Norton Calls on Office of National Capital Region Coordination to Support WMATA, D.C., and Region in Improving Emergency Response Procedures

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), ranking member of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee, yesterday questioned Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator W. Craig Fugate at hearing about the role of the Office of National Capital Region Coordination (NCRC), which is under the jurisdiction of FEMA, in emergency response coordination here in the wake of the January 12 incident at the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station.

Administrator Fugate acknowledged that the NCRC works with entities in the National Capital Region, and supports, trains, and organizes exercises for federal, state, local, or regional agencies apparently only on request. Fugate said that as of now FEMA and NCRC are not involved in the investigation into the January 12 incident. Norton believes NCRC should be involved since NCRC is a unique office she got established in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to help prevent and prepare for emergencies in the D.C. region. She will be writing to NCRC. Last week, Norton got National Transit Safety Board and Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) officials to brief regional House and Senate members about the recent Metro accident.

"The troubling issue about radio communications between first responders and WMATA officials strongly implicates NCRC," Norton said. "The failure is a strong signal that WMATA may not be prepared for terrorist threats, and NCRC is supposed to help address challenges related to emergency management planning and incident response coordination unique to our region."

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