§ 314. Authority and responsibilities
(a)
In general
The Administrator shall provide Federal leadership necessary to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, or mitigate against a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster, including—
(1)
helping to ensure the effectiveness of emergency response providers to terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies;
(2)
with respect to the Nuclear Incident Response Team (regardless of whether it is operating as an organizational unit of the Department pursuant to this subchapter)—
(3)
providing the Federal Government’s response to terrorist attacks and major disasters, including—
(5)
building a comprehensive national incident management system with Federal, State, and local government personnel, agencies, and authorities, to respond to such attacks and disasters;
(6)
consolidating existing Federal Government emergency response plans into a single, coordinated national response plan;
(7)
helping ensure the acquisition of operable and interoperable communications capabilities by Federal, State, local, and tribal governments and emergency response providers;
(8)
assisting the President in carrying out the functions under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) and carrying out all functions and authorities given to the Administrator under that Act;
(9)
carrying out the mission of the Agency to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazards by leading and supporting the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of—
(A)
mitigation, by taking sustained actions to reduce or eliminate long-term risks to people and property from hazards and their effects;
(B)
preparedness, by planning, training, and building the emergency management profession to prepare effectively for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from any hazard;
(C)
response, by conducting emergency operations to save lives and property through positioning emergency equipment, personnel, and supplies, through evacuating potential victims, through providing food, water, shelter, and medical care to those in need, and through restoring critical public services; and
(10)
increasing efficiencies, by coordinating efforts relating to preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation;
(11)
helping to ensure the effectiveness of emergency response providers in responding to a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster;
(13)
administering and ensuring the implementation of the National Response Plan, including coordinating and ensuring the readiness of each emergency support function under the National Response Plan;
(16)
minimizing, to the extent practicable, overlapping planning and reporting requirements applicable to State, local, and tribal governments and the private sector;
(17)
maintaining and operating within the Agency the National Response Coordination Center or its successor;
(18)
developing a national emergency management system that is capable of preparing for, protecting against, responding to, recovering from, and mitigating against catastrophic incidents;
(19)
assisting the President in carrying out the functions under the national preparedness goal and the national preparedness system and carrying out all functions and authorities of the Administrator under the national preparedness System;
(20)
carrying out all authorities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Directorate of Preparedness of the Department as transferred under section
315 of this title; and
(b)
All-hazards approach
In carrying out the responsibilities under this section, the Administrator shall coordinate the implementation of a risk-based, all-hazards strategy that builds those common capabilities necessary to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, or mitigate against natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters, while also building the unique capabilities necessary to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, or mitigate against the risks of specific types of incidents that pose the greatest risk to the Nation.