Executive Order 12657

Federal Register / VoL 53, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 23,1988 / Presidential Documents

47513

Presidential Documents

Executive Order 12657 of November 18, 1988

Federal Emergency Management
Emergency Preparedness Planning
Power Plants

Agency Assistance in
at Commercial Nuclear

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the
United States of America, including the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as
amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2251 et seq.), the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
(42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958, Reorganization Plan
No. 1 of 1973, and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and in order
to ensure that plans and procedures are in place to respond to radiological
emergencies at commercial nuclear power plants in operation or under construction, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Scope, (a) This Order applies whenever State or local governments,
either individually or together, decline or fail to prepare commercial nuclear
power plant radiological emergency preparedness plans that are sufficient to
satisfy Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) licensing requirements or to
participate adequately in the preparation, demonstration, testing, exercise, or
use of such plans.
(b) In order to request the assistance of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (“FEMA”) provided for in this Order, an affected nuclear power plant
applicant or licensee (“licensee”) shall certify in writing to FEMA that the
situation described in Subsection (a) exists.
Sec. 2. Generally Applicable Principles and Directives, (a) Subject to the
principles articulated in this Section, the Director of FEMA is hereby authorized and directed to take the actions specified in Sections 3 through 6 of this
Order.
(b) In carrying out any of its responsibilities under this Order, FEMA:
(1) shall work actively with the licensee, and, before relying upon its resources
or those of any other Department or agency within the Executive branch, shall
make maximum feasible use of the licensee’s resources;
(2) shall take care not to supplant State and local resources. FEMA shall
substitute its own resources for those of the State and local governments only
to the extent necessary to compensate for the nonparticipation or inadequate
participation of those governments, and only as a last resort after appropriate
consultation with the Governors and responsible local officials in the affected
area regarding State and local participation;
(3) is authorized, to the extent permitted by law, to enter into interagency
Memoranda of Understanding providing for utilization of the resources of
other Executive branch Departments and agencies and for delegation to other
Executive branch Departments and agencies of any of the functions and duties
assigned to FEMA under this Order; however, any such Memorandum of
Understanding shall be subject to approval by the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget (“OMB”) and published in final form in the Federal
Register; and
(4) shall assume for purposes of Sections 3 and 4 of this Order that, in the
event of an actual radiological emergency or disaster, State and local authorities would contribute their full resources and exercise their authorities in

47514 Federal Register / Vol. 53» No. 226 / Wednesday, November 23, 1988 / Presidential Documents
accordance with their duties to protect the public from harm and would act
generally in conformity with the licensee’s radiological emergency preparedness plan.
(c) The Director of OMB shall resolve any issue concerning the obligation of
Federal funds arising from the implementation of this Order. In resolving
issues under this Subsection, the Director of OMB shall ensure:
(1) that FEMA has utilized to the maximum extent possible the resources of
the licensee and State and local governments before it relies upon its appropriated and lawfully available resources or those of any Department or agency
in the Executive branch;
(2) that FEMA shall use its existing resources to coordinate and manage,
rather than duplicate, other available resources;
(3) that implementation of this Order is accomplished with an economy of
resources; and
(4) that full reimbursement to the Federal Government is provided, to the
extent permitted by law.
Sec. 3. FEMA Participation in Em ergency Preparedness Planning, (a) FEMA
assistance in emergency preparedness planning shall include advice, technical
assistance, and arrangements for facilities and resources as needed to satisfy
the emergency planning requirements under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended, and any other Federal legislation or regulations pertaining to issuance or retention of a construction permit or an operating license for a nuclear
power plant.
(b) FEMA shall make all necessary plans and arrangements to ensure that the
Federal Government is prepared to assume any and all functions and undertakings necessary to provide adequate protection to the public in cases within
the scope of this Order. In making such plans and arrangements,
(1) FEMA shall focus planning of Federal response activities to ensure that:
(A) adequate resources and arrangements will exist, as of the time when an
initial response is needed, given the absence or inadequacy of advance State
and local commitments; and
(B) attention has been given to coordinating (including turning over) response
functions when State and local governments do exercise their authority, with
specific attention to the areas where prior State and local participation has
been insufficient or absent;
(2) FEMA’s planning for Federal participation in responding to a radiological
emergency within the scope of this Order shall include, but not be limited to,
arrangements for using existing Federal resources to provide prompt notification of the emergency to the general public; to assist in any necessary
evacuation; to provide reception centers or shelters and related facilities and
services for evacuees; to provide emergency medical services at Federal
hospitals, including those operated by the military services and by the Veterans’ Administration; and to ensure the creation and maintenance of channels
of communication from commercial nuclear power plant licensees or applicants to State and local governments and to surrounding members of the
public.
Sec. 4. E valuation o f Plans, (a) FEMA shall consider and evaluate all plans
developed under the authority of this Order as though drafted and submitted
by a State or local government
(b) FEMA shall take all actions necessary to carry out the evaluation referred
to in the preceding Subsection and to permit the NRC to conduct its evaluation
of radiological emergency preparedness plans including, but not limited to,
planning, participating in, and evaluating exercises, drills, and tests, on a
timely basis, as necessary to satisfy NRC requirements for demonstrations of
off-site radiological emergency preparedness.

