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Appendix 1 - Establishing a National Integrated Network of State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers

Roles and Responsibilities of Federal, State, Local, and Tribal Authorities

Roles of the State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers

Federal, State, local, and tribal governments have specific responsibilities as it relates to the establishment and continued operation of State and major urban area fusion centers. The roles and responsibilities outlined in this Strategy were developed in partnership with State, local, and tribal officials and represent a collective (Federal, State, local, and tribal) view. This Strategy recognizes the sovereignty of State and local governments, and thus the roles and responsibilities are delineated with the understanding that State and major urban area fusion centers are owned and managed by State and local governments. Furthermore their incorporation into the ISE takes into account that these centers support day-to-day crime control efforts and other critical public safety activities. Interlinking and networking these centers will create a national capacity to gather, process, analyze, and share information. Incorporating these centers into the ISE will be done in a manner that protects the information privacy and other legal rights of Americans and corporations, as provided for under U.S. law.

The Federal Government may need to provide financial and technical assistance, as well as human resource support, to these fusion centers if they are to achieve and sustain a baseline level of capability. The objective is to assist State and local governments in the establishment and the sustained operation of these fusion centers. A sustained Federal partnership with State and major urban area fusion centers is critical to the safety of our Nation, and therefore a national priority.

State and major urban area fusion centers will be the focus, but not exclusive points, within the State and local environment for the receipt and sharing of terrorism information, homeland security information, and law enforcement information related to terrorism. These fusion centers support the efforts of State, local, and tribal entities in undertaking the following activities and responsibilities, in appropriate consultation or coordination with Federal departments and agencies:

Share classified and unclassified information to address domestic security and criminal investigations with other States, localities, regions and the Federal Government in a manner that protects the information privacy and other legal rights of Americans, while ensuring the security of the information shared.
Foster a culture that recognizes the importance of fusing .all crimes with national security implications. and .all hazards. information (e.g., criminal investigations, terrorism, public health and safety, and emergency response) which often involves identifying criminal activity and other information that might be a precursor to a terrorist plot.
Support critical counterterrorism, homeland security, and homeland defense-related activities, including but not limited to the development or maintenance of: 1. Mechanisms to contribute information of value to ongoing Federal terrorism risk assessments; 2. Statewide, regional, site specific, and topical risk assessments; 3. Processes in support of information responsive to federally communicated requirements and tasks; 4. Alerts, warnings, notifications, advisories, and/or bulletins regarding time sensitive or strategic threats; 5. Situational awareness reports; and 6. Analytical reports regarding geographically relevant incidents or specific threats.
Develop, in coordination with Federal authorities, critical infrastructure protection plans to ensure the security and resilience of infrastructure operations (e.g., electric power, transportation, telecommunications, water) within a region, State, or locality. The efforts of State and major urban area fusion centers in this regard will be coordinated with information sharing activities delineated in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan as well as other efforts already underway by DoD, DHS, FBI, and other Federal entities.
Prioritize emergency management, response, and recovery planning activities based on likely threat scenarios and at-risk targets.
Provide assessments of risk that support State and urban area homeland security preparedness planning efforts to allocate funding, capabilities, and other resources.
Provide risk-related information to support efforts to develop training, awareness, and exercise programs to ensure that State, local, and tribal officials are prepared to deal with terrorist strategies, tactics, capabilities, and intentions and to test plans for preventing, preparing for, mitigating the effects of, and responding to events.
Further customize federally supplied information for dissemination to meet intra- or inter-State needs, unless specifically prohibited or otherwise subject to additional security restrictions.
Ensure that all locally generated terrorism-related information.including suspicious activity and incident reports.is communicated to the Federal Government and other States, localities, and regions, through the appropriate mechanism and systems. Locally generated information that does not appear to be threat or incident related will be gathered, processed, analyzed, and interpreted by the same State and major urban area fusion centers in coordination with locally-based Federal officials. The same information will be disseminated to the national level via appropriate Federal agencies.

