Law Department notice on WTC document preservation, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

structure based on the principles of the Incident Command System,’ a system adopted by the fire and rescue community.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for administering the FRP. This plan includes 12 Emergency Support Functions, which describe the types of support provided to local authorities and identify the Federal agencies responsible for leading and assisting in providing that support. To obtain assistance under the FRP, a State requests assistance from FEMA, which in turn issues a mission assignment to the appropriate Federal lead agency as outlined in the Emergency Support Functions.

EPA is the designated lead agency for Emergency Support Function No. 10, “Hazardous Materials Annex.” The intent of this function is to provide support to State and local governments in responding to an actual or potential discharge and/or release of hazardous materials following a major disaster or emergency, including the release of airborne contaminants. To ensure the most efficient and effective use of resources in responding to an actual or potential release of hazardous materials, this function also places the response mechanisms of the National Contingency Plan within the FRP coordination structure. The National Contingency Plan is the implementing regulation for EPA’s Superfund program, and provides guidelines and procedures for responding to releases and threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants, including releases that threaten air quality.

Early Response

Various circumstances complicated the Government’s and EPA’s ability to respond to environmental concerns in what was an unprecedented and extremely difficult situation. The New York City Office of Emergency Management’s Emergency Operations Center was destroyed in the attacks. EPA’s Region 2 office, about a half-mile from the WTC site, was evacuated and not re-opened until 2 weeks after the attacks. Electrical power was lost in Lower Manhattan, as well as radio and telephone communications. Further, transportation to Lower Manhattan was halted, as well as commercial air travel nationwide.

As with most disasters, local authorities were the first responders. “Ground Zero,” as the seven-building WTC area site would become known, was initially a search and rescue effort under the direction of the Fire Department of New York and, subsequently, a recovery operation under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Design and Construction (NYCDDC) and the Fire Department of New York. According to New York City’s Deputy Assistant Chief

I Incident Command System Principles include use of common terminology, modular organization, integrated communications, unified command structure, action planning, manageable span of control, pre-designated facilities, and comprehensive resource management.

3 Report No. 2003-P-00012

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