I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6234 

To reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2023 

Ms. BONAMICI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. TSUNAMI WARNING AND EDUCATION ACT RE4 AUTHORIZATION. 

5 (a) TITLE HEADING.—The Tsunami Warning and 

6 Education Act (enacted as title VIII of the Magnuson-Ste7 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthoriza8 tion Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–424)) is amended in 

9 the title heading, by inserting ‘‘RESEARCH,’’ after 

10 ‘‘WARNING,’’. 


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1 (b) PURPOSES.—Section 803 of the Tsunami Warn2 ing and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3202) is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘timeliness 

4 and’’ before ‘‘accuracy’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

6 the semicolon; 

7 (3) in paragraph (8), by striking the period and 

8 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (4) by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(9) to ensure data and metadata are managed, 

12 archived, and made fully available for operations, re13 search, education, and mitigation activities.’’. 

14 (c) TSUNAMI FORECASTING AND WARNING PRO15 GRAM.—Section 804 of the Tsunami Warning and Edu16 cation Act (33 U.S.C. 3203) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (b)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, using 

19 industry and scientific best practices,’’ after 

20 ‘‘operational condition’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

23 ‘‘global seismic network’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘Global Seismic Network’’; 


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1 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

2 (D), (E), (F), and (G), as subparagraphs 

3 (E), (F), (G), and (H), respectively; and 

4 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

5 (C) the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(D) the global navigation satellite system 

7 (GNSS) network;’’; 

8 (C) by amending paragraph (6) to read as 

9 follows: 

10 ‘‘(6) ensure data quality and management sys11 tems, support data and metadata access and 

12 archiving, and support the requirements of the pro13 gram pursuant to the Foundations for Evidence14 Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 

15 435) and chapter 31 of title 44, United States 

16 Code;’’; 

17 (D) in paragraph (7)— 

18 (i) by amending the matter preceding 

19 subparagraph (A) to read as follows: ‘‘in20 clude a cooperative effort among the Ad21 ministration, the United States Geological 

22 Survey (USGS), the National Aeronautics 

23 and Space Administration (NASA), and 

24 the National Science Foundation (NSF) 

25 under which the Director of USGS, the DiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Nov 13, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6234.IH H6234

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1 rector of the NSF, and the Administrator 

2 of NASA shall—’’; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new subparagraphs: 

7 ‘‘(C) provide reliable and real-time support 

8 for the GNSS network data streams from NSF, 

9 NASA, and USGS maintained networks, and 

10 supplement instrumentation coverage for rapid 

11 earthquake assessment; 

12 ‘‘(D) assess the data and information re13 lating to warning systems of collaborating agen14 cies for potential utilization in NOAA’s warning 

15 system, taking into consideration advancement 

16 in research and technology; and 

17 ‘‘(E) incorporate, as practicable, tsunami 

18 notifications and warnings in the USGS Earth19 quake Early Warning System;’’; 

20 (E) in paragraph (8)— 

21 (i) by inserting ‘‘ and decision support 

22 aides’’ after ‘‘graphical warning prod23 ucts,’’; and 

24 (ii) by inserting ‘‘-prone’’ after ‘‘tsu25 nami’’; 


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1 (F) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

2 after the semicolon; 

3 (G) in paragraph (10), by striking the pe4 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (H) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(11) update tsunami inundation maps, models, 

8 or other geographic products, in order to best sup9 port, as appropriate, relevant agencies with tsunami 

10 mitigation and recovery activities.’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and redesig13 nating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs 

14 (1) and (2), respectively; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (1), as so redesignated— 

16 (i) by striking ‘‘the Atlantic Ocean, 

17 including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of 

18 Mexico, that are determined—’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic 

20 Oceans, including the Caribbean Sea and 

21 Gulf of Mexico, that are determined to 

22 pose significant risks of tsunami for States 

23 and United States territories along the 

24 coastal areas of such regions; and’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 

2 (B); 

3 (3) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), 

4 and (g) as subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h), respec5 tively; 

6 (4) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(d) TSUNAMI WARNING ALERT LEVEL EVALUA9 TION.—The Administrator, in collaboration with social sci10 entists, emergency personnel, and high-risk communities, 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) evaluate tsunami alert levels terminology, 

