This United States Coast Guard Commandant Instruction Manual, U.S. Coast Guard Emergency Management Manual Volume I: Emergency Management Planning Policy December 2020 provides the basis for United States Coast Guard emergency management planning policy across all Coast Guard missions and contingencies. All Coast Guard unit commanders, commanding officers, officers-in-charge, deputy/assistant commandants, and chiefs of headquarters staff elements must comply with the provisions of this Manual. The Coast Guard's incident response roles and responsibilities continue to evolve, especially following events such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Superstorm Sandy. The concept of preparedness has also broadened in scope through the establishment of Presidential Policy Directive 8 National Preparedness and the five National Frameworks. This Manual recognizes the evolution of these concepts through an explanation of Coast Guard roles and responsibilities in preparedness, planning, and response processes used by the Coast Guard. It also establishes requirements for Coast Guard plan maintenance. In addition, the appendices include updated lists of required plans by unit and an improved list of Coast Guard contingencies. The focus of this Manual is emergency management planning.