Emergency Communications
Establishment of the Emergency Communications Preparedness Center and Related Interagency Coordination Challenges Gao ID: GAO-10-463R March 3, 2010This letter formally transmits the briefing in response to a mandate in the conference report (No. 111-298) and senate report (No. 111-31) to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010. In accordance with the direction in those reports, and in consultation with congressional staff, we are reporting on (1) actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) to establish the Emergency Communications Preparedness Center (ECPC) and (2) challenges OEC and ECPC officials reported that could affect interagency coordination through ECPC. Based on the results of our review, we are not making any recommendations for congressional consideration or agency action.
GAO-10-463R, Emergency Communications: Establishment of the Emergency Communications Preparedness Center and Related Interagency Coordination Challenges
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GAO-10-463R:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
March 3, 2010:
The Honorable Robert C. Byrd:
Chairman:
The Honorable George Voinovich:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Homeland Security:
Committee on Appropriations:
United States Senate:
The Honorable David E. Price:
Chairman:
The Honorable Harold Rogers:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Homeland Security:
Committee on Appropriations:
House of Representatives:
Subject: Emergency Communications: Establishment of the Emergency
Communications Preparedness Center and Related Interagency
Coordination Challenges:
This letter formally transmits the enclosed briefing in response to a
mandate in the conference report (No. 111-298) and senate report (No.
111-31) to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act,
2010. In accordance with the direction in those reports, and in
consultation with your staff, we are reporting on (1) actions taken by
the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency
Communications (OEC) to establish the Emergency Communications
Preparedness Center (ECPC) and (2) challenges OEC and ECPC officials
reported that could affect interagency coordination through ECPC. For
a summary of the results of our work, see slide 8. Based on the
results of our review, we are not making any recommendations for
congressional consideration or agency action.
We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional
committees. We are also sending copies to the Honorable Janet
Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of
Homeland Security. This report will also be available at no charge on
our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. Should you or your staff have
questions concerning this report, please contact me at (202) 512-8777
or JenkinsWO@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of:
Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last
page of this report. Key contributors to this report were Leyla Kazaz,
Assistant Director; R. Denton Herring, Analyst-in-Charge; David
Alexander; Jamie Berryhill; Christine Davis; and Adam Vogt.
Signed by:
William O. Jenkins, Jr.
Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues:
Enclosure:
[End of section]
Enclosure: Emergency Communications:
Establishment of the Emergency Communications Preparedness Center and
Related Interagency Coordination Challenges:
Briefing to the Subcommittees on Homeland Security, Committees on
Appropriations, United States Senate and House of Representatives:
February 26, 2010:
Outline of Briefing:
* Objectives;
* Scope and Methodology;
* Summary;
* Background;
* Findings;
* Agency Comments.
Introduction:
The tragic events of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina highlighted the
critical importance of having effective communications systems for law
enforcement, public safety, and emergency response agencies, including
federal agencies with such responsibilities. To effectively respond to
events such as natural disasters and domestic terrorism, these
agencies need reliable systems that enable communication with their
counterparts in other disciplines and jurisdictions.
In response to Hurricane Katrina, Congress enacted the Post-Katrina
Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (Post-Katrina Act), which
amended the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and, among other things:
* established the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) within the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and;
* required federal agencies, including DHS, to establish and jointly
operate the Emergency Communications Preparedness Center (ECPC).
[Footnote 1]
ECPC is an interagency body intended to serve as the focal point and
clearinghouse for intergovernmental emergency communications
information sharing, and is required to submit to Congress an annual
strategic assessment on federal coordination to advance emergency
communications.
ECPC is composed of 5 statutorily-mandated members”DHS, the Federal
Communications Commission, and the Departments of Commerce, Defense,
and Justice”and 7 additional departments and agencies which were
invited to participate as members. The 12 members play kw roles in
emergency communications efforts.[Footnote 2] In accordance with the
ECPC Charter, OEC administers ECPC on behalf of the Secretary of
Homeland Security.
