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General Security and Resilience

FEMA Releases Updated Private-Public Guide for Coordinating Preparedness and Response

FEMA has released an updated version of its Building Private-Public Partnerships guide, which provides recommendations and best practices to establish and maintain a private-public partnership to help coordinate mitigation, response, and recovery planning and preparedness within a jurisdiction. The guide will help both public and private sector emergency managers at all levels collaborate to increase community resilience. While the guide is written from a local perspective, any jurisdiction or private entity can use it.

FEMA Releases 2022 Schedule of Virtual Tabletop Exercise Program

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Emergency Management Institute (EMI) has released its 2022 schedule for the Virtual Tabletop Exercise (VTTX) Program. Each VTTX is four hours in length and will allow participants to apply the Strategic Priorities to a realistic scenario in a facilitated, no fault, hazard-specific exercise discussion. Scenarios this year include:

Following the TSA Pipeline Security Guidelines Could be Beneficial for Water and Wastewater Utilities

Dragos offers a succinct overview of the recently updated TSA Pipeline Security Guidelines. The updates are highlighted among four categories: creation of the Cybersecurity Coordinator role; asset management and criticality; cyber risk, vulnerability, and gap assessments; incident response and reporting. Based on those categories and Dragos’ own experience helping countless industrial organizations, it offers four questions to use in assessing your organization’s maturity and determining a roadmap forward to greater infrastructure resilience:

FEMA Releases Continuity Guide for Local, State, and other Non-Federal Governments

FEMA has released a new guide to assist local, state, and other non-federal governments with continuity planning, intended to help them sustain critical services and functions when routine operations are disrupted during an emergency. The Guide to Continuity of Government for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments describes the relationship between continuity of operations, continuity of government, and enduring constitutional government. And it provides guidance in the form of planning factors to promote the resilience and preservation of non-federal governments.

Increased Forecast for Atlantic Hurricane Season Activity

The Colorado State University’s (CSU’s) Tropical Meteorology Project has increased the number of named storms – those reaching the criteria for hurricanes, tropical storms, or sub-tropical storms – it predicts for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season from 17 to 20. The group cited the influence of recent activity in its updated forecast, noting that Elsa’s development and intensification into a hurricane in the tropical Atlantic typically portends an active season.

Drinking Water System Risk Assessments and Emergency Response Plans Required Under America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA)

Section 2013 of The America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA)

Section 2013 of The America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) amends Sec. 1433 of the Safe Drinking Water Act.  To read the language of Section 2013, please see the attached PDF below.
The language can also be found at 42 U.S. Code § 300i–2.

Summary

How the Heightened Domestic Extremist Threat Could Materialize in Attacks

As an article in Homeland Security Today observes, the Capitol riot and the heavy online chatter preceding and following the event have put law enforcement on edge, not just through January 20 but in the year ahead for potential attacks by extremist groups and individuals that include accelerationists and conspiracy theory and anti-government extremists, among others. The article explores how and when threats might manifest themselves, looking at the possibility of incidents that take inspiration from the Capitol riot, occur on symbolic dates, and make use of insiders.

FEMA Releases Emergency Operations Center Toolkit

FEMA has released five emergency operations center toolkit documents, covering topics such as hazard vulnerability assessments, physical site selection, mitigation considerations, capabilities and requirements, information management systems, and training and exercises. Together these resources comprise a collection of customizable tools, templates and guides designed to assist emergency management, specifically emergency operations center managers and staff members on preparing and operating in emergency environments.

NOAA Launches Redesigned Drought Portal, Includes Section on Impacts to Water Utilities

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has launched a redesigned U.S. Drought Portal, intended to better serve stakeholders, decision makers, and the public. The portal features updated content and new interactive architecture designed to provide actionable, shareable information and easy-to-understand graphics describing current drought conditions and forecasts by city, county, state, zip code, and at watershed to global scales. It also includes a new “By Sector” section, which describes drought’s impacts on different economic sectors, including water utilities.

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