FEMA’s Role in Logistics Management for Disaster Response
October 24, 2022
FEMA’s Role in Logistics Management for Disaster Response
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
analysis, including assessing the abilities of entities
plays a key role in responding to domestic emergencies and
involved in disaster response;
disasters. Part of FEMA’s response role is logistics and
supply chain management to ensure supplies such as food
outreach, including identifying and prioritizing
and water arrive at areas in need. To fulfill this role, FEMA
challenges and meeting to discuss initial analyses;
manages vendor contracts, sources and tracks commodity
shipments, and maintains lines of communication among
action, including developing and implementing
various responders. FEMA regularly coordinates these
preparedness activities; and
activities with private-sector entities.
assessing and refining, including building relationships,
National Response Framework and Emergency
updating analysis, and targeting outreach.
Support Functions
FEMA’s logistics and supply chain support authorities stem
FEMA’s Logistics Supply Chain Management System
from the National Preparedness System and the National
oversees the agency’s supply chain operations. These begin
Response Framework (NRF)—interagency guidance that
with an order for commodities, which can come from
delineates agency roles and responsibilities in federal
FEMA’s headquarters or a regional office, in anticipation of
responses to all types of incidents, including emergencies
need. FEMA’s Logistics Management Center approves the
and major disasters declared under the Robert T. Stafford
order, forwarding it to the Supply Chain Integration Branch,
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-
which sources the commodities and forwards the order to
288, as amended). The NRF organizes federal capabilities
the Transportation Management Branch. The
and resources for disaster response into 15 emergency
Transportation Management Branch assumes responsibility
support functions (ESFs).
for moving commodities between locations, including by
contracting with private transportation companies.
Each ESF has at least one coordinating agency, primary
agency, and supporting agency. Along with the General
Like other agencies, FEMA can source contractors and
Services Administration (and 15 supporting agencies),
supplies without full and open competition, as is usually
FEMA coordinates ESF #7, “logistics,” assuming
required, when there is a need of an “unusual or compelling
responsibility for “centralized management of supply chain
urgency.” For example, this might occur if a disaster so
functions in support of local, state, tribal, territorial, insular
degraded an area’s infrastructure that soliciting competitive
area, and Federal governments for an actual or potential
bids would delay the delivery of life-saving supplies.
incident.” That includes activities such as:
Another tool available to FEMA is the Defense Production
managing transportation of material from storage
Act (DPA, P.L. 81-774). The law provides the President
facilities and vendors to incident survivors;
certain authorities that can influence domestic industry in
the interest of national defense. During the Coronavirus
providing logistical support to fire and other first
Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, FEMA invoked the
responders;
DPA to strengthen the supply chain for personal protective
equipment (PPE), which was scarce. FEMA used the DPA
coordinating the procurement of communications
to prioritize federal government contracts with private
equipment and services; and
businesses to purchase PPE and to fund the private sector to
expand domestic PPE production, among other activities.
managing electronic data interchanges to allow for end-
to-end visibility and tracking of response resources.
Private Sector Integration
FEMA’s disaster response activities require working with
FEMA’s Logistics Management Operations
the private sector. This includes establishing contracts with
FEMA’s supply chain resilience guide establishes
private-sector entities to provide logistics and supply chain
procedures for FEMA, state, local, tribal, and territorial
management support. For example, FEMA operates an
governments (SLTTs), and the private sector to maintain
“advance contract” program that awards pre-disaster
supply chains. Those steps are:
contracts—primarily to private companies—so that supplies
and services can be quickly deployed when a disaster
research and mapping, including identifying commodity occurs. In FY2022, FEMA had 101 advance contracts
suppliers and the commodities’ destinations;
covering a variety of services and commodities, including
provision of bottled water, commercial meals, generators
and generator maintenance, and operations support.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
FEMA’s Role in Logistics Management for Disaster Response
Before, during, and after a disaster, FEMA’s National
Could not give “reasonable assurance” that it quickly
Business Emergency Operations Center (NBEOC) serves as
gave out sufficient amounts of life-saving commodities.
a clearinghouse for private-sector entities to share
information among themselves and government entities.
