) as a means of conducting a gap analysis and assess NCR jurisdictions against EMAP's national preparedness standards. The result would be a report on the NCR's compliance with EMAP standards for emergency preparedness and an analysis of areas needing improvement to address in the short- and long-term. The ONCRC has not determined how this effort would be integrated with DHS' capabilities-based planning and assessments for first responders, pending the issuance of DHS' final version of the National Preparedness Goal in October 2005.