The American National Standards Institute's Homeland Security Standards Panel (ANSI-HSSP) has as its mission to identify existing consensus standards, or, if none exist, assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and those sectors requesting assistance to accelerate development and adoption of consensus standards critical to homeland security. The ANSI-HSSP promotes a positive, cooperative partnership between the public and private sectors in order to meet the needs of the nation in this critical area. Recent News Items Overview Participation Organizational Structure Meeting Calendar Document Library Further Resources Membership in ANSI Staff Contacts

• FEMA Announces Public Outreach Efforts and Comment Period Extension for PS-Prep
  FEMA announced today a series of public meetings that will be held to discuss the DHS Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep). PS-Prep is a partnership between DHS and the private sector that will enable private entities—including businesses, non-profit organizations and universities—to receive emergency preparedness certification from a system DHS created in coordination with the private sector. The purpose of these meetings is to provide the public with an opportunity to engage in dialogue with DHS staff and program managers regarding an October 16, 2009, Federal Register Notice (74 FR 53286) announcing DHS’ intent to select three standards for adoption in the PS-Prep program. For information on dates, times, and locations of the public meetings, please click here.

• HSSP Convenes Eighth Plenary Session on Homeland Security Standards
  On October 21, 2009, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) hosted nearly 90 public and private sector stakeholders at its eighth annual Homeland Security Standards Panel (HSSP) Plenary. Held at the Renaissance Washington, DC hotel, the meeting’s theme was homeland security standards and their business application in the private sector.

• ANSI Supports DHS in National Preparedness Month
  The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is joining forces with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the sixth consecutive year to support National Preparedness Month. Held each September, National Preparedness Month highlights the importance of emergency preparedness for families and companies across the nation. As a partnering organization in National Preparedness Month, the ANSI eighth annual Plenary meeting on October 21, 2009, at the Renaissance Washington, DC hotel. The 2009 Plenary will address homeland security standards and their business application in the private sector.

• As Hurricane Season Unfurls, Standards Protect Homes Nationwide
  With the first Atlantic hurricane of the season approaching the southeast part of the nation, Americans are actively working to prepare their homes and communities against storm damage. Standards are in place to assure the integrity of buildings and the safety of residents as Hurricane Bill picks up

• ANSI-HSSP Releases Workshop Report on Emergency Preparedness for Persons with Disabilities

• ANSI-HSSP Workshop Examines Urgent Needs in Transit Security Standardization

• ANSI-HSSP Workshop Spotlights Emergency Preparedness Needs for Persons with Disabilities

Established by ANSI in February 2003, per its charter the ANSI-HSSP has as its scope to catalog, promote, accelerate and coordinate the timely development of consensus standards within the national and international voluntary standards systems intended to meet identified homeland security needs, and communicate the existence of such standards appropriately to governmental units and the private sector. The Panel supports the work of the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate’s Office of Standards.

Participation in the ANSI-HSSP is open to representatives of industry, government, professional societies, trade associations, standards developers, and consortia groups directly involved in U.S. Homeland Security standardization.

The roster of Panel Participants is posted for information. Members of the ANSI-HSSP Steering Committee are listed in bold.

Any organization wishing to become a Panel Participant should contact the ANSI-HSSP Program Administrator (jcarl@ansi.org 212-642-4903) for further details on how to join.

ANSI-HSSP officers:

Co-Chair (private-sector):
Christian Dubay
Vice President and Chief Engineer
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Co-Chair (public-sector):
Gordon Gillerman
Conformity Assessment Advisor for Homeland Security
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Efforts are ongoing examining standardization in the following workshop areas:

• Cyber Security Phase II
• Emergency Preparedness for Persons with Disabilities and Special Needs
• Credentialing and Access Control for Disaster Management
• Transit Security

Final deliverables have been produced for the following workshops:

• Cyber Security
• Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina
• Emergency Communications
• Perimeter Security
• Enterprise Power Security and Continuity
• Training Program Standardization for First Response to WMD Events
• Private Sector Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity
• Biometrics
• Biological and Chemical Threat Agents
• Citizen Preparedness

• The eighth Plenary meeting was held on October 21, 2009 at the Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel.

• A workshop on Emergency Preparedness for Persons with Disabilities and Special Needs was held February 3-4, 2009 at the Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.

• A workshop on Transit Security Standardization was held January 27-28, 2009 at the Executive Conference Center in Arlington, VA.

• The seventh Plenary meeting was held on October 2, 2008 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC.

• The sixth Plenary meeting was held October 3-4, 2007 at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, in conjunction with the World Standards Council (WSC) International Workshop on Transit Security.

The The ANSI-HSSP Document Library contains documents relating to the work of the Panel and are available to Panel Participants.

• ReadyClassroom
• Citizen Preparedness
• Public Sector Resources
• Private Sector Resources
• International Resources

If you are not already a member of ANSI, find out more about the benefits of ANSI membership.

Karen Hughes
Director, ANSI-HSSP
American National Standards Institute
25 West 43rd Street, Fourth Floor
New York, NY 10036
Tel: 212.642.4992
Fax: 212.398.0023
E-mail: khughes@ansi.org

Jessica Carl
Program Administrator, ANSI-HSSP
American National Standards Institute
25 West 43rd Street, Fourth Floor
New York, NY 10036
Tel: 1.212.642.4903
Fax: 1.212.840.2298
E-mail: jcarl@ansi.org