Citing concerns about the federal government's progress in
implementing interoperability among federal agencies and the amount of
time it was taking to establish ECPC, congressional appropriators
directed GAO to evaluate the progress made in establishing ECPC and
identify any obstacles to federal agency coordination through ECPC, as
discussed in the conference report (No. 111-298) and senate report
(No. 111-31) to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations
Act, 2010.
Objectives:
In accordance with this mandate, our objectives are to determine:
1) What actions, if any has OEC taken to establish EQPC since the
enactment of the Post-Katrina Act in October 2006?
2) What if any challenges did OEC and ECPC officials report that could
affect federal interagency coordination through ECPC?
Scope and Methodology:
To determine the actions taken to establish ECPC since October 2006,
we reviewed ECPC's Charter, documentation from agencies detailing
their agreement with the charter, and rosters of ECPC's Executive and
Steering Committees. We also reviewed the Executive Committee Action
Items list and OEC's progress report on goals and objectives contained
in the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP), which is
intended to enhance emergency communications.
To determine challenges that OEC and ECPC officials identified that
could impact coordination through ECPC, we reviewed the charter to
examine ECPC's objective to establish relationships with similar
entities involved in emergency communications. We also reviewed GAO
reports on interagency coordination and collaboration with
stakeholders.[Footnote 3]
In addition, we interviewed officials from OEC and then, in a group
setting, interviewed officials from 11 of the 12 member ECPC agencies,
to discuss the process of establishing ECPC, and to determine what, if
any, challenges they have identified that could impact coordination.
The 12 ECPC member agencies were invited to participate in the group
interview; however, 1 member agency did not participate. During this
interview, following officials' answers to our questions, we provided
summations to ensure that our understanding of the answers accurately
represented the perspectives of all ECPC officials that were present.
We conducted our work from November 2009 through February 2010 in
accordance with all sections of GAO's Quality Assurance Framework that
are relevant to our objectives. The framework requires that we plan
and perform the engagement to obtain sufficient and appropriate
evidence to meet our stated objectives and to discuss any limitations
in our work. We believe that the information and data obtained, and
the analysis conducted, provide a reasonable basis for any findings
and conclusions in this product.
Summary:
OEC worked with the 12 charter members to establish ECPC by approving
its Charter during the summer of 2009 and holding the first Executive
Committee meeting on October 21, 2009. The Post-Katrina Act which was
signed into law on October 4, 2006, did not provide a deadline for
ECPC to commence operations. Approximately 6 months after OEC began
operations in April 2007, officials from OEC and other key departments
and agencies started working to define ECPC's mission, interpret
Congress' intent, consider issues related to their legal authorities,
and draft and gain concurrence on the ECPC Charter. Current ECPC-
efforts include working to refine its mission, identifying short-term
and long-term action items, and implementing tasks associated with
ECPC-related milestones in the NECP.
OEC and ECPC officials we interviewed reported that ECPC faces
interagency coordination challenges in obtaining agreement among ECPC
members on group decisions, gaining the acceptance of it stakeholders
when promoting a strategy to achieve interoperable communications,
providing and demonstrating value to its members, maturing as an
interagency body, and working to define its relationships with other
organizations with similar goals and objectives.
We requested comments on a draft of this briefing from DHS. The
department did not provide written comments to include in our report,
but provided technical comments which we incorporated as appropriate.
Background:
ECPC is governed by an Executive Committee, which consists of
representatives at the under secretary level from the 12 respective
charter members. In addition, an ECPC Steering Committee, which
consists of representatives at the assistant secretary level, was
established to implement policies approved by the Executive Committee
and coordinate with OEC in administering ECPC.
According to ECPC's Charter, its mission is to support and promote the
capability of emergency response providers and associated government
officials to continue to communicate in anticipation of, and response
to, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made
disasters, and to support and promote interoperable emergency
communications by:[Footnote 4]
1. serving as the focal point for interagency efforts and as a
clearinghouse for all relevant intergovernmental emergency
communications information and,
2. consistent with NECP, preparing an annual strategic assessment on
the coordination efforts of federal departments and agencies.
NECP, which was issued in July 2008, includes strategic goals and
national objectives to enhance governance, planning, technology,
training and exercises, and disaster communications capabilities. NECP
provides recommendations and associated milestones to guide emergency
responders and relevant government officials to make measurable
improvements in emergency communications over a 5-year period.
