IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 876 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to carry out a plan for the purchase 

and installation of an earthquake early warning system 

for the Cascadia Subduction Zone, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITION. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 

4 2019’’. 

5 (b) CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE DEFINED.—In 

6 this Act, the term ‘‘Cascadia Subduction Zone’’ means the 

7 landward-dipping fault that is approximately 684 miles 

8 long, separates the Juan de Fuca and North America 

9 plates, and stretches along a portion of the western coast 

10 of the United States beginning off Cape Mendocino, Cali11 fornia, along the State of Oregon, the State of Wash12 ington, to Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 

13 SEC. 2. EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR 

14 CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE. 

15 (a) PLAN FOR PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION.— 

16 (1) DEVELOPMENT AND FUNDING.—The Ad17 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

18 Agency shall— 

19 (A) develop a plan for the purchase and in20 stallation of an earthquake early warning sys21 tem for the Cascadia Subduction Zone; and 

22 (B) identify the funds necessary for imple23 mentation of the plan. 

24 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

25 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 


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1 Administrator shall submit to the appropriate com2 mittees of Congress a copy of the plan. 

3 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

5 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

6 a report that summarizes the actions taken to implement 

7 the plan. 

8 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi9 nitions apply: 

10 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON11 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con12 gress’’ means the Committee on Transportation and 

13 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 

14 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern15 mental Affairs of the Senate. 

16 (2) EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.— 

17 The term ‘‘earthquake early warning system’’ in18 cludes— 

19 (A) improvements to regional and geodetic 

20 networks that support building a capability for 

21 an earthquake early warning system; and 

22 (B) seismometers, Global Positioning Sys23 tem receivers, and associated infrastructure. 


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1 SEC. 3. EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI TASK FORCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish an 

3 Earthquake and Tsunami Task Force for the purpose of 

4 developing a comprehensive strategy and recommenda5 tions on how the Nation should prepare and plan for, miti6 gate against, respond to, recover from, and more success7 fully adapt to a covered event in the Cascadia Subduction 

8 Zone. 

9 (b) TASK FORCE.— 

10 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the 

11 Task Force shall include a cross section of subject 

12 matter experts representing the following: 

13 (A) Relevant Federal agencies. 

14 (B) The States of Oregon, Washington, 

15 and California. 

16 (C) Indian tribes, local governments, and 

17 private sector representatives that may be im18 pacted by a covered event in the Cascadia 

19 Subduction Zone. 

20 (D) Universities, academia, and research 

21 institutions with expertise in topics relevant to 

22 the work of the Task Force. 

23 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Administrator (or the 

24 Administrator’s designee) shall serve as the chair25 person of the Task Force. 


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1 (3) DETAILED EMPLOYEES.—Members of the 

2 Task Force may detail employees to assist the Ad3 ministrator (or the Administrator’s designee) in ful4 filling the responsibilities of the Task Force. 

5 (c) COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.— 

6 (1) STRATEGY.—The comprehensive strategy to 

7 be developed under subsection (a) shall include the 

8 following: 

9 (A) A description of how Federal agencies 

10 will coordinate to develop the ability to prepare 

11 and plan for, mitigate against, respond to, re12 cover from, and more successfully adapt to the 

13 impacts of a covered event in the Cascadia 

14 Subduction Zone. 

15 (B) A strategy to ensure collaboration be16 tween the Department of Transportation, the 

17 Department of Energy, the Coast Guard, the 

18 Corps of Engineers, and other Federal agencies, 

19 as appropriate, for purposes of— 

20 (i) completing a needs assessment of 

21 Federal facilities in need of hardening for 

22 a covered event; and 

23 (ii) developing a strategic plan to 

24 mitigate and retrofit Federal, State, tribal, 

25 and local critical assets for freight, energy, 


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1 and transit purposes to withstand a cov2 ered event and to help save lives during 

3 and immediately after a covered event. 

4 (C) A strategy— 

5 (i) to assist State, tribal, and local 

6 governments in developing and imple7 menting a coordinated and comprehensive 

8 plan to prioritize Federal, State, tribal, 

9 local, and private investments and activi10 ties to develop the ability to prepare and 

11 plan for, mitigate against, respond to, re12 cover from, and more successfully adapt to 

13 the impacts of a covered event in the 

14 Cascadia Subduction Zone; and 

15 (ii) to link any existing statewide miti16 gation plan with such a coordinated and 

17 comprehensive plan. 

