National Incident Management System (NIMS)

​​The purpose of the FY 2025 NIMS cooperative agreement is to support the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), which is a Congressionally ratified mutual aid compact. (Pub. L. No. 104-321). The “purpose of the compact is to provide for mutual assistance, between the states entering into the compact, in managing any emergency disaster that is duly declared by the Governor of the affected state, whether arising from natural disaster, technological hazard, man-made disaster, civil emergency aspects of resources shortages, community disorders, insurgency or enemy attack.” EMAC signatories include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The federal government doctrinally and financially supports EMAC but does not manage it. EMAC’s unique relationships with states, regions, territories, and federal organizations, such as FEMA and the National Guard Bureau, enable it to move a wide variety of resources to stabilize community lifelines immediately after an incident. Among other things, EMAC assists states in sending personnel, equipment, and commodities to support disaster relief efforts in other states. The FY 2025 NIMS cooperative agreement aids EMAC’s development and maintenance of a consistent system for the request, dispatch, use, and return of resources necessary to support local capabilities during incident response and recovery operations. The development of a multi-jurisdictional, interstate regional mechanism for coordinating incident management and obtaining assistance to stabilize community lifelines immediately during large-scale, complex, or catastrophic incidents will help to build, sustain, and deliver the core capabilities essential to achieving the National Preparedness Goal of a secure and resilient nation.​