Establishment of ECPC: Charter Approval:
According to OEC, the 12 ECPC members concurred with the Charter
during the summer of 2009 and established ECPC when the Executive
Committee held its first meeting on October 21, 2009.
The Post-Katrina Act was signed into law October 4, 2006, requiring
the establishment of OEC and ECPC. OEC began operating on Aril 1,2007,
within DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate's NPPD)
Office of Cybersecurity and Communications. Approximately months later
in October 2007, OEC officials began working to establish ECPC. OEC
officials worked with prospective ECPC members to define its mission,
interpret Congress' intent in establishing ECPC, consider issues
related to legal authorities, and draft and gain concurrence on
finalizing the Charter.
* October 2007 ” January 2008: OEC officials stated that the effort to
establish ECPC started in October 2007 6 months after OEC began
operating. For approximately 4 months, OEC worked to define how ECPC;
should be established, including consideration of its initial
activities and the scope of its mission. OEC officials stated that
during this period they held discussions to determine the ma's and
objectives of ECPC and initiated a legal review to ensure that ECPC;
did not impinge on the authority or other agencies.
* January 2008 ” December 2008: OEC officials stated that DHS's
process for reviewing the draft ECPC Charter and addressing questions
regarding the scope of ECPC's authorities took longer than
anticipated. During this time, DHS's General Counsel undertook a legal
review to determine how to interpret Congress' intent in establishing
ECPC and how to appropriately follow the congressional mandate.
* December 2008 ” October 21, 2009: OEC officials gained clearance on
the draft charter from DHS in December 2008 and worked to gain
concurrence from members of ECPC. Officials noted that the change in
presidential administrations during this time resulted in delays
finalizing the Executive Committee's roster because the committee is
comprised of high-ranking agency officials, some of whom are political
appointees. For instance, the DHS Under Secretary for NPPD, who serves
as chair of the Executive Committee, was not confirmed until June 2009.
Establishment of ECPC: Current Efforts: Working to Define Its Mission
and Scope:
ECPC's mission, in part, is to establish a clearinghouse to build a
collection of emergency communications information. An initial version
of the clearinghouse is housed within the Homeland Security
Information Network (HSIN),which is DHS's primary information
technology system for sharing terrorism and related information with
federal, state, and local agencies, among others. OEC officials stated
that while OEC has a definition of emergency communications, ECPC has
not yet agreed on one, noting that without a definition it will be
difficult to determine what types of interoperability plans and other
relevant information should be submitted to the clearinghouse.
ECPC is working to define the scope of emergency communications in
order to establish parameters for its mission. For example, OEC
officials said that federal departments' continuity of operations
plans in the event of an influenza pandemic may or may not be
considered an emergency communications plan. To further this effort,
ECPC intends to form a working group. Preliminary discussions within
the ECPC Steering Committee indicate a consensus that the scope of
emergency communications must be defined broadly.
Establishment of ECPC: Current Efforts: Short-term Action Items:
At its inaugural meeting on October 21, 2009, ECPC's Executive
Committee identified the following short-term action items:
1) Coordinate member comments on the Federal Communications
Commission's National Broadband Plan (NBP), an effort to ensure that
every American has access to broadband capability.
2) Identify legal and regulatory barriers to common acquisition
approaches and advocate for the removal of such barriers.
3) Submit grant coordination requirements for the President's proposed
fiscal year 2011 budget.[Footnote 5]
4) Refine ECPC's objectives, goals, and common definitions.
OEC officials stated that the Executive Committee's goal was to
establish these action items during their first meeting, but due to
the scope of these actions, they need additional information to
establish feasible time frames for completion. The Steering Committee
has been tasked with this effort.
Establishment of ECPC: Current Efforts: Long-term Action Items:
ECPC's Executive Committee identified the following long-term action
items:
1) Coordinate federal emergency communications grants guidance.
2) Consider developing methods to support identification of
opportunities to share infrastructure and leverage resources.
[Footnote 6]
3) Provide federal input into existing national communications
planning activities, including broadband planning and national
emergency communications planning.
