Incident Command System

Introduction and Background

As an APHIS program, Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) is not new to responding to plant pest emergencies. Our traditional response programs, shown by successes with cooperative fruit fly programs and a variety of other new plant pests, have demonstrated PPQ’s ability to respond quickly, in a manner that is structured to take advantage of the resources at hand, in concert with our state cooperators.

The ability to conduct coordinated responses to large emergencies has taken on new importance as reflected in the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) issued February 28, 2003. This directive requires that all federal departments and agencies adopt the National Incident Management System (NIMS) in their domestic emergency management. NIMS is designed to provide consistent nationwide approach to federal, state, and local governments to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity.

At the center of NIMS is the Incident Command System (ICS). The ICS is a structural-type of management system designed to bring multiple responding agencies, including those from different jurisdictions, together under a single overall command structure when an incident occur.

The Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) staffs at the national, regional, and state levels, together, have developed the Plant Protection and Quarantine Incident Command System (PPQ-ICS) guidelines. PPQ-ICS provides an operational framework for confronting plant heath emergencies such as the introduction or outbreak of plant pests, threats to domestic agricultural production and international trade, or market access and security in the United States.

To help with coordination in introducing ICS to PPQ, the PPQ ICS Implementation Team was formed in 2003 to direct the process, address needs, and assist with consistent application of ICS in PPQ programs where appropriate.

Please refer to various other documents and links to obtain more information about ICS. These include:
• “Standards for Plant Health Emergency Management Systems” issued as guidance for each state’s development of their own plant heath emergency response plans;
• “National Response Plan” recently finalized that details the steps and policies for coordination at all levels set to guide incident management based on NIMS.

Watch this site for the postings of new information and opportunities as PPQ’s implementation of ICS proceeds in the coming months.