About Us

COG is the one place in metropolitan Washington that regularly brings leaders together to develop solutions to the region's major challenges. COG prepares plans enabling the region to receive federal funding, provides members with research and data to inform decision-making, and offers a wide range of programs, including commuter services, cooperative purchasing, technical assistance and grants, and public outreach campaigns.

Transportation

Through the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), area officials, planners, and engineers ensure a well-managed and maintained transportation system. The TPB, which is staffed by COG, conducts the federally mandated transportation planning process for the region and ensures the uninterrupted flow of federal transportation funds that area jurisdictions receive.

Environment

COG's work engages leaders in various environmental fields from water quality experts to climate scientists. Together, they are advancing regional efforts to restore local waterways, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change, promote recycling, and enhance and preserve green space and agriculture.

Community

Area officials and experts, including planning and housing directors and child welfare and health officials, work together with their counterparts at COG to help shape stronger communities throughout the region.

Homeland Security & Public Safety

COG brings police chiefs, fire chiefs, emergency managers, and other leaders together as part of its work to strengthen regional public safety coordination, homeland security planning, and emergency communication.

Homeland Security & Public Safety

Committee & Workgroup Structure

COG supports a large network of professionals in working across jurisdictional borders to facilitate homeland security planning and to ensure coordination and communication during emergencies in the National Capital Region (NCR). Numerous committees and groups support this homeland security and public safety work.

The NCR Homeland Security Executive Committee (HSEC), a senior-level policy making group, is charged with establishing a shared perspective among local, state, and federal decision-makers on the risks and unmet security needs of the region. The intent of regional coordination is to set direction, collect information on threats and opportunities, assess gaps, and determine how to focus resources to address risks to best prepare the region for an emergency.

The HSEC’s Advisory Council provides broad base subject-matter expertise to the HSEC on identifying opportunities and unmet homeland security, public safety, public health, and emergency management needs and priorities in the region.

In addition to the HSEC and Advisory Council, regional subject-matter experts provide guidance to leaders through regional programmatic working groups (RPWG).