Emergency Preparedness News articles from March 2004

Emergency Preparedness News archives from March 2004

Maybe looking to deal?(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... That's what the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is saying this week about a campaign ad from President Bush using first responder images from 9/11. "Since the attack, Bush has been using images of himself putting his arm...

Public accountability.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The 9/11 Commission has lined up an all-star cast to testify March 23-24 at a public hearing in Washington, D.C., on counter terrorism policy. Witnesses include Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and Defense Secretary...

All for one, one for all: DHS unveils national all-hazards responder plan.(United States. Department of Homeland Security)
March 9, 2004... Responders from across the nation and at all levels of government will begin operating under a single all-hazards, all-disciplines system, according to an ambitious plan released last week by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The...

DHS issues performance standards for protection, detection equipment.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... DHS Science and Technology Division has adopted its first two sets of equipment standards to guide buyers and manufacturers when outfitting responders. The first set provides performance standards and test methods for personal protective...

Lagging fingerprint automation project leaves U.S. vulnerable, warns DOJ IG.(Department of Justice)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The chronically delayed integration of the FBI and Bureau of Customs and Border Protection's automated fingerprinting systems could leave the nation vulnerable to criminals and terrorists, according to a recent report by the Department of...

Homeland Security Information Network expands access to states, major cities.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... DHS is expanding its computer-based Homeland Security Information Network to reach all 50 states, five territories, Washington, D.C., and 50 major urban areas by this summer, according to DHS spokesman Donald Tighe. Tighe told EPN that the...

Ridge sets ambitious birthday goals; technology, info sharing top agenda.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... Putting advanced technology to work for homeland security and improving data sharing with responders and private industry topped DHS Secretary Tom Ridge's list of goals for 2004 as he marked the one-year anniversary of his department. ...

Foundation ranks DHS a C+ performer; calls for more money where the need is.(United States. Department of Homeland Security)
March 9, 2004... DHS has earned an overall C+ for its first year performance, according to a report card issued on the department's anniversary by The Century Foundation public policy think tank. The foundation assembled five scholars to grade DHS performance...

Merit system praised, labor relations raise yellow flag on DHS proposal.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... DHS has been garnering generally positive reviews for the ground-breaking revamping of its personnel system (EPN, Feb. 24, p. 30), but receiving just as many cautionary comments on avoiding running roughshod over employee rights. The...

Guarding FOIA.(Freedom of Information Act )(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) wants to assure that DHS's effort to collect sensitive infrastructure threat information from private industry (EPN, Feb. 24, p. 26) does not result in companies using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 9, 2004... EPN published an incorrect Web address in a Feb. 24 brief on p. 31 titled "Infrastructure Protection." The correct address is: www.fema.gov/fima/antiterrorism/links.shtm.

DHS opens application period for $746m in firefighter grants.(Department of Homeland Security)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The application period for DHS' $745.6 million Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program (AFGP) continues through April 2. The department noted several changes for the 2004 program: * All federal grantees must obtain a DUNS number, which...

FEMA touts California fire response as model of interagency coordination.(United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The multi-agency effort to recover from the devastating 2003 California wildfires is being touted as a model of disaster management by the California Fires Coordination Group (CFCG). President Bush formed CFCG following the wildfire...

Agriculture, interior issue field guides for complying with Health Forest law.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The departments of Agriculture and Interior have issued field guidelines for land managers responsible for reducing wildfire threats on public lands under the administration's new Healthy Forest Initiative (EPN, Dec. 16, p. 187). Wildfire...

Firefighters get a raise.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has revised job standards for thousands of federal structural firefighters who also provide medical services and hazardous materials response for government employees and at military bases and Veterans...

Federal disaster assistance available to private non-profit organizations.(EPN News Roundup)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... Federal disaster help is available from FEMA and the Small Business Administration (SBA) for some private non-profit organizations (PNPs) that suffered damages or loss from winter storms occurring between Dec. 26, 2003, and Jan. 14, 2004. ...

Association of American Railroads boasts an 'A' for security efforts.(EPN News Roundup)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The Association of American Railroads (AAR) heralded the findings of a recent independent analysis by Washington Post which stated that the railroad industry is one of the few in the private sector to receive an A for security efforts. ...

CBP extends air cargo deadline; blames snafu in security software.(EPN News Roundup)(Customs and Border Protection)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has changed the March 4 implementation date for transmitting data on inbound air cargo. CBP set the original deadline before discovering that some procedures set under the cargo security rules are...

Bonner cites CBP achievements: Border Patrol, screening upgrades.(EPN News Roundup)(Customs and Border Protection)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... "As a nation, we are safer than we were a year ago," and DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency "can more effectively address the terrorist threat," declared CBP Commissioner Robert Bonner. He praised the agency's progress since it...

NIST works to enhance practicality of emergency simulation software.(EPN News Roundup)(United States. National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is working to standardize computer models and simulation programs that depict predisaster site conditions. "These can be powerful tools for preparing for and coping with everything...

USDA reopens comment period on importing Canadian Beef products.(EPN News Roundup)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has reopened the comment period on a proposal to lift the ban on imported live Canadian cattle, sheep, goats, and their byproducts (EPN, Nov. 4, 2003, p....

USDA security lapses put privacy, proprietary data at risk, warns GAO.(EPN News Roundup)(United States. Department of Agriculture)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... "Significant, pervasive information security control weaknesses exist" at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report. "USDA has not sufficiently controlled network access, appropriately...

Biosecurity.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is creating a National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity to advise all federal entities that conduct "dual use" life sciences research, the results of which could be misused to threaten...