4) Assess the timeliness of efforts to establish emergency
communications standards, and standards compliance to drive
operability and interoperability improvements.
5) Refine ECPC's long-term strategic agenda,,which should include a
focus on coordinating grants guidance and identifying opportunities to
share infrastructure.
OEC officials stated that the Executive Committee's goal was to
establish these action items during their first meeting, but due to
the scope of these actions they need additional information to
establish feasible time frames for completion. The Steering Committee
has been tasked with this effort.
Establishment of ECPC: Current Efforts: Status of NECP Milestones
Related to ECPC:
Table 1: Status of NECP Milestones Related to ECPC:
NECP milestone: Establish a catalog of technical assistance (TA)
programs to ensure awareness of available TA and reduce duplication;
NECP due date:[Footnote 7] January 2009;
Status: According to DHS' NECP milestone progress report, this was
completed on March 31, 2009, and a catalog was created. OEC officials
stated that the creation of the catalog helped federal partners become
more aware of other agencies' TA programs.
NECP milestone: Federal departments and agencies use ECPC as the
central coordinating body for federal input into, and comments on,
emergency communications projects, plans, and reports;
NECP due date: July 2009;
Status: The ECPC working group, the predecessor of the ECPC Executive
Committee, coordinated federal input for NECP. Also, ECPC coordinated
federal input for NBP.
NECP milestone:
ECPC is to submit its strategic assessment to Congress detailing
progress to date, remaining obstacles to interoperability, and federal
coordination efforts;
NECP due date: July 2009;
Status: OEC officials expect completion by December 2010. ECPC plans
to validate methods for conducting the assessment and have the Office
of Management & Budget, National Security Staff, and Office of Science
& Technology Policy review the assessment.
NECP milestone: OEC is to establish a method for coordination and
sharing of information between ECPC and Regional Emergency
Communication Coordination Working Groups (RECCWG);[Footnote 8]
NECP due date: July 2009;
Status: OEC officials stated no time frame for completion of this
milestone. ECPC and RECCWGs are in the early stages of development.
DHS intends to refine its own coordination and information-sharing
relationships with ECPC and RECCWGs prior to establishing a method for
them to coordinate with one another.
NECP milestone: ECPC is to stand up a working group to coordinate
grant priorities across federal grant programs;
NECP due date: July 2009;
Status: The working group has been established and is revising a plan
to be used to promote common grant guidance across federal agencies
that is to be available in the clearinghouse.
NECP milestone: Begin operations for the ECPC Web-based clearinghouse;
NECP due date: January 2010;
Status: According to OEC officials, an initial version of the
clearinghouse is operational within HSIN; however, the clearinghouse
will not be available for interagency use until March 2010. In
addition, OEC officials said they are planning a separate rollout for
a second, more user-friendly version of the clearinghouse at a later
time.
NECP milestone: OEC is to establish outreach activities to ensure that
stakeholders across the nation are aware of the availability of ECPC
clearinghouse resources;
NECP due date: July 2010;
Status: OEC officials have begun work to complete this task by July
2010; however, they are waiting for a more user-friendly clearinghouse
before they promote its availability.
Source: GAO analysis of NECP, OEC Progress Report on NECP Milestones,
and other information from OEC.
[End of table]
ECPC Challenges: Obtaining Agreement Among Members:
ECPC officials stated that ECPC cannot direct or require its members
or stakeholders, such as other federal, state, or local agencies with
a role in emergency communications, to take any specific actions in
response to its recommendations. Therefore, ECPC's goal of providing
input and recommendations regarding the establishment of
interoperability and operability goals must be carried out in the
absence of compulsory authority. Our prior work has shown that
coordination is critical when an entity does not have the authority to
compel others to comply with its requirements.[Footnote 9]
ECPC officials we interviewed stated that the current consensus-
building approach to decision making assists in obtaining "buy-in"
from members and is more beneficial than an authoritative approach. In
addition, they stated that the purpose of ECPC is to promote a common
understanding among emergency communications entities that are working
to achieve interoperable communications.
ECPC officials noted that ECPC's process of gaining consensus on
decisions should help defuse interagency disputes before they arise.
