A basic premise of the national response framework is that

A basic premise of the National Response Framework is that incidents are generally handled at the lowest jurisdictional level possible.

The National Response Framework is associated with the National Incident Management System (the Department of Homeland Security program created to organise the response to incidents according to their size and cause).

The National Response Framework deals with emergency response policy (like following a national disaster) at the national level. This includes communities, private actors, and government entities. The focus is on short-term recovery.

One of the National Response Framework's basic principles is that of "tiered response." It is the idea that since incidents are inherently local at their beginning, they should be managed at the local level first, before being supported when necessary.