A narrow miss? USCG/FBI uncover mariners with possible terrorist ties.(EPN News Roundup)(United States. Coast Guard)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... A U.S. Coast Guard/FBI joint investigation has uncovered thousands of cases of possible fraud and other problems among workers with U.S. merchant mariner credentials, including nine individuals who have possible associations with terrorist...

National Guard to 'rebalance' forces; 50 percent will be available to states.(EPN News Roundup)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... Air and Army National Guard units will undergo "a top-to-bottom rebalancing nationwide" to assure that every governor can call on at least 50 percent of Guard forces in his/her state for homeland defense and other emergencies, Lt. Gen. H....

Delay for bulkers.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2004... The Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has adjusted the March 4 enforcement date of its electronic manifest requirement for certain ships. The rule requires that carriers bringing cargo to the U.S. present an electronic copy of their...

Disasters vs. terrorism.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Traditional responder programs, such as those related to floods, hurricanes, and chemical spills, should not be overshadowed by terrorism preparedness, cautioned Chairman Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) of the House Transportation subcommittee on...

Congress labels 3/11 a wake-up call; DHS says eyes are already wide open.
March 23, 2004... Members in both houses of Congress are preparing to use their power over federal purse strings to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to increase passenger rail safety. "Just as the 9/11 attacks alerted us to the urgent need to...

Terrorist bombing in Spain may unite U.S. and EU, predicts euro researcher.(United States, European Union)
March 23, 2004... If al Qaeda is definitively found responsible for the 10 bombs that blew up four trains in Madrid, Spain, killing nearly 200 people earlier this month, the effect could serve as a giant "wake-up call" to Europe that Middle Eastern terrorism is...

Experts say deadly new terror tactics redefine nuclear waste rail security.
March 23, 2004... The Madrid train bombing earlier this month has prompted a reassessment of the U.S. government's approach to passenger rail security (see preceding stories), but a shift is needed as well in how federal agencies view the terrorist threat to...

Board advises better rail inspections, improved safety testing for tank cars.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) must tighten oversight of its welded rail maintenance programs and evaluate the crash worthiness of tank cars, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). NTSB released a...

Maritime groups increase security in response to Madrid terror attack.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary General Efthimios Mitropoulos has urged member states to consider early compliance with maritime security measures, which will be mandatory July 1, in light of the Madrid commuter rail...

TSA, Florida testing biometric ID card; goal is to develop standardized TWIC.(Transportation Security Administration, Identification, Transportation Worker Identification Credentials )(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will begin over the next month to test high-tech ID cards for truck drivers, dockworkers, and others who require unescorted access to...

Malaysia signs on to CSI.(Container Security Initiative)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The government of Malaysia has agreed to participate in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Container Security Initiative (CSI). The Malaysian city of Klang became the 18th operational port in the CSI program. CBP deployed a team of...

USDA enhances BSE surveillance; cattle testing will increase six-fold.(EPN News Roundup)(U.S. Department of Agriculture)(bovine spongiform encephalopathy)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Heeding the recommendations of its international scientific review panel, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding its surveillance effort for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. The panel, formed in...

Compliance low on food import rules; FDA to conduct education campaign.(EPN News Roundup)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is increasing its effort to help foreign businesses that export food for consumption in the U.S. to understand and comply with new security rules. The interim final rules went into effect in...

USPS asks Congress for $779m citing anthrax attacks, other security needs.(EPN News Roundup)(United States Postal Service)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Postmaster General John Potter is asking Congress to provide $779 million for Postal Service homeland security efforts in fiscal year (FY) 2005. Noting that President Bush recommended no funding for such efforts in his FY 2005 budget...

NIAID announces lab breakthroughs in developing SARS, smallpox vaccines.(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has reported breakthroughs in its efforts to develop vaccines for SARS and small pox: * NIAID reported in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Virology that the mouse immune...

HHS calls for vaccine bids.(EPN News Roundup)(Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has requested proposals to develop, test, and manufacture a new recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine. HHS intends to buy as many as 75 million doses for the Strategic National...

Treasury opens new intelligence office to cut off terrorists' financial support.(EPN News Roundup)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The Bush administration has created the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Treasury Department to consolidate resources for cutting off lines of financial support to international terrorists, protecting the U.S. financial...

Airlines may cooperate with CAPPS II; but insist on 'privacy principles' first.(EPN News Roundup)(Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The airline industry is willing to cooperate with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in implementing its Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II), but not until TSA adopts privacy protections for personal...

Chemical plants with deadly potential need federal oversight, GAO warns.(EPN News Roundup)(General Accounting Office)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that 123 chemical plants located throughout the nation could each potentially expose more than a million people if a chemical release occurs, yet no federal agency has comprehensively assessed...

DHS forms funding task force to speed grants to responders.(Department of Homeland Security (USA))
March 23, 2004... DHS Secretary Tom Ridge has unveiled a 20-member panel of governors, mayors, responders, county executives, and tribal representatives to solve once and for all the mystery of why DHS money is not quickly reaching first responders. The...

Officials at all levels want more details when DHS raises terrorist threat level.(Department of Homeland Security (USA))(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Federal, state, and local officials want more specific information from DHS when it raises the national terrorist threat level, according to the General Accounting Office (GAO). Government officials indicated that they could more effectively...

Controversy continues over volunteer firefighters' effect on career positions.
March 23, 2004... Hartford, Conn.'s fire chief ignited a controversy last summer when he forced his salaried department members to sign new contracts forbidding them to serve as volunteer firefighters in their off hours. If they ignored that stipulation, the...