I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 499 

To provide for the development of a global tsunami detection and warning 

system, to improve existing communication of tsunami warnings to all 

potentially affected nations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2005 

Mr. SHAYS (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

SANDERS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. MCCARTHY, and Mr. OWENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the development of a global tsunami detection 

and warning system, to improve existing communication 

of tsunami warnings to all potentially affected nations, 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Tsunami Detec5 tion and Warning System Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF TSUNAMI 

2 SENSORS. 

3 (a) RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECRETARY OF COM4 MERCE.—The Secretary of Commerce shall— 

5 (1) identify deficiencies in the existing system 

6 of worldwide seismic stations that can identify in 

7 real or near real time potentially tsunamigenic 

8 earthquakes in any location in the Pacific, Atlantic, 

9 or Indian Oceans and associated seas; 

10 (2) work with the Secretary of State to enlist 

11 international cooperation in deploying seismic sen12 sors to eliminate such deficiencies; 

13 (3) work with the Secretary of the Interior, 

14 through the Director of the United States Geological 

15 Survey to identify and implement any additions or 

16 improvements to the United States’ maintained net17 work of seismic stations that are necessary to im18 prove real time or near real time signal acquisition 

19 and processing capability for detection of potentially 

20 tsunamigenic seismic events; 

21 (4) identify tsunami sensors, such as those de22 veloped by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

23 Administration and deployed under its Deep Ocean 

24 Assessment and Report of Tsunamis Project, or 

25 other appropriate ocean-based sensors, that can be 

26 deployed to detect potential tsunamis generated by 
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1 any type of disturbance, including earthquake, un2 derwater landslide, above water landslide, eruption 

3 of an explosive volcano, and meteor impact; 

4 (5) identify the number and location of such 

5 sensors that must be deployed throughout the Atlan6 tic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, and associated seas, 

7 and any other bodies of water of concern, to provide 

8 a system offering complete global coverage for detec9 tion of a tsunami, taking into consideration and co10 ordinating with any regional systems in place or 

11 under development through other nations in the af12 fected regions; 

13 (6) procure and deploy such sensors; 

14 (7) establish the measurement system, forecast 

15 system, and communication system and infrastruc16 ture needed to receive and process the signals gen17 erated by such tsunami sensors, by building on exist18 ing infrastructure at existing Centers of the Na19 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

20 such as the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and 

21 West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Center; and 

22 (8) disseminate tsunami forecasts and warnings 

23 as necessary to all potentially affected nations. 

24 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
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1 of Commerce shall submit to Congress a report on the 

2 progress made in carrying out the requirements of sub3 section (a). 

4 SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL TSU5 NAMI DETECTION AND WARNING. 

6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON CONVENING CON7 FERENCE.—It is the sense of Congress that the President, 

8 in consultation with the leaders of nations described in 

9 section 4(a)(1), should undertake to convene, within 180 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, an inter11 national conference on global tsunami detection and warn12 ing for the purposes of— 

13 (1) supporting the common objective of such 

14 nations of preventing or reducing the toll of human 

15 loss from future tsunami-related natural disasters in 

16 the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans and associ17 ated seas; and 

18 (2) seeking international agreement on the most 

19 effective means for deploying and funding a global 

20 tsunami detection and warning system. 

21 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ALTERNATIVE AC22 TION.—It is further the sense of Congress that a con23 ference described in subsection (a) would not be necessary 

24 if, as determined by the President after consultation with 

25 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce, 
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1 satisfactory international agreement as described in para2 graph (2) of that subsection has been reached within 90 

3 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 4. NETWORK OF NATIONS POTENTIALLY AFFECTED BY 

5 TSUNAMIS. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR STRATEGY.—The Secretary 

7 of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, 

8 shall prepare and implement a comprehensive strategy to 

9 achieve the following objectives: 

10 (1) Identify all coastal nations that have the po11 tential to be adversely affected by tsunamis, particu12 larly the nations that border the Pacific, Indian, and 

13 Atlantic Oceans, and associated seas. 

14 (2) Identify appropriate organizations, agencies, 

15 and contacts within the governments of those na16 tions for disseminating tsunami warnings by work17 ing with— 

18 (A) the United Nations Educational, Sci19 entific, and Cultural Organization; and 

20 (B) other appropriate organizations. 

21 (3) Develop, with cooperating nations and their 

22 agencies and organizations, a structure for a Global 

23 Tsunami Warning System that has an appropriate 

24 number of regional operational headquarters. 
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1 (4) Identify, with cooperating nations and their 

2 agencies and organizations, and establish an appro3 priate chain of command structure to ensure that 

4 warnings of potential or approaching tsunamis are 

5 directed to the appropriate contacts in potentially af6 fected countries in a timely manner through the 

7 Global Tsunami Warning System network. 

8 (5) Implement, with cooperating nations and 

9 their agencies and organizations, a tsunami fore10 casting system that includes tsunami early detection 

11 and monitoring instrumentation integrated with 

12 modeling technology essential to producing real-time 

13 tsunami forecasts. 

14 (6) Utilize the forecasts developed under the 

15 tsunami forecasting system to form appropriate 

16 warnings, and rapidly disseminate such warnings to 

17 potentially affected nations. 

18 (7) Develop an appropriate warning commu19 nications system involving telephone, Internet, radio, 

20 fax, and other appropriate means to convey warn21 ings as rapidly as possible to all potentially affected 

22 nations. 

23 (8) Work in partnership with the nations identi24 fied as described in paragraph (1), as needed, to de25 velop, establish, and maintain appropriate edu-
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1 cational and response planning partnerships to en2 sure that tsunami warnings are properly interpreted 

3 by officials in other nations and that coastal commu4 nities respond appropriately to tsunami warnings. 

5 (9) Seek funding assistance from participating 

6 nations to fund the sensor systems identified under 

7 section 4 and the ongoing operation and mainte8 nance of such systems. 

9 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 of State shall submit to Congress a report on the strategy 

12 required under subsection (a). The report shall include the 

13 following: 

14 (1) The strategy. 

15 (2) The progress made on implementing the 

16 strategy. 

17 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 Funds are hereby authorized to be appropriated to 

19 carry out this Act as follows: 

20 (1) For fiscal year 2005, $30,000,000. 

21 (2) For each of fiscal years 2006 through 2014, 

22 $7,500,000. 

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