The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is underway with an initiative called the Target Capability List (TCL) Implementation Project. The Project is the next step in the Nation's effort to develop, assess, and strengthen prevention, protection, response, and recovery capabilities. The initial phase of the Project involves developing a series of target capability frameworks to help States and local jurisdictions determine whether they need a given capability to be prepared, and if so, at what level. The target capability frameworks build upon the preparedness guidance found in TCL v2.0 (released in September 2007) and each consists of a user-friendly matrix of three charts that define: performance classes (for grouping jurisdictions according to shared risk factors), performance objectives (for determining the capability level for each performance class), and resource requirements (for identifying needs related to plans, personnel, training, equipment, and exercises). DHS/FEMA is working with stakeholders through a series of Technical Working Group (TWG) sessions to develop the first six target capability frameworks. These include Animal Health, Emergency Operations Center Management, Intelligence, Mass Transit Protection, On-Site Incident Management, and WMD/HazMat Rescue and Decontamination. The TWG sessions are being held this summer in FEMA regional locations and all sessions are comprised of subject matter experts, practitioners, and national associations in the emergency management and homeland security communities to ensure collaboration across the Federal, State, and local levels. Once the TWG sessions are complete, a National Review will be conducted to enable the larger homeland security community to review the target capability frameworks and provide input before a proposed national release. Additional target capability frameworks will be developed in subsequent years, culminating in TCL v3.0 in 2010. Working with the stakeholder community, DHS/FEMA is confident that this initiative will enhance our Nation's ability to assess preparedness against a national benchmark, leading to a clearer picture of what jurisdictions need to do - individually and collectively - to prepare for acts of terrorism and major disasters. The TCL Implementation Project represents the next step in the Nation's effort to become, A Nation Prepared. For additional information, please contact the TCL Implementation Project Team at TCL@dhs.gov (FEMA, TCL Implementation Project, Content for Listserve Distribution, June 13, 2008)