Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Dynamic Partnerships. Webinar/Conference Call on Wednesday, September 26, 1:00 – 2:00 pm EST



Strategic Foresight Initiative (SFI) Community Members;

The Strategic Foresight Initiative (SFI) team is scheduling a Webinar/Conference Call on Wednesday, September 26, 1:00 – 2:00 pm EST to discuss and explore the strategic needs classified as “Dynamic Partnerships”:

1.       Empower individuals, neighborhoods and communities to play a greater role throughout all phases of disasters.

2.       Proactively engage business in all emergency management phases and solicit its contribution to policy development in light of the critical nature of private sector capabilities.
3.       Intensify disaster response collaboration and planning with Canada and Mexico, recognizing scope for both national and local actions.

4.       Foster increased collaboration to ensure appropriate use of the military to provide specialized capabilities or to augment capacity in complex, overwhelming disaster incidents.  

Jacqueline Yannacci, Community Resilience Program Manager at the American Red Cross National Headquarters will present on the Community Resilience Strategy, highlighting the organization’s work with developing dynamic partnerships.
 
Daniel Hahn, MA, CEM, FPEM, Santa Rosa County Plans Chief will introduce the Escarosa Business Continuity Initiative that is focusing on developing active partnerships within the Escambia and Santa Rosa County business community in Florida for enhancing disaster resiliency and continuity. 

As part of the conference call, the SFI team will provide a brief overview of the strategic needs highlighted above and invite participants to share anecdotal information about how their programs/initiatives are meeting these needs, along with any challenges and solutions identified when implementing actions to meet the strategic needs.

To access the Webinar, please follow the following guidelines:
·         To access the training, please go to: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/dynamicpartnerships_1/.

·         Please test the software on your computer before the training date at: https://demo.connectsolutions.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

      You do not need any special adobe connect software, but you will need to make sure you have flash and ActiveX installed on your computer. You should be prompted to install ActiveX as soon as you pull up the adobe connect site. The installation process should only take a few minutes

·         When you are on the Adobe Connect homepage, please select "Sign in as Guest" and enter your first and last name.  

·         We will be using a conference call to communicate with participants during the webinar.  

Please call: 1-800-320-4330 and enter PIN 857311.  Please note that your phone must be muted during the webinar. 
 
·         You can post questions to the presenters using the chat functionality of Adobe Connect.  We will moderate the Q&A portion of the webinar by calling on particular participants to elaborate on their questions/ideas posted under the chat window.
For more information on the SFI, you can contact the SFI Project Team via email at FEMA-OPPA-SFI.

Reference: Homeland Security Digital Library


HSDL

HSDL Critical Releases in Homeland Security [September 2012]

Every two weeks, the Homeland Security Digital Library identifies a targeted collection of recently-released documents of particular interest or potential importance. [Login to the HSDL is necessary to open some documents.*]


·         Operation Tomodachi Registry
Military Health System (U.S.)


·         Rebuilding TSA into a Smarter, Leaner Organization
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Homeland Security. Subcommittee on Transportation Security

·         Recommendations for Fusion Centers: Preserving Privacy & Civil Liberties While Protecting Against Crime & Terrorism
Constitution Project (Georgetown Public Policy Institute)\


The Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) is the nation’s premier collection of homeland security policy and strategy related documents. It supports local, state and federal analysis and decision-making needs and assists academics of all disciplines in homeland defense and security related research. The HSDL provides quick access to thousands of important U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources such as theses and research reports from various universities, organizations and local and state agencies.

SAMHSA. Children and Disasters


United States Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - A Life in the Community for Everyone: Behavioral Health is Essential to Health, Prevention Works, Treatment is Effective, People Recover


Available Now: Supplemental Research Bulletin—Children and Disasters
SAMHSA's Disaster Technical Assistance Center (DTAC) is pleased to introduce the DTAC Supplemental Research Bulletin, which will be published biannually.
This first Supplemental Research Bulletin examines the emotional impact that natural and human-caused disasters have on children and youth, one of the populations most at risk for negative mental health outcomes after a disaster.
Topics include the following:
  • Factors influencing children's response to a disaster
  • Patterns of resilience and recovery
  • Social and environmental effects
  • Implications for practice, policy, and planning.
About the Supplemental Research Bulletin
The purpose of the Supplemental Research Bulletin is to provide disaster behavioral health practitioners, planners, and other responders a summary of several recently published research articles and literature reviews. Each Supplemental Research Bulletin will highlight a number of chosen articles related to a specific topic of current interest to the field.
We would appreciate your feedback on this publication, as well as suggestions for future topics. Please send feedback to dtac@samhsa.hhs.gov.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)



U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Washington, DC

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency


The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the main federal law that ensures the quality of Americans' drinking water.Under SDWA, EPA sets standards for drinking water quality and oversees the states, localities, and water suppliers who implement those standards.
SDWA was originally passed by Congress in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation's public drinking water supply. The law was amended in 1986 and 1996 and requires many actions to protect drinking water and its sources: rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells. (SDWA does not regulate private wells which serve fewer than 25 individuals.) For more information see:
SDWA authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to set national health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants that may be found in drinking water. US EPA, states, and water systems then work together to make sure that these standards are met.
  • Standards and Risk Management – Learn about current and proposed drinking water regulations, basic information about drinking water contaminants, the regulatory process, and more.
  • Primacy – States and Indian Tribes are given primary enforcement responsibility (e.g. primacy) for public water systems in their State if they meet certain requirements.
Millions of Americans receive high quality drinking water every day from their public water systems, (which may be publicly or privately owned). Nonetheless, drinking water safety cannot be taken for granted. SDWA applies to every public water system in the United States. There are currently more than 160,000 public water systems providing water to almost all Americans at some time in their lives.
There are a number of threats to drinking water: improperly disposed of chemicals; animal wastes; pesticides; human wastes; wastes injected deep underground; and naturally-occurring substances can all contaminate drinking water. Likewise, drinking water that is not properly treated or disinfected, or which travels through an improperly maintained distribution system, may also pose a health risk.
Originally, SDWA focused primarily on treatment as the means of providing safe drinking water at the tap. The 1996 amendments greatly enhanced the existing law by recognizing source water protection, operator training, funding for water system improvements, and public information as important components of safe drinking water. This approach ensures the quality of drinking water by protecting it from source to tap.

Underground Injection Control

The Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program is responsible for regulating the construction, operation, permitting, and closure of injection wells that place fluids underground for storage or disposal.  Also,  geologic sequestration (GS), which is the process of injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) from a source through a well into the deep subsurface, has been the subject of regulatory action.   This process will with proper site selection and management, this new class of well could play a major role reducing emissions of CO2.

SDWA Fact Sheets

The following fact sheets provide basic information about various aspects of SDWA:

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