DHS Completes National Infrastructure Protection Plan

July 13, 2006

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) completed the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP), a risk management framework that defines critical infrastructure protection roles and responsibilities for all levels of government, private industry, nongovernmental agencies and tribal partners.

The NIPP builds on the principles of the president's national strategy for homeland security and its companion strategies for the physical protection of critical infrastructure and key assets and the securing of cyberspace. It also fulfills requirements in Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 7 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

Achieving the NIPP goal requires actions to address objectives that include:

Understanding and sharing information about terrorist threats and other hazards.
Building security partnerships to share information and implement critical infrastructure (CI)/key resources (KR) protection programs.
Implementing a long-term risk management program.
Maximizing efficient use of resources for CI/KR protection.

The majority of the nation's critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private industry or state, tribal and local governments. The NIPP represents an initiative to build an overarching structure that integrates critical infrastructure security efforts, sets protection goals and supporting objectives and focuses resources according to risk.

HSPD 7 identified 17 critical infrastructure and key resource sectors that require protective actions for a terrorist attack or other hazards. Those sectors include:

Agriculture and food.
Energy.
Public health and healthcare.
Banking and finance.
Drinking waters and water treatment systems.
Information technology.
Telecommunications.
Postal and shipping.
Transportation systems including mass transit, aviation, maritime, ground or surface and rail and pipeline systems.
Chemical.
Commercial facilities.
Government facilities.
Emergency services.
Dams.
Nuclear reactors, materials and waste.
The defense industrial base.
National monuments and icons.

Sector-Specific Plans that complement the NIPP and detail the risk management framework will be released within 180 days. These plans will address unique characteristics and risk landscapes and they will be developed in collaboration with sector specific security partners.

DHS received about 10,000 comments during two rounds of NIPP public review. The department also collaborated with nearly 300 federal, state, local, tribal and private sector agencies and organizations to review and revise the NIPP as the document's policies and coordination procedures evolved. The National Infrastructure Protection Plan is available at www.dhs.gov/nipp.

"The NIPP is the path forward on building and enhancing protective measures for the critical infrastructure assets and cyber systems that sustain commerce and communities throughout the United States," said DHS Undersecretary for Preparedness George Foresman. "The NIPP formalizes and strengthens existing critical infrastructure partnerships and creates the baseline for how the public and private sectors will work together to build a safer, more secure and resilient America."

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).