Federal, State, Local, and Tribal Responsibilities

I. General

Federal Responsibilities

The Federal Government, in coordination with State, local, and tribal officials, will establish a working group of the Information Sharing Council, to coordinate Federal efforts to support the creation of a national network of State and major urban area fusion centers. Drawing upon existing and ongoing efforts at the Federal level, DoD, DOJ, DHS, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and National Guard Bureau shall establish a coordinated set of policies, protocols, and procedures to:

1. Develop, maintain and, as appropriate, disseminate an assessment of terrorist risks and threats to the United States and it interests.

2. Use risk and threat assessments to identify and gather information responsive to the identified threats and risks.

3. Gather and document the information needs of State, local, and tribal governments.

4. Continue to develop a prioritized listing of informational products needed by State, local, and tribal governments based on terrorism information requirements.

5. Maintain existing analytical resources capable of producing (researching, developing, drafting and packaging) these analytical products and coordinating both their development and dissemination.

6. Identify any gaps in production capabilities as it relates to the production of: alerts, warning and notifications regarding time sensitive threat, situational awareness reporting regarding significant events, strategic assessments of threats posed by individuals or terrorist organizations, tradecraft utilized by organizations, geographic risk assessments, or other related issues.

7. Mitigate production gaps by leveraging existing departmental, agency, or NCTC analytical capabilities.

8. Maintain the capability to produce and coordinate multi-channel dissemination of inter-agency coordinated alerts, warnings, and notifications of time sensitive terrorism-related information.

9. Support State, local, and tribal efforts to produce State, regional, and site-specific risk assessments by adopting common terminology and criteria and providing State and local officials an agreed upon assessment methodology for evaluating risk (threat, consequence, and vulnerability).

10. Coordinate the assignment of representative personnel to State and major urban area fusion centers and otherwise strive to integrate and, to the extent practicable, collocate resources.

11. Ensure the sharing of information is done in a manner that protects the information privacy and legal rights of Americans.

State, Local, and Tribal Responsibilities

Each State will be encouraged to define and document how it intends to carry out intrastate efforts to gather, process, analyze, and disseminate terrorism information, homeland security information, and law enforcement information. This process is commonly known as the "fusion process". Defining this process should include the following:

1. In those States where there exist multiple fusion centers, one fusion center, with the demonstrated capacity to serve as the statewide center or hub, should be designated as the primary interface with the Federal Government. This statewide fusion center should also coordinate the gathering, processing, analysis, and dissemination of homeland security information, terrorism information, and law enforcement information on a statewide basis.

2. The Executive Agent of each Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), as well as the applicable State's homeland security advisor, must work together to determine the most effective manner in which to incorporate the UASI into the statewide information sharing framework.

3. In those instances in which the UASI has established a regional fusion center, the activities of the major urban area fusion center should be incorporated into the statewide fusion process.

4. Each State and major urban area fusion center is encouraged to coordinate with the appropriate Federal authorities to develop synchronized protocols for sharing information with the private sector.

II. Achieving and Sustaining Baseline Operational Standards for State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers

Federal Responsibilities

The Federal Government, working in partnership with State, local, and tribal authorities, will seek to define the current national information sharing capability that exists through the existence of existing State and major urban area fusion centers. State and local authorities will be asked to support these efforts by assessing and documenting the baseline level of capability of their existing fusion centers.

The Federal Government, in consultation with State, local, and tribal authorities, shall compile, document, and disseminate baseline operational standards, the achievement of which will determine whether an individual State or major urban area fusion center is considered to have achieved a baseline level of capability. These baseline operational standards will build on the Global Justice Fusion Center Guidelines. Additionally, the Federal Government will initiate a series of activities to assist State and major urban area fusion centers to adopt and incorporate these baseline operational standards into their business operations. These standards will support the gathering, processing, analysis, and dissemination of terrorism information, homeland security information, and law enforcement information. Specific Federal activities include:

1. Defining, documenting, and disseminating the baseline operational standards.

2. Assessing the existing level of capability of each designated State and major urban area fusion center.

3. Providing technical assistance, training, and other support as needed by these fusion centers to support their achieving the defined baseline level of capability.

