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Executive
Order 12472 - Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness
Telecommunications Functions
April 3, 1984 (amended by E.O.
13286 of February 28, 2003 and changes made by E.O. 13407 June
26, 2006)
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 151), the
National Security Act of 1947, as amended, the Defense Production
Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2061), the Federal Civil
Defense Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2251), the Disaster
Relief Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5121), Section 5 of Reorganization
Plan No. 1 of 1977 (3 C.F.R. 197, 1978 Comp.), and Section 203 of
Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 (3 C.F.R. 389, 1978 Comp.), and
in order to provide for the consolidation of assignment and responsibility
for improved execution of national security and emergency preparedness
telecommunications functions, it is hereby ordered as follows
Section 1. The National Communications System.
(a) There is hereby established the National Communications
System (NCS). The NCS shall consist of the telecommunications assets
of the entities represented on the NCS Committee of Principals and
an administrative structure consisting of the Executive Agent, the
NCS Committee of Principals and the Manager. The NCS Committee of
Principals shall consist of representatives from those Federal departments,
agencies or entities, designated by the President, which lease or
own telecommunications facilities or services of significance to
national security or emergency preparedness, and, to the extent
permitted by law, other Executive entities which bear policy, regulatory
or enforcement responsibilities of importance to national security
or emergency preparedness telecommunications capabilities.
(b) The mission of the NCS shall be to assist
the President, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security
Council, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in:
- the exercise of the telecommunications functions
and responsibilities set forth in Section 2 of this Order; and
- the coordination of the planning for and provision
of national security and emergency preparedness communications
for the Federal government under all circumstances, including
crisis or emergency, attack, recovery and reconstitution
(c) The NCS shall seek to ensure that a national telecommunications
infrastructure is developed which:
- Is responsive to the national security and emergency
preparedness needs of the President and the Federal departments,
agencies and other entities, including telecommunications in support
of national security leadership and continuity of government;
- Is capable of satisfying priority telecommunications
requirements under all circumstances through use of commercial,
government and privately owned telecommunications resources;
- Incorporates the necessary combination of hardness,
redundancy, mobility, connectivity, interoperability, restorability
and security to obtain, to the maximum extent practicable, the
survivability of national security and emergency preparedness
telecommunications in all circumstances, including conditions
of crisis or emergency; and
- Is consistent, to the maximum extent practicable,
with other national telecommunications policies.
(d) To assist in accomplishing its mission, the NCS
shall:
- serve as a focal point for joint industry-government
national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications
planning; and
- establish a joint industry-government National
Coordinating Center which is capable of assisting in the initiation,
coordination, restoration and reconstitution of national security
or emergency preparedness telecommunications services or facilities
under all conditions of crisis or emergency.
(e) The Secretary of Homeland Security is designated
as the Executive Agent for the NCS. The Executive Agent shall:
- Designate the Manager of the NCS;
- Ensure that the NCS conducts unified planning and
operations, in order to coordinate the development and maintenance
of an effective and responsive capability for meeting the domestic
and international national security and emergency preparedness
telecommunications needs of the Federal government;
- Ensure that the activities of the NCS are conducted
in conjunction with the emergency management activities of the
Department of Homeland Security;
- Recommend, in consultation with the NCS Committee
of Principals, to the National Security Council, the Homeland
Security Council, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy, or the Director of the Office of Management and Budget,
as appropriate:
a. The assignment of implementation or other responsibilities
to NCS member entities;
b. New initiatives to assist in the exercise of the functions
specified in Section 2; and
c. Changes in the composition or structure of the NCS;
- Oversee the activities of and provide personnel
and administrative support to the Manager of the NCS;
- Provide staff support and technical assistance
to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee
established by Executive Order No. 12382, as amended; and
- Perform such other duties as are from time to time
assigned by the President or his authorized designee.
(f) The NCS Committee of Principals shall:
- Serve as the forum in which each member
of the Committee may review, evaluate, and present views, information
and recommendations concerning ongoing or prospective national
security or emergency preparedness telecommunications programs
or activities of the NCS and the entities represented on the Committee;
- Serve as the forum in which each member of the
Committee shall report on and explain ongoing or prospective telecommunications
plans and programs developed or designed to achieve national security
or emergency preparedness telecommunications objectives;
- Provide comments or recommendations, as appropriate,
to the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council,
the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Executive
Agent, or the Manager of the NCS, regarding ongoing or prospective
activities of the NCS; and
- Perform such other duties as are from time to
time assigned by the President or his authorized designee.
