July 15, 2021
National Level Exercises: History, Authorities, and
Congressional Considerations
Every two years, the Federal Emergency Management
capacity under extraordinary conditions” and leveraged
Agency (FEMA) conducts a National Level Exercise (NLE)
scenarios of national scope. Each exercise focused on
to evaluate the nation’s progress towards preparedness for
terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction. During
catastrophic events. These exercises have multiple
this time period, the September 11, 2001, attacks and
components, and culminate in a large, full-scale exercise
anthrax attacks amplified the need for domestic
with thousands of participants from multiple federal
preparedness. Congress passed the Homeland Security Act
agencies, state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT)
of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) and assigned the responsibility for
governments, industry partners, and nongovernmental
exercises to various positions within the newly formed
organizations. The next NLE, scheduled for 2022, is to test
Department of Homeland Security; no additional direction
the nation’s ability to respond to a simulated earthquake
was provided regarding the quantity, quality, or scope of
along the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Pacific
preparedness exercises. In 2003, President George W. Bush
Northwest, as well as subsequent aftershocks, tsunamis, and
issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (HSPD-
a Spill of National Significance.
8) which directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to
“develop a multi-year national homeland security
History and Authorities
preparedness-related exercise plan” and submit it to the
In 1988, much federal attention was paid to the ability of
Homeland Security Council (HSC) for review and approval.
the nation to respond to and recover from emergencies and
HSPD-8 did not provide additional guidance on the nature
major disasters. Congress passed the Robert T. Stafford
or frequency of national level exercises.
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 100-
707), and President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order
Despite having had two TOPOFF exercises, federal
12656, which established a national security emergency
agencies and other government partners were considered
exercise program and directed FEMA to coordinate the
largely unprepared to respond to the catastrophic events of
planning, conduct, and evaluation of these activities. The
Hurricane Katrina, as documented by S.Rept. 109-322. In
order did not mandate exercises of national scope or broad
response, Congress passed the Post-Katrina Emergency
participation by federal agencies.
Management Reform Act in 2006 (P.L. 109-295) and
required the Administrator of FEMA “to test and evaluate
In 1996, due to increasing concern about the proliferation of
the capability of federal, state, territorial, local, and tribal
weapons of mass destruction following the collapse of the
governments to detect, disrupt, and prevent threatened or
Soviet Union, Congress passed the Defense Against
actual catastrophic acts of terrorism, especially those
Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-201).
involving weapons of mass destruction ... and to test and
The law directed the Secretary of Defense to “develop and
evaluate the readiness of Federal, State, territorial, local,
carry out a program for testing and improving the responses
and tribal governments to respond and recover in a
of Federal, State, and local agencies to emergencies
coordinated and unified manner to catastrophic incidents”
involving biological weapons and related materials and
at least every two years. The law required tests and
emergencies involving chemical weapons and related
evaluations of readiness for catastrophic incidents to assure
materials” (50 U.S.C. §2315). It also mandated a five-year
preparedness for major natural hazards as well as weapons
series of annual exercises to be conducted in coordination
of mass destruction. It also shifted the focus of participation
with the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the Federal
from top federal officials to whole-of-nation stakeholders.
Bureau of Investigation, and the FEMA Administrator, as
In 2009, TOPOFF exercises were renamed “Tier 1 National
well as state and local officials.
Level Exercises” and continued under this name until 2012.
Congress further addressed the need for an exercise of
In 2011, President Barack Obama issued Presidential Policy
national scope in 1998. The Senate Committee on
Directive 8 (PPD-8) to further clarify the federal
Appropriations, noted that “few of the top officials of
government’s approach to preparedness. PPD-8 established
agencies have ever fully participated” in ongoing
that “the national preparedness system shall include
preparedness exercises, and directed “that an exercise be
guidance for planning, organization, equipment, training,
conducted in fiscal year 1999 with the participation of all
and exercises to build and maintain domestic capabilities. It
key personnel who would participate in the consequence
shall provide an all-of-Nation approach for building and
management of ... an actual terrorist event.” The result was
sustaining a cycle of preparedness activities over time.”
the Top Officials (TOPOFF) exercise, the first of what
NLEs were renamed “Capstone Exercises” to represent
became a series of four full-scale exercises conducted
their placement in the broader scheme of federal and SLTT
between 2000 and 2007. The series was held biennially to
exercises. In 2018, FEMA returned to the NLE naming
“assess the nation’s crisis and consequence management
convention.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
National Level Exercises: History, Authorities, and Congressional Considerations
Recent National Level Exercises
frequency, or scope of NLEs, it may consider more
National Level Exercises alternate between scenarios
prescriptive legislative language or rulemaking.
focused on adversaries and natural disasters every two
years. Reports on the results of these exercises are not
Capturing the Benefits of NLEs
publicly available.
