National Level Exercises: History, Authorities, and Congressional Considerations
Updated June 17, 2024
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 in 2024, is to test
Department of Homeland Security; no additional direction
the nation’s ability to respond to a large hurricane on the
was provided regarding the quantity, quality, or scope of
Hawaiian Islands. Furthermore, NLE 2024 is to include
preparedness exercises. In 2003, President George W. Bush
cyberattacks in Guam further complicating supply chain
issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (HSPD-
issues caused by the damage to Honolulu Harbor.
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.
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National Level Exercises: History, Authorities, and Congressional Considerations
Recent National Level Exercises
solutions, and stabilization and restoration of community
National Level Exercises alternate between scenarios
lifelines. Should Congress desire to shift the focus,
focused on adversaries and natural disasters every two
frequency, or scope of NLEs, it may consider more
years. Reports on the results of these exercises are not
prescriptive legislative language or rulemaking.
publicly available.
Capturing the Benefits of NLEs
• NLE 2022 simulated an earthquake along the Cascadia
According to guidance published by FEMA, every exercise
Subduction Zone in the Pacific Northwest, as well as
should produce a number of lessons learned, corrective
subsequent aftershocks, tsunamis, and an oil spill severe
actions, and an improvement plan for the participating
enough to be classified a Spill of National Significance.
stakeholders. These documents provide a roadmap for
closing gaps in core prevention, protection, response,
• NLE 2020 focused on cybersecurity. The majority of the recovery, and mitigation capabilities. In a May 2020 report,
exercise was cancelled by the FEMA Administrator due
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asserted that
to the demand of COVID-19 response activities on the
FEMA “lacks a formal mechanism to document and track
agency.
best practices, lessons learned, and corrective actions.” The
outputs and benefits of NLEs may potentially be lost
• NLE 2018 tested the ability of federal agencies, SLTT
without greater accountability for recording and
governments, private sector partners and
implementing the results. GAO recommended that DHS
nongovernmental organizations to prepare for, respond
develop a better means of tracking exercise outputs, and
to, and recover from a major Mid-Atlantic hurricane. It
DHS officials concurred, implementing a “Continuous
provided an opportunity for participating agencies to
Improvement Program” and an “Issue Resolution System”
examine lessons learned from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma,
to prioritize disaster after-action reports and establish
and Maria.
timeframes for completing them. Congress may consider
oversight activities to ensure that the findings of NLEs are
• Capstone 2016 assessed the nation’s “ability to prevent
properly leveraged to improve national capabilities.
terrorist acts against the homeland, coordinate the
response to a catastrophic incident, communicate to the
Coordination with Other Federal Exercises
American people, and continue performing essential
FEMA is not the only agency conducting nationally-scoped
government functions during a disaster.” The exercise
preparedness exercises with broad stakeholder participation.
involved five discrete exercises focused on international
For instance, the Department of Energy’s Office of
threats that created the need for domestic response.
Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
(CESER) and the Department of Health and Human
• Capstone 2014 was designed to prepare government,
Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness
industry, and nongovernment partners for complex,
and Response (ASPR) both conduct major exercises
large-scale disasters and emergencies. It commemorated
involving multiple federal agencies, SLTT partners, private
the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake by focusing on an
industry, and nongovernmental participation. These
earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Pacific
exercises are not required to be coordinated with the NLE
Northwest.
and their results and recommendations may not be
integrated with those from the NLE. Congress may consider
• NLE 2012 addressed cyberattacks against the United
mandates for better interagency coordination of nationally-
States. It focused on testing the draft version of the
scoped exercises as well as a more unified strategy for
National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP), the
tracking outcomes. Congress may also mandate reporting.
ability of governmental entities to coordinate response
activities.
NLE 2024
NLE 2024 is the first NLE to include a specific guiding
Considerations for Congress
objective related to the national security implications of
Given the response and recovery challenges revealed by
climate change. The exercise also includes additional
recent incidents such as the Coronavirus Disease 2019
objectives of testing plans related to information sharing,
(COVID-19) pandemic and the Solar Winds cyberattack,
incident response and stabilization, and long-term recovery.
Congress may consider examining NLEs and how they help
The selection of an insular area as the location of the
the nation prepare for complex, large-scale incidents.
incident may draw from recent response and recovery
challenges related to the Hurricanes Irma and Maria (which
Focus and Objectives of NLEs
impacted the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico), as well
While FEMA administers NLEs on behalf of the federal
as Typhoons Yutu and Mawar (which impacted the
government as a whole, it does not select the focus of these
Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands and
exercises directly. The design and development of NLEs is
Guam, respectively). FEMA plans to develop a national-
guided by the strategic priorities set by the Principals
level after-action report based on the findings of the
Committee of the National Security Council and builds on
exercise. Congress may consider evaluating the findings,
real-world incidents. The priorities for 2021-2022 include
tracking the implementation of corrective actions, and
continuity of essential functions, cybersecurity, economic
providing specific appropriations.
recovery and resilience, national security emergencies and
catastrophic incidents, operational coordination, public
Lauren R. Stienstra, Section Research Manager
health and healthcare emergencies, shelter and housing
IF11879
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National Level Exercises: History, Authorities, and Congressional Considerations
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