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Contact Information Hallie Zimmers Legislative and Public Affairs 202-720-0378 (ph) 202-720-3982 (fax) |
Hello again from APHIS
and welcome to the May edition of APHIS News for States. Our inaugural issue was well received and
is being distributed widely among States.
Several of the
stories in this edition were suggested by people who received the first
update in April. I look forward to
getting additional story ideas and feedback about how to make this a more
effective communication tool. From now
on, the newsletter will be issued on a monthly basis, so you can expect to
see the next issue the week of June 23rd. Hallie Zimmers APHIS’
(Scroll down to view article or click on link to view in Web Browser)
During the 2
months I’ve served as APHIS’ Interim State Liaison, I’ve had the opportunity
to meet State partners from across the nation representing a number of
organizations. But I still have many
more State partners to meet! I’ll be
attending the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture
meeting in June along with Bob Ehart, NASDA’s Animal and Plant Health Safeguarding
Coordinator. If we haven’t had the
chance to talk, please call me if you have any questions about my role or
have an issue you would like me to work through.
In direct
response to a State request, APHIS’ Investigative and Enforcement Services
and Plant Protection and Quarantine program have worked together to create an
investigative training course for State plant regulatory officials
(SPRO). The first course will be held
in
To enhance APHIS’
ability to support the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) in carrying out Emergency Support Function (ESF)
#11, the Agency has created 10 new field positions. Known as ESF #11 Coordinators, APHIS has
located one position in each of the 10 FEMA regions in order to provide
direct communication with FEMA and the ESF #11 partner agencies (APHIS, the
Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Food and Nutrition Service and the
Department of the Interior). In
addition, the ESF#11 coordinators will be working closely with State partners
to provide information regarding ESF #11 capabilities and available resources
in the event of an all-hazards emergency.
Until the
creation of these full-time positions, ESF #11 coordination in the field was
carried out by designated employees under collateral duty assignments. The establishment of these permanent
positions emphasizes APHIS’ commitment to fulfilling its ESF #11 coordination
role, which was delegated to APHIS by USDA’s Homeland Security Office. Eight of the 10 coordinators have been
hired, and APHIS is in the process of filling the remaining 2 positions. The ESF #11 field positions are supported
by the National ESF #11 Coordinator, 3 APHIS liaisons at headquarters and two
regional Emergency Program Managers. For the ESF #11
contact in your State, please contact Bethany O’Brien in the Western Region (bethany.o’brien@aphis.usda.gov or 970-494-7173)
or Matt Bragg in the Eastern Region (matthew.bragg@aphis.usda.gov
or 919-855-7226).
On May 7, APHIS hosted 12
livestock reporters from major trade journals and agricultural outlets to highlight
the Agency’s foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) preparedness and close partnership
with industry in combating foreign animal diseases. During the event, the reporters
participated in an FMD tabletop exercise, but instead of representing the
media, they each played the role of a responder. The goal of the exercise was to help the
reporters better understand how the Federal government and industry work
together in an emergency, the timing of public announcements, and the
complexities of dealing with a foreign animal disease outbreak. In addition, the reporters toured APHIS’ Media outlets that attended
the event included Dairy Today/Beef Today, Brownfield Network, National
Association of Farm Broadcasters, WTDY Radio in
On
June 28, APHIS' Animal Care (AC) program, the Louisiana Department of
Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF), and the Louisiana State Animal Response Team
(LSART) will stage a pet evacuation test exercise in Under
Emergency Support Function (ESF) #11, APHIS has the Federal responsibility
for ensuring the safety and well being of household pets during national
disasters and other emergencies. This
responsibility includes providing technical support and subject-matter
expertise, conducting critical needs assessments, and expediting requests for
resources to assist in evacuating and sheltering household pets. If you work for a State Agency involved in
emergency management for pets and would like to attend the exercise, please
contact Dr. Becky Adcock with LSART at lsartpio@gmail.com
or 225-931-9631.
The Food and
Agriculture Sector Government Coordinating Council, in conjunction with the
Department of Homeland Security, recently launched what is known as the Food
and Agriculture Criticality Assessment Tool (FASCAT) to assist States in
assessing and identifying their critical food and agriculture systems. With an acronym like FASCAT, it’s a name
you’ll remember and hopefully a resource that you’ll utilize. Ultimately, this identification process
will assist States in requesting grant money to support your food and
agriculture infrastructure. So what is FASCAT
exactly? It’s an easy-to-use on-line tool
that will take you through the process of evaluating the food and agriculture
sector in your State to prioritize key systems and characterize the risks
they face. Because food and
agriculture issues are generally the responsibility of several agencies
within a State, FASCAT can provide a common shared platform to support a
multi-agency effort to evaluate your infrastructure. In fact, each State’s Homeland Security
Advisor (HSA) has been encouraged to initiate a multi-agency effort. FASCAT is the first step in a larger effort
to implement vulnerability assessments and develop protective and mitigation
strategies that will allow States to focus limited resources on preventive,
protective and response planning capabilities. Developed in
coordination with the
Depopulation,
decontamination and disposal are known as the 3Ds in emergency response. In the event of a foreign animal disease
outbreak or a significant natural disaster, 3D services will be an essential part
of the response and recovery effort.
