Affordable Strategies to Improve Industrial Responsiveness. Approved Final briefing on Standby and Voluntary Agreements.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how standby and voluntary agreements could be used more effectively to improve industrial responsiveness. This was accomplished by Examining past and present uses of these two methods Considering possible ways they could improve responsiveness of 13 specific industrial and infrastructure sectors Analyzing policy and legal issues associated with their wider use. This briefing summarizes a four-volume series of reports. The first three volumes review and analyze past, current, and potential uses of these agreements. Volume 1 focuses on standby agreements, examining six past and current standby agreement programs and presenting a model of how such agreements are established and activated. Volume 2 presents similar information on voluntary agreements. These two volumes provide definitive analyses of the issues surrounding these agreements -- their purposes their possible uses their creation, maintenance, and activation and their benefits and costs. jes