About the Office of National Security (ONS)

The EPA’s Office of National Security (ONS) was established to manage the agency’s national and national security objectives and requirements pursuant to Federal law, Executive Orders, Presidential Policy Directives (PPDs), and other White House directives.  EPA ONS provides Agency-wide leadership and coordination for national and national security policy, including EPA’s planning, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery for national security-related incidents.

Our mission is to empower and strengthen the EPA Programs and Regions by informing national security decisions and policy-making efforts, countering threats to Agency equities and interests, expanding Agency resources through effective partnerships, and providing a national capability to coordinate and integrate national security resources. The Associate Administrator of the Office of National Security (AA/ONS), assisted by the Deputy Associate Administrator (DAA), provides senior technical, policy, and intelligence advice to the EPA Administrator, Deputy Administrator, and senior leadership related to national security and national security for the Agency. In preparation for and in response to a nationally significant incident, the AA/ONS provides, in consultation with the EPA Administrator and impacted regions, strategic coordination of the Agency’s activities for prevention and protection; coordination for disaster mitigation, response, and recovery; Agency-wide policy, guidance, and direction; and recommendations for resources.

Located in the Office of the Administrator, the Office of National Security (ONS) coordinates with EPA program offices and regions as warranted to deliver a unified voice to the White House and the interagency community on national security policy initiatives that align with EPA’s mission areas.

• ONS coordinates with White House National Security Council (NSC), White House Office of Science Technology and Policy (OSTP), and other Departments and Agencies on specific national and national security policies;
• ONS collaborates with Sector Risk Management Agency (SRMA) partners to protect the Nation’s critical infrastructure from all hazards and emerging threats through enhancement of the preparedness, mitigation, resilience, and response activities of the sector. ONS works with EPA colleagues to support Agency priorities and enhance decision-making.

ONS’s policy coordination upholds the Agency’s core mission through the lens of national security by informing and supporting the Administrator, Deputy, and the Program Office senior leaders, to:

• Advise the Administrator and Deputy Administrator;
• Develop policy, including representing the Agency in the interagency policy development process
• Coordinate and unify the Agency’s policy positions

The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to protect human health and the environment.  The Agency has defined clear objectives driving critical needs for EPA engagement in the Information Sharing Environment (ISE) with the Intelligence Community (IC); each federal Department and Agency; state, local, and tribal governments; the private sector; and with the public.  The purpose of the Defensive Counterintelligence (DCI) Program, managed within the EPA Office of National Security is to provide a functional capability for identification and mitigation of foreign intelligence activities directed against EPA, including; its personnel, programs, information, and infrastructure.  Inherent in the EPA program is a requirement that all DCI efforts support national counterintelligence through implementation of the National Intelligence Strategy protecting their privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.

Governance and Policy

• National Counterintelligence Strategy of the USA 2020-2022
• Executive Order 12333

Point of Contact

John Martin, Program Manager

• Phone: (202) 564-2616
• Mail code: 1109A | EPA mailing addresses

EPA’s Insider Threat Program (ITP) was mandated by Executive Order 13587 and established to manage insider threat matters. The ITP detects, prevents, and mitigates threats posed to the Agency by individuals who have or had authorized access to EPA facilities, information, equipment, networks, or systems while protecting their privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. Additionally, EPA’s ITP focuses on Agency vulnerabilities through Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM).

An insider threat is the risk that an insider will use their authorized access, wittingly or unwittingly, to do harm to their organization. This can include theft of proprietary information and technology; damage to company facilities, systems, or equipment; actual or threatened harm to employees; or other actions that would prevent the company from carrying out its normal business practices.

Governance and Policy

• Executive Order 13587
• NITTF Minimum Standards

Point of Contact

Paul Kudarauskas, Designated Senior Official for Insider Threat

• Phone: (202) 564-2415
• Mail code: 1109A | EPA mailing addresses

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) Support

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is an interagency committee that serves the President in overseeing the national security implications of foreign investment in the economy. It reviews foreign investment transactions to determine if they threaten to impair the national security.  In 2018, Congress enacted the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA). This measure marked the most comprehensive revision of the foreign investment review process since the previous revision in 2007, the Foreign Investment and National Security Act (FINSA). An element of the CFIUS process added by FINSA and reinforced by FIRRMA is the addition of “critical industries” and “national security” as broad categories of economic activity that could be subject to a CFIUS national security review, ostensibly broadening CFIUS’s mandate.  The Office of National Security (ONS) manages the interoffice review, risk analysis, and response development of CFIUS cases for EPA. 

National Planning Framework Coordination (Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, & Disaster Recovery)

The National Planning Frameworks describe how the whole community works together to prevent, protect, mitigate, response to and recover from threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to our nation.  These frameworks align roles and responsibilities across all levels of government, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations, including defining EPA's responsibilities before, during and after incidents.  

Under the National Response Framework, EPA is the primary agency, along with the U.S.. Coast Guard, for Emergency Support Function #10, Oil and Hazardous Materials Response. The primary agencies are responsible for coordinating and managing the overall federal effort to prevent, detect, identify, contain, decontaminate, cleanup and dispose of oil discharges and releases of hazardous materials.

EPA has a responsibility to support other federal agencies, states, tribal, territorial, and local governments throughout all stages of a disaster (response, mitigation and recovery) as laid out in the National Response Framework, National Mitigation Framework (NMF), and National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF).

• EPA Order 2074, U.S. EPA National Approval to Disaster Mitigation and Recovery, provides a mechanism for leveraging Agency programs and resources in support of disaster mitigation and recovery activities and to provide a structure for how regional offices and national programs will coordinate to support states, tribes, territories, and local communities preparing for or recovering from disasters;
• The NMF and NDRF under PPD-8 help structure EPA’s mitigation and recovery actions;
• ONS supports the implementation of standard operating procedures across EPA programs and regions in order to coordinate mitigation and recovery activities across Agency programs and regions, representation of the Agency at federal mitigation and recovery planning groups, and coordination with FEMA and other federal agencies on specific disaster mitigation and recovery efforts.

Mitigation

Disaster Recovery

EPA’s objectives for Recovery Operations include:

• Build preparedness to mitigate future events - Lessen the impacts of disasters by assisting federal, state and local agencies and communities prior to disasters.
• Promote sustainable and resilient rebuilding - Use EPA’s expertise to inform communities, states and federal partners about rebuilding for the long-term viability of regions’ people, economies and natural ecosystems. Including:
  • Help communities adapt to climate change and incorporate green infrastructure into their resiliency planning. 
  • Collaborate with other Federal agencies to leverage all Federal resources in support of sustainable and resilient recovery.
• Apply EPA’s Knowledge – Provide EPA’s expertise to other federal agencies, states and communities in areas of EPA responsibility such as drinking and wastewater infrastructure, brownfields, air quality, or oil and hazardous materials clean-ups.
• Streamline Federal Action - Work with our partner agencies to streamline federal oversight to efficiently fulfill statutory, permitting and/or enforcement requirements in a timely fashion, including if enforcement discretion is warranted.
• Partner with Environmental Justice/Disadvantaged Communities – Actively engage vulnerable and overburdened communities so they can meaningfully participate and have their issues addressed during recovery operations and planning.

Point of Contact

John Ferris, Senior Policy Advisor

• Phone: (202) 564-1347
• Mail code: 1109A | EPA mailing addresses