FEMA‘s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a Nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. Access to the Agency’s policy and doctrinal materials allows the whole community to maintain a greater working knowledge of the Agency’s processes and enhances the Nation’s level of resilience and preparedness.
This page and the Agency’s document library provide centralized access to FEMA’s policy and doctrine. FEMA policies are external, authoritative statements that articulate the Agency’s intent and direction to guide decision-making and achieve rational outcomes for our activities. FEMA doctrine make authoritative statements of fundamental or guiding principles of the Agency.
Doctrinal and strategic products that guide FEMA include the following:
- Federal emergency Management Agency Publication 1
- A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management: Principles, Themes, and Pathways for Action
- FEMA Incident Management and Support Keystone
- National Incident Management System
- National Preparedness Goal
- Administrators Intent Memo FY 12 16
- FEMA Strategic Plan 2011-2014
- Crisis Response and Disaster Resilience 2030: Forging Strategic Action in an Age of Uncertainty
- National Response Framework
- National Disaster Recovery Framework
- National Disaster Housing Strategy
This page includes current significant and economically significant guidance documents, as required by the Office of Management and Budget’s Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices. FEMA’s policy and doctrine is sorted by topic areas as the described below. If you are interested in grant opportunities with FEMA, please visit www.grants.gov. If you cannot find the document you are looking for, please go to FEMA’s document library and enter the key search terms and choose “policy” and/or “doctrine” from the subject field.
Insurance & Mitigation
The Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and a range of mitigation programs designed to reduce future losses from natural disasters. Within FIMA, FEMA maintains an Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP) effort that integrates the stewardship of environmental, historic, and cultural resources into FEMA's activities and ensures that agency actions and programs comply with federal EHP laws and executive orders.
Protection & Preparedness
Protection and National Preparedness (PNP) coordinates preparedness and protection related activities throughout FEMA, including grants, planning, training, exercises, individual and community preparedness, assessments, lessons learned, continuity, and national capital region coordination.
Response & Recovery
The Response Directorate coordinates federal operational and logistical disaster response capabilities needed to save and sustain lives, minimize suffering, and protect property in a timely and effective manner in communities that become overwhelmed by disasters.
The Recovery Directorate supports individuals and communities affected by disasters in their efforts to recover. Individual and Public Assistance programs as well as Long Term Community Recovery efforts assist individuals and communities in FEMA’s collective effort to prepare for, respond to, and recover from all hazards.
U.S. Fire Administration
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) provides national leadership for our fire and emergency services stakeholders by providing training programs for managing the national fire data center; and conducting research efforts in fire detection, prevention, suppression, and first responder health, safety and effectiveness.
Submitting Comments on Significant Guidance
At any time, if you would like to request that FEMA issue, reconsider, modify, reclassify, or rescind a significant guidance document please submit the request to FEMA-POLICY@dhs.gov.
If you cannot find the document you are looking for, please go to FEMA’s document library and enter the key search terms and choose “policy” and/or “doctrine” from the subject field.
You may submit comments on FEMA’s significant and economically significant guidance documents using www.regulations.gov. All comments submitted are publicly available. You may wish to read the Privacy Notice available bottom navigation bar of www.regulations.gov. All comments received and any supplementary information including FEMA’s response to comments for economically significant guidance documents is available on that site under the document’s assigned Docket ID.
Document Accessibility
FEMA is committed to meeting the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, ensuring that all print AND electronic information is accessible to people with disabilities. While reviewing FEMA’s policy documents online, if you require access to a document that is not accessible, please email us at FEMA-New-Media@DHS.gov and we will provide the document in an alternate format.