Appendix A 

Scope and Methodology 

As background for this audit, we researched and reviewed IT laws, 

regulations, and other federal guidance applicable to the EP&R directorate.  

We researched and reviewed prior OIG, Government Accountability Office, 

and other reports relating to EP&R IT to identify relevant findings and 

recommendations.  We also reviewed information available on the DHS and 

FEMA websites about disaster response and recovery initiatives. 

We met with EP&R management officials and staff to review the directorate's 

approach to responding to and recovering from terrorist attacks, major 

disasters, and other domestic emergencies.  These officials discussed EP&R's 

organization, roles, responsibilities, operations, and systems for response and 

recovery activities.  Additionally, these officials discussed EP&R's strategic 

planning process and provided copies of DHS, FEMA, and EP&R CIO 

strategic, performance, and operational plans.  We reviewed the plans to 

determine alignment of the various organizations' goals, objectives, and 

performance measures.  

We visited EP&R field offices and state government organizations to assess 

IT user guidance and support.   Emergency management officials, IT support 

staff, and system users at the following locations discussed the effectiveness 

of EP&R's guidance and processes for responding to and recovering from 

disaster incidents:   

EP&R Headquarters 

CIO officials and IT support staff 

Mt. Weather personnel 

Response Directorate officials 

Recovery Directorate officials 

FEMA Regions 

Region II New York, New York 

Region IV Atlanta, Georgia 

Region IX Oakland, California 

State Emergency Management Organizations 

New York Public Security Office and New York State Emergency 

Management Office Albany, New York 

State Office of Emergency Services Sacramento, California 

Georgia Emergency Management Agency Atlanta, Georgia 

Maryland Emergency Management Agency Reisterstown, Maryland 

State Homeland Security Offices Albany, New York 

Emergency Preparedness and Response Could Better Integrate Information Technology  

with Incident Response and Recovery 

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