**September 13, 2007 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project
Report**

\(1\) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND FEMA:

New York Times. \"Department of Brazen Bureaucracy\" (Editorial),
September 13, 2007. Accessed at:

<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/opinion/13thu3.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin>

\[\"The Bush administration seems intent on flouting Congress\'s mandate
to restore the primacy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in
dealing with disasters. At the core of the government\'s dreadful
performance when Katrina crushed New Orleans two years ago was the
confusion of responsibility in which the new and untested Department of
Homeland Security superseded FEMA as the manager of disaster response.

To repair this glaring problem, Congress passed a bipartisan reform act
last year firmly specifying FEMA as the main coordinator for national
emergencies. Nevertheless, homeland security has just issued its own
sweeping disaster policy statement claiming the coordinator\'s role for
its own department secretary.

Congress is properly furious. The administration\'s latest exercise of
in-your-face contumely would confirm the superagency, which includes
FEMA in its organization chart, as a millstone rather than a bulwark in
future disasters. The reform act sought to repair the lines of
authority, bolster FEMA and prevent its slide toward a patronage-heavy
underling agency.

The new homeland security policy - the already overdue \"national
response framework\" - amounts to fresh disaster on paper. It not only
ignores Congress\'s vital mandate, but it breezes past a range of
valuable proposals from state and local disaster managers and first
responders. It threatens to compound bureaucratic inertia by creating 15
regional disaster areas with separate operational and strategic plans.

Homeland Security Department officials defend their plan as merely a
draft open to hearings and change. But they\'re throwing down the
gauntlet before Congress. Some angry members are threatening to strip
FEMA entirely from under the homeland umbrella. Far better that Congress
defend its own primacy by establishing this finally is a nation of law,
not runaway executives.\"\]

\(2\) HAZARDOUS MATERIALS:

United Kingdom Environment Agency. Containment of Bulk Hazardous Liquids
at Control of Major Accident Hazards Establishments: Consultation. June
27, 2007. Accessed at:
[[http://www.info4local.gov.uk/documents/consultations/300039]{.underline}](http://www.info4local.gov.uk/documents/consultations/300039)

\[Abstract: \"This consultation seeks your views on our policy for the
bulk storage of hazardous liquids. It is in response to the accident at
the Buncefield fuel storage depot in 2005. The proposed policy sets out
ways to improve how we protect people and the environment, both on and
off-site. It applies to sites that store and use large quantities of
petrol and other fuels and are subject to the Control of Major Accident
Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 1999. The Health and Safety Executive, the
Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency act
together as the Competent Authority for the COMAH regulations. Incidents
like Buncefield have highlighted deficiencies in the containment
measures at existing sites and the harm these incidents can cause. This
policy represents our response to several of the recommendations made by
the Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board in their Design and
Operations report, published in March 2007.\"

\(3\) MITIGATION:

Quillen, Martha. \"Insurance Chief Backs Wider Rule on Storm Damage.\"
News & Observer (NC), September 11, 2007. Accessed at:

[[http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/699769.html]{.underline}](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/699769.html)

\[Excerpt: \"Under current regulations, new homes built within 1,500
feet of the ocean must have protection: pre-cut plywood panels, storm
shutters or impact-resistant glass. The Federal Emergency Management
Agency, the insurance industry and manufacturers of window-protection
systems have asked the council to adopt international building code
standards that apply to wind-borne debris. Those standards would require
protection on homes built miles inland \-- far from the smell of the
ocean but close enough to the shore to be buffeted by 110- to 120-mph
hurricane winds. Homebuilders say the protection can add thousands of
dollars to the cost of a home when the risk of damage is relatively low.

\"I don\'t see the emergency,\" said Duke Geraghty, a Dare County
homebuilder.\"\]

Schreiner, Mark. \"Coastal Building Code: How Tough?\" The Wilmington
State (NC), September 11, 2007. Accessed at:

[[http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/article/20070911/NEWS/709110366/-1/State]{.underline}](http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/article/20070911/NEWS/709110366/-1/State)

\[Excerpt: \"The commission that writes the state\'s building code is
willing to toughen construction rules for coastal homes, but not as much
as insurers, the state insurance commissioner and the federal government
would like\.... On Monday, the N.C. Building Code Council heard comments
on its latest proposal, which would require new homes built on the
state\'s barrier islands to have some way to protect windows from
wind-driven debris. But the plan isn\'t good enough, said state
Insurance Commissioner Jim Long. \"Common sense and the safety of our
citizens\" requires drawing the line farther inland, to include homes in
Wilmington and other communities not on the oceanfront, Long said.

Builders object to that proposal, saying such a code would mean
unnecessary additions to homes that might not see hurricane-force
winds\....