(g) The Manager of the NCS shall:
- Develop for consideration by the NCS Committee
of Principals and the Executive Agent:
a. A recommended evolutionary telecommunications
architecture designed to meet current and future Federal government
national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications
requirements;
b. Plans and procedures for the management, allocation and
use, including the establishment of priorities or preferences,
of Federally owned or leased telecommunications assets under
all conditions of crisis or emergency;
c. Plans, procedures and standards for minimizing or removing
technical impediments to the interoperability of government-owned
and/or commercially-provided telecommunications systems;
d. Test and exercise programs and procedures for the evaluation
of the capability of the Nation's telecommunications resources
to meet national security or emergency preparedness telecommunications
requirements; and
e. Alternative mechanisms for funding, through the budget
review process, national security or emergency preparedness
telecommunications initiatives which benefit multiple Federal
departments, agencies, or entities. Those mechanisms recommended
by the NCS Committee of Principals and the Executive Agent
shall be submitted to the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget.
- Implement and administer any approved plans or
programs as assigned, including any system of priorities and preferences
for the provision of communications service, in consultation with
the NCS Committee of Principals and the Federal Communications
Commission, to the extent practicable or otherwise required by
law or regulation;
- Chair the NCS Committee of Principals and provide
staff support and technical assistance thereto;
- Serve as a focal point for joint industry-government
planning, including the dissemination of technical information,
concerning the national security or emergency preparedness telecommunications
requirements of the Federal government;
- Conduct technical studies or analyses, and examine
research and development programs, for the purpose of identifying,
for consideration by the NCS Committee of Principals and the Executive
Agent, improved approaches which may assist Federal entities in
fulfilling national security or emergency preparedness telecommunications
objectives;
- Pursuant to the Federal Standardization Program
of the General Services Administration, and in consultation with
other appropriate entities of the Federal government including
the NCS Committee of Principals, manage the Federal Telecommunications
Standards Program, ensuring wherever feasible that existing or
evolving industry, national, and international standards are used
as the basis for Federal telecommunications standards; and
- Provide such reports and perform such other duties
as are from time to time assigned by the President or his authorized
designee, the Executive Agent, or the NCS Committee of Principals.
Any such assignments of responsibility to, or reports made by,
the Manager shall be transmitted through the Executive Agent.
Sec. 2. Executive Office Responsibilities.
(a) Wartime Emergency Functions.
- The National Security Council shall provide policy
direction for the exercise of the war power functions of the President
under Section 606 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended
(47 U.S.C. 606), should the President issue implementing instructions
in accordance with the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601).
- The Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy shall direct the exercise of the war power functions of
the President under Section 606 (a), (c) - (e), of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 606), should the President
issue implementing instructions in accordance with the National
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601).
(b) Non-Wartime Emergency Functions.
- The National Security Council, in consultation
with the Homeland Security Council, shall:
a. Advise and assist the President in coordinating
the development of policy, plans, programs and standards within
the Federal government for the identification, allocation,
and use of the Nation's telecommunications resources by the
Federal government, and by State and local governments, private
industry and volunteer organizations upon request, to the
extent practicable and otherwise consistent with law, during
those crises or emergencies in which the exercise of the President's
war power functions is not required or permitted by law; and
b. Provide policy direction for the exercise of the President's
non-wartime emergency telecommunications functions, should
the President so instruct.
- The Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy shall provide information, advice, guidance and assistance,
as appropriate, to the President and to those Federal departments
and agencies with responsibilities for the provision, management,
or allocation of telecommunications resources, during those crises
or emergencies in which the exercise of the President's war power
functions is not required or permitted by law;
- The Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy shall establish a Joint Telecommunications Resources Board
(JTRB) to assist him in the exercise of the functions specified
in this subsection. The Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy shall serve as chairman of the JTRB; select
those Federal departments, agencies, or entities which shall be
members of the JTRB; and specify the functions it shall perform.
(c) Planning and Oversight Responsibilities.
- The National Security Council shall advise and
assist the President in:
a. Coordinating the development of policy,
plans programs and standards for the mobilization and use
of the Nation's commercial, government, and privately owned
telecommunications resources, in order to meet national security
or emergency preparedness requirements;
b. Providing policy oversight and direction of the activities
of the NCS; and
c. Providing policy oversight and guidance for the execution
of the responsibilities assigned to the Federal departments
and agencies by this Order.
