Emergency Support Function #14 – Long-Term Community Recovery and Mitigation Annex

ESF Coordinator:
Department of Homeland Security/Emergency
Preparedness and Response/Federal Emergency
Management Agency

Primary Agencies:
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Homeland Security/Emergency
Preparedness and Response/Federal Emergency
Management Agency
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of the Treasury
Small Business Administration

Support Agencies:
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Homeland Security
Department of the Interior
Department of Labor
Department of Transportation
Environmental Protection Agency
Tennessee Valley Authority
American Red Cross

Introduction

Purpose

Emergency Support Function (ESF) #14 – Long-
Term Community Recovery and Mitigation provides
a framework for Federal Government support to
State, regional, local, and tribal governments,
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the
private sector designed to enable community
recovery from the long-term consequences of an
Incident of National Significance. This support
consists of available programs and resources of
Federal departments and agencies to enable
community recovery, especially long-term
community recovery, and to reduce or eliminate risk
from future incidents, where feasible.

Scope

The policies and concepts in this annex apply to
appropriate Federal departments and agencies
following an Incident of National Significance that
affects the long-term recovery of a community.
Based on an assessment of incident impacts, ESF
#14 support may vary depending on the magnitude
and type of incident and the potential for long-term
and severe consequences. ESF #14 will most likely
be activated for large-scale or catastrophic incidents
that require Federal assistance to address significant
long-term impacts in the affected area (e.g., impacts
on housing, businesses and employment, community
infrastructure, and social services).

Policies

* ESF #14 recognizes the primacy of affected
State, local, and tribal governments and the
private sector in defining and addressing risk
reduction and long-term community recovery
priorities.

* Federal agencies continue to provide recovery
assistance under independent authorities to
State, local, and tribal governments; the private
sector; and individuals, while coordinating
activities and assessments of need for additional
assistance through the ESF #14 coordinator.

* ESF #14 excludes economic policymaking and
economic stabilization. The National Economic
Council, the Council of Economic Advisors, and
the Department of the Treasury develop all
national economic stabilization policy.

* Federal support is tailored based on the type,
extent, and duration of the event and long-term
recovery period, and on the availability of
Federal resources.

* Long-term community recovery and mitigation
efforts are forward-looking and market-based,
focusing on permanent restoration of
infrastructure, housing, and the local economy,
with attention to mitigation of future impacts of
a similar nature, when feasible.

* The Federal Government uses the post-incident
environment as an opportunity to measure the
effectiveness of previous community recovery
and mitigation efforts.

* ESF #14 facilitates the application of lossreduction
building science expertise to the
rebuilding of critical infrastructure (e.g., in
repairing hospitals or emergency operation
centers to mitigate for future seismic or tornado
risk).

Concept of Operations

General: ESF #14 provides the coordination
mechanisms for the Federal Government to:

* Assess the social and economic consequences in
the impacted area and coordinate Federal efforts
to address long-term community recovery issues
resulting from an Incident of National
Significance;

* Advise on the long-term recovery implications
of response activities and coordinate the
transition from response to recovery in field
operations;

* Work with State, local, and tribal governments;
NGOs; and private-sector organizations to
conduct comprehensive market disruption and
loss analysis and develop a market-based
comprehensive long-term recovery plan for the
affected community;

* Identify appropriate Federal programs and
agencies to support implementation of the longterm
community recovery plan, ensure
coordination, and identify gaps in resources
available;

* Avoid duplication of assistance, coordinate to
the extent possible program application
processes and planning requirements to
streamline assistance, and identify and
coordinate resolution of policy and program
issues; and

* Determine/identify responsibilities for recovery
activities, and provide a vehicle to maintain
continuity in program delivery among Federal
departments and agencies, and with State, local,
and tribal governments and other involved
parties, to ensure followthrough of recovery and
hazard mitigation efforts.