OEC officials noted that ECPC has had no major disputes to date and
has no plans to develop a dispute resolution process.
OEC officials believe that the high-level composition of the Executive
Committee provides greater assurance that Executive Committee members
will be able to follow through on their respective decisions within
their own agencies.
ECPC Challenges: Gaining Acceptance from Stakeholders:
ECPC officials we interviewed said they intend to promote a strategy
of working towards interoperable communications that stakeholders,
including state and local governments, will want to accept, and not to
try to force stakeholders to comply with its guidance. OEC officials
believe that stakeholders will want to coordinate with ECPC because it
plans to work across federal agencies to unify emergency
communications grant guidance. According to OEC officials, state and
local government officials are often frustrated when grant guidance
from various federal departments and agencies conflicts and are
supportive of efforts to unify grant guidance across departments and
agencies.
OEC officials stated that a working group is revising a common set of
interoperable emergency communications grant guidance for all federal
agencies, to reduce overlap and conflicting requirements, which should
enable stakeholders to better coordinate and target their grant
dollars. The plan to include this guidance in the clearinghouse,
making it available to ECPC stakeholders once stakeholders are able to
access the clearinghouse. These officials believe this will help to
streamline grant guidance and raise awareness about available grants.
ECPC Challenges: Providing and Demonstrating Value:
ECPC members noted that the ability to add value to its members is
important to sustaining and maintaining effective coordination among
ECPC members. ECPC officials we interviewed stated that they are
realizing, or expect to realize, value through their continued
participation in ECPC. They provided three examples of how they are
gaining or expect to gain value:
1) The Department of Health and Human Services should be able to
provide better guidance to hospitals on what types of emergency
communications equipment other first responders are procuring. ECPC
officials noted that this will assist hospitals in purchasing
equipment that will be interoperable.with other first responders who
receive federal emergency communications grants.
2) ECPC facilitated the Commerce Department's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration's effort to collect
comments from a wider array of stakeholders on the proposed National
Broadband Plan.
3) ECPC officials said that the Department of Agriculture plans to use
the clearinghouse to provide guidance to firefighfers on how to
develop cross-jurisdictional memorandums of understanding that will
create a governance structure for multi-jurisdiction events such as
wildfires.
ECPC Challenges: Maturing as an Interagency Body:
Our past work has shown that addressing challenges related to
organizational stability helps to build the credibility needed to
establish effective partnerships.[Footnote 10] While ECPC is in the
early stages of development, OEC officials said that ECPC's goals and
objectives will be refined as the interagency body continues to
mature. In addition, OEC officials said that they plan to develop an
ECPC Program Management Plan within which they would list ECPC's goals
and objectives. They intend to incorporate some best practices,
identified in our prior work, for sustaining effective interagency
collaboration into this plan.[Footnote 11]
* These best practices may include: 1) defining and articulating a
common outcome or mission, 2) developing a strategy to align resources
in support of the mission, 3) defining partners' roles and
responsibilities, 4) establishing methods to work across agency
boundaries, and 5) developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and
report on the results of efforts.
Although ECPC has yet to develop a Program Management Plan, OEC
officials reported that ECPC has taken steps to incorporate some of
these best practices into the management of ECPC. For example, ECPC
defined a common outcome or mission within the charter. ECPC also
established methods to work across agency boundaries by forming
interagency working groups to address issues as directed by the
Executive Committee.
ECPC Challenges: Working to Define Relationships with Similar Entities:
ECPC officials we interviewed stated that ECPC has to refine its own
goals and objectives while building relationships with similar
entities involved in emergency communications. The purpose of
maintaining these relationships is to obtain feedback on ECPC's
activities and deliverables, including input to NECP, and to share
information on interoperable emergency communications matters. OEC
officials stated that building relationships with similar entities
will help streamline emergency communications guidance and provide
federal, state, and local governments an opportunity to work towards
interoperability.
OEC officials used ECPC's relationship with SAFECOM to illustrate the
value of building relationships with other entities that have similar
goals and objectives. SAFECOM is a DHS communications program that
provides research, development, testing and evaluation, guidance,
tools, and templates on communications-related issues to emergency
response agencies. Its goal is to assist state and local first
responders in the planning and implementation of interoperable
solutions.
