69–010 

Calendar No. 150 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 115–113 

NATIONAL VOLCANO EARLY WARNING AND MONITORING 

SYSTEM ACT 

JUNE 15, 2017.—Ordered to be printed 

Ms. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 346] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 346) to provide for the establishment of the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and 

recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

The amendments are as follows: 

1. Beginning on page 1, strike line 6 and all that follows through 

page 4, line 13. 

2. On page 4, line 14, strike ‘‘3’’ and insert ‘‘2’’. 

3. On page 4, line 21, strike ‘‘4’’ and insert ‘‘3’’. 

4. On page 4, line 22, strike ‘‘4’’ and insert ‘‘3’’. 

5. On page 8, line 14, strike ‘‘5’’ and insert ‘‘4’’. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 346 is to provide for the establishment of the 

National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The United States is the third most active country for volcanic 

eruptions, ranking only behind Indonesia and Japan in its number 

of historically active volcanoes. It is home to 169 active volcanoes, 

of which 55 are considered still to be threatening to life and property. 

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In Washington State, Mount St. Helens explosively erupted on 

May 18, 1980, causing 57 fatalities and destroying 27 bridges and 

185 miles of highways at an estimated cost of $1.1 billion. Although 

Mount St. Helens is well known, Mount Rainier near Seattle could 

cause far greater loss of life if it should erupt again suddenly. The 

same is true of the Yellowstone National Park caldera, should it 

erupt, as it has roughly every 600,000 years. 

There are five active major volcanoes in the Cascade Range of 

Washington, Oregon, and Idaho—Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, 

Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. In the past 

29 years, there have been more than 50 eruptions and at least 17 

episodes of significant unrest at 34 different volcanoes in the 

United States, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 

Another example of the threat from volcanic eruptions was demonstrated on December 15, 1989, when a Boeing 747 flying 150 

miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska, encountered an ash cloud 

that rose from an earlier eruption of Mount Redoubt. The plane 

lost power in all four engines, falling some 10,000 feet before it 

could restart two of its engines. The restart saved the lives of the 

plane’s 231 passengers, but caused $80 million in damage to the 

craft. This incident illustrates the dangers to aircraft, especially on 

the West Coast and in Alaskan air space. 

Since 1990, eight commercial aircraft have lost engine power 

mid-flight and dozens more have been damaged after flying into 

ash clouds caused by volcanic eruptions. Notably, lesser known volcanoes, such as Mount Redoubt in Alaska, erupted more than 100 

times from 2009 to 2010, causing the cancellation of more than 230 

commercial airline flights and putting almost 10,000 airline passengers at risk. 

The Federal Aviation Administration reports that over 80,000 

large aircraft a year, carrying more than 30,000 passengers a day, 

fly near many of Alaska’s volcanoes, mostly on the heavily traveled 

great-circle routes between Europe, North America, and Asia. The 

Alaska Volcano Observatory, with its partial federal funding, today 

is responsible for monitoring 29 active volcanoes in the ‘‘Ring of 

Fire’’ area along the Aleutian Island flight path. 

The advances in volcanic and earthquake forecasting could be 

aided by a national watch office and help to make more accurate 

and timely predictions of eruptions possible. For example, in 1989, 

the Alaska Volcano Observatory could provide only a few days’ notice before Mount Redoubt erupted that year. In 2009, after the 

center’s capabilities had been expanded and hours of operation increased, it provided two months of notice before the volcano erupted again. This was enough warning time to reduce oil stored in the 

Drift River tank farm complex, located down slope from the volcano, and mitigate the threat of environmental damage. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 346 was introduced on February 8, 2017, by Senators Murkowski, Cantwell, and Hirono. 

In the 114th Congress, Senators Murkowski and Cantwell introduced a similar measure, S. 2056, on September 17, 2015. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the bill 

on September 22, 2016. 

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In the 112th Congress, Senator Murkowski introduced a similar 

measure, S. 566, on March 14, 2011. The Subcommittee on Public 

Lands, Forests, and Mining held a hearing on the bill on May 18, 

2011 (S. Hrg. 112–39). 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on March 30, 2017, and ordered S. 346 favorably 

reported as amended. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on March 30, 2017, by a majority voice vote 

of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 346, if 

amended as described herein. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

During its consideration of S. 346, the Committee adopted an 

amendment to strike the findings and make four conforming 

amendments. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 provides a short title. 

Section 2 contains definitions. 

