The National Response Plan (NRP) was a United States national plan designed to respond to emergencies such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks. It came into effect in December 2004 and was replaced by the National Response Framework on March 22, 2008. The federal government’s involvement in emergency management began with the Congressional Relief Act of 1803, which provided relief after a devastating fire in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For about the next 150 years, the federal government took a reactive role in emergency response until passing the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950. No comprehensive plan for federal emergency response existed until 1979, when President Jimmy Carter signed an executive order creating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA was first tasked with absorbing emergency response duties from multiple agencies with disjointed plans.

The National Response Framework (NRF), which replaced the NRP, establishes a single, comprehensive approach to domestic incident management. It is used to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. The NRF is an all-hazards plan built on the template of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). It provides the structure and mechanisms for national-level policy and operational direction for domestic incident management. The NRF can be partially or fully implemented in the context of a threat, anticipation of a significant event, or in response to an incident requiring a coordinated federal response. Selective implementation through the activation of NRF elements allows maximum flexibility to meet the unique operational and information-sharing requirements of any situation. It enables effective interaction among various federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, private-sector, and non-governmental organizations.

Trump: 'Big discussion' coming on FEMA's future

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/climate/trump-fema-states-disasters.html