I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 876 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2019 

Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITION. 

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

5 ‘‘Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 

6 2019’’. 


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1 (b) CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE DEFINED.—In 

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

3 landward-dipping fault that is approximately 684 miles 

4 long, separates the Juan de Fuca and North America 

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

6 of the United States beginning off Cape Mendocino, Cali7 fornia, along the State of Oregon, the State of Wash8 ington, to Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 

9 SEC. 2. EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR 

10 CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE. 

11 (a) PLAN FOR PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION.— 

12 (1) DEVELOPMENT AND FUNDING.—The Ad13 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

14 Agency shall— 

15 (A) develop a plan for the purchase and in16 stallation of an earthquake early warning sys17 tem for the Cascadia Subduction Zone; and 

18 (B) identify the funds necessary for imple19 mentation of the plan. 

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

21 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

22 Administrator shall submit to the appropriate com23 mittees of Congress a copy of the plan. 

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

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


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1 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

2 a report that summarizes the actions taken to implement 

3 the plan. 

4 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi5 nitions apply: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON7 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con8 gress’’ means the Committee on Transportation and 

9 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 

10 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern11 mental Affairs of the Senate. 

12 (2) EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.— 

13 The term ‘‘earthquake early warning system’’ in14 cludes— 

15 (A) improvements to regional and geodetic 

16 networks that support building a capability for 

17 an earthquake early warning system; and 

18 (B) seismometers, Global Positioning Sys19 tem receivers, and associated infrastructure. 

20 SEC. 3. EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI TASK FORCE. 

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

22 Earthquake and Tsunami Task Force for the purpose of 

23 developing a comprehensive strategy and recommenda24 tions on how the Nation should prepare and plan for, miti25 gate against, respond to, recover from, and more successVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.IH H876

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1 fully adapt to a covered event in the Cascadia Subduction 

2 Zone. 

3 (b) TASK FORCE.— 

4 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the 

5 Task Force shall include a cross section of subject 

6 matter experts representing the following: 

7 (A) Relevant Federal agencies. 

8 (B) The States of Oregon, Washington, 

9 and California. 

10 (C) Indian tribes, local governments, and 

11 private sector representatives that may be im12 pacted by a covered event in the Cascadia 

13 Subduction Zone. 

14 (D) Universities, academia, and research 

15 institutions with expertise in topics relevant to 

16 the work of the Task Force. 

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

18 Administrator’s designee) shall serve as the chair19 person of the Task Force. 

20 (3) DETAILED EMPLOYEES.—Members of the 

21 Task Force may detail employees to assist the Ad22 ministrator (or the Administrator’s designee) in ful23 filling the responsibilities of the Task Force. 

24 (c) COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.— 


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1 (1) STRATEGY.—The comprehensive strategy to 

2 be developed under subsection (a) shall include the 

3 following: 

4 (A) A description of how Federal agencies 

5 will coordinate to develop the ability to prepare 

6 and plan for, mitigate against, respond to, re7 cover from, and more successfully adapt to the 

8 impacts of a covered event in the Cascadia 

9 Subduction Zone. 

10 (B) A strategy to ensure collaboration be11 tween the Department of Transportation, the 

12 Department of Energy, the Coast Guard, the 

13 Corps of Engineers, and other Federal agencies, 

14 as appropriate, for purposes of— 

15 (i) completing a needs assessment of 

16 Federal facilities in need of hardening for 

17 a covered event; and 

18 (ii) developing a strategic plan to 

19 mitigate and retrofit Federal, State, tribal, 

20 and local critical assets for freight, energy, 

21 and transit purposes to withstand a cov22 ered event and to help save lives during 

23 and immediately after a covered event. 

24 (C) A strategy— 


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

2 governments in developing and imple3 menting a coordinated and comprehensive 

4 plan to prioritize Federal, State, tribal, 

5 local, and private investments and activi6 ties to develop the ability to prepare and 

7 plan for, mitigate against, respond to, re8 cover from, and more successfully adapt to 

9 the impacts of a covered event in the 

10 Cascadia Subduction Zone; and 

11 (ii) to link any existing statewide miti12 gation plan with such a coordinated and 

13 comprehensive plan. 

14 (D) With respect to the strategy described 

15 in subparagraph (C), an examination of the fea16 sibility of the public sector, the private sector, 

17 and individuals to acquire earthquake insur18 ance. 

