ANTECEDENTES DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN

The characteristics of the United States‟ national government structure are reflected on all tiers of government. Emergency management is also among the fields that have replicated a mainly three-level structure, namely, federal, state and local. As stated in previous sections, the federal government is the main rule-maker regarding emergency management at the national level, whose principles, guidelines and actions are expected to be replicated and practiced at the lower levels of government. Having established the National Response Framework (NRF) supported by NIMS and ICS as the roadmap for state and local governments, the federal government provides necessary direction and resources especially for disaster preparedness purposes, and, when needed, to support response to disasters. The role of states in emergency management, in turn, is being the mediator between the local and federal governments (Cigler, 2009). In a sense, states are the coordinators of emergency management interactions and activities between national and local levels.

Cigler (2009) emphasizes four key roles of state governments within overall emergency management system. The first role encompasses states‟ activities that aim at facilitation of

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disaster prevention/mitigation at the local level, especially through legislative and regulatory tools. States, in this regard, provide information as well as financial and administrative support to fiscally constrained local governments so that they pursue balanced mitigation strategies to minimize the effects of possible disasters. The second role of the states in emergency management is preparing public and respective local government leaders for possible disaster events. This is to be done through continuous education of related stakeholders about the risk they face and provision of direction to create resilient communities. The third role of the state governments is to facilitate capacity-building at the local government and community levels, and the fourth role is to shape the behavior of local governments towards correct implementation of emergency management principles. Accordingly, most of the states‟ roles lie within the realm of mitigation and capacity building of local governments and communities, which involves legal and financial issues (Cigler, 2009; Waugh, 1994).

In addition to their role before disasters, states are also important actors to coordinate local-national interaction during the disasters, especially during the response phase. The current system of emergency management in the United States basically relies on local capabilities (DHS, 2008). However, when local capacity and capabilities are exhausted, the local governments may request support from the state governments. The state government in turn, along with the regional FEMA office, assesses the impact, scope and severity of the disaster as well as the level of assistance required to tackle the incident, and decide whether the disaster is of national significance. The events of national significance may result in state-level declaration of “state of emergency,” which is often followed by financial and technical support as well as assistance by National Guard of the respective state. In addition, the federal assistance is sought,

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and if approved, the state government becomes the main coordinator of communication and operations between the federal and local levels of government (Waugh, 1994). The state is also responsible for coordination and implementation of inter-state agreements like Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) seeking support from other states when local capabilities are overwhelmed (Kapucu, Augustin, & Garayev, 2009).

An example of how state is generally involved in emergency management might be the mechanism employed by the State of Florida. Pursuant to Chapter 252 of the Florida Statutes, the State has a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) that defines the roles and responsibilities of all levels of government as well as sectors and community in managing all types of disasters. Having a parallel structure with NRF and being NIMS-compliant, the CEMP incorporates ICS principles with the purpose to provide unified and coordinated response in times of disasters. The state emergency response team (SERT) that comprises organizations from different sectors and levels of government, in turn, is responsible for implementation of CEMP through the functional approach similar to one at the federal level. While the NRF has 15 emergency support functions (ESF), the Florida CEMP has 18 ESFs, each of which is headed by a primary state agency that works with the same ESF representatives at the federal and local levels. The state representative of specific ESF is the respective emergency coordination officer (ECO) who coordinates related activities at the state emergency operation center (EOC) activated during disasters. The state and federal assistance, in turn, is provided to impacted local communities through the SERT under the auspice of the state coordinating officer (SCO), on behalf of the State Governor. Depending on the severity and scope of the disasters, certain ESFs

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may have greater role and responsibility than others, though the CEMP is always in effect (FDEM, 2010).

All in all, the state governments have a role of facilitation and coordination of interaction and activities between federal and local governments. This role is especially evident in times of disasters when local resources are exhausted and state and federal assistance is required. The way local emergency management is structured in the United States is explained in the next section.