TO:	All State Emergency Management Agency Directors All State Administrative Agency Heads All State Administrative Agency Points of Contact All State Homeland Security Directors All FEMA Regional Directors
FROM:	ODP and the NIMS Integration Center (NIC)
SUBJECT:	National Incident Management System (NIMS) information and the products and services of the NIMS Integration Center (NIC)

The Department of Homeland Security has developed a comprehensive nationwide framework for incident management that will enable responders at all levels to work together more effectively to manage incidents no matter what the cause, size or complexity. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) incorporates best practices currently in use by incident managers at all levels. It was developed through extensive outreach to state, local and tribal officials, the emergency response community and the private sector.

The NIMS will be managed and maintained by the NIMS Integration Center (NIC), which was established by the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide strategic direction for and oversight of the system, including continuous refinement of the system and its components over the long term.

The NIC will facilitate the development of a national system of guidelines, protocols and standards for NIMS implementation; training requirements, national-level training standards and assessment criteria for the various components of the NIMS; and compliance requirements and timelines for federal, state, local and tribal entities implementing the NIMS.

Implementation of the system is on a fast track - federal departments and agencies are required to make adoption of NIMS by state and local organizations a condition for federal preparedness assistance after Oct. 1, 2004. The NIC currently is defining compliance criteria for FY 2005; additional criteria for 2006 through 2008 also will be developed and disseminated to federal, state, local and tribal governments.

Information about NIMS, NIMS requirements and NIMS-related guidelines, tools and resources will be provided on an ongoing basis through a new Web page that has been established on the FEMA.GOV Web site at www.fema.gov/nims. In addition, a new online course is available to help first responders understand the concepts and principles underlying NIMS, and to begin incorporating NIMS into their own planning and policies. This course takes about three hours to complete and may be found at: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWEB/IS/is700.asp. ODP and the NIC are eager to establish a dialogue with our state and local customers, who are urged to send their questions about NIMS implementation to [email protected].