4. Amending relevant grants guidance and technical assistance to ensure that fusion center grant recipients, as a condition of receiving funding, meet delineated baseline operational standards.

5. Modifying grants, other applicable funding programs, and related technical assistance programs to support efforts to sustain the capacity of State and major area fusion centers to operate at a baseline operational level once achieved.

6. Establishing a best practices clearing house capability for fusion centers to include creating a list of Subject Matter Experts.

7. Developing a coordinated interagency approach that supports, wherever practical, the assignment of Federal personnel to State and major urban area fusion centers and otherwise strive to integrate and, to the extent practicable, collocate resources.

State, Local, and Tribal Responsibilities

State, local, and tribal authorities are encouraged to take the following steps to ensure that State and major urban area fusion centers achieve and sustain a baseline level of capability:

1. Support efforts to complete an assessment of existing capabilities within designated State and major urban area fusion centers.

2. Identify and document capability gaps (if any) and develop a strategy and investment plan to mitigate any capability gaps.

3. Track and report efforts to mitigate any capability gaps.

4. Develop an investment strategy to sustain fusion center operations, including a delineation of current and recommended future Federal versus non-Federal costs.

5. Document and report a strategy for integrating State and major urban area fusion center efforts with those of other Federal, State, local, tribal, and private sector information sharing and counterterrorism efforts.

III. Suspicious Activities and Incident Reporting

Federal Responsibilities

The Federal Government will develop a plan and provide State and major urban area fusion centers a mechanism to gather and report locally generated information to appropriate Federal entities, other States, and localities. This locally generated information will include reports by the public or governmental personnel regarding suspicious incidents, events, and activities. Specific activities include:

1. Providing reports and awareness training to State, local, and tribal authorities regarding the strategic goals, operational capabilities, and methods of operation utilized by international and domestic terrorist organizations so that local events and behaviors can be viewed within the context of potential terrorist threats.

2. Developing a prioritized listing of the specific types of locally generated information of interest to Federal entities responsible for assessing the national threat environment and which supports the rapid identification of emerging terrorist threats.

3. Identifying resources capable of communicating and updating these information requirements to State, local, and tribal officials via State and major urban area fusion centers.

4. Establishing a unified process to support the reporting, tracking, processing, storage, and retrieval of locally generated information.

5. Ensuring that efforts to gather, process, analyze, and store locally generated information are carried out in a manner that protects the privacy and legal rights of Americans.

State, Local, and Tribal Responsibilities

State and major urban area fusion centers will support the gathering of locally generated terrorism information, homeland security information, and law enforcement information related to terrorism. Specific activities may include:

1. Completion of a statewide and/or regional risk assessment (threat, vulnerability, and consequence).

2. Using this assessment to identify priority information requirements.

3. Identification of data sources and repositories of prioritized information.

4. Maintaining an information gathering and reporting strategy utilizing existing local capabilities.

5. Developing, implementing, and maintaining a method for communicating information priorities to local gatherers of information.

6. Ensuring that the processes and protocols for ensuring that priority information, including Suspicious Incident Reports (SIRs) and Suspicious Activities Reports (SARs), are disseminated to and evaluated by appropriate government authorities and appropriate critical infrastructure owners and operators.

7. Ensuring that the processes and protocols for ensuring that priority information, including SIRs and SARs, are reported to national entities to support its inclusion into national patterns and trends analysis and other States and localities to support regional trends analysis.

