You want us to highlight what the legislature has done to combat terrorism in light of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This report highlights legislative initiatives and some Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) initiatives.

SUMMARY

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the legislature passed many initiatives designed to increase public security. During the first legislative session after the attacks, it established new penalties for terrorism and related crimes and increased existing penalties for several crimes committed for terrorist purposes. It also:

1. increased penalties for falsely reporting a catastrophe or other emergency,

2. exempted certain security-related information from public disclosure,

3. made it clear that the costs utility companies expend for security measures can be recovered from ratepayers,

4. required a report to the legislature on planning and activities for children as part of homeland preparedness and planning to respond to terrorism, and

5. required the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), in cooperation with other agencies, to develop a plan for stockpiling and distributing potassium iodide tablets in the area near the Millstone nuclear power plant if radiation is released from the plant.

In the year following the attacks, several agencies took steps to increase security. Among other things, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) increased staffing at Bradley Airport and in specialized units, such as those that use explosive-sniffing dogs. It also provided security training for state agencies, businesses, and other entities. Other agencies that took steps to increase public security included OEM and the Public Health and Public Utility Control departments (see OLR Report 2002-R-0608, which is attached).

Since July 1, 2002, the legislature created DEMHS and a council to advise DEMHS on homeland security and emergency management issues; (2) strengthened the power of the governor, the public health commissioner, and local health directors to respond to public health emergencies; and (3) established a “critical access hospital” category to address needs arising during public health emergencies and mass casualty events. The legislature has also passed legislation requiring (1) the state, under certain circumstances, to indemnify hospitals and their staff who oversee the training, distribution, and quality assurance of nerve antidote kits and (2) anyone applying for a hazardous material endorsement for a vehicle to undergo a federal background check.

DEMHS has been working with federal, state, and local entities to (1) identify critical sites in the state and recommend security improvements at such sites and (2) improve the collection, analysis, and dissemination of criminal and terrorism-related information. It has adopted as its incident management standard the National Incident Management System, which integrates effective emergency preparedness practices and responses into a comprehensive national incident management framework. It has completed its 2005 natural disaster plan, which is designed to deal with all types of hazards, including any resulting from an act of terrorism. In April, it participated in a congressionally mandated weapons of mass destruction national exercise designed to test the state’s ability to respond to chemical attacks.

The Homeland Security Education Center, a partnership between DEMHS and UConn, has been providing homeland security and emergency management training to people involved in homeland security and emergency preparedness. Also, the Statewide Anti-Terrorism Task Force has been training law enforcement officers in counter terrorism.

LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES

Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security

Creation of Homeland Security Agency. PA 04-219 eliminated OEM, which served as the state’s civil defense organization, and replaced it with DEMHS. DEMHS, which was formed on January 1, 2005, is responsible for discharging emergency management, civil preparedness, and homeland security missions. To this end, it must develop, administer, and coordinate a comprehensive statewide emergency management and security program for dealing with man-made and natural disasters. The commissioner is responsible for:

1. coordinating with state and local government agencies and private sector groups to ensure adequate homeland security planning, equipment, training, and exercises;

2. coordinating and, where necessary, consolidating homeland security communications and communication systems in the state, including those in the local government and the private sector;

3. distributing or coordinating the distribution of information and security warnings throughout the state; and

4. establishing standards and security protocols for using intelligence information.

Creation of Statewide Advisory Council to DEMHS. PA 04-219 also created a 24-member statewide council to advise DEMHS on:

1. applying for and distributing federal or state funds for emergency management and homeland security;

2. planning, designing, implementing, and coordinating statewide emergency response systems;

3. assessing the state’s overall emergency management and homeland security preparedness, policies, and communications;

4. improving emergency response and incident management, including training and exercises, volunteer management, communications and technology use, intelligence gathering and dissemination, the development and implementation of emergency response plans, and the assessment of the state's use of regional management structures; and

5. strengthening consultation, planning, cooperation, and communication among federal, state, and local governments; the Connecticut National Guard; police, fire, emergency medical, and other first responders; emergency managers; public health officials; private industry; and  community organizations.