David Unneweher, of the American Insurance Association trade group,
argued that the rule limited damage to homes on Florida\'s Gulf Coast in
2005 when Hurricane Charley blew in. The average insurance claim on a
home built after the code went into effect was half that of those built
before, he said. In the future, he said, companies might charge more to
insure coastal homes that don\'t have extra window protections. Damage
increases when storm winds drive debris into windows, Unneweher said.
When they break, wind builds up pressure in the house and can blow off
the roof.\"\]

\(4\) NATIONAL RESPONSE FRAMEWORK:

Posner, Michael. \"Federal Disaster Management Plan Running Into
Criticism.\" Congress Daily, September 12, 2007. At:

[[http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=37997&dcn=e_gvet]{.underline}](http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=37997&dcn=e_gvet)

\[Excerpt: \"A proposed federal plan to react to such disasters as the
Sept. 11, attacks or Hurricane Katrina came under fire Tuesday from
emergency response experts who said the proposal needs revision. The
broad-scale attacks on the National Response Framework put together by
the Homeland Security Department and Federal Emergency Management Agency
came at a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Economic Development Subcommittee\.... Robert Bohlmann of the
International Association of Emergency Managers\...said, \"there is no
discussion of the role and responsibility of the FEMA administrator with
respect to the president of the United States as Congress clearly
delineated.\"

Similarly, Paul Stockton, senior research scholar at the Center for
International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, said a
key responsibility of the draft framework is to clarify the role and
responsibilities in the federal emergency management structure. \"Unless
revised, the framework will create new confusion over roles at the very
top of the system, not only within DHS but also amongst the departments
that must partner with FEMA and DHS for disaster response, and with
state and local leaders whom the federal government will assist,\"
Stockton said.

Economic Development Subcommittee Chairwoman Eleanor Holmes Norton,
D-D.C., said she was \"deeply troubled that the critiques of the plan we
are receiving go to the congressional mandate in the Post Katrina Act
itself.\" She suggested the Homeland Security Department \"just doesn\'t
get it, or does not want to get it.\"

FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison and Roger Rufe, director of the
Office of Operations Coordination for the Homeland Security Department,
defended the document. Paulison said the critics had not seen the latest
version of the draft, but Norton said it was very close to the one
distributed to emergency responders earlier this summer. Paulison
resented the attacks \"of a general nature\" and said specific concerns
will be addressed after a 30-day public review and comment period.\"\]

\(5\) WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY \-- EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TEMPORARY
FACULTY POSITIONS:

Received the following information from Western Washington University
with a request to post in the \"Emergency Management Faculty Positions\"
section of the EM HiEd Project website, which we will do.

\[\"Emergency Management Online Faculty/Lecturer \-- Recruitment #:
07695

Posted: 9/12/2007

Closing Date: 11/1/2007

Job Title: Emergency Management Online Faculty/Lecturer

Salary: Depending on qualifications and experience.

Job Location: Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

Bargaining Union: Non-represented

About the Position: WWU\'s Professional Studies through Extended
Education and Summer Programs is seeking 2 part-time, temporary faculty
positions to teach in the online Emergency Management Certificate
Program. One Position requires a background in the history, scope, and
range of emergency management. The other position requires knowledge of
the law and policy related to emergency management.

Position Responsibilities: Teach online Emergency Management Certificate
course via Blackboard delivery system per course requirements.

Academic Emphasis: Emergency Management

Required Qualifications:

Candidates must have experience teaching online courses and/or be
willing to undergo extensive training.

Be able to dedicate 10-15 hours per week to the students\' individual
needs while teaching the course per course requirements.

Have expertise in the history, scope, range and function of Emergency
Management and Law and Policy.

Master\'s degree and/or experience in Emergency Management training.

Preferred Qualifications: Experience with Blackboard.

About the Department: Extended Education & Summer Programs (EESP) is
WWU\'s department for self-sustaining programs, with three academic
units including Professional Studies & Independent Learning, Degree
Programs and Summer Programs. Current offerings serve 1800 students with
approximately 300 temporary and part-time faculty supporting these
programs, not including summer quarter. Find out more about EESP at
[[http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/eesp/default.shtml]{.underline}](http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/eesp/default.shtml)

Application Instructions and Requested Documents: Applicants should
email a letter of interest, curriculum vita, transcripts (unofficial is

acceptable) and contact information of three references to
Ariel.Cleasby-Heaven@wwu.edu or mail to:

Western Washington University

Extended Education and Summer Programs

516 High St., MS 5293

Bellingham, WA 98225

Attention: Ariel Cleasby-HeavenQuestions may be directed to the email
mentioned above or phone (360) 650-3717.\"\]

B.Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM

Higher Education Project Manager

Emergency Management Institute

National Emergency Training Center

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

16825 S. Seton, K-011

Emmitsburg, MD 21727

\(301\) 447-1262, voice

\(301\) 447-1598, fax

wayne.blanchard@dhs.gov

[[http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu]{.underline}](http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu)

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