I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4776 