United States
               Environmental Protection
               Agency
                         MUTUAL AID/ASSISTANCE
                                            AGREEMENTS
Integrating WARN  and Other Mutual Aid Agreements
 BACKGROUND
 In February 2006, eight major water organizations signed the Joint Policy Statement on Mutual
 Aid and Assistance Networks, encouraging utilities  and  local/state governments to establish
 intrastate mutual aid and assistance networks.  The organizations committed  to the "Utilities
 Helping Utilities" concept and encouraged their members  to join mutual aid and assistance
 networks, such as Water/Wastewater Agency Response Networks (WARN).
 In addition to WARN, utilities often  participate in one-on-one agreements with neighboring
 utilities, as well as public agency statewide mutual aid and assistance programs. Participating in
 multiple agreements  provides utilities with flexibility in evaluating the  most effective  and
 efficient means of obtaining resources during an emergency.
 OTHER AGREEMENTS AND WARN
 Unlike typical statewide mutual aid agreements, WARN membership can include both public
 and private utilities. By adopting the WARN approach to mutual aid and assistance, drinking
 water and wastewater utilities in each state are able to sign a single agreement covering issues
 such as indemnification, workers'  compensation,  and reimbursement. The agreement allows
 utilities to share equipment, personnel, and other resources.
 WARN recognizes the need for member utilities  to manage existing agreements with local,
 neighboring utilities, statewide programs, and interstate programs.
 Utilities may participate in these and other agreements, and retain full WARN  membership;
 serve on the various WARN committees  and subcommittees; as well as serve as the WARN
 Chair, if elected to the position. Utilities that participate in other agreements can also request or
 send resources through their WARN during an emergency, but are not obligated to do so, as is
 true for all WARN members.

 EMERGENCY TIMELINE AND MUTUAL AID ^^^^^^B
 During an emergency,  a utility  must determine what resources it needs and evaluate the options
 available to obtain those resources. This may include three possible mutual aid  or assistance
 mechanisms                  i       Emergency Timeline and Mutual Aid
 (1) Activate existing local
 agreements or contact
 neighboring utilities with which
 they have pre-written
 agreements.
 (2) Access a public agency
 statewide mutual aid program.
 (3) Access WARN resources, if
 the utility is a member. By
 activating WARN, a utility can
 reduce the response "gap"
 between local and  statewide
 mutual aid, and can sustain access to resources into the recovery phase, while this may not be the
 case with other options.
                                    WARN Mutual Aid
              Emergency
               Occurs
Response
Recovery
-  Office of Water (4608-T) | EPA 817-F-11-001 |  January 2011 |  http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecuritv  -

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                          Water
                       Emergency
                         Occurs
                 MUTUAL AID AND ASSISTANCE AGREEMENTS AND WARN
                 page 2 of 2

INTEGRATED RESPONSE EFFORTS ^^^^^^^"*
Depending on the complexity of an emergency, response  actions may consist of accessing
multiple  mutual  aid  and  assistance  agreements  concurrently.  WARN  is structured  to
accommodate this and past responses have demonstrated how effectively this can work:
                                                              Easter Earthquake,
          Mutual Aid and Assistance Activation               California (2010) -
                                                              CalWARN members
                                                              responded as a mutual aid
                                                              task force under both the
                                                              CalWARN agreement and
                                                              the  State Master Mutual
                                                              Aid Agreement to staff the
                                                              utility, county, and state
                                                              emergency operations
                                                              centers.
                                                              Water Contamination
                                                              Incident, Alamosa,
                                                              Colorado,  (2008) -
                                                              Resources from CoWARN
                                                              and other mutual aid
                                                              networks (Rural Water and
                                                              the Mid-America Alliance)
                                                              provided sampling
                                                              expertise and resources for
                                                              flushing and disinfecting
                                                              the water system.
               WATER UTILITY:
               - Assesses impact of emergency
               - Determines if resources are sufficient
               - Deploys available resources
               - Identifies need for mutual aid/assistance
  Mutual Response
  Agreements with
local/neighbor utilities
                      Water/Wastewater
                      Agency Response
                       Network (WARN)
Statewide Mutual Aid
    Agreement
  for all resources
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT WARN
FALSE
WARN membership
precludes participation in
other mutual aid and
assistance agreements, or
using resources from
contractors or associations
WARN obligates members to
send resources
WARN membership is
expensive
Putting the WARN agreement
through legal review is cost-
prohibitive
TRUE
> The Joint Policy Statement signed by the wastewater and water organizations
supports mutual aid and assistance networks of all kinds; the WARN program is
not the only option
> WARN encourages member utilities to access local agreements and statewide
programs, and does not attempt to replace them
> WARN member utilities can participate in other mutual aid and assistance
agreements
> No member is obligated to send resources if they decide not to for any reason
> Most existing WARNs do not require a membership or retainer fee
> All member utilities volunteer time to develop and maintain their WARN
> Some states' Attorneys General have reviewed the WARN agreement, in
addition to legal experts from numerous drinking water and wastewater utilities,
and additional review may not be necessary
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Additional information is available through outreach products developed by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to aid utilities in the development of mutual aid and assistance networks. To
learn more, please contact Nushat Thomas of EPA (thomas .nushat@epa.gov) or Jenny Thomas of EPA
(thomas.jenny@epa.gov). Additional information is also available at:
http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecuritv/mutualaid/index.cfin
 Office of Water (4608-T) |  EPA 817-F-11-001  | January 2011 | http://water.epa.qov/infrastructure/watersecuritv

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