Local emergency responders such as firefighters and haz. materials, law enforce., and emerg. med. personnel will be the first to respond to terrorist incidents. Concerned that terrorists might use weapons of mass destruction -- chem., biological, radiological, or nuc. devices -- and that local first responders would not be prepared to effectively deal with incidents involving such weapons. This report determines: the principal fed. org. that provide weapons of mass destruction training to first responder; whether the training is well coordinated among fed. org.; and actions being taken to improve the federal governments role in weapons of mass destruction training.

Concerned that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are increasingly available to terrorists, Congress passed the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996, commonly known as the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Act. The act designates the Department of Defense as the lead agency to enhance domestic preparedness for responding to and managing the consequences of terrorists' use of WMD. Under the act, Defense established the Domestic Preparedness Program to provide first responder training focused on terrorist incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. Congress also passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which authorizes the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to provide specialized training and equipment for enhancing the capabilities of metropolitan fire and emergency service departments to respond to terrorist attacks. in response, Justice established the Metropolitan Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services Program.