Homeland Security Presidential Directive-8

Citation: Homeland Security Presidental Directive 8 (National Preparedness) (Dec. 2003).

Homeland Security Presidental Directive 8 (HSPD-8) mandates the development of a national preparedness goal, which was finalized in the National Preparedness Guidelines, aimed at helping entities at all levels of government build and maintain the capabilities to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from major events “to minimize the impact on lives, property, and the economy.”

To do this, the National Preparedness Guidelines provide readiness targets, priorities, standards for assessments and strategies, and a system for assessing the Nation’s overall level of preparedness across four mission areas: prevention, protection, response, and recovery. There are four critical elements of the National Preparedness Guidelines:

The National Preparedness Guidelines use capabilities-based planning processes and enable Federal, State, local, and tribal entities to prioritize needs, update strategies, allocate resources, and deliver programs. The guidelines reference standard planning tools that are applicable to the implementation of the NIPP, including the UTL and the TCL. Like the NIPP, the UTL and TCL are living documents that will be enhanced and refined over time.
 * The National Preparedness Vision, which provides a concise statement of the core preparedness goal for the Nation.
 * The National Planning Scenarios, which depict a diverse set of high-consequence threat scenarios of both potential terrorist attacks and natural disasters. Collectively, the 15 scenarios are designed to focus contingency planning for homeland security preparedness work at all levels of government and with the private sector. The scenarios form the basis for coordinated federal planning, training, exercises, and grant investments needed to prepare for emergencies of all types.
 * The Universal Task List (UTL), which is a menu of some 1,600 unique tasks that can facilitate efforts to prevent, pro-tect against, respond to, and recover from the major events that are represented by the National Planning Scenarios. It presents a common vocabulary and identifies key tasks that support the development of essential capabilities among organizations at all levels. No entity is expected to perform every task.
 * The Target Capabilities List (TCL), which defines 37 specific capabilities that communities, the private sector, and all levels of government should collectively possess in order to respond effectively to disasters.

Annex 1 (December 2007)
This Annex to HSPD-8 established a standard and comprehensive approach to national planning intended to enhance the preparedness of the United States. The annex articulated the U.S. Government policy “to integrate effective policy and operational objectives to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from all hazards, and comprises: (a) a standardized Federal planning process; (b) national planning doctrine; (c) resourced operational and tactical capabilities at each Federal department and agency with a role in homeland security; (d) strategic guidance, strategic plans, concepts of operations, and operations plans and, as appropriate, tactical plans; and (e) a system for integrating plans among all levels of government.”