NCP and the National Response System
Diagram of how the NCP fits into the National Preparedness System. For a full description, use the link in this slide.
  • For the Federal Government, the NRF recognizes that federal responses may be led by various federal agencies, under various federal authorities, including responses to oil and hazardous substance incidents led by EPA/USCG under the NCP (as discussed previously). The NCP serves as the federal interagency operations plan for oil and hazardous substance responses.
  • The NRF also recognizes that FEMA may coordinate federal responses under the Stafford Act. In this case, the NRS may also have a role to play in providing support to FEMA through activation of ESF #10: Oil and Hazardous Materials Response.
  • When FEMA coordinates a federal response under the Stafford Act, FEMA is supported by a broad spectrum of federal agencies, whose support is organized into ESFs, each providing a different type of federal support during an incident. ESFs are led by the federal agency with the most expertise or authority in providing that type of support, but the lead agency is supported by other federal agencies that also have authorities and expertise in that area.
    • As the lead agency for ESF #10, EPA leverages the resources, capabilities, and expertise of the federal member agencies involved in NRS planning and response to provide the ESF #10 response. ESF #10 is usually activated multiple times each year for natural disasters that result in oil/hazardous substance releases, such as Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina.
  • One difference to note between an NCP response and an ESF #10 Stafford Act response:
    • Under the Stafford Act, states or tribes ask FEMA for the specific types of federal help they need, FEMA then activates the ESFs that can provide that support by issuing Mission Assignments that task the ESFs to do the specific work requested. FEMA then reimburses the ESF agencies from the Stafford Act disaster fund. So when ESF #10 is activated, the Federal Government is responding to the specific tasks assigned by the FEMA Mission Assignment at the request of the state, territory, or tribe.
    • Regardless of the circumstances of the release, EPA and USCG still maintain their ability to exercise their independent NCP authorities if needed during a Stafford Act response. So it is possible to have both an ESF #10 and NCP response to a Stafford Act incident. However, in an NCP response, the Federal Government can respond to a release without a specific request from a state or tribe, and does not need to wait for specific tasks to be assigned from FEMA.  
Full description (alt text) of the NCP/National Preparedness System graphic.