As in any disaster, chemical incident response and recovery efforts may require more resources and capabilities than are locally available. Federal resources are activated via a tiered system that extends assistance to meet the local need for events that range from minor incidents to those with catastrophic impacts. Significant chemical incidents may trigger a Presidential Disaster Declaration under the Stafford Act, resulting in the release of significant federal funding for response and recovery activities.
Most chemical incidents can be effectively addressed with resources from the Responsible Party (RP) and state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) authorities. However, a tiered system of federal response assistance is available when the scale of the incident exceeds the response capabilities of local entities and/or a Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) determines that additional federal capabilities and resources are required to address the incident.