The council must advise the governor and legislature on its findings and efforts to secure the state from disasters and emergencies and enhance the protection of Connecticut residents.

State Police and Military to Provide Support to DEMHS. The act required the DEMHS commissioner to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Public Safety and Military departments to provide for law enforcement and military support and information sharing.

Public Health Emergency Response

PA 03-236 strengthened the governor's, the Department of Public Health (DPH) commissioner's, and local health directors' powers to respond to public health emergencies. It:

Critical Access Hospital

PA 05-280 established a “critical access hospital” category to address needs arising during public health emergencies and mass casualty events. The act includes “critical access hospital” under the category of “health care institution” for DPH regulatory purposes and defines it as a facility used intermittently, deployed at the discretion of the governor or her designee, for training purposes or, in the event of a public health or other emergency, for isolation or triage and treatment during a mass casualty event.

Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Medical Service Personnel Response

PA 05-259 requires the state, under certain circumstances, to indemnify, certain hospitals and their staff who oversee the training, distribution, and quality assurance of nerve antidote kits. Under the act, the state must hold harmless and indemnify any “sponsor hospital,” its medical director, or designated staff certified by DPH to oversee the training, distribution, or quality assurance of nerve agent antidote kits. It must protect them from any financial loss and expense, including legal costs and fees, arising from any claim, demand, suit, or judgment because of alleged negligence or other act resulting in personal injury if (1) the acts were not wanton, reckless, or malicious and (2) the person was discharging his duties in providing the training, distribution, or quality assurance of nerve antidote kits when the act resulted in the injury. The act defines a “sponsor hospital” as one agreeing to maintain staff to provide medical control, supervision, and direction to an emergency medical services organization and its personnel and approved to do so by Office of Emergency Medical Services.

Transportation of Hazardous Material

PA 04-217 subjects vehicle applicants for hazardous material endorsements to a federal law requiring background checks of relevant databases, including international checks through Interpol-U. S. National Central Bureau, to determine the applicants’ criminal history, if any, and, in the case of aliens, their legal status. Under this federal law, the state must provide the U. S. transportation secretary with the name, address, and any other information he requires for each person to whom the state issues a license to transport hazardous material. For these purposes, hazardous material also includes any chemical or biological material the federal health and human services secretary or attorney general determines to be a threat to national security.

The act authorizes the motor vehicle commissioner to refuse to issue, or to suspend or revoke the hazardous material endorsement of anyone for whom he receives a Final Notice of Threat Assessment from the U. S. Transportation Security Administration in accordance with federal regulations. Under these regulations, the federal agency determines, based on several criteria, whether the person represents a security threat and notifies the state.

DEMHS INITIATIVES

Critical Infrastructure Protection

The DEMHS Critical Infrastructure Unit assesses critical sites in the state and determines and recommends measures to enhance their security. The unit is currently working with the federal DHS, private industry, and municipalities to improve physical security at sites that the federal DHS deems critical under the federal Buffer Zone Protection Program. Under the program, the federal government provides targeted funding through states to local jurisdictions to buy equipment that will extend the zone of protection beyond the gates of critical facilities, such as chemical facilities, dams, and nuclear plants. Connecticut received $ 850,000 for this program in FY 05.

According to DEMHS, the unit, in collaboration with local law enforcement, has identified numerous potential target sites in the state and has completed assessments and made recommendations concerning many of them. Each assessment includes site visits, review of the immediate area around the site, and recommendations for improving security.

Intelligence Gathering, Management, and Sharing

Connecticut Intelligence Center (CTIC). CTIC is a regional intelligence center that works with local and state entities, bordering agencies, and federal agencies. In practice, it functions as a clearing house to ensure that all criminal and terrorism-related information is gathered, analyzed, and shared efficiently with law enforcement and homeland security entities and officials. It also tries to identify emerging threats or crime trends. Part of its mission is to develop reporting procedures to decrease duplication among various agencies. A short-term goal is to set up regional representatives to monitor specific jurisdictional representatives and help gather raw information. A long-term goal is to host quarterly meetings of intelligence liaison officers to exchange information and share problems within their jurisdictions and to establish a more efficient web-based information exchange.

