National Security Defined

The scope of Homeland Security and National Security have expanded greatly in the last several years and has affected every department and agency in the federal government. EPA’s primary mission essential function with respect to national security is to prevent, limit, mitigate, or contain chemical, oil, radiological, biological and/or natural or man-made disasters and provide environmental monitoring, assessment, and reporting in support of overall domestic incident management. EPA also functions as the Sector Risk Management Agency (SRMA) for the U.S. water and wastewater critical infrastructure sector.

The increase of national policy development driven by the White House and National Security Council (NSC) has expanded the scope of EPA engagement. National security has expanded beyond acts of terrorism, to include cyber-attacks and physical attacks on critical infrastructure, pandemics and bioweapons, great power competition among nation states, geopolitical instability, theft of research & intellectual property, the misuse of artificial intelligence, climate security, supply chain risk management, threats to water and food supplies and catastrophic natural disasters.

ONS’s Approach to National Security

National Security Policy Development and Coordination: ONS provides leadership, support, and coordination for national security programs, including EPA’s planning, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery roles for national security-related events and incidents. ONS supports EPA programs, regions, the interagency, and senior leaders by informing national security decisions and policymaking efforts and providing sensitive information and intelligence to assist preparedness efforts to counter threats to EPA equities and interests. This requires expanding agency resources through effective partnerships and facilitating an agencywide capability to coordinate and integrate resources in support of national security policies and shifting priorities.

ONS is primarily responsible for coordinating agency priorities with those of the NSC and the White House. This includes monitoring and engaging with EPA subject matter experts on over 100 NSC Interagency Policy Committees (IPC) and sub-IPCs and over 75 Executive Orders and national security memoranda. EPA’s programs and regions are responsible for integrating these priorities into their work, which supports and facilitates solutions to advance resiliency, intelligence and information sharing, research and development, and preparation and response for national security-related incidents. As the Federal Intelligence Coordination Office (FICO) for EPA, ONS informs national security decision-making through the use of intelligence and sensitive information sharing.

Securing EPA to Achieve Our Mission: National security is achieved by advancing the security of EPA people, facilities, and data. As part of the FICO operations, EPA’s National Security Threat Mitigation Program (NSTMP), led by ONS, is a blended security approach distributed across all security domains and organizational programs that enhances sharing of information to tackle the tasks of prevention, detection, and mitigation of risks to the agency’s people, programs, facilities, research, and data. The NSTMP promotes active, integrated mission practices that counter all aspects of adversarial and insider threats to public health and safety, economic security, and national security. The NSTMP leads the following programs at EPA: Insider Threat (ITP), Operational Security (OPSEC), Defensive Counterintelligence (DCI), Foreign Malign Influence, and Safeguarding Science. It also supports other risk management/security programs at the agency such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), International Visitors, Supply Chain Risk Management, and Information Security.

ONS provides intelligence support to all programs and regions regarding threats and mitigation strategies to critical infrastructure and critical resources with focus on cyber defense, water/wastewater systems, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear event mitigation and response, and environmental crimes. EPA’s Regional Homeland Security Coordinators use national security intelligence to coordinate with their programs to help states and local entities prepare for and respond to emergencies and natural disasters. 

Mission Statement

Support national security by integrating EPA programs and regions into national security decisions and policy development, countering threats to agency equities and interests, leveraging agency resources through effective partnerships, and providing a national capability to coordinate and integrate national security resources. 

Vision

An informed and resilient EPA which is prepared to protect human health and the environment with a recognition and appreciation of national security implications. 

Goals

1. Advise agency Senior Leadership and staff on national security and intelligence priorities to inform decision-making. 

2. Lead efforts to integrate EPA’s equities in national security policies and develop, coordinate, and implement internal EPA efforts to integrate national security priorities into existing activities, where appropriate. 

3. Counter national security threats to EPA’s enterprise by providing timely intelligence to inform decision-making. 

4. Foster a resilient mindset within the agency’s disaster preparedness efforts in disaster prevention, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation. 

Core Values 

1. Integrity: Serve as the “honest broker” in representing Agency programs in a transparent manner upholding the highest standards of ethics (accountability) to reflect positively on the Agency; provide unbiased, objective intelligence and national security advice (independence); and speak truth to power. 

2. Collaboration: Serve as a focal point and subject matter expert who fosters partnerships across the diverse mission space in which the agency operates (teamwork) to promote an open dialog to integrate national security priorities into EPA programs and embrace diverse perspectives. 

3. Vigilance (Situational Awareness): Demonstrate the courage to identify and appreciate new opportunities to innovate and imagine new possibilities; anticipate, embrace, and drive change; lead boldly and act decisively to remain focused on what is important and bring value to the agency.