Section 3(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to establish the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System (System) within the USGS in order to organize, modernize, 

standardize, and stabilize the monitoring systems of the volcano 

observatories in the United States and unify these systems into a 

single interoperative system. It also sets forth the new System’s objective to monitor the nation’s volcanoes at the level commensurate 

with the threat posed by upgrading existing monitoring networks, 

installing new networks on unmonitored volcanoes, and using geodetic and other methods when applicable. 

Subsection (b) specifies the System’s components as requiring a 

national volcano watch office that is operational 24 hours a day, 

seven days a week; a national volcano data center; and an external 

grants program to support research into volcano monitoring science 

and technology. 

Subsection (c) directs the Secretary to submit to Congress a fiveyear management plan for establishing and operating the System 

within 180 days of the bill’s enactment. This subsection further directs the Secretary to establish an advisory committee to help implement the System. It further authorizes the Secretary to enter 

into cooperative agreements with institutions of higher education 

and State agencies and directs the Secretary to coordinate with 

other federal agencies. 

Subsection (d) directs the Secretary to submit an annual report 

to Congress on the activities carried out pursuant to the Act. 

Section 4 authorizes such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal 

years 2017 through 2027 and specifies that the amounts made 

available are to supplement and not supplant Federal funds for 

other USGS work. 

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COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 346 would authorize the appropriation of such sums as are 

necessary for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to establish a system to improve monitoring of active volcanoes. The bill also would 

authorize USGS to enter into cooperative partnerships with universities and state agencies to implement the system. 

Based on an analysis of information provided by USGS and assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates 

that implementing S. 346 would cost $55 million over the 2018– 

2022 period. 

Enacting S. 346 would not affect direct spending or revenues; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates 

that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending 

or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods 

beginning in 2028. 

S. 346 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and 

would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Robert Reese; Impact on 

state, local, and tribal governments: Jon Sperl; Impact on the private sector: Amy Petz. 

Estimate approved by: H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 346. 

The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing 

Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

provision. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 346, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 346, as ordered reported, does not contain any congressionally 

directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Because S. 346 is similar to legislation considered by the Committee in the 114th Congress, the Committee did not request Executive Agency views. The testimony provided by the Department of 

the Interior at the hearing before the Energy and Natural Resources on September 22, 2016, follows: 

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STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE

INTERIOR

Thank you for providing the Department of the Interior 

with the opportunity to present this Statement for the 

Record on S. 2056, the National Volcano Early Warning 

and Monitoring System Act. The Department strongly supports S. 2056 and shares its goal of improving public and 

aviation safety through comprehensive monitoring of the 

most threatening volcanoes in the United States and its 

Territories. 

The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) 

is the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) approach to upgrading and modernizing its monitoring networks to ensure that all active volcanoes in the United States and its 

Territories are monitored at levels commensurate with 

their threat. NVEWS priorities are based on a 2005 national assessment of volcano threat levels, which the 

USGS is in the process of revising to incorporate new 

knowledge. While several network upgrades were made 

possible through the American Reinvestment and Recovery 

Act (ARRA) stimulus of 2009–2011, the USGS has since 

been making opportunistic NVEWS upgrades funded out of 

existing base resources. The USGS has achieved 30% completion of network upgrades to NVEWS standards with 

some Very-High-Threat and High-Threat volcanoes lacking 

basic monitoring networks. As with existing efforts, any 

work conducted to fulfill the objectives of the bill would 

need to compete for funding with other Administration priorities. 

This legislation would enable the building out of the 

NVEWS network and will improve the USGS’ capabilities 

to detect eruption precursors at the earliest possible stages 

(usually weeks to months before an eruption) and to deliver probabilistic eruption forecasts and warnings to the 

public, land managers, emergency responders and the 

aviation sector. The success of volcanic hazard mitigation 

efforts is highly dependent upon the quality and comprehensiveness of the in-ground monitoring networks deployed on and around the Nation’s active volcanoes, the 

scientific expertise in our volcano observatories, and the 

preparedness of communities through well developed and 

regularly exercised volcano emergency response plans. 

The USGS is fully prepared to deliver an updated implementation plan for completion of the National Volcano 

Early Warning and Monitoring System for the Nation’s 

Very-High-Threat and High-Threat volcanoes in response 

to the legislation. The volcano research grants program 

that would be authorized under bill S. 2056 would allow 

the USGS to engage more of the Nation’s major universities in this basic and applied research and lead to advancement of the field of volcanology. The USGS has a 

successful track record of effective leveraging of resources 

with other federal agencies, state geological surveys and 

universities. An authorized grants program under bill S. 

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2056 would enable continued collaboration and design and 

development of promising and cost-effective volcano monitoring technologies of the future. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered reported. 

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