It’s APHIS’ role to make sure that these resources exist and are
readily available should the need arise.
APHIS’ National
Veterinary Stockpile (NVS) has agreements with 7 companies that have direct
and frequent experience with disposal and decontamination of hazardous waste
(initially oil spills, now waste from all hazards). Three of the companies support customers
nationally, and four companies provides regional support. Should a large-scale emergency occur, it’s
critical to have multiple contractors available to provide an effective and
immediate response.
Fortunately, mutual support is a common practice in the environmental
response industry, and will help to ensure effective and seamless
coordination. While
agriculture-specific activities, such as depopulation, have not been a
traditional part of the contractors’ job description, APHIS is working
directly to educate and train them to perform specific animal health
practices. For example, APHIS has
funded their participation in certain exercises and small outbreak
responses. The contractors are also
conducting training internally to prepare their personnel for an agricultural
emergency. All of the contractors
are familiar with and have operated under the National Incident Management
System that APHIS and States will use to manage a large-scale response. Decontamination and disposal activities are
tasks the contractors currently perform on a daily basis for the Coast
Guard. In addition, three of our seven
prime contractors are working with States to use foam for depopulating
poultry. As you are aware,
regulations for transporting and disposing hazardous waste vary by
State. Our 3D contractors have
personnel on staff who know the regulations and are
responsible for complying with them.
In addition, NVS is working with the contractors to ensure that they
are familiar with multiple disposal techniques for animal carcasses
including: ·
Onsite
or remote composting, ·
Onsite
or remote burial, ·
Rendering, ·
Alkaline
hydrolysis, ·
Thermal
destruction (including air curtain incineration and fixed incineration), and ·
Landfill
disposal. For additional
information on these 3D companies, please e-mail nvs@aphis.usda.gov. You will
receive a prompt response.
APHIS
and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
held a joint meeting April 29-May 1, in During
a break-out session on communication, State representatives asked APHIS and
CBP to evaluate mechanisms for providing State regulatory officials with
timely information regarding recurring interceptions of plant pests and
diseases and options for sharing sensitive information related to
investigations and border interceptions.
The Joint Agency Task Force met at the conclusion of the meeting and
developed a plan for evaluating the feedback and identifying priorities. The meeting minutes should be available May
23, and those minutes will be shared with State plant regulatory officials as
well as State veterinarians.
Dr.
Philip Berger has been selected as the Director of APHIS’ Center for Plant
Health Science and Technology (CPHST) in Dr. Berger began his Federal
career in 2003 when he was selected as PPQ’s
National Science Program Leader for Molecular Diagnostics and Biotechnology
at CPHST. Prior to joining the Federal
government, Dr. Berger worked for the
Dr. Larry Clark
has been named the new Director of APHIS’ National Wildlife Research Center
(NWRC) in Dr.
Clark began his career with APHIS in 1991 and over the past 17 years, he has
been instrumental in establishing NWRC’s wildlife
disease research capabilities and has held positions as both an APHIS science
fellow and research scientist. In
1995, Dr. Clark became one of the first NWRC staff members to establish a
cooperative relationship with the
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All Agency vacancies are posted on the APHIS Web
site. To view the entire list of APHIS
vacancies go to www.aphis.usda.gov. Under Related Topics click on Find a Job in
APHIS. The positions highlighted below
are for relevant positions that are at the GS-13 level and above. Position: Agriculturalist Location: Pay Plan:
GS-0401-13/14 Who May Apply:
All Position Closes:
May 27, 2008 Position: Interdisciplinary
Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer Location: Pay Plan: GS-0110,0401,0701,1529-14/14 Who May Apply:
All Position Closes:
May 27, 2008 Position: Agriculturalist
(Assistant Trade Director) Location: 2
vacancies - Pay Plan: GS-0401-12/13 Who May Apply:
All Position Closes:
May 29, 2008 Position: Supervisory
Veterinary Medical Officer Location: Pay Plan:
GS-0701-15/15 Who May Apply:
All Position Closes:
June 2, 2008 Position: Supervisory
Wildlife Biologist (State Director) Location: Pay Plan:
GS-0486-12/13 Who May Apply:
All Position Closes:
June 9, 2008 |
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