DHS Will Promote Emergency Access Program Developed by BellSouth
The Dept. of Homeland Security agreed to promote an access program developed by BellSouth and the state of Ga. to give telecom repair crews better access to disaster areas to make repairs, as hurricane season 2006 begins, a top DHS official told the National Security Telecom Advisory Committee Wed. Bob Stephan, asst. secy. of Homeland Security for infrastructure protection, also indicated Wed. the Dept. will likely issue a document that allows telecom repair crews better access to fuel, water and security under the Stafford Act during future disasters.
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NSTAC, chaired by BellSouth CEO Duane Ackerman, concluded a 2-day meeting Wed., which included a brief public session attended by FCC Chmn. Martin and many other top officials. Leaders of the group also met at the White House with Vice President Cheney.
Access for repair crews and interpretation of the Stafford Act have loomed large since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast last summer. Industry officials reported after Katrina that in many cases they couldn’t get to their facilities to repair them (CD April 19 p3).
Industry officials have also urged a broader interpretation of the Stafford Act to ensure telecom gets “first responder” treatment for access to fuel, water and security needed to repair generators and other telecom infrastructure. After Katrina, repair crews sometimes lacked all 3 and so couldn’t get critical infrastructure running. In many cases, carriers complained, the govt. insisted on a strict interpretation of the act, denying them support.
Stephan said DHS will promote a credentialing program developed by BellSouth working with Ga. “We have worked with you all in partnership,” Stephan told NSTAC. “We're now exporting the lessons learned in that pilot project giving [you] access and credentialing across all potentially impacted states.” Under the pilot, law enforcement agreed to allow repair crews access into disaster areas if they have company IDs, letters of reference from the company and special “hang tags” on utility truck mirrors. BellSouth worked out similar credentials for contractors. And BellSouth and DHS have agreed on standard operating procedures.
Charles Lathram, asst. vp-security & business control at BellSouth, said Wed. the Bell has been working with Fla. and La. as well, which are likely to adopt the program this summer. Other states in the region are likely to adopt parts of the procedures, he said: “That’s our hope.”
Stephan also said DHS will work with industry on an updated interpretation of the Stafford Act. “We're going to be very, very flexible this year in terms of entertaining your requirements, not necessarily satisfying 100% of your requirements, but entertaining 100% of your requirements,” he said. “Those pieces of the puzzle have been worked out… the processes, the protocols, the documentation… Being in lockstep together is more important than ever before.”
In other remarks during the NSTAC meeting, Ken Rapuano, an asst. to President Bush for homeland security, conceded that Katrina exposed major communications problems that must be addressed. “The basic elements of operational capability can be boiled down to the ability to shoot, move and communicate,” he said. “During Katrina we had significant difficulties targeting our highest priorities, moving assets and capabilities to points of identified need. This was the result in many cases of the inability to effectively communicate.”
Rapuano said some communications problems must be addressed immediately. “In order to support communications from the field back to the HQs and command posts we must look at further establishing and expanding our satellite reach back capabilities and use of microwave dishes for transmitting data and using VoIP protocol,” he said. “We also must look at possible federal deployment of mobile bridges and… patches that facilitate interoperable communications between local governments and the public safety community.”
Ackerman said Katrina provided clear lessons. “It introduced us to the increasing dependencies that we have on each other in this new converged world of communications,” he said. “It emphasized the need for coordination and cooperation as we go forward.”
NSTAC also adopted Wed. a report by its National Coordinating Center Task Force, which, among other recommendations, said NCC should be expanded to include both communications and IT companies and organizations. NCC, which was established in 1984, has mainly focused on telecom companies rather than the IT sector.