OEC officials noted that while SAFECOM's mission is focused on
coordination among state and local first responder agencies, not all
those with responsibilities for emergency response coordinate with
SAFECOM. For example, hospitals, which invest federal grant dollars in
emergency communications equipment, do not have the benefit of a
partnership with SAFECOM that could provide them with an understanding
of how other state and local first responders are using their grant
funds to achieve interoperable communications. OEC officials said that
ECPC should be able to communicate with hospital”by leveraging
hospitals' relationships with the Department of Health and Human
Services”about how other first responders are using their grant funds
to achieve interoperable communications.
According to ECPC's Charter, ECPC plans to maintain a close
information-sharing relationship with other entities including:
* The National Communications System's (NCS) National Coordinating
Center for Telecommunications, which has a mission to assist in the
initiation, coordination, restoration, and reconstitution of national
security or emergency preparedness telecommunications services or
facilities and, coordinate and plan emergency preparedness
communications systems.
* NCS's Committee of Principals, which has a, mission to be a forum
for members to review, evaluate and present views and
recommendations on national security and emergency preparedness
telecommunications programs.
* The Federal Partnership for Interoperable Communications, which
works to foster federal wireless communications interoperability
through leveraging intergovernmental cooperation.
* The Communications Sector Coordinating Council, a stakeholder body
with, leadership from large telecommunication corporations. This
public-private partnership's goal is to protect teleCommunications
infrastructure from harm and to rapidly restore infrastructure after a
disaster.
Agency Comments:
We requested comments on a draft of this briefing from DHS. The
department did not provide written comments to include in our report.
However, in an e-mail received on February 19, 2010, the DHS liaison
said that DHS had no substantive comments on the report but provided
technical comments, which we have incorporated as appropriate.
[End of briefing slides]
Footnotes:
[1] The Post-Katrina Act was enacted on October 4, 2006. The
provisions establishing OEC and ECPC appear at 6 U.S.C. §§ 571, 576.
[2] ECPC's 12 charter members are the Departments of Agriculture,
Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland
Security, Interior, Justice, Labor, and the Treasury, as well as the
Federal Communications Commission and the General Services
Administration.
[3] GAO, Results Oriented Government Practices That Can Help Enhance
and Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15] (Washington, D.C.: October
2005); GAO, Critical Infrastructure Protection: Department of Homeland
Security Faces Challenges in Fulfilling Cybersecurity
Responsibilities, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-434]
(Washington, D.C.: May 2005); and GAO, National Preparedness: FEMA Has
Made Progress, but Needs to Complete and Integrate Planning, Exercise,
and Assessment Efforts, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-369] (Washington, D.C.: April 2009).
[4] Interoperability is the ability of emergency responders to
communicate among jurisdictions, disciplines, and levels of
government, using a variety of frequency bands, as needed and as
authorized.
[5] Although the Executive Committee's action items stated that grants
coordination requirements would be submitted for the President's
proposed fiscal year 2011 budget, OEC officials stated that ECPC will
not submit these requirements for the fiscal year 2011 budget. OEC
officials said that some work for establishing these requirements has
been done by DHS, but ECPC members have not had the opportunity to
contribute to the effort. OEC officials said they anticipate grant
coordination requirements to be submitted for future budgets.
[6] This concept may encompass information beyond system
infrastructure, such as applicable governance models, established
standard operating procedures, and relevant coordination
activities/groups/resources.
[7] NECP was issued in July 2008 and provides recommended actions with
due dates to guide emergency response providers and relevant
government officials in making measurable improvements in emergency
communications capabilities. Several of these milestones are relevant
to ECPC.
[8] As stated in NECP, RECCWGs assess emergency communications
capabilities within their respective regions, facilitate disaster
preparedness through the promotion of multi-jurisdictional and
multiagency emergency communications networks, and ensure activities
are coordinated with all emergency communications stakeholders within
the RECCWG's associated Federal Emergency Management Agency region.
[9] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GA0-09-369].
[10] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GA0-05-434].
[11] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15].
[End of section]
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Public Affairs:
Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4800:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7149:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