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Sec. 5. Response to a Radiological Emergency, (a) In the event of an actual
radiological emergency or disaster, FEMA shall take all steps necessary to
ensure the implementation of the plans developed under this Order and shall
coordinate the actions of other Federal agencies to achieve the maximum
effectiveness of Federal efforts in responding to the emergency.
(b) FEMA shall coordinate Federal response activities to ensure that adequate
resources are directed, when an initial response is needed, to activities
hindered by the absence or inadequacy of advance State and local commitments. FEMA shall also coordinate with State and local governmental authorities and turn over response functions as appropriate when State and local
governments do exercise their authority.
(c) FEMA shall assume any necessary command-and-control function, or
delegate such function to another Federal agency, in the event that no
competent State and local authority is available to perform such function.
(d) In any instance in which Federal personnel may be called upon to fill a
command-and-control function during a radiological emergency, in addition to
any other powers it may have, FEMA or its designee is authorized to accept
volunteer assistance from utility employees and other nongovernmental personnel for any purpose necessary to implement the emergency response plan
and facilitate off-site emergency response.
Sec. 6. Implementation o f Order, (a) FEMA shall issue interim and final
directives and procedures implementing this Order as expeditiously as is
feasible and in any event shall issue interim directives and procedures not
more than 90 days following the effective date of this Order and shall issue
final directives and procedures not more than 180 days following the effective
date of this Order.
(b) Immediately upon the effective date of this Order, FEMA shall review, and
initiate necessary revisions of, all FEMA regulations, directives, and guidance
to conform them to the terms and policies of this Order.
(c) Immediately upon the effective date of this Order, FEMA shall review, and
initiate necessary renegotiations of, all interagency agreements to which
FEMA is a party, so as to conform them to the terms and policies of this Order.
This directive shall include, but not be limited to, the Federal Radiological
Emergency Response Plan (50 Fed. Reg. 46542 (November 8,1985)).
(d) To the extent permitted by law, FEMA is directed to obtain full reimbursement, either jointly or severally, for services performed by FEMA or other
Federal agencies pursuant to this Order from any affected licensee and from
any affected nonparticipating or inadequately participating State or local
government.
Sec. 7. Amendments. This Executive Order amends Executive Order Nos.
11490 (34 Fed. Reg. 17567 (October 28,1969)), 12148 (44 Fed. Reg. 43239 (July 20,
1979)), and 12241 (45 Fed. Reg. 64879 (September 29, 1980)), and the same are
hereby superseded to the extent that they are inconsistent with this Order.

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Sec. 8. Judicial Review . This Order is intended only to improve the internal
management of the Executive branch, and is not intended to create any right
or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the
United States, its agencies, its officers, or any person.
Sec. 9. E ffective Date. This Order shall be effective November 18, 1988,

[FR Doc. 88-27195
Filed 11 -2 1-8 8; 1:09 pmj
Billing code 319 5 -0 1-M

THE WHITE HOUSE,
N ovem ber 18, 1988.