According to guidance published by FEMA, every exercise
should produce a number of lessons learned, corrective
NLE 2020 focused on cybersecurity. The scenario
actions, and an improvement plan for the participating
involved a complex attack causing significant impacts to
stakeholders. These documents provide a roadmap for
critical infrastructure and community lifelines. The
closing gaps in core prevention, protection, response,
majority of the exercise was cancelled by the FEMA
recovery, and mitigation capabilities. In a May 2020 report,
Administrator due to the demand of COVID-19
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asserted that
response activities on the agency.
FEMA “lacks a formal mechanism to document and track
best practices, lessons learned, and corrective actions.” The
NLE 2018 tested the ability of federal agencies, SLTT
outputs and benefits of NLEs may potentially be lost
governments, private sector partners and
without greater accountability for recording and
nongovernmental organizations to prepare for, respond
implementing the results. GAO recommended that DHS
to, and recover from a major Mid-Atlantic hurricane. It
develop a better means of tracking exercise outputs, and
provided an opportunity for participating agencies to
DHS officials concurred and planned to address them
examine lessons learned from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma,
before March 31, 2022. Congress may consider oversight
and Maria.
activities to ensure that the findings of NLEs are properly
leveraged to improve national capabilities.
Capstone 2016 assessed the nation’s “ability to prevent
terrorist acts against the homeland, coordinate the
Coordination with Other Federal Exercises
response to a catastrophic incident, communicate to the
FEMA is not the only agency conducting nationally-scoped
American people, and continue performing essential
preparedness exercises with broad stakeholder participation.
government functions during a disaster.” The exercise
For instance, the Department of Energy’s Office of
involved five discrete exercises focused on international
Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
threats that created the need for domestic response.
(CESER) and the Department of Health and Human
Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness
Capstone 2014 was designed to prepare government,
and Response (ASPR) both conduct major exercises
industry, and nongovernment partners for complex,
involving multiple federal agencies, SLTT partners, private
large-scale disasters and emergencies. It commemorated
industry, and nongovernmental participation. These
the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake by focusing on an
exercises are not required to be coordinated with the NLE
earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Pacific
and their results and recommendations may not be
Northwest.
integrated with those from the NLE. GAO has also reported
that the exercise programs within CESER and ASPR are
NLE 2012 addressed cyberattacks against the United
deficient. Congress may consider mandates for better
States. It focused on testing the draft version of the
interagency coordination of nationally-scoped exercises as
National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP), the
well as a more unified strategy for tracking outcomes.
ability of governmental entities to coordinate response
Congress may also conduct oversight activities or mandate
activities, information sharing between key
reporting on the results of these preparedness-building
stakeholders, and decision making.
activities.
Considerations for Congress
NLEs and Pandemic Preparedness
Given the response and recovery challenges revealed by
FEMA has never led an NLE that focused on a pandemic,
recent incidents such as the Coronavirus Disease 2019
although some TOPOFF exercises explored national
(COVID-19) pandemic and the Solar Winds cyberattack,
coordination for response to some types of public health
Congress may consider examining NLEs and how they help
emergencies, such as attacks with chemical and biological
the nation prepare for complex, large-scale incidents.
weapons. In 2019, the Department of Health and Human
Services hosted a major pandemic exercise (dubbed
Focus and Objectives of NLEs
“Crimson Contagion”) and involved 12 federal
While FEMA administers NLEs on behalf of the federal
departments/agencies (including FEMA), 132 SLTT
government as a whole, it does not select the focus of these
governments, 87 hospitals, and more than 100 private sector
exercises directly. The design and development of NLEs is
partners. This exercise built on previous exercises, as well
guided by the strategic priorities set by the Principals
as experiences with the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009.
Committee of the National Security Council and builds on
It is unclear how it contributed to preparedness for the
real-world incidents. The priorities for 2021-2022 include
COVID-19 pandemic, or if NLE structure and coordination
continuity of essential functions, cybersecurity, economic
would have improved results. Congress may consider
recovery and resilience, national security emergencies and
requiring a report describing how this exercise did or did
catastrophic incidents, operational coordination, public
not contribute to preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic.
health and healthcare emergencies, shelter and housing
solutions, and stabilization and restoration of community
Lauren R. Stienstra, Section Research Manager
lifelines. Should Congress desire to shift the focus,
IF11879
https://crsreports.congress.gov
National Level Exercises: History, Authorities, and Congressional Considerations
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11879 · VERSION 1 · NEW