The TAC-G is led and managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Emergency Management (BIA EM) Program to provide an environment where all appropriate federal department and agencies can fulfill their respective trust responsibilities.
The TAC-G hosts monthly information conference calls the first Thursday of each month at 1:00pm EST with the exception of holidays and/or ongoing real-world incidents. The calls have a pre-determined agenda but also leaves time for participants to share key information. It also conducts an annual workshop that provides a highly collaborative learning environment with no cost for attendance (travel costs are the participants responsibility).
To request a meeting invitation or would like more information, please contact tacginfo@bia.gov.
Programs That Offer Assistance
There are numerous federal, state, and county resources that have federal trust responsibilities to support Tribes when emergencies occur. The following entities are frequently requested resources.
Available Assistance
As a coordinating body, the TAC-G reaches out to all appropriate partners for available capabilities for unmet needs that can be provided under a variety of authorities. The TAC-G attempts to locate the geographically closest capabilities and also understands and respects the uniqueness and sovereignty of Tribal Governments.
A Rapid Needs Assessment Team (RNAT) can be requested from the TAC-G to help specifically identify unmet needs and what capabilities are required for the necessary assistance. This can be a single person or small team of three to five subject matter experts to evaluate the entire incident including public health, engineering, environmental natural cultural and historic assessments, or other Tribal emergency needs.
The TAC-G uses a capability-based request for assistance whenever possible. As an example, instead of requesting a specific piece of equipment such as a bulldozer or grader, the request would be to repair 200 feet of a gravel road, acting as a dam. This allows individual partners and agencies to survey their capabilities which may meet the need with different equipment more expeditiously. In extreme situations, the assigned RNAT can assist with the formulation of the emergency capabilities request.
Assistance that has been provided previously includes:
- Emergency communications
- Backup power
- Sheltering assistance and/or equipment
- Feeding and water
- Sandbags
- Law enforcement support (The uniqueness of jurisdictions for Federally Recognized Tribes and Legislation such as Public Law 280 can greatly complicate delivery of this capability)
- Natural, cultural and historic assessments
- Heating fuel
- Public health and medical support
- Planning assistance
- Incident Management assistance
Request TAC-G Assistance
The TAC-G does not operate under a specific authority and therefore does not use a formal process to make requests for support; however, should a Tribe need assistance, an initial request can be sent from the Tribal emergency manager or other designated public safety official (police, fire, EMS, public works, etc.) via phone or email.
OEM will then host a brief scoping call to determine the current situation and unmet needs.
A written request (email, etc.) from Tribal leadership providing a brief overview of the situation and describes the request discussed on the scoping call is then provided to the TAG-C which will then begin to coordinate assistance.
The TAC-G 24/7 emergency contact numbers are 202-297-9817 or 202-577-5918
Additional Information
Additional Resources
Contact Us
Stewart Lee Udall Department of Interior Building
1849 C Street, NW, Suite #4624
Washington, DC 20240
