6 U.S.C. § 753 — Federal preparedness

(a) Agency^* responsibility. To support the national preparedness system^*, the President must ensure that each Federal agency with responsibilities under the National Response Plan^*—

(1) has the operational capability^* to meet the national preparedness goal^*, including—

(A) personnel who can make and communicate decisions;
(B) organizational structures assigned, trained, and exercised for the agency’s missions;
(C) enough physical resources^*; and
(D) command, control, and communication channels for making, monitoring, and communicating decisions;

(2) complies with the National Incident Management System^*, including credentialing^* personnel and categorizing resources likely to be needed for a natural disaster, terrorist act, or other human-caused disaster, as required by section 320 of this title;

(3) develops, trains, and exercises lists of response personnel to deploy when the agency is called on to support a Federal response;

(4) develops detailed operational plans and related capabilities, including crisis planning, to respond effectively to natural disasters, terrorism, and other human-caused disasters in support of the National Response Plan and to ensure a coordinated Federal response; and

(5) regularly updates and checks the accuracy of the information in the inventory required under section 751 of this title and gives that information to the Administrator^*.

(b) Operational plans. An operations plan developed under subsection (a)(4) must meet these requirements:

(1) It must be coordinated under one unified system with common terms, approach, and framework.

(2) It must be developed with State^*, local, and tribal government^* officials to address regional and national risks.

(3) It must include, as appropriate—

(A) operating concepts;
(B) critical tasks and responsibilities;
(C) detailed resource and personnel requirements, including requirements for obtaining them; and
(D) specific provisions for quickly integrating the agency’s resources and personnel into the overall response.

(4) It must address, as appropriate—

(A) support for State, local, and tribal governments conducting mass evacuations, including—

(i) transportation and relocation;
(ii) short- and long-term shelter and accommodation;
(iii) provisions for people with special needs, keeping families together, and quickly finding missing children; and
(iv) policies and provisions for pets;

(B) preparing and deploying public-health and medical resources, including resources for evacuees and people with special needs;
(C) coordinating search-and-rescue operations among agencies, including land, water, and airborne operations;
(D) the Senior Federal Law Enforcement Official’s roles and responsibilities regarding other law-enforcement entities;
(E) protecting critical infrastructure;
(F) coordinating maritime salvage efforts among relevant agencies;
(G) coordinating Department^* of Defense and National Guard support for civilian authorities;
(H) to the extent practicable, using Department of Defense, National Air and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and commercial aircraft and satellite remotely sensed images;
(I) coordinating and combining support from the private sector and nongovernmental organizations;
(J) safely disposing of debris, including hazardous materials, and, when practicable, recycling debris;
(K) identifying the surge capacity^* required; and
(L) specific provisions for recovering affected geographic areas.

(c) Mission assignments. To speed assistance under the National Response Plan, the President must ensure that the Administrator, working with Federal agencies responsible under that plan, develops prewritten mission assignments, including logistics, communications, mass care, health services, and public safety.

(d) Certification. Each year, the President must certify to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and to the House Committees on Homeland Security and on Transportation and Infrastructure, that each Federal agency responsible under the National Response Plan complies with subsections (a) and (b).

(e) Construction. Nothing in this section limits the Secretary^* of Defense’s authority over—

(1) the command, control, training, planning, equipment, exercises, or employment of Department of Defense forces; or

(2) the allocation of Department of Defense resources.