National Preparedness Month, 2016

This proclamation designates September 2016 as National Preparedness Month, encouraging Americans to take personal steps to prepare for emergencies including natural disasters and terrorism. It promotes public awareness, references federal preparedness resources like Ready.gov, and calls for community and business engagement in resilience planning without creating new mandates or programs.

Federal Register Open PDF 81 FR 61977

Impact dates

Sep 30, 2016
National day of action for America's PrepareAthon!
Sep 1, 2016
National Preparedness Month begins

Key directives

Encourage all Americans to recognize importance of preparedness
Encourage Americans to sign up for local alerts, check insurance, document valuables, create emergency plans, stock disaster supply kits
Encourage businesses to prepare employees, develop business continuity plans, engage in community-level planning
Encourage leaders to review 2016 National Preparedness Report
Encourage national day of action on September 30 for America's PrepareAthon!

Timeline

Immediate

Proclamation takes effect; September 2016 designated National Preparedness Month

Near term (90d)

September 30, 2016 encouraged as national day of action for America's PrepareAthon!

Long term

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Risks & tensions

No binding requirements or new funding; purely voluntary exhortations
Climate change framing may have been politically salient in 2016 context