ESF Structure and Roles: An Overview of Emergency Support Functions | Exercises Engineering

EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION ANNEXES: INTRODUCTION

Purpose

This section provides an overview of the Emergency Support Function (ESF) structure, common

elements of each of the ESFs, and the basic content contained in each of the ESF Annexes. The

following section includes a series of annexes describing the roles and responsibilities of Federal

departments and agencies as ESF coordinators, primary agencies, or support agencies.

Background

The ESFs provide the structure for coordinating Federal interagency support for a Federal

response to an incident. They are mechanisms for grouping functions most frequently used to

provide Federal support to States and Federal-to-Federal support, both for declared disasters

and emergencies under the Stafford Act and for non-Stafford Act incidents (see Table 1).

The Incident Command System provides for the flexibility to assign ESF and other stakeholder

resources according to their capabilities, taskings, and requirements to augment and support

the other sections of the Joint Field Office (JFO)/Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC)

or National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) in order to respond to incidents in a more

collaborative and cross-cutting manner.

While ESFs are typically assigned to a specific section at the NRCC or in the JFO/RRCC for

management purposes, resources may be assigned anywhere within the Unified Coordination

structure. Regardless of the section in which an ESF may reside, that entity works in

conjunction with other JFO sections to ensure that appropriate planning and execution of

missions occur.

Table 1. Roles and Responsibilities of the ESFs

ESF Scope

ESF #1 – Transportation Aviation/airspace management and control

Transportation safety

Restoration/recovery of transportation infrastructure

Movement restrictions

Damage and impact assessment

ESF #2 –

Communications Coordination with telecommunications and information technology

industries

Restoration and repair of telecommunications infrastructure

Protection, restoration, and sustainment of national cyber and information

technology resources

Oversight of communications within the Federal incident management and

response structures

ESF #3 – Public Works

and Engineering Infrastructure protection and emergency repair

Infrastructure restoration

Engineering services and construction management

Emergency contracting support for life-saving and life-sustaining services

ESF #4 – Firefighting Coordination of Federal firefighting activities

Support to wildland, rural, and urban firefighting operations

January 2008 ESF Annexes Introduction ESF-i

ESF Structure and Roles: An Overview of Emergency Support Functions, Exercises of Engineering

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EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION ANNEXES: INTRODUCTION

Purpose

This section provides an overview of the Emergency Support Function (ESF) structure, common

elements of each of the ESFs, and the basic content contained in each of the ESF Annexes. The

following section includes a series of annexes describing the roles and responsibilities of Federal

departments and agencies as ESF coordinators, primary agencies, or support agencies.

Background

The ESFs provide the structure for coordinating Federal interagency support for a Federal

response to an incident. They are mechanisms for grouping functions most frequently used to

provide Federal support to States and Federal-to-Federal support, both for declared disasters

and emergencies under the Stafford Act and for non-Stafford Act incidents (see Table 1).

The Incident Command System provides for the flexibility to assign ESF and other stakeholder

resources according to their capabilities, taskings, and requirements to augment and support

the other sections of the Joint Field Office (JFO)/Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC)

or National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) in order to respond to incidents in a more

collaborative and cross-cutting manner.

While ESFs are typically assigned to a specific section at the NRCC or in the JFO/RRCC for

management purposes, resources may be assigned anywhere within the Unified Coordination

structure. Regardless of the section in which an ESF may reside, that entity works in

conjunction with other JFO sections to ensure that appropriate planning and execution of

missions occur.

Table 1. Roles and Responsibilities of the ESFs

January 2008 ESF Annexes Introduction ESF-i

ESF-ii ESF Annexes Introduction January 2008

The NRCC, a component of the National Operations Center (NOC), develops and issues

operations orders to activate individual ESFs based on the scope and magnitude of the threat or

incident.

y Providing staff for the operations functions at fixed and field facilities.

y Notifying and requesting assistance from support agencies.

y Managing mission assignments and coordinating with support agencies, as well as

appropriate State officials, operations centers, and agencies.

y Working with appropriate private-sector organizations to maximize use of all available

resources.

y Supporting and keeping other ESFs and organizational elements informed of ESF operational

priorities and activities.

y Conducting situational and periodic readiness assessments.

y Executing contracts and procuring goods and services as needed.

y Ensuring financial and property accountability for ESF activities.

y Planning for short- and long-term incident management and recovery operations.

y Maintaining trained personnel to support interagency emergency response and support

teams.

y Identifying new equipment or capabilities required to prevent or respond to new or

emerging threats and hazards, or to improve the ability to address existing threats.

Support agencies are those entities with specific capabilities or resources that support the

primary agency in executing the mission of the ESF. When an ESF is activated, support

agencies are responsible for:

y Conducting operations, when requested by DHS or the designated ESF primary agency,

consistent with their own authority and resources, except as directed otherwise pursuant to

sections 402, 403, and 502 of the Stafford Act.

y Participating in planning for short- and long-term incident management and recovery

operations and the development of supporting operational plans, SOPs, checklists, or other

job aids, in concert with existing first-responder standards.

y Assisting in the conduct of situational assessments.

y Furnishing available personnel, equipment, or other resource support as requested by DHS

or the ESF primary agency.

y Providing input to periodic readiness assessments.

y Maintaining trained personnel to support interagency emergency response and support

teams.

y Identifying new equipment or capabilities required to prevent or respond to new or

emerging threats and hazards, or to improve the ability to address existing threats.

ESF-iv ESF Annexes Introduction January 2008

January 2008 ESF Annexes Introduction ESF-v

When requested, and upon approval of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Defense

(DOD) provides Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) during domestic incidents.

Accordingly, DOD is considered a support agency to all ESFs.

January 2008

ESF Annexes Introduction

ESF-vii

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