NEHA April 2024 Journal of Environmental Health

ADVANCEMENT OF THE PRACTICE

FIGURE 2

Timeline of Select Response and Recovery Activities of the Emergency Management Unit

 Hurricane Season: Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina  Warehouse Fire : West Virginia  Water Contamination: Oklahoma  Refinery Fire: Wisconsin

 Wildfire : N ew M exico  COVID-19 : Global  Wildfires : Oregon  E arthquakes : Puerto Rico  Tank E xplosion : Texas  Water Contamination: Missouri

 COVID-19 : Global  Hurricanes Season: Florida, Puerto Rico  Wildfire Recovery : New Mexico  Ukraine Regional Response  Water C ontamination: Mississippi  Flooding : Kentucky

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

 COVID-19 : Global  Hurricane Season: Louisiana  Water Contamination: South Carolina  Train Derailment: Illinois  Chem ical Fire : Illinois  Warehouse Fire : Illinois  Air Quality : North Carolina  Water Contamination : Hawaii

 Hurricane Season: Maine  Winter Storms : California  Train Derailment : Ohio  Facility Fire : Indiana  Typhoon Mawar : Guam  Wildfire Smoke : National  Water Contamination : U.S. Virgin Islands

 Landfill Fire : Georgia  Water Contamination: U.S. Virgin Islands  V olcano Eruption : New Zealand  Facility Fire: Texas  Ammonia Spill: Illinois  Barge Collision : Texas  Refinery Fire : Pennsylvania

 Hurricanes Season: Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands  Plant Explosion : Kansas

Note. The timeline shows all the incidents where individuals from the Emergency Management Unit provided some amount of technical assistance or expertise.

National Centers for Environmental Informa- tion. (2023). Billion-dollar weather and cli- mate disasters: Overview . National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https:// www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/ U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2016). National Disaster Recovery Frame- work (2nd ed.). https://www.fema.gov/ sites/default/files/2020-06/national_disa ster_recovery_framework_2nd.pdf U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2019). National Response Framework (4th ed.). https://www.fema.gov/sites/ default/files/2020-04/NRF_FINALAp proved_2011028.pdf U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2023a). National Oil and Hazardous Sub- stances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) overview . https://www.epa.gov/emergency- response/national-oil-and-hazardous-sub stances-pollution-contingency-plan-ncp- overview U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2023b). Superfund: CERCLA overview . https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund- cercla-overview

coordination of capabilities across NCEH, ATSDR, and additional programs within CDC to respond in a more all-hazards approach. To provide the needed support to aected jurisdictions, EMU works collab- oratively with NCEH and ATSDR regional oces to coordinate virtual or in-person technical assistance for environmental emergencies by collaborating with experts in environmental health science, STLT coordination, epidemiology, health surveil- lance, infectious disease, medical toxicology, data and geospatial science, worker safety, health communications, and health equity. By coordinating through a large variety of capabilities and working with regional sta, EMU has been able to work in this new all- hazards approach to respond in a timely and eective way to a wider range of incidents. Conclusion EMU has changed the way it approaches disasters and enhanced coordination of response and recovery capabilities, making it more than ever ready to assist the nation in any encounter. This capacity allows CDC and ATSDR to be a trusted source of support when an environmental crisis occurs.

Corresponding Author: Maraia Tremarelli, Health Scientist and Emergency Operations Specialist, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1648 Gilstrap Lane NW, Atlanta, GA 30318. Email: mtremarelli@cdc.gov. References Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2018). ATSDR background and congressional mandates . https://www.atsdr. cdc.gov/about/congress.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Indicator: Toxic substance releases . https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/indicatorPages? selectedContentAreaAbbreviation=21&sele ctedIndicatorId=102&selectedMeasureId= Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. § 9604 (1980). https://www.con gress.gov/96/statute/STATUTE-94/STAT UTE-94-Pg2767.pdf de Ruiter, M.C., Couasnon, A., van den Homberg, M.J.C., Daniell, J.E., Gill, J.C., & Ward, P.J. (2020). Why we can no lon- ger ignore consecutive disasters. Earth’s Future , 8 (3), e2019EF001425. https://doi. org/10.1029/2019ef001425

Volume 86 • Number 8