The Washington, DC area emergency management and response community already has key ingredients in place to enable it to move forward relatively quickly an enhanced radiological and nuclear threat detection architecture after being tapped this month by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to become part of the Securing the Cities (STC) program.
Working with area fire and police chiefs and others, the National Capital Region (NCR) has had a Protective Radiological and Nuclear Detection (PRND) Committee in place for several years and they have already developed a regional strategy and concept of operations, Chris Geldart, director of the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), tells HSR. HSEMA is the managing agent the STC program in the NCR.
The NCR region, which includes the District of Columbia and local counties and cities in Maryland and Northern Virginia, also has some teams, capabilities, information sharing processes and training efforts in place for radiological and nuclear detection given the fact that the area hosts major events annually, Geldart says.
The STC program is managed for DHS by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), which will provide up to $30 million in direct grants over the next five years to the NCR region, beginning with $6 million in 2014. The Washington area is the third region behind New York City and Los Angeles/Long Beach to be selected for the STC program.
The goal of the program is to mitigate the risk of a nuclear or radiological terrorist event in cities facing the highest risk.
“Expanding the Security the Cities program to the National Capital Region, New York City and Los Angeles and Long Beach, is another step in our efforts to raise the nation’s capabilities to protect against catastrophic threats,” according to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. “This program is a key part of the department’s efforts to enhance the capability of all our partners to detect and interdict dangerous radiological and nuclear weapons in major metropolitan areas.”
The federal grant funding will help HSEMA work with its regional partners to build a sustainable nuclear detection capability for the National Capital Region. DHS said that the initial efforts will focus on analyzing current capabilities in the area and planning for post-program sustainment activities.
Under the program, DNDO typically provides equipment and related funding for the purchase of radiological and nuclear detection and monitoring equipment, such as radiation portal monitors, mobile, portable and handheld detection equipment. In addition, DNDO provides equipment, training, and subject matter expertise to help participants with exercises, improve their detection capabilities and coordinate with federal authorities. DNDO also helps with alarm adjudication.
Typically with the STC program, the first 12 to 18 months are taken up creating the CONOPS and strategy and coordinating with the various entities that will be part of the effort, Geldart says. He hopes that because the NCR region already has a CONOPS, structure and strategy in place, as well as an understanding of its capability gaps and a working relationship with the appropriate federal authorities, including DNDO, that HSEMA can relatively quickly have DNDO bless these so that his team can move forward expeditiously.
He expects that in the next six months or so that the strategy and structure that the NCR current has in place will be revisited and that given that more funding its coming its way that there may be a deeper dive and or wider look into its capabilities, gaps and strategy and what more may be needed.
“My hope is we very quickly get into is how do we expand those teams,” Geldart says. “What do we need to do additionally now that we have fuller funding? Do we need to create additional teams, additional equipment? My hope is we get to the nuts and bolts a lot faster than what the program requires.”
With what Geldart believes is basically a head start for the NCR region with regard to the STC program, he hopes that by the end of 2015 HSEMA is already beginning to address any shortfalls or gaps the region needs to work on. He said that there are things that the region will be able to do with federal funds that it hasn’t been able to do with local resources.
Geldart declined to discuss specifics related to existing capability gaps, particularly in terms of equipment, but highlighted certain areas for improvement, including some additional fixed capability and more rapidly deployable teams and equipment.
Another is working requirements and procurement around “what a solid information exchange system would look like,” he said. None of this is ad hoc at the moment and it is routinely exercised but the additional funding will enable it to be improved and ensure there is a “dedicated system just for this.”
He also the federal funding will “allow us to get a much more vigorous system around the PRND piece” and allow for more “sustainable processes.”
“We’re enhancing our system all around so there’s more, there’s better, and there’s faster,” Geldart said.
DHS said it plans to expand the Securing the Cities program to additional cities in the coming years. In addition to the District of Columbia, the National Capital Region encompasses counties and cities within the local Maryland suburbs and Northern Virginia.
Congress appropriated $22 million for Securing the Cities in FY ’14. House and Senate appropriators have agreed to provide $19 million for the program in FY ’15, $7 million more than requested, to support ongoing efforts and expand it to new cities.
When DHS announced the inclusion of L.A. and Long Beach as part of Securing the Cities in 2012, the area initially received a $1 million direct grant and another $500,000 in training support.