Several new definitions appeared in the March 30th PPD-8 issued under President Obama's signature. These follow:
Definitions
For the purposes of this directive:
(a) The term “national preparedness” refers to the actions taken to plan, organize, equip, train, and exercise to build and sustain the capabilities necessary to prevent, protect against, mitigate the effects of, respond to, and recovers from those threats that pose the greatest risk to the security of the Nation.
(b) The term “security” refers to the protection of the Nation and its people, vital interests, and way of life.
(c) The term “resilience” refers to the ability to adapt to changing conditions and withstand and rapidly recover from disruption due to emergencies.
(d) The term “prevention” refers to those capabilities necessary to avoid, prevent, or stop a threatened or actual act of terrorism. Prevention capabilities include, but are not limited to, information sharing and warning; domestic counterterrorism; and preventing the acquisition or use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). For purposes of the prevention framework called for in this directive, the term “prevention” refers to preventing imminent threats.
(e) The term “protection” refers to those capabilities necessary to secure the homeland against acts of terrorism and manmade or natural disasters. Protection capabilities include, but are not limited to, defense against WMD threats; defense of agriculture and food; critical infrastructure protection; protection of key leadership and events; border security; maritime security; transportation security; immigration security; and Cybersecurity.
(f) The term “mitigation” refers to those capabilities necessary to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters. Mitigation capabilities include, but are not limited to, community-wide risk reduction projects; efforts to improve the resilience of critical infrastructure and key resource lifelines; risk reduction for specific vulnerabilities from natural hazards or acts of terrorism; and initiatives to reduce future risks after a disaster has occurred.
(g) The term “response” refers to those capabilities necessary to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs after an incident has occurred.
(h) The term “recovery” refers to those capabilities necessary to assist communities affected by an incident to recover effectively, including, but not limited to, rebuilding infrastructure systems; providing adequate
interim and long-term housing for survivors; restoring health, social, and community services; promoting economic development; and restoring natural and cultural resources.
It will be of great interest if these definitions become widely used and accepted. That is what the Directive mandates but many departments and agencies or even sub-units of DHS don't have a clue. I would suggest that a separate budget code be developed by OMB for each of these categories. According to the PPD-8 each definition defines program, functions, or activities that will be getting or already have their own national framework or strategy.
Each of these definitions deserve independent analysis. One basis for the analysis should be how do the definitions related to each other?