18 (D) With respect to the strategy described 

19 in subparagraph (C), an examination of the fea20 sibility of the public sector, the private sector, 

21 and individuals to acquire earthquake insur22 ance. 

23 (E) An identification of funding opportuni24 ties to implement the comprehensive strategy 


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1 and any recommendations made by the Task 

2 Force, including— 

3 (i) existing funding opportunities 

4 across Federal agencies and other sources; 

5 and 

6 (ii) potential new funding opportuni7 ties. 

8 (F) An identification of barriers to obtain9 ing funding for the implementation of the com10 prehensive strategy and recommendations on 

11 how to remove the barriers. 

12 (G) A strategy for appropriate Federal 

13 agencies to collaborate with and assist State, 

14 tribal, and local governments in developing rec15 ommendations for cost-effective mitigation al16 ternatives for aging State, tribal, and locally 

17 owned critical infrastructure. 

18 (H) A strategy for assisting State, tribal, 

19 and local governments in developing a recovery 

20 plan prior to a covered event in the Cascadia 

21 Subduction Zone that addresses how State, 

22 tribal, and local governments may want to re23 build after the event. 

24 (I) An identification of the steps taken to 

25 date to develop an onshore and offshore earthVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876

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1 quake early warning system and a description 

2 of the purpose and scope of such a system. 

3 (J) An evaluation of the types of offshore 

4 earthquake early warning systems and rec5 ommendations and a cost estimate for an earth6 quake early warning system appropriate for the 

7 Cascadia Subduction Zone. 

8 (K) Recommendations on how an earth9 quake early warning system should operate, in10 cluding whether and how the system should 

11 interface with the private sector. 

12 (L) A description of appropriate roles and 

13 responsibilities for Federal, State, local, and 

14 tribal governments, including who should oper15 ate and maintain an earthquake early warning 

16 system, the cost of the system, and possible 

17 funding sources for the system. 

18 (M) A plan on how to integrate an earth19 quake early warning system into existing and 

20 new public alert warning systems and tech21 nologies, including mobile systems. 

22 (2) USE OF EXISTING PLANS.—In developing 

23 the comprehensive strategy, the Task Force may use 

24 existing plans, studies, and other resources. 


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1 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The recommendations to 

2 be developed by the Task Force under subsection (a) shall 

3 include recommendations on— 

4 (1) potential administrative or legislative 

5 changes required to implement the comprehensive 

6 strategy; 

7 (2) the funding required to implement the com8 prehensive strategy and the recommendations; and 

9 (3) the order of priority for implementation of 

10 the comprehensive strategy. 

11 (e) NATIONAL ACADEMIES.— 

12 (1) COLLABORATION.—The Task Force shall 

13 work simultaneously and collaboratively with the Na14 tional Academies. 

15 (2) AGREEMENT.—The Task Force shall enter 

16 into an agreement with the National Academies 

17 under which the National Academies shall develop 

18 recommendations for a Federal research strategy to 

19 advance scientific understanding of a Cascadia 

20 Subduction Zone earthquake and resulting tsunami 

21 preparedness, including the following: 

22 (A) Geologic conditions, ground motions, 

23 and tsunami hazards. 

24 (B) Implications of an effective automated 

25 early warning system. 


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1 (C) Effects of mega-earthquake and tsu2 nami events on the built and natural environ3 ment. 

4 (D) Social and behavioral factors for effec5 tive disaster preparedness and response. 

6 (E) Cost-effective mitigation alternatives 

7 for legacy and aging infrastructure. 

8 (F) Strategic planning for freight, energy, 

9 and transit network robustness. 

10 (G) Tools that help communities invest 

11 their resources for the greatest benefit. 

12 (H) Any other topics identified as nec13 essary by the Task Force or the National Acad14 emies. 

15 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub17 mit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc18 ture of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

19 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

20 Senate a report of the Task Force that includes the fol21 lowing: 

22 (1) The comprehensive strategy to be developed 

23 under subsection (a). 

24 (2) The recommendations to be developed under 

25 subsections (a), (d), and (e). 


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1 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi2 nitions apply: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

5 Emergency Management Agency. 

6 (2) COVERED EVENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

7 event’’ means an earthquake, tsunami, or combined 

8 earthquake and tsunami event. 

9 (3) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

10 means the Federal interagency task force to be es11 tablished under subsection (a). 

Passed the House of Representatives February 6, 

2019. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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