13 timing, and effectiveness; 

14 ‘‘(2) determine if such alerts produce the de15 sired response and understanding from possible tsu16 nami-prone communities; and 

17 ‘‘(3) if necessary, update the alert level system 

18 for increased effectiveness.’’; 

19 (5) in subsection (e), as so redesignated— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (i) in the matter preceding subpara22 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘responsible for 

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1 national entities the Administrator deter2 mines appropriate’’ before the period; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

4 ‘‘which is primarily responsible for Alaska 

5 and the continental United States’’; and 

6 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

7 ‘‘which is primarily responsible for Hawaii, 

8 the Caribbean, and other areas of the Pa9 cific not covered by the National Center’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

12 ‘‘current,’’ after ‘‘sea level,’’; 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘and volcanic eruptions’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘volcanic eruptions, or other sources’’; 

16 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

17 ‘‘buoy data and tidal’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘coastal’’; 

19 (iv) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

20 ‘‘Integrated Ocean Observing System of 

21 the Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘United 

22 States and global ocean and coastal observ23 ing system’’; 

24 (v) in subparagraph (H), by inserting 

25 ‘‘monitoring needs,’’ after ‘‘response,’’; and 


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1 (vi) by amending subparagraph (I) to 

2 read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(I) Providing a Tsunami Warning Coordi4 nator to coordinate with partners and stake5 holders products and services of the centers 

6 supported or maintained under paragraph (1).’’; 

7 (C) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

8 follows: 

9 ‘‘(3) FAIL-SAFE WARNING CAPABILITY.—The 

10 Administrator shall support and maintain fail-safe 

11 warning capability for the tsunami warning centers 

12 supported or maintained under paragraph (1), and 

13 such centers shall conduct at least one service back 

14 up drill biannually.’’; 

15 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

16 (i) by amending the matter preceding 

17 subparagraph (A) to read as follows: ‘‘The 

18 Administrator shall coordinate with the 

19 weather forecast offices of the National 

20 Weather Service, the centers supported or 

21 maintained under paragraph (1), and such 

22 national and regional program offices of 

23 the Administration as the Administrator or 

24 the coordinating committee, as established 

25 in section 805(b)?, consider appropriate to 


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1 ensure that regional and local weather 

2 forecast offices—’’; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

4 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

5 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

6 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (iv) by adding at the end the following 

8 new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(D) conduct education and outreach ef10 forts to help prepare coastal communities for 

11 tsunami hazards.’’; and 

12 (E) in paragraph (5)— 

13 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

14 ‘‘UNIFORM’’ and inserting ‘‘STANDARD15 IZED’’; 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

17 ‘‘uniform’’ and inserting ‘‘standardized’’; 

18 and 

19 (iii) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by strik20 ing ‘‘uniform’’ and inserting ‘‘standard21 ized’’; and 

22 (F) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(7) REPORTING.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this paragraph 


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1 and annually thereafter until such time as all rel2 evant requirements have been satisfied, the Adminis3 trator shall provide to the Committee on Science, 

4 Space, and Technology of the House of Representa5 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

6 Transportation of the Senate an update briefing on 

7 the progress of the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) Standardizing products and proce9 dures under paragraph (5), including tsunami 

10 assessments, forecast guidance, and related 

11 products. 

12 ‘‘(B) Migrating the message generation 

13 systems of the centers supported or maintained 

14 under paragraph (1) to the Advanced Weather 

15 Information Processing Systems, or successor 

16 systems. 

17 ‘‘(C) The structural reorganization effort, 

18 if necessary, to align such centers’ organiza19 tional charts. 

20 ‘‘(D) The expected timeline for the full 

21 completion of standardizing such centers’ prod22 ucts and procedures.’’; 

23 (6) in subsection (f), as so redesignated— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) in the matter preceding subpara2 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘detect, measure, 

3 and’’ after ‘‘used to’’; 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

6 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

7 ‘‘and the Advanced National Seismic Sys8 tem’’ and inserting ‘‘the Advanced Na9 tional Seismic System, and the global navi10 gation satellite system (GNSS); and’’; and 

11 (iv) by adding at the end the following 

12 new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(D) ensure research is coordinated with 

14 tsunami warning operations;’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘accord16 ing to industry best practices’’ before the pe17 riod; and 

18 (7) in subsection (h)(2)(A), as so redesignated, 

19 by striking ‘‘accuracy of the tsunami model used’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘timeliness and accuracy of the fore21 cast used to issue the warning’’. 

