Critical Infostructure

Fusion Centers - Part 2


Fusion Center Relationships
   

 


US DOT, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Operations

 

Critical Infrastructure

Critical Infrastructure was not part of the original IVHS Strategic Plan.  There is an interesting timeline of events leading up to the establishment of the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection (PCCIP).  On April 19, 1995, the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City was bombed.  On June 25, 1995, President Bill Clinton issued Presidential Decision Directive 39 (PDD-39).  PDD-39 assigned the U.S. Attorney General with the task of creating the Critical Infrastructure Working Group (CIWG).
 


IWAR Mirror Site    -    PCCIP Overview Briefing, 1997


 

Wednesday, April 19, 1995

At 9:02am a truck ripped away the facade of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City killing 169 citizens, including 19 children, and injuring more than 500. The powerful blast left a 30 ft. wide, 8 ft. deep crater on the front of the building. Local responders, fire fighters, police force, and urban search and rescue teams rushed to the scene. Within seven hours, the president ordered deployment of local, state and federal resources. This was the first time that the President's authority under the Stafford Act (section 501 (b)) was used, granting FEMA primary federal responsibility for responding to a domestic consequence management incident.

May 1995

The Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces (CORM) issues its final report to Congress, Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The report highlights the need to support the commanders-in-charge first, and that all other DoD operations will stem from that. Additionally, the report highlights the need for interagency coordination in the following areas: combatting WMD's; improvement of information warfare capabilities and reducing vulnerabilities in civilian infrastructures; and promoting peace operations.

Bridge Over the Legal Divide -   Background on Civilian-Military Integration

June 1995:

PDD-39 was signed by President Clinton on June 21, 1995.  The following are excerpts: 

It is the policy of the United States not to make concessions to terrorists.

To ensure that the United States is prepared to combat domestic and international terrorism in all its forms, I direct the following steps be taken:

The United States shall reduce its vulnerabilities to terrorism at home and abroad....

The Attorney General, as the chief law enforcement officer, shall chair a Cabinet Committee to review the vulnerability to terrorism of government facilities in the United States and critical national infrastructure and make recommendations to me and the appropriate Cabinet member or Agency head;

The Director, FBI, as head of the investigative agency for terrorism, shall reduce vulnerabilities by an expanded program of counterterrorism;

The Secretary of Transportation shall reduce vulnerabilities affecting the security of all airports in the U.S. and all aircraft and passengers and all maritime shipping under U.S. flag or registration or operating within the territory of the United States and shall coordinate security measures for rail, highway, mass transit, and pipeline facilities;

....

C.  Enhancing Counterterrorism Capabilities:  The Secretaries of State, Defense, Treasury, Energy and Transportation, the Attorney General, the Director of Central Intelligence and the Director, FBI shall ensure that their organizations' counterterrorism capabilities within their present areas of responsibility are well managed, funded and exercised.

Readiness: Toward that end, they shall submit to me, 180 days from the promulgation of this directive, a Counterterrorism Readiness Report coordinated by the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.  This report shall include: a) an analysis by the counterterrorism IWG of the adequacy of the adequacy of U.S. government sponsored research in and acquisition of counterterrorism technology; including technology relating to weapons of mass destruction; and b) an analysis of the adequacy of funding for counterterrorism related programs by the Director, OMB, who shall have an ongoing responsibility to ensure that research, development and acquisition of technologies and systems to detect, counter, render safe and dispose of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and/or materials is adequately funded.

B.  Immediate Incident Response:  With respect to terrorist attacks, our goal will be to terminate such events without the terrorists obtaining their desired ends or maintaining their freedom.  Consistent with this goal, we shall seek to minimize damage and loss of life and to provide emergency recovery assistance where required.  We shall have tailored, robust and rapidly deployable counterterrorism teams capable of incident management, intelligence collection, law enforcement, military operations, technical expertise and disaster relief activities.  Within the United States, the Department of Justice, acting through the FBI, shall have lead responsibility for management of terrorist incidents.