8. Identifying system requirements that support a unified process for reporting, tracking, and accessing SIRs and SARs.

9. Defining a feedback mechanism.

IV. Alerts, Warnings, and Notifications

Federal Responsibilities

The Federal Government, in coordination with State, local, and tribal authorities, will establish processes to manage the issuance of alerts, warnings, and notifications to State and major area fusion centers regarding time sensitive threats and other information requiring some type of State and/or local reaction or response. Specific activities include:

1. Documenting the types of informational products needed by State, local, and tribal governments and the format in which they are desired.

2. Identifying the Federal entities responsible for producing (researching, developing, drafting, and packaging) alerts, warning, and notifications for dissemination to State and major area fusion centers regarding time sensitive threats and coordinating both their development and dissemination.

3. Identifying any gaps in production capabilities as it relates to the production of: alerts, warnings, and notifications regarding time sensitive threats or other related issues.

4. Maintaining the capability to mitigate production gaps by leveraging existing departmental, agency, or NCTC analytical capabilities.

5. Coordinating inter-agency production and multi-channel dissemination of .federally coordinated. alerts, warnings, and notifications of time sensitive threats through the efforts of the Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group.

6. Providing a communications platform, where needed, to transmit alerts, warnings, or notifications, and ultimately consolidating such communications platforms as agreed to through collaborative Federal, State, and local planning and deliberation.

State and Local Responsibilities

State and major urban area fusion centers are encouraged to ensure that alert notifications are disseminated as appropriate, to State, local, and tribal authorities, the private sector and the general public. Specific activities may include:

1. Implement a protocol to govern the receipt of federally generated threat, warning, and notification messages.

2. Develop and/or maintain a plan (processes, protocols, and communication methodology) to govern the further dissemination of federally generated threat, warning, and notification messages, bulletins and other information products to State, local, and tribal authorities, the private sector and the general public.

3. Develop and/or maintain a plan (processes, protocols, and communication methodology) to govern the gathering, processing, and reporting to Federal entities any actions taken by State, local, and tribal authorities and the private sector in response to federally generated threat, warning, and notification messages.

4. Identify and establish a communications platform to support the dissemination of these messages and information products.

5. Coordinate with the appropriate Federal authorities to develop synchronized protocols for sharing information with the private sector.

V. Situational Awareness Reporting

Federal Responsibilities

The Federal Government, in coordination with State, local, and tribal authorities, will establish processes to manage the reporting to key officials and the public information regarding significant events (local, regional, national, and international) that may influence statewide or local security conditions, which include:

1. Documenting the types of informational products needed by State, local, and tribal governments and the format in which they are desired.

2. Identify existing resources capable of producing (researching, developing, drafting, and packaging) these situational reports and coordinating both their development and dissemination.

3. Identify any gaps in production capabilities as it relates to the production of situational awareness reporting regarding significant events.

4. Maintain the capability to mitigate production gaps by leveraging existing departmental, agency, or NCTC analytical capabilities to produce terrorism-related situational reports.

5. Coordinate inter-agency production and multi-channel dissemination of "federally coordinated" situational awareness reports through the efforts of the Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group.

6. Identifying and establishing a communications platform to support the dissemination of such reporting.

State and Local Responsibilities

State and major urban area fusion centers are encouraged to develop the processes to manage the reporting to key officials and the public information regarding significant events (local, regional, national, and international) that may influence State or local security conditions. Such actions may include:

1. Establishing and/or maintaining a protocol to govern the receipt of federally generated situational awareness reports.

2. Establishing and/or maintaining a plan (processes, protocols, and communication methodology) to govern the further dissemination of Federal situational awareness reports and those resulting from media reports to State, local, and tribal authorities, the private sector, and the general public.

3. Establishing and/or maintaining a plan (processes, protocols, and communication methodology) to govern the gathering, processing, and reporting to Federal entities any actions taken by State, local, and tribal authorities and the private sector in response to significant events.

4. Establishing and/or maintaining a protocol to govern the timely reporting of significant events occurring within State or local jurisdictions to Federal authorities and, when appropriate, other States, localities, and regional entities.

5. Coordinating with the appropriate Federal authorities to develop synchronized protocols for sharing information with the private sector.