Organization

Headquarters: ESF #14 representatives participate
in pre-incident meetings and pre- and post-incident
coordinating activities. The Department of
Homeland Security/Emergency Preparedness and
Response/Federal Emergency Management Agency
(DHS/EPR/FEMA) serves as the ESF #14
coordinator. Each primary agency participates in
pre-incident planning activities under ESF #14 and
provides representatives to the National Response
Coordination Center as requested. Support agencies
participate in activities as deemed appropriate.

Regional and Field Operations: The ESF #14
coordinator and primary agencies meet to determine
the need to activate ESF #14 elements when the
nature of the Incident of National Significance is
likely to require Federal long-term community
recovery assistance. ESF #14 organizes within the
Operations Section of the Joint Field Office (JFO).
Agency representation depends on the nature and
severity of the incident.

Actions

Long-Term Pre-Incident Planning and Operations

* Meets regularly at the national and regional
levels to ensure procedures and program/contact
information are up to date, to discuss lessons
learned from incidents and exercises, and to
explore ways to leverage available resources by
creatively packaging Federal assistance.

* Develops coordination mechanisms and
requirements for post-incident assessments,
plans, and activities that can be scaled to
incidents of varying types and magnitudes.

* Coordinates development of national strategies
and plans in coordination with ESF #3 – Public
Works and Engineering; ESF #6 – Mass Care,
Housing, and Human Services; ESF #10 – Oil
and Hazardous Materials Response; and others,
as appropriate, to address key issues for
catastrophic incidents such as incident housing
and permanent housing, contaminated debris
management, decontamination and
environmental restoration, restoration of public
facilities and infrastructure, restoration of the
agricultural sector, and short- and long-term
community recovery.

* Involves, as appropriate, State, local, and tribal
government representatives, local planning and
building science organizations, NGOs, and
private-sector organizations in pre-event
planning activities.

* Establishes procedures for integration of preincident
planning and risk assessment with postincident
recovery and mitigation efforts.

* Develops action plans delineating appropriate
agency participation and resources available that
take into account the differing technical needs
for risk assessment and statutory responsibilities
by hazards. Plans include scaling to appropriate
levels of staffing and coordination based on the
nature and size of the incident.

Immediately Prior to Incident (when notice is
available?e.g., hurricane, flood)

* In coordination with other ESFs, as appropriate,
uses predictive modeling, such as the Hazards
U.S. (HAZUS) loss estimation methodology, to
ascertain vulnerable critical facilities as a basis
for identifying recovery priorities.

* Provides early identification of projects to be
quickly implemented, especially those relating
to critical facilities based on existing local and
State plans.

* In collaboration with the State, assigns Federal
and State staff for Preliminary Damage
Assessment teams, if feasible, to identify and
document economic impact and losses avoided
due to previous mitigation and new priorities for
mitigation in the incident-affected area.

Post-Event Planning and Operations

*  Gathers information from Federal departments
and agencies and impacted State, local, and
tribal governments to assess the scope and
magnitude of the social and economic impacts
on the affected geographic region. Convenes
interagency meetings to:

* Develop an incident-specific Federal action
plan to delineate specific agency
participation to support specific community
recovery and mitigation activities, using preincident
Federal, State, local, and tribal
plans, to the extent appropriate, and take
actions to avoid duplication of assistance to
recipients; and

* Facilitate sharing of information and
identification of issues among agencies and
ESFs, and coordinate early resolution of
issues and the delivery of Federal assistance
to minimize delays for assistance recipients.

*  Coordinates identification of appropriate Federal
programs to support implementation of longterm
community recovery plans and gaps under
current authorities and funding. This process
identifies programs, waivers, funding levels,
requests for additional authorities, and possible
new legislation needed to address identified
program gaps.

* Coordinates implementation of the
recommendations for long-term community
recovery with the appropriate Federal
departments and agencies if the
recommendations include program waivers,
supplemental funding requests, and/or legislative
initiatives.

* Within the affected area, coordinates assessment
of accuracy and recalibration of existing hazard,
risk, and evacuation modeling used by Federal,
State, local, and tribal governments.

* Facilitates recovery decisionmaking across
ESFs. Also facilitates awareness of postincident
digital mapping and pre-incident State,
local, and tribal hazard mitigation and recovery
planning across ESFs.

