6 U.S.C. § 748: Training and exercises

Beginning not later than 180 days after October 4, 2006 , the Administrator, in coordination with the heads of appropriate Federal agencies, the National Council on Disability, and the National Advisory Council, shall carry out a national training program to implement the national preparedness goal, National Incident Management System, National Response Plan, and other related plans and strategies. work with government training facilities, academic institutions, private organizations, and other entities that provide specialized, state-of-the-art training for emergency managers or emergency response providers; and utilize, as appropriate, training courses provided by community colleges, State and local public safety academies, State and private universities, and other facilities. Beginning not later than 180 days after October 4, 2006 , the Administrator, in coordination with the heads of appropriate Federal agencies, the National Council on Disability, and the National Advisory Council, shall carry out a national exercise program to test and evaluate the national preparedness goal, National Incident Management System, National Response Plan, and other related plans and strategies. as realistic as practicable, based on current risk assessments, including credible and emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences, and designed to stress the national preparedness system; designed, as practicable, to simulate the partial or complete incapacitation of a State, local, or tribal government; carried out, as appropriate, with a minimum degree of notice to involved parties regarding the timing and details of such exercises, consistent with safety considerations; designed to provide for the systematic evaluation of readiness and enhance operational understanding of the incident command system and relevant mutual aid agreements; designed to address the unique requirements of populations with special needs, including the elderly; and designed to promptly develop after-action reports and plans for quickly incorporating lessons learned into future operations; and conform to the requirements under subparagraph (A); are consistent with any applicable State, local, or tribal strategy or plan; and provide for systematic evaluation of readiness. To test and evaluate the capability of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments to detect, disrupt, and prevent threatened or actual catastrophic acts of terrorism, especially those involving weapons of mass destruction. To test and evaluate the readiness of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments to respond and recover in a coordinated and unified manner to catastrophic incidents.