DHS Has Submitted its Regional Structure Plans to the White House
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on April 2, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials on various trade and customs issues.
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This is Part II of a multi-part series of summaries on the April 2, 2004 COAC meeting and focuses on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to adopt a regional structure. See future issues of ITT for additional summaries.
DHS Has Sent a "Concept of Operations" to the White HouseDHS officials have announced in previous COAC meetings that they envision creating a regional structure for DHS which consists of 7-10 regions, each with a regional director having the following responsibilities (1) liaison between the Secretary of Homeland Security and State and local governments; (2) on-site "commander" in times of an incident who would coordinate activities of multiple agencies in that region; and (3) party responsible for looking at how people are working together as a region.
According to DHS sources, DHS has sent the White House a "Concept of Operations" outlining its plans for a regional structure. However, sources note that the White House has not yet responded to DHS' submission.
During the COAC meeting, DHS sources noted that once the White House moves forward with DHS' reorganization, there would be a formal outreach process, lasting several months, during which the trade community would have an opportunity to comment.
Although details of DHS' regional structure plans are not available, DHS sources did state that their regional structure plans do not call for a massive relocation of either people or equipment.
DHS officials again emphasized at the COAC meeting that national policy would continue to be set at the national (i.e., Headquarters) level, not by DHS regional directors.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 04/28/04 news, 04042810, for Part I of this multi-part series of summaries.)