WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is drafting a new national emergency response plan which aims to enhance partnership between federal, state and local responders in time of crisis, the Governmentexecutive.com website reported Thursday.

    When finalized, the National Response Framework will replace the National Response Plan that was released in the summer of 2005,shortly before Hurricane Katrina made landfall and forced more than a million Americans from their homes, according to the report.

    A draft of the new plan has been posted on the website of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

    In ways large and small, the new National Response Framework aims to change the way officials at the federal, state and local levels prepare for and respond to disasters.

    Harvey Johnson, CEO of the Federal Emergency Management Agency within DHS, said the National Response Plan's huge size and dense bureaucratic language made it virtually impenetrable to all but the most determined readers.

    The replacement 84-page National Response Framework was renamed to more accurately reflect the document's purpose, which is to provide responders with a user-friendly, easy-to-read manual that outlines the organizational structure for emergency operations.

    The new framework also describes a clear structure for establishing a joint field office that can be scaled from small to catastrophic events.

    It also spells out the different authorities National Guard troops may exercise when operating in state status under the control of a governor, versus federal status under the control of a federal military commander -- an issue that proved confusing to some during the Katrina response.

    The draft framework also addresses the issue of pets, something that was important to manage the mass evacuation during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.