19 (E) An identification of funding opportuni20 ties to implement the comprehensive strategy 

21 and any recommendations made by the Task 

22 Force, including— 

23 (i) existing funding opportunities 

24 across Federal agencies and other sources; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) potential new funding opportuni2 ties. 

3 (F) An identification of barriers to obtain4 ing funding for the implementation of the com5 prehensive strategy and recommendations on 

6 how to remove the barriers. 

7 (G) A strategy for appropriate Federal 

8 agencies to collaborate with and assist State, 

9 tribal, and local governments in developing rec10 ommendations for cost-effective mitigation al11 ternatives for aging State, tribal, and locally 

12 owned critical infrastructure. 

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

14 and local governments in developing a recovery 

15 plan prior to a covered event in the Cascadia 

16 Subduction Zone that addresses how State, 

17 tribal, and local governments may want to re18 build after the event. 

19 (I) An identification of the steps taken to 

20 date to develop an onshore and offshore earth21 quake early warning system and a description 

22 of the purpose and scope of such a system. 

23 (J) An evaluation of the types of offshore 

24 earthquake early warning systems and rec25 ommendations and a cost estimate for an earthVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.IH H876

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1 quake early warning system appropriate for the 

2 Cascadia Subduction Zone. 

3 (K) Recommendations on how an earth4 quake early warning system should operate, in5 cluding whether and how the system should 

6 interface with the private sector. 

7 (L) A description of appropriate roles and 

8 responsibilities for Federal, State, local, and 

9 tribal governments, including who should oper10 ate and maintain an earthquake early warning 

11 system, the cost of the system, and possible 

12 funding sources for the system. 

13 (M) A plan on how to integrate an earth14 quake early warning system into existing and 

15 new public alert warning systems and tech16 nologies, including mobile systems. 

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

18 the comprehensive strategy, the Task Force may use 

19 existing plans, studies, and other resources. 

20 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The recommendations to 

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

22 include recommendations on— 

23 (1) potential administrative or legislative 

24 changes required to implement the comprehensive 

25 strategy; 


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1 (2) the funding required to implement the com2 prehensive strategy and the recommendations; and 

3 (3) the order of priority for implementation of 

4 the comprehensive strategy. 

5 (e) NATIONAL ACADEMIES.— 

6 (1) COLLABORATION.—The Task Force shall 

7 work simultaneously and collaboratively with the Na8 tional Academies. 

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

10 into an agreement with the National Academies 

11 under which the National Academies shall develop 

12 recommendations for a Federal research strategy to 

13 advance scientific understanding of a Cascadia 

14 Subduction Zone earthquake and resulting tsunami 

15 preparedness, including the following: 

16 (A) Geologic conditions, ground motions, 

17 and tsunami hazards. 

18 (B) Implications of an effective automated 

19 early warning system. 

20 (C) Effects of mega-earthquake and tsu21 nami events on the built and natural environ22 ment. 

23 (D) Social and behavioral factors for effec24 tive disaster preparedness and response. 


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1 (E) Cost-effective mitigation alternatives 

2 for legacy and aging infrastructure. 

3 (F) Strategic planning for freight, energy, 

4 and transit network robustness. 

5 (G) Tools that help communities invest 

6 their resources for the greatest benefit. 

7 (H) Any other topics identified as nec8 essary by the Task Force or the National Acad9 emies. 

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

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub12 mit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc13 ture of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

14 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

15 Senate a report of the Task Force that includes the fol16 lowing: 

17 (1) The comprehensive strategy to be developed 

18 under subsection (a). 

19 (2) The recommendations to be developed under 

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

21 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi22 nitions apply: 

23 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis24 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

25 Emergency Management Agency. 


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

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

3 earthquake and tsunami event. 

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

5 means the Federal interagency task force to be es6 tablished under subsection (a). 

7 SEC. 4. NATIONAL PREPARATION AND RESPONSE EFFORTS 

8 RELATING TO EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMIS. 

9 The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man10 agement Agency shall be responsible for the Nation’s ef11 forts to reduce the loss of life and property, and to protect 

12 the Nation, from an earthquake, tsunami, or combined 

13 earthquake and tsunami event by developing the ability 

14 to prepare and plan for, mitigate against, respond to, re15 cover from, and more successfully adapt to such an event. 

Æ 


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