Title 6Domestic SecurityRelease 119-73

§748 Training and exercises

Title 6 › Chapter CHAPTER 2— - NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - COMPREHENSIVE PREPAREDNESS SYSTEM › Part Part A— - National Preparedness System › § 748

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Starting within 180 days after October 4, 2006, the Administrator, working with the heads of the right federal agencies, the National Council on Disability, and the National Advisory Council, must run a national training program. The training must put into practice the national preparedness goal, the National Incident Management System, the National Response Plan, and related plans. It must use government training centers, academic institutions, private groups, community colleges, public safety academies, and universities as appropriate. Also starting within 180 days after October 4, 2006, the Administrator with the same partners must run a national exercise program to test and evaluate those goals and systems. The exercises must be as realistic as possible based on current risks (including new threats), stress the preparedness system, can simulate partial or total government failure, give little notice when appropriate, evaluate readiness and incident command and mutual aid, address people with special needs (including the elderly), and produce quick after-action reports to fix problems. The program must provide model exercises that states, local, and tribal governments can adapt and must help them design, run, and evaluate exercises that match these rules and their local plans. The Administrator must run national exercises at least every two years to test prevention and detection of terrorist acts (especially involving weapons of mass destruction) and to test coordinated response and recovery to catastrophic incidents.

Full Legal Text

Title 6, §748

Domestic Security — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)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.
(2)In developing and implementing the national training program, the Administrator shall—
(A)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
(B)utilize, as appropriate, training courses provided by community colleges, State and local public safety academies, State and private universities, and other facilities.
(b)(1)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.
(2)The national exercise program—
(A)shall be—
(i)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;
(ii)designed, as practicable, to simulate the partial or complete incapacitation of a State, local, or tribal government;
(iii)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;
(iv)designed to provide for the systematic evaluation of readiness and enhance operational understanding of the incident command system and relevant mutual aid agreements;
(v)designed to address the unique requirements of populations with special needs, including the elderly; and
(vi)designed to promptly develop after-action reports and plans for quickly incorporating lessons learned into future operations; and
(B)shall include a selection of model exercises that State, local, and tribal governments can readily adapt for use and provide assistance to State, local, and tribal governments with the design, implementation, and evaluation of exercises (whether a model exercise program or an exercise designed locally) that—
(i)conform to the requirements under subparagraph (A);
(ii)are consistent with any applicable State, local, or tribal strategy or plan; and
(iii)provide for systematic evaluation of readiness.
(3)The Administrator shall periodically, but not less than biennially, perform national exercises for the following purposes:
(A)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.
(B)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.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2019—Subsec. (b)(2)(A)(i). Pub. L. 116–64 inserted “and emerging” after “credible”. 2007—Subsec. (b)(2)(A)(iv) to (vi). Pub. L. 110–53, § 402, added cls. (iv) to (vi) and struck out former cls. (iv) and (v) which read as follows: “(iv) designed to provide for systematic evaluation of readiness; and “(v) designed to address the unique requirements of populations with special needs; and”. Subsec. (b)(2)(B). Pub. L. 110–53, § 403, in introductory provisions, substituted “shall include a selection of model exercises that State, local, and tribal governments can readily adapt for use and provide assistance to State, local, and tribal governments with the design, implementation, and evaluation of exercises (whether a model exercise program or an exercise designed locally)” for “shall provide assistance to State, local, and tribal governments with the design, implementation, and evaluation of exercises”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

6 U.S.C. § 748

Title 6Domestic Security

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73