- The Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy shall make recommendations to the President with respect
to the test, exercise and evaluation of the capability of existing
and planned communications systems, networks or facilities to
meet national security or emergency preparedness requirements
and report the results of any such tests or evaluations and any
recommended remedial actions to the President and to the National
Security Council;
- The Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy or his designee shall advise and assist the President in
the administration of a system of radio spectrum priorities for
those spectrum dependent telecommunications resources of the Federal
government which support national security or emergency preparedness
functions. The Director also shall certify or approve priorities
for radio spectrum use by the Federal government, including the
resolution of any conflicts in or among priorities, under all
conditions of crisis or emergency; and
- The National Security Council, the Homeland Security
Council, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall, in consultation with the Executive Agent for the NCS and
the NCS Committee of Principals, determine what constitutes national
security and emergency preparedness telecommunications requirements.
(d) Consultation with Federal Departments and Agencies.
In performing the functions assigned under this Order, the National
Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Director
of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, in consultation
with each other, shall:
- Consult, as appropriate, with the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget; the Secretary of Homeland Security
with respect to the emergency management responsibilities assigned
pursuant to Executive Order No. 12148, as amended; the Secretary
of Commerce, with respect to responsibilities assigned pursuant
to Executive Order No. 12046; the Secretary of Defense, with respect
to communications security responsibilities assigned pursuant
to Executive Order No. 12333; and the Chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission or his authorized designee; and
- Establish arrangements for consultation among all
interested Federal departments, agencies or entities to ensure
that the national security and emergency preparedness communications
needs of all Federal government entities are identified; that
mechanisms to address such needs are incorporated into pertinent
plans and procedures; and that such needs are met in a manner
consistent, to the maximum extent practicable, with other national
telecommunications policies.
(e) Budgetary Guidelines. The Director of the Office
of Management and Budget, in consultation with the National Security
Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the NCS, will prescribe
general guidelines and procedures for reviewing the financing of
the NCS within the budgetary process and for preparation of budget
estimates by participating agencies. These guidelines and procedures
may provide for mechanisms for funding, through the budget review
process, national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications
initiatives which benefit multiple Federal departments, agencies,
or entities.
Sec. 3. Assignment of Responsibilities To Other
Departments and Agencies. In order to support and enhance the capability
to satisfy the national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications
needs of the Federal government, State and local governments, private
industry and volunteer organizations, under all circumstances including
those of crisis or emergency, the Federal departments and agencies
shall perform the following functions:
(a) Department of Commerce. The Secretary of Commerce
shall, for all conditions of crisis or emergency:
- Develop plans and procedures concerning radio
spectrum assignments, priorities and allocations for use by Federal
departments, agencies and entities; and
- Develop, maintain and publish policy, plans, and
procedures for the control and allocation of frequency assignments,
including the authority to amend, modify or revoke such assignments,
in those parts of the electromagnetic spectrum assigned to the
Federal government.
(b) Department of Homeland Security. The Secretary
of Homeland Security shall:
- Plan for and provide, operate and maintain telecommunications
services and facilities, as part of its National Emergency Management
System, adequate to support its assigned emergency management
responsibilities;
- Advise and assist State and local governments
and volunteer organizations, upon request and to the extent consistent
with law, in developing plans and procedures for identifying and
satisfying their national security or emergency preparedness telecommunications
requirements;
- Ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that
national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications
planning by State and local governments and volunteer organizations
is mutually supportive and consistent with the planning of the
Federal government; and
- Develop, upon request and to the extent consistent
with law and in consonance with regulations promulgated by and
agreements with the Federal Communications Commission, plans and
capabilities for, and provide policy and management oversight
of, the *Emergency Alert System, and advise and assist private
radio licensees of the Commission in developing emergency communications
plans, procedures and capabilities.
(* - Changed by Executive Order dated June 26, 2006 from Emergency
Broadcast System to Emergency Alert System. )
(c) Department of State. The Secretary of State, in
accordance with assigned responsibilities within the Diplomatic
Telecommunications System, shall plan for and provide, operate and
maintain rapid, reliable and secure telecommunications services
to those Federal entities represented at United States diplomatic
missions and consular offices overseas. This responsibility shall
include the provisions and operation of domestic telecommunications
in support of assigned national security or emergency preparedness
responsibilities.
(d) Department of Defense. In addition to the other
responsibilities assigned by this Order, the Secretary of Defense
shall:
- Plan for and provide, operate and maintain telecommunications
services and facilities adequate to support the National Command
Authorities and to execute the responsibilities assigned by Executive
Order No. 12333; and
- Ensure that the Director of the National Security
Agency provides the technical support necessary to develop and
maintain plans adequate to provide for the security and protection
of national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications.
- Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair
or otherwise affect the authority of the Secretary of Defense
with respect to the Department of Defense, including the chain
of command for the armed forces of the United States under section
162(b) of title 10, United States Code, and the authority of the
Secretary of Defense with respect to the Department of Defense
under section 113(b) of that title.