C.  Post-Incident Response: Following an incident that falls within the criminal jurisdiction of the United States, the full capabilities of the United States shall be dedicated, consistent with U.S. law, to assisting the Department of Justice to determine the perpetrators and bring them to justice.  For terrorist incidents outside the criminal jurisdiction of the United States, the Department of State will coordinate assistance to the foreign governments involved, in consultation with U.S. law enforcement.

E.  Coordination:  Coordination of sensitive terrorism issues requiring interagency review shall be conducted by a Coordinating Sub-Group (CSG) of the Deputies CommitteeThe CSG will have membership at the Assistant Secretary level from appropriate agencies and will be complemented by an Interagency Working Group.  The CSG will coordinate, on behalf of the Deputies Committee, counterterrorism issues and will review on-going crisis operations/activities concerning foreign terrorism and domestic terrorism with significant foreign involvement.  Although the CSG's role of coordination does not include the authority to direct agencies activities, it may make recommendations to the Chairman of the Deputies Committee regarding Foreign Emergency Support Team deployments (see Section F below) and to the Chairman of the Principals Committee regarding overseas deployments of counterterrorism assets.  The CSG shall maintain guidelines that specify detailed policy. 

F.  Interagency Support:  To ensure that the full range of necessary expertise and capabilities are available to the on-scene coordinator, there shall be a rapidly deployable interagency Emergency Support Team (EST).  The State Department shall be responsible for leading and managing the Foreign Emergency Support Team (FEST) in foreign incidents.  The FBI shall be responsible for the Domestic Emergency  Support Team (DEST) in domestic incidents.  The DEST shall consist only of those agencies needed to respond to the specific requirements of the incident.  Membership in the two teams shall include modules for specific types of incidents such as nuclear, biological or chemical threats.  The Defense Department shall provide timely transportation for ESTs. 

 

Excerpts from a synopsis of PDD-39 found on the Justice Department website (archived)

PDD-39 validates and reaffirms existing Federal Lead Agency responsibilities for counterterrorism, which are assigned to the Department of Justice (DOJ), as delegated to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for threats or acts of terrorism within the United States. The FBI as the lead for Crisis Management will involve only those Federal agencies required and designated in classified documents. The Directive further states that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with the support of all agencies in the Federal Response Plan (FRP), will support the FBI in Washington, DC, and on scene until the Attorney General transfers Lead Agency to FEMA. FEMA retains responsibility for Consequence Management throughout the Federal response.

Definitions.

Crisis Management includes measures to identify, acquire, and plan the use of resources needed to anticipate, prevent, and/or resolve a threat or act of terrorism. The laws of the United States assign primary authority to the Federal Government to prevent and respond to acts of terrorism; State and local governments provide assistance as required. Crisis management is predominantly a law enforcement response.

Consequence Management includes measures to protect public health and safety, restore essential government services, and provide emergency relief to governments, businesses, and individuals affected by the consequences of terrorism. The laws of the United States assign primary authority to the States to respond to the consequences of terrorism; the Federal Government provides assistance as required.

Measures to Combat Terrorism.

To ensure that the United States is prepared to combat terrorism in all of its forms, a number of measures have been directed. These include reducing vulnerabilities to terrorism, deterring and responding to terrorist attacks, and having capabilities to prevent and manage the consequences of terrorist use of nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) weapons, including those of mass destruction.

a. Reduce Vulnerabilities. In order to reduce vulnerabilities to terrorism, both at home and abroad, all departmental/agency heads have been directed to ensure that their personnel and facilities are fully protected against terrorism. Specific efforts that will be conducted to ensure our security against terrorist attacks include the following (highlights added):

  • Review the vulnerability of government facilities and critical national infrastructure.
  • Expand the program of counterterrorism.
  • Reduce vulnerabilities affecting civilian personnel/facilities abroad and military personnel/facilities.
  • Exclude/deport persons who pose a terrorist threat.
  • Prevent unlawful traffic in firearms and explosives and protect the President and other officials against terrorist attack.
  • Reduce U.S. vulnerabilities to international terrorism through intelligence collection/ analysis, counterintelligence, and covert action.