OPA

Crowne Plaza Hotel & Resort, located at 4300 E Washington Street, Phoenix Arizona 85034

ROOM RESERVATIONS:

• Each individual is responsible for making their own guestroom reservation.
• A block of rooms is reserved for 75 attendees.
• All reservations must be guaranteed and accompanied by a first nights, non-refundable room deposit with a major credit card.
• When making reservations, individuals must identify themselves as a member of the Tribal Assistance Coordination Group to receive the group rate.

Reserve your Room:

Call the Resort directly at (602) 273-7778 , or reserve online through the Crowne Plaza Hotel & Resort Room Reservations

There is no cost to register; however, tickets are required to reserve your seat.

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.

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

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

Membership of the Council consists of the following positions:

• Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs
• Deputy Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (Management)
• Chief Financial Officer
• Associate Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology
• Director, Office of Human Capital Management
• Director, Office of Budget and Performance Management
• Director, Office of Facilities, Property and Safety Management
• Director, Office of Public Affairs
• Public Affairs Specialist, Emergency Management
• Director, Bureau of Trust Fund Administration
• Principal Deputy Bureau Director, Trust Operations
• Deputy Bureau Director, Trust Operations – Field
• Deputy Bureau Director, Trust Operations – Accounting
• Deputy Bureau Director, Trust Operations – Settlement Support
• Associate Chief Information Officer
• AS-IA Chief of Staff
• Director, Bureau of Indian Education
• Deputy Director – School Operations
• Chief of Staff
• Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Deputy Bureau Director – Field Operations
• Deputy Bureau Director – Office of Justice Services
• Deputy Bureau Director – Office of Trust Services
• Deputy Bureau Director – Office of Indian Services
• Emergency Management Director – Office of the Director
• Branch Chief, Branch of Wildland Fire Management

The Council:

• Provides executive direction and oversight of IA mission activities at the national level.
• Serves as a mechanism for coordination of activities with the National Response Framework (NRF) and associated Emergency Support Functions, when activated by the White House.
• Coordinates timely and effective communications with Bureau, Departmental, and other agencies that are involved in emergency response.
• Facilitates documentation and justification of IA expenses requested through the federal appropriations process, when necessary.
• Discusses, vet, and develop policies related to mission response to emergency events.
• Provides timely access to IA leadership and a single decision authority, when needed.
• Provides oversight and guidance for IA continuity of operations and emergency management functions and their interaction with the Department of the Interior and other federal entities.
• Develops centralized resources to aid emergency and continuity of operations planning.

Chair Responsibilities

The IAEMC is chaired by the Director, Office of Emergency Management (OEM). The Chair is responsible for:

• Providing leadership, direction, and guidance.
• Calling meetings of the IAEMC.
• Fostering a positive environment where ideas can be shared openly to achieve consensus.
• Ensuring decisions are made and recommendations finalized efficiently among IAEMC members.
• Coordinating the IAEMC agenda to reflect input from IAEMC members.

Member Responsibilities

All members identified including the Chair, perform the following roles:

• Personally attend meetings of the IAEMC.
• Participate in all functions and activities of the IAEMC, including providing bureau and office positions and recommendations on Emergency Management Program matters that come before the IAEMC.
• Ensure decisions are consistent with federal law and regulations, DOI strategic plans, policies, guidelines.
• Establish goals and objectives to drive decision making related to the IAEMC.
• Consulting with the Office of the Solicitor, when necessary and appropriate.

The IAEMC is chaired by the Director, Office of Emergency Management (OEM) who is responsible for:

• Providing leadership, direction, and guidance.
• Calling meetings of the IAEMC.
• Fostering a positive environment where ideas can be shared openly to achieve consensus.
• Ensuring decisions are made and recommendations finalized efficiently among IAEMC members.
• Coordinating the IAEMC agenda to reflect input from IAEMC members.

The IAEMC Chair will use the following principles in guiding IAEMC decision making:

• Consensus, an agreement shared by all the people in a group, will be sought on issues brought to the IAEMC for decision.
• Ensuring that proper documentation of decision, including the associated rationale.
• If consensus cannot be obtained on an issue, the IAEMC Chair will send the matter to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, who will coordinate and elevate as necessary for resolution.

Administration

The IAEMC will convene on a quarterly basis to discuss general business and resolve issues. The IAEMC may convene for special topic meetings during incidents, to discuss other time sensitive issues, or as otherwise requested by the Director, OEM.

If further exploration of an issue is required, IAEMC will provide the tasking to OEM for development of a recommendation, product, or solution.