PREFACE
President Bush has led a committed effort to strengthen the Nation’s preparedness capabilities.The national preparedness architecture encompasses the full spectrum of prevention, protection,response, and recovery efforts to prepare the Nation for all hazards – whether terrorist attack ornatural disaster.Homeland Security Presidential Directive-8 (HSPD-8) of December 17, 2003 (
“NationalPreparedness”
) directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a national domestic all-hazards preparedness goal. As part of that effort, in March 2005 the Department of HomelandSecurity (DHS) released the Interim National Preparedness Goal. Publication of the
NationalPreparedness Guidelines
(
Guidelines
) finalizes development of the national goal and its relatedpreparedness tools.The
Guidelines
, including the supporting
Target Capabilities List
,
simultaneously publishedonline
,
supersedes the Interim National Preparedness Goal and defines what it means for theNation to be prepared for all hazards. There are four critical elements of the
Guidelines
:(1)
The
National Preparedness Vision,
which provides a concise statement of the corepreparedness goal for the Nation.(2)
The
National Planning Scenarios,
which depict a diverse set of high-consequence threatscenarios of both potential terrorist attacks and natural disasters. Collectively, the 15scenarios are designed to focus contingency planning for homeland security preparednesswork at all levels of government and with the private sector. The scenarios form thebasis for coordinated Federal planning, training, exercises, and grant investments neededto prepare for emergencies of all types.(3)
The
Universal Task List (UTL),
which is a menu of some 1,600 unique tasks that canfacilitate efforts to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from the major eventsthat are represented by the National Planning Scenarios. It presents a commonvocabulary and identifies key tasks that support development of essential capabilitiesamong organizations at all levels. Of course, no entity will perform every task.(4)
The
Target Capabilities List (TCL),
which defines 37 specific capabilities thatcommunities, the private sector, and all levels of government should collectively possessin order to respond effectively to disasters.The
Guidelines
reinforce the fact that preparedness is a shared responsibility.
They weredeveloped through an extensive process that involved more than 1,500 Federal, State, and localofficials and more than 120 national associations. They also integrate lessons learned followingHurricane Katrina and a 2006 review of States’ and major cities’ emergency operations andevacuation plans.iii
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