Congress has held multiple hearings on the response to
The NBEOC is open to multi-state private sector
Irma and Maria, both before and after the 2020 report.
organizations including chambers of commerce,
Several of these hearings examined FEMA’s role in the
universities, businesses, and non-profits. SLTTs can use the
response, although they did not focus on the results of the
NBEOC to connect with the clearinghouse’s private-sector
2020 report.
members and to FEMA’s regional private-sector liaisons.
Issues for Congress
The federal government has designated 16 critical
Congress may wish to monitor FEMA’s emergency and
infrastructure sectors “so vital to the United States that their
disaster response logistics management responsibilities.
incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating
Some logistical and supply chain challenges may be outside
effect on security, national economic security, national
FEMA’s control. For example, the rapid succession of
public health or safety.” Examples include the chemical,
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017 stretched
communications, and energy sectors. The nature of these
government and private sector resources. But other factors
critical infrastructure sectors entails coordination with the
contributing to FEMA’s difficulties responding to
private sector; for instance, communications networks and
Hurricanes Irma and Maria—for example, not following
electric utilities may be privately owned.
commodity tracking protocols—are likelier to fall within
the purview of Congress’s oversight functions.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
(CISA) is responsible for ensuring the security of the
The COVID-19 pandemic caused unforeseen shortages of
country’s critical infrastructure—primarily through
key commodities, including PPE. To address this, the
oversight of voluntary public-private partnerships for
federal government took certain novel approaches,
information sharing and best practices. CISA, like FEMA,
including creating the Supply Chain Stabilization Task
is a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency. But
Force (SCTF), a White House-led initiative comprised of
through ESF #14, “cross-sector business and
officials from FEMA, the Department of Defense, and the
infrastructure,” FEMA and CISA are both given certain
Department of Health and Human Services. The SCTF
responsibilities for connecting the federal government and
sought to manage the federal government’s efforts to obtain
private sector when disaster response logistics involves
and distribute PPE.
multiple critical infrastructure sectors. FEMA’s specific
duties include:
A FEMA report found that the SCTF sometimes lacked
communication and duplicated efforts with other COVID-
convening private-sector entities through the NBEOC to
19 task forces, but helped increase the speed of PPE
identify incident response issues for resolution;
production. Congress may wish to further examine the
efficacy of the federal government’s COVID-19 supply
facilitating information sharing from the federal
chain efforts, including the SCTF, and whether they
government and SLTTs to private-sector entities;
duplicated FEMA’s responsibilities under ESF #7.
tracking private sector capacities and capabilities; and
The task force model may also be of interest as FEMA’s
disaster response efforts could grow more complex.
deploying FEMA’s private-sector coordination staff to
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
SLTTs requiring coordination with industry.
Administration, the U.S. averaged 5.5 billion-dollar
disasters (disasters causing at least $1 billion in damage)
Challenges in FEMA’s Response to Hurricanes Irma
per year in the 1990s, 6.7 per year in the 2000s, and 12.8
and Maria
per year in the 2010s. In 2020, there were 22 billion-dollar
Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit the Caribbean over two
disasters, 20 in 2021, and nine in the first six months of
weeks in September 2017, causing extensive damage. A
2022. These trends could stretch FEMA’s response
2020 report from the DHS Office of Inspector General on
resources and its ability to manage logistics. Congress
FEMA’s execution of its ESF #7 responsibilities found that
could consider whether a task force model, potentially
FEMA:
including other federal agencies as well as the private
sector, may ameliorate some of these potential challenges.
Lost visibility of 38% of its commodity shipments to
Puerto Rico, worth $257 million. This occurred because
Congress may consider FEMA’s future DPA use for
FEMA did not follow protocols such as fully utilizing its
disaster response. A 2021 FEMA report on the agency’s
Global Positioning System transponder technology to
pandemic response noted “there is an opportunity to use the
track the shipments.
DPA as a pre-disaster resource to build agreements and
formalize engagement with the private sector based on
Provided inadequate oversight of transportation
critical resource gaps.” During the pandemic, FEMA’s
contracts, contributing to lost visibility and
DPA office was small and the agency lacked experience
“significantly delayed” commodity shipments.
with some of the law’s capabilities , contributing to FEMA
invoking the DPA less than it might have. Congress may
consider expanding FEMA’s capabilities in this area.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
FEMA’s Role in Logistics Management for Disaster Response
IF12239
Adam G. Levin, Analyst in Economic Development Policy
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permissio n of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF12239 · VERSION 1 · NEW