(e) Department of Justice. The Attorney General shall,
as necessary, review for legal sufficiency, including consistency
with the antitrust laws, all policies, plans or procedures developed
pursuant to responsibilities assigned by this Order.
(f) Central Intelligence Agency. The Director of Central
Intelligence shall plan for and provide, operate, and maintain telecommunications
services adequate to support its assigned responsibilities, including
the dissemination of intelligence within the Federal government.
(g) General Services Administration. Except as otherwise
assigned by this Order, the Administrator of General Services, consistent
with policy guidance provided by the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget, shall ensure that Federally owned or managed domestic
communications facilities and services meet the national security
and emergency preparedness requirements of the Federal civilian
departments, agencies and entities.
(h) Federal Communications Commission. The Federal
Communications Commission shall, consistent with Section 4(c) of
this Order:
- Review the policies, plans and procedures of all
entities licensed or regulated by the Commission that are developed
to provide national security or emergency preparedness communications
services, in order to ensure that such policies, plans and procedures
are consistent with the public interest, convenience and necessity;
- Perform such functions as required by law with
respect to all entities licensed or regulated by the Commission,
including (but not limited to) the extension, discontinuance or
reduction of common carrier facilities or services; the control
of common carrier rates, charges, practices and classifications;
the construction, authorization, activation, deactivation or closing
of radio stations, services and facilities; the assignment of
radio frequencies to Commission licensees; the investigation of
violations of pertinent law and regulation; and the initiation
of appropriate enforcement actions;
- Develop policy, plans and procedures adequate
to execute the responsibilities assigned in this Order under all
conditions or crisis or emergency; and
- Consult as appropriate with the Executive Agent
for the NCS and the NCS Committee of Principals to ensure continued
coordination of their respective national security and emergency
preparedness activities.
(i) All Federal departments and agencies, to the extent
consistent with law (including those authorities and responsibilities
set forth in Section 4(c) of this Order), shall:
- Determine their national security and emergency
preparedness telecommunications requirements, and provide information
regarding such requirements to the Manager of the NCS;
- Prepare policies, plans and procedures concerning
telecommunications facilities, services or equipment under their
management or operational control to maximize their capability
of responding to the national security or emergency preparedness
needs of the Federal government;
- Provide, after consultation with the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget, resources to support their
respective requirements for national security and emergency preparedness
telecommunications; and provide personnel and staff support to
the Manager of the NCS as required by the President;
- Make information available to, and consult with,
the Manager of the NCS regarding agency telecommunications activities
in support of national security or emergency preparedness;
- Consult, consistent with the provisions of Executive
Order No. 12046, as amended, and in conjunction with the Manager
of the NCS, with the Federal Communications Commission regarding
execution of responsibilities assigned by this Order;
- Submit reports annually, or as otherwise requested,
to the Manager of the NCS, regarding agency national security
or emergency preparedness telecommunications activities; and
- Cooperate with and assist the Executive Agent for
the NCS, the NCS Committee of Principals, the Manager of the NCS,
and other departments and agencies in the execution of the functions
set forth in this Order, furnishing them such information, support
and assistance as may be required.
(j) Each Federal department or agency shall execute
the responsibilities assigned by this Order in conjunction with
the emergency management activities of the Department of Homeland
Security, and in regular consultation with the Executive Agent for
the NCS and the NCS Committee of Principals to ensure continued
coordination of NCS and individual agency telecommunications activities.
Sec. 4. General Provisions.
(a) All Executive departments and agencies may issue
such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the
functions assigned under this Order.
(b) In order to reflect the assignments of responsibility
provided by this Order,
- Sections 2 - 414, 4 - 102, 4 - 103, 4 - 202, 4
- 302, 5 - 3, and 6 - 101 of Executive Order No. 12046, as amended,
are revoked;
- The Presidential Memorandum of August 21, 1963,
as amended, entitled ``Establishment of the National Communications
System'', is hereby superseded; and
- Section 2 - 411 of Executive Order No. 12046, as
amended, is further amended by deleting the period and inserting
“, except as otherwise provided by Executive Order No. ''
and inserting the number assigned to this Order.
(c) Nothing in this Order shall be deemed to affect
the authorities or responsibilities of the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget, or any office or official thereof; or
reassign any function assigned any agency under the Federal Property
and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended; or under any
other law; or any function vested by law in the Federal Communications
Commission.
Sec. 5. This Order shall be effective upon publication
in the Federal Register.
Ronald Reagan
The White House,
April 3, 1984.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:47 p.m., April
3, 1984.
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