Many State and major urban areas have established information fusion centers to coordinate the gathering, analysis, and dissemination of law enforcement, homeland security, public-safety, and terrorism information. As of September 1, 2007, over 66 of these centers are operating or are being established in States and localities across the country. A majority operate under national guidelines developed through the DOJ-sponsored Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative and DHS-sponsored Homeland Security Advisory Council.

State and major urban area fusion centers are vital assets critical to sharing information related to terrorism. They will serve as the primary focal points within the State and local environment for the receipt and sharing of terrorism-related information. As a part of the National Strategy for Information Sharing, the Federal Government is promoting that State and major urban area fusion centers achieve a baseline level of capability and become interconnected with the Federal Government and each other, thereby creating a national, integrated, network of fusion centers to enable the effective sharing of terrorism-related information. The Federal Government will support the establishment of these centers and help sustain them through grant funding, technical assistance, and training to achieve a baseline level of capability and to help ensure compliance with all applicable privacy laws. This approach respects our system of federalism and strengthens our security posture.

Federal departments and agencies will provide terrorism-related information to State, local, and tribal authorities primarily through these fusion centers. Unless specifically prohibited by law, or subject to security classification restrictions, these fusion centers may further customize such information for dissemination to satisfy intra- or inter-State needs. Fusion centers will enable the effective communication of locally generated terrorism-related information to the Federal Government and other fusion centers through the ISE. Locally generated information that is not threat- or incident-related will be gathered, processed, analyzed, and interpreted by those same fusion centers - in coordination with locally based federal officials - and disseminated to the national level via the DoD, DHS, FBI, or other appropriate federal agency channels. Where practical, federal organizations will assign personnel to fusion centers and, to the extent practicable, will strive to integrate and collocate resources.

Appendix 1 of the National Strategy delineates the specific roles and responsibilities of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments as they relate to the establishment and continued operation of State and major urban area fusion centers and provides guidelines to support the performance of those roles and responsibilities. It recognizes that the Federal Government may need to provide financial and technical assistance, as well as human resource support, to these fusion centers if they are to achieve and sustain a baseline level of capability. The objective is to assist State and local governments in the establishment and the sustained operation of these fusion centers. A sustained federal partnership with State and major urban area fusion centers is critical to the safety of our Nation, and therefore a national priority.