State and local governments are primarily responsible for carrying out evacuations. However, if these governments become overwhelmed by a catastrophic disaster, the federal government can provide essential support, such as evacuation assistance for transportation-disadvantaged and other populations. Such support would require adequate preparation on the part of the federal government. The Stafford Act outlines the framework for state and local governments to obtain federal support in response to a disaster. First, a governor must submit a request to the President in order for the President to declare a federal disaster. Once the declaration is granted, the state can request specific assistance from FEMA (part of DHS), such as physical assets, personnel, funding, and technical assistance, among others. While the President can declare a disaster without a request from a governor, this does not frequently occur. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 amended sections of the Stafford Act whereby the President can provide accelerated federal assistance and support where necessary to save lives absent a specific request from a governor and can direct any federal agency to provide assistance to state and local governments in support of “precautionary evacuations.” DHS’s role is to coordinate federal resources used in disaster response, including evacuations. DHS created the National Response Plan in 2004 to create a comprehensive “all-hazards” approach to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents. Under the National Response Plan, DOT is the lead and coordinating federal agency for transportation in a disaster. DOT is primarily responsible for coordinating the provision of federal and civil transportation services, and the recovery, restoration, safety, and security of the transportation infrastructure. However, with respect to evacuations, DOT is only responsible for providing technical assistance in evacuation planning to other federal agencies as well as state and local governments. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 also included numerous provisions to help strengthen federal, state, and local evacuation preparedness for some transportation-disadvantaged populations. Among these provisions are: the establishment of the National Advisory Council to advise FEMA on all aspects of emergency management that will include disability and other special needs representatives; the institution of a DHS disability coordinator to assist in emergency preparedness for persons with disabilities; the creation of the National Training Program and the National Exercise Program which are designed to address the unique requirements of special needs populations; and a requirement that federal agencies develop operational plans to respond effectively to disasters, which must address support of state and local governments in conducting mass evacuations, including transportation and provisions for populations with special needs. To facilitate evacuation preparedness, state and local entities not traditionally involved in emergency management can provide assistance— such as information or vehicles—that would be helpful in state and local evacuation-preparedness efforts for transportation-disadvantaged populations. Some such entities receive DOT grants to provide transportation for the elderly, low-income individuals, persons with disabilities, and other transportation-disadvantaged populations. These include social service agencies, nonprofit organizations, and public and private sector transportation providers that coordinate the daily transportation of the elderly, low-income individuals, and persons with disabilities, to provide meals or transportation to and from jobs, medical appointments, and other activities. Finally, as a condition for spending federal highway or transit funds in urbanized areas, federal highway and transit statutes require metropolitan planning organizations to plan, program, and coordinate federal highway and transit investments. To carry out these activities, metropolitan planning organizations collect transportation and transit data. In March 2006, DOT issued guidance that recommends increased interaction between some of its grant recipients and emergency management agencies, among other entities. To assess state and local evacuation preparedness, DHS’s Nationwide Plan Review examined the emergency plans of all 50 states and 75 of the largest urban areas, including evacuation plans and annexes. DOT’s report to the Congress, entitled Catastrophic Hurricane Evacuation Plan Evaluation: A Report to Congress also reviewed the evacuation plans of many of the Gulf Coast region’s counties and parishes. Both of these federal reports also recommend that additional actions be taken to address this issue. There are many relevant federal entities and other entities that have served as advocates for all or subsets of transportation-disadvantaged populations. In the federal government, these include the National Council on Disability; and interagency councils such as the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility, the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities, and the Interagency Council on Homelessness. Outside of the federal government, relevant entities that have advocated for these populations include the National Organization on Disability and the American Association of Retired Persons, as well as transportation groups such as the American Public Transportation Association, the Community Transportation Association of America, and the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations. State and local emergency management officials face several challenges in preparing for the evacuation of transportation-disadvantaged populations. For example, state and local officials face difficulties in obtaining information about where transportation-disadvantaged populations are located. These state and local officials also face challenges in determining