22 (d) NATIONAL TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION PRO23 GRAM.—Section 805(c) of the Tsunami Warning and Edu24 cation Act (33 U.S.C. 3204(c)) is amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (5)— 


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1 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), 

2 (C), (D), (E), (F), and (G) as subparagraphs 

3 (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), and (H), respectively; 

4 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

5 the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(B) Coastal digital elevation models 

7 (DEMs) to support the development of inunda8 tion maps.’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

10 subparagraphs: 

11 ‘‘(I) Evaluation of the variation of inunda12 tion impact resulting from tsunami-driven sedi13 ment transport. 

14 ‘‘(J) Evaluation of tsunami debris impact 

15 on critical infrastructure (as such term is de16 fined in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 

17 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e))) and lifelines. 

18 ‘‘(K) High-resolution and high-quality dig19 ital elevation models needed for at-risk coast20 lines, ports, and harbors, particularly for re21 gions not covered by existing inundation 

22 maps.’’; and 

23 (2) in paragraph (7)(C), by inserting ‘‘and be24 havioral’’ after ‘‘social’’; 


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1 (e) TSUNAMI RESEARCH PROGRAM.—Section 806 of 

2 the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 

3 3205) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘section 805(d)’’ and in6 serting ‘‘section 805(b)’’; and 

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘and management’’ after 

8 ‘‘data collection’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘deploy11 ment and’’ after ‘‘may include’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘social 

13 science research’’ and inserting ‘‘social and be14 havioral science research, including data collec15 tion,’’; 

16 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

17 after the semicolon; 

18 (D) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

19 paragraph (8); and 

20 (E) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

21 following new paragraphs: 

22 ‘‘(5) develop and maintain a data portal for ad23 vancing research and model development; 

24 ‘‘(6) develop decision support tools; 


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1 ‘‘(7) leverage and prioritize research opportuni2 ties; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(c) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—Not 

6 later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of 

7 this subsection and not less frequently than every 36 

8 months thereafter, the Administrator, in consultation with 

9 the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological 

10 Services, shall develop a research and development and re11 search to operations plan to improve tsunami detection 

12 and forecasting capabilities that— 

13 ‘‘(1) identifies and prioritizes research and de14 velopment priorities to satisfy section 804; 

15 ‘‘(2) identifies key research needs for better de16 tecting tsunamis that may occur in open ocean and 

17 along the coastlines of the United States and its ter18 ritories, improve forecasting of tsunamis that are 

19 not seismically driven, and other opportunities deter20 mined appropriate; 

21 ‘‘(3) develops plans for transitioning research to 

22 operations; and 

23 ‘‘(4) identifies collaboration opportunities that 

24 may further and align tsunami research, develop25 ment, warnings, and operations between the centers 


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1 supported or maintained under section 804, the Na2 tional Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cen4 ter for Tsunami Research, the National Science 

5 Foundation, the United States Geological Survey, 

6 the Federal Emergency Management Agency, insti7 tutions of higher education, private entities, stake8 holders, and others determined appropriate.’’; 

9 (f) GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION

10 NETWORK.—Section 807(d) of the Tsunami Warning and 

11 Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3206(d)) is amended by insert12 ing ‘‘and management’’ after ‘‘data sharing’’; 

13 (g) TSUNAMI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY

14 PANEL.—Section 808(b)(1) of the Tsunami Warning and 

15 Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3206a(b)(1)) is amended by in16 serting ‘‘and behavioral’’ after ‘‘social’’; 

17 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

18 809 of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 

19 U.S.C. 3207) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 808. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad22 ministrator to carry out this title $32,000,000 for each 

23 of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, of which— 

24 ‘‘(1) not less than 27 percent of the amount ap25 propriated for each fiscal year shall be for activities 


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1 conducted at the State level under the national tsu2 nami hazard mitigation program under section 805; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) not less than 8 percent of the amount ap5 propriated shall be for the tsunami research pro6 gram under section 806.’’. 

Æ 


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