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<br /> HSGP Appendix | February 2021 Page A-45
<br />hindered the ability to share critical information, which can compromise the unity-of-effort required for
<br />an effective incident response.
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<br />Departments and agencies at all levels of government have identified a need for improvement in a number
<br />of high-priority areas, including: Governance, Planning, Training and Exercises, Operational
<br />Coordination, and Technology. In addition, communications resilience and continuity should be viewed
<br />as a critical component within each of these areas. These priorities are explained in detail in Section 2 of
<br />the SAFECOM Guidance. By addressing these priorities, which are reflective of proven best practices,
<br />emergency communications can be significantly improved at all levels of government. The end goal is to
<br />ensure operable, interoperable, and resilient communications that maintain a continuous flow of critical
<br />information, under all conditions, among multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary emergency
<br />responders, command posts, agencies, critical infrastructure sectors, and government officials for the
<br />duration of an emergency response operation, and in accordance with NIMS and the National Emergency
<br />Communications Plan, which describes goals and objectives for improving emergency communications
<br />nationwide.
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<br />To help meet this goal, the SAFECOM Guidance outlines requirements for grant applications, including
<br />alignment to national, regional, and state communications plans (e.g., NECP, Statewide Communications
<br />Interoperability Plan (SCIP), Tactical Interoperability Communications Plan (TICP), FEMA Regional
<br />Emergency Communications Plan (RECP)), project coordination, and technical standards for emergency
<br />communications technologies. SCIPs define the current and future direction for interoperable and
<br />emergency communications within a state or territory, while TICPs are designed to allow urban areas,
<br />counties, regions, states/territories, tribes, or federal departments/agencies to document interoperable
<br />communications governance structures, technology assets, and usage policies and procedures. In addition,
<br />FEMA’s formal planning process has produced 10 RECPs and their associated state and/or
<br />tribal/territorial annexes that identify emergency communications capability shortfalls and potential
<br />resource requirements. Grant recipients are encouraged to leverage these planning resources as a source
<br />of input and reference for all emergency communications grant applications and investment justifications.
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<br />In addition, FEMA formally recognizes several statewide emergency communications governance bodies
<br />(e.g., SWIC, SIGB, Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC), FirstNet State Single Point
<br />of Contact (SPOC)), and strongly encourages grant recipients to closely coordinate with these entities
<br />when developing an emergency communications investment to ensure projects support the state or
<br />territory’s strategy to improve their communications capabilities with the goal of achieving fully operable,
<br />interoperable, and resilient communications. In addition, grant applicants should work with public and
<br />private entities, and across jurisdictions and disciplines, to demonstrate engagement with the Whole
<br />Community in accordance with Presidential Policy Directive-8 (PPD-8).
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<br />For regional, cross-border initiatives, FEMA requires applicants to coordinate projects with national level
<br />emergency communications coordination bodies, such as the National Council of Statewide
<br />Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) and the Regional Emergency Communications Coordination
<br />Working Groups (RECCWGs). The NCSWIC promotes and coordinates state-level activities designed to
<br />ensure the highest level of public safety communications across the nation. RECCWGs are
<br />congressionally-mandated planning and coordination bodies located in each FEMA Region and provide a
<br />collaborative forum to assess and address the survivability, sustainability, operability, and interoperability
<br />of emergency communications systems at all levels of government. Grant-funded investments that are
<br />coordinated with these bodies will help ensure that federally-funded emergency communications
<br />investments are interoperable and support national policies.
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