transportation-disadvantaged populations’ needs and providing for their transportation, such as arranging for the use of appropriate equipment—buses and vans, for example—to evacuate these populations. Additionally, officials confront legal and social barriers in addressing these challenges, such as concerns about being unable to obtain client medical information from public or private sector transportation providers for use in evacuation preparedness efforts because of privacy issues. According to experts and officials, the challenges state and local governments face in preparing for the evacuation of transportation- disadvantaged populations include identifying and locating these populations, determining their evacuation needs, and providing for their transportation. It is difficult for state and local officials to acquire the necessary information to both identify and locate transportation- disadvantaged populations. The difficulty in identifying these populations is due to the fact that these populations represent large, diverse, and constantly changing groups, and that information about them is not always readily available. Transportation-disadvantaged populations can include numerous categories of people without personal vehicles, such as the following: the elderly and persons with disabilities who have mobility impairments that preclude them from driving, or who need medical equipment in order to travel; low-income, homeless, or transient persons who do not have a permanent residence or who do not own or have access to a personal vehicle; children without an adult present during a disaster; tourists and commuters who are frequent users of public transportation; those with limited English proficiency who tend to rely on public transit more than English speakers; or those who, for any other reason, do not own or have access to a personal vehicle. These populations can also include those who could be placed in, or qualify for, more than one category among transportation-disadvantaged populations, such as a person who has disabilities, is homeless, and speaks limited English. Both the large number of these populations and the potential for double counting can make identification difficult for state and local officials. For example, although 52 percent of the Gulf Coast jurisdictions evaluated in DOT’s Catastrophic Hurricane Evacuation Plan Evaluation had identified and located certain transportation- disadvantaged populations, DOT reported that only three jurisdictions had satisfactorily included provisions for schools and day care centers, trailer parks and campgrounds, incarcerated and transient individuals, and people with limited English proficiency in their evacuation plans. Twenty- six percent of respondents to a question in DHS’s Nationwide Plan Review stated that they needed to improve their identification of these populations. Fifteen percent of respondents to this question indicated that a standard federal definition of “transportation-disadvantaged” would facilitate their planning. Additionally, data on the location of transportation-disadvantaged populations is not readily available because such data: have not previously been collected; cannot be collected because of the amount of time, staff, and other resources required, or cannot be shared due to the preference of some transportation-disadvantaged populations; for example, the established registration system in one of the five major cities we visited had only 1400—or 0.3 percent—of the 462,000 people projected to need evacuation assistance registered; are not compiled in a central location, but reside in separate databases across numerous agencies, companies, or organizations, including social service agencies, departments of motor vehicles, and public and private sector transportation providers; are not traditionally shared with emergency management officials; for example, a local metropolitan planning organization may collect data on those who are transit-dependent, but may not have shared that information with emergency management officials; or cannot be shared with emergency officials due to privacy restrictions; for example, social service agencies or nonprofit organizations that regularly transport people during non-emergency times and have information on clients’ needs, but may not be able or willing to share that data because of privacy concerns. In addition to identifying and locating transportation-disadvantaged populations, state and local governments also face the challenge of determining the transportation needs of these populations and providing for their transportation in an evacuation. To adequately prepare for evacuating these populations, state and local officials need information on the medical and transportation needs of each person in addition to his or her location. These needs can vary widely from those who can travel by themselves to a government-assisted evacuation pick-up point to those who: need to be transported to a government-assisted evacuation pick-up point, but do not require medical assistance or additional transportation; live in group homes for persons with mental disabilities and may require medical assistance, but not accessible transportation in an evacuation; or are medically frail but not hospitalized, and require acute medical assistance as well as accessible transportation in an evacuation. However, similar to the location data discussed earlier, it is difficult for state and local officials to obtain information on the transportation needs of these populations. Another challenge that state and local officials face in preparing for the evacuation of transportation-disadvantaged populations is providing for the transportation of these populations. This challenge includes identifying the appropriate equipment and available modes of transport as well as drivers and other needed professionals, providing training to those drivers and other professionals, and communicating evacuation information to the public.