Responsibilities

ESF Coordinator: DHS/EPR/FEMA

* Convenes meetings pre- and post-incident to
implement ESF #14.

*  Coordinates drafting and publication of ESF #14
operational plans and procedures.

* Represents ESF #14 at interagency planning
meetings.

* Serves as primary representative of ESF #14 at
the JFO and ensures appropriate participation
from primary and support agencies after
incidents.

Primary Agencies

* Lead planning efforts for areas of agency
expertise, and lead post-incident assistance
efforts for areas of department/agency expertise.

* Identify areas of collaboration with support
agencies and facilitate the interagency integrated
assistance delivery, issue resolution, and
planning efforts.

Agency Responsibilities

Department of Agriculture 
Emergency loans for agricultural sector, technical assistance for agricultural
market recovery, rural housing, technical assistance for resource conservation,
and technical and financial assistance for emergency watershed protection.

Department of Commerce/Economic Development Administration
Economic recovery and growth assistance, technical assistance in community
planning, and economic assessment expertise.

Department of Homeland Security/Emergency Preparedness and
Response/Federal Emergency Management Agency
Technical assistance in community and State planning; recovery and mitigation
grant and insurance programs; outreach and public education; building science
expertise; and natural hazard vulnerability/risk assessment expertise.

Department of Housing and Urban Development
Building technology technical assistance, and assistance for: housing;
community redevelopment and economic recovery; public services;
infrastructure; mortgage financing; and public housing repair and
reconstruction.

Department of the Treasury 
Economic and financial resilience and vitality, 
including reliability of public
and private payments systems and financial flows, and removal of impediments
to economic activity.

Small Business Administration
Long-term loan assistance to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes, and
nonprofit organizations for repair, replacement, mitigation, relocation, or
coderequired upgrades of incident-damaged property. Loan assistance to small
businesses to address adverse economic impact due to the incident.

Support Agencies

Participate in planning efforts for areas of agency expertise, and provide program 
assistance and expertise as appropriate and in coordination with other ESF departments 
and agencies. Support agencies include:

Agency Responsibilities

Economic and Statistics Administration: 
Performs economic impact
assessment.

National Institute of Standards and Technology: 
Provides building science
expertise.

Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 
Provides natural hazard
vulnerability analysis expertise and coastal zone management.

Department of Defense/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
* Provides technical assistance in community planning and civil engineering,
and natural hazard risk assessment expertise.

* Supports the development of national strategies and plans related to housing
and permanent housing, debris management, and the restoration of public
facilities and infrastructure.

Department of Energy:
* Assists in the economic assessment of an incident based on degradation to
energy infrastructure.

* Provides the appropriate support and resources to assist in energy
infrastructure restoration.

* Provides technical advice in radioactive debris management.

Department of Health and Human Services:
Provides expertise in long-term health and medical concerns and mental health
services.

Border and Transportation Security Directorate, Transportation Security Administration: 
Coordinates security of the Nation’s transportation system in
times of national emergency.

Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate: 
Provides technical expertise in protective measures for critical infrastructure.

Department of Homeland Security Private-Sector Liaison: 
Provides expertise in private-sector capabilities and
services; provides coordination with private-sector organizations.

Department of the Interior:
Provides technical assistance in community planning, and natural and cultural
resources expertise; community liaison for federally owned lands and facilities;
and natural hazard vulnerability analysis expertise.

Department of Labor: 
Conducts incident unemployment programs; provides job training and retraining
assistance, and expertise in economic assessment.

Department of Transportation:
Provides technical assistance in transportation planning and engineering and
transportation assistance programs.

Environmental Protection Agency:
Provides technical assistance for planning for contaminated debris management
and environmental remediation.

Tennessee Valley Authority:
Provides technical expertise in Federal lands stewardship and electrical grid
operations.

American Red Cross: 
Provides mass care services; individual immediate and long-term family
services; post-event mitigation; referral support; and health and mental health
services.