§ 317 — Regional Offices

(a) There are in the Agency 10 regional offices, as identified by the Administrator. (1) Each Regional Office shall be headed by a Regional Administrator who shall be appointed by the Administrator, after consulting with State, local, and tribal government officials in the region. Each Regional Administrator shall report directly to the Administrator and be in the Senior Executive Service. (A) Each Regional Administrator shall be appointed from among individuals who have a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management and homeland security. (B) In selecting a Regional Administrator for a Regional Office, the Administrator shall consider the familiarity of an individual with the geographical area and demographic characteristics of the population served by such Regional Office. (1) The Regional Administrator shall work in partnership with State, local, and tribal governments, emergency managers, emergency response providers, medical providers, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, multijurisdictional councils of governments, and regional planning commissions and organizations in the geographical area served by the Regional Office to carry out the responsibilities of a Regional Administrator under this section. (2) The responsibilities of a Regional Administrator include— (A) ensuring effective, coordinated, and integrated regional preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation activities and programs for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters (including planning, training, exercises, and professional development); (B) assisting in the development of regional capabilities needed for a national catastrophic response system; (C) coordinating the establishment of effective regional operable and interoperable emergency communications capabilities; (D) staffing and overseeing 1 or more strike teams within the region under subsection (f), to serve as the focal point of the Federal Government’s initial response efforts for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters within that region, and otherwise building Federal response capabilities to respond to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters within that region; (E) designating an individual responsible for the development of strategic and operational regional plans in support of the National Response Plan; (F) fostering the development of mutual aid and other cooperative agreements; (G) identifying critical gaps in regional capabilities to respond to populations with special needs; (H) maintaining and operating a Regional Response Coordination Center or its successor; (I) coordinating with the private sector to help ensure private sector preparedness for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters; (J) assisting State, local, and tribal governments, where appropriate, to preidentify and evaluate suitable sites where a multijurisdictional incident command system may quickly be established and operated from, if the need for such a system arises; and (K) performing such other duties relating to such responsibilities as the Administrator may require. (A) The Administrator shall require each Regional Administrator to undergo specific training periodically to complement the qualifications of the Regional Administrator. Such training, as appropriate, shall include training with respect to the National Incident Management System, the National Response Plan, and such other subjects as determined by the Administrator. (B) The Administrator shall require each Regional Administrator to participate as appropriate in regional and national exercises. (1) There is an Area Office for the Pacific and an Area Office for the Caribbean, as components in the appropriate Regional Offices. (2) The Administrator shall establish an Area Office in Alaska, as a component in the appropriate Regional Office. (1) Each Regional Administrator shall establish a Regional Advisory Council. (2) A State, local, or tribal government located within the geographic area served by the Regional Office may nominate officials, including Adjutants General and emergency managers, to serve as members of the Regional Advisory Council for that region. (3) Each Regional Advisory Council shall— (A) advise the Regional Administrator on emergency management issues specific to that region; (B) identify any geographic, demographic, or other characteristics peculiar to any State, local, or tribal government within the region that might make preparedness, protection, response, recovery, or mitigation more complicated or difficult; and (C) advise the Regional Administrator of any weaknesses or deficiencies in preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation for any State, local, and tribal government within the region of which the Regional Advisory Council is aware. (1) In coordination with other relevant Federal agencies, each Regional Administrator shall oversee multi-agency strike teams authorized under section 5144 of title 42 that shall consist of— (A) a designated Federal coordinating officer; (B) personnel trained in incident management; (C) public affairs, response and recovery, and communications support personnel; (D) a defense coordinating officer; (E) liaisons to other Federal agencies; (F) such other personnel as the Administrator or Regional Administrator determines appropriate; and (G) individuals from the agencies with primary responsibility for each of the emergency support functions in the National Response Plan. (2) The duties of an individual assigned to a Regional Office strike team from another relevant agency when such individual is not functioning as a member of the strike team shall be consistent with the emergency preparedness activities of the agency that employs such individual. (3) The members of each Regional Office strike team, including representatives from agencies other than the Department, shall be based primarily within the region that corresponds to that strike team. (4) Each Regional Office strike team shall coordinate the training and exercises of that strike team with the State, local, and tribal governments and private sector and nongovernmental entities which the strike team shall support when a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster occurs. (5) Each Regional Office strike team shall be trained as a unit on a regular basis and equipped and staffed to be well prepared to respond to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters, including catastrophic incidents. (6) If the Administrator determines that statutory authority is inadequate for the preparedness and deployment of individuals in strike teams under this subsection, the Administrator shall report to Congress regarding the additional statutory authorities that the Administrator determines are necessary.