CTIC works closely with the FBI’s field intelligence office in New Haven. The FBI Office of Intelligence, created in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, created field intelligence groups (FIGS) in all the states to sort terrorism information in order to predict future attacks. The FIGs must manage, execute, and coordinate local intelligence resources consistent with national priorities.

Anti-Terrorism Task Force. The DEMHS Statewide Anti-Terrorism task force, which consists of state and local law enforcement officers, and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force work together, under FBI direction, as the Connecticut Joint Terrorism Task Force to streamline investigations and responses to terrorist acts and allegations. The joint task force works closely with CTIC to ensure that terrorism threat information and intelligence are shared with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.

National Incident Management System (NIMS). In 2004, the federal DHS developed NIMS, which integrates effective emergency preparedness practices and responses into a comprehensive national incident management framework. The system’s objective is to provide a consistent, national framework within which federal, state, local, and tribal governments; the private sector; and non-government organizations collaborate to manage domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity.

In September 2004, Governor Rell directed DEMHS to establish training programs, policies, procedures, and protocols to implement NIMS as the standard system within the state for “managing domestic incidents that affect the health, welfare, safety, and security of Connecticut’s citizens” (Executive Order No. 10).

Top Officials (TOPOFF) 3

In April 2005, the U. S. DHS held its third TOPOFF-simulated emergency exercise to assess federal, state, and local governments, and emergency responders’ ability to prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The exercise involved participants from international, federal, state, local, tribal, agencies and private entities.

Activities in Connecticut, one of two TOPOFF 3 venues, focused on a simulated chemical-weapons attack and an improvised vehicle-borne explosive device. Specifically, the exercise tested the state’s ability to coordinate response to a terrorist-generated chemical incident, decontaminate large numbers of victims, test the surge capacity of the hospital system statewide, conduct criminal and environmental investigations, and exercise the state’s newly formed Urban Search and Rescue Team.

Urban Search and Rescue

DEMHS has an Urban Search and Rescue Team consisting of volunteers from throughout the state. The team’s role is to locate, extricate, and provide medical treatment to victims in a large-scale structural collapse. The team successfully participated in TOPOFF 3. Its mission during this exercise was to search for, locate, and recover victims from a simulated five-story building collapse (rubble pile) built specifically for the drill. DEMHS has moved the rubble pile, which is a professionally engineered training environment, from the TOPOFF site to Bradley Airport and plans to continue to use it for training exercises.

Airport Security Initiative

In June, the governor ordered DEMHS to send teams to all the airports in Connecticut to assess safety and security issues and recommend improvements where necessary. She issued the order after someone stole a small plane from city-owned Danbury Airport and flew it around southwestern Connecticut and southeastern New York for several hours before landing at Westchester County Airport in New York.

In response to the governor’s directive, the DPS, in collaboration with DEMHS and the federal Transportation Security Administration, launched a security initiative targeting all of the state’s general aviation airports, airport managers, and pilot associations. The initiative included security assessments of the airports and recommendations to make them and their users safer and more security conscious.

Counter Terrorism Training

Anti-Terrorism Task Force. The DEMHS Statewide Anti-Terrorism Task Force provides counter terrorism training to law enforcement officers and terrorism awareness training to private security entities. Among its programs are “State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training” for law enforcement officials and “Operation Safeguard” for private security entities. To date, the task force has trained several hundred law enforcement officials and private security entities. The task force publishes and distributes terrorism advisory bulletins to local and state law enforcement officials.

The task force has created a terrorism liaison officer program to identify and train liaison officers in participating agencies to improve information sharing.

Homeland Security Education Center. This center, which is a partnership between DEMHS and UConn, provides training for homeland security first responders. The center used the FY 04 homeland security grant to provide training for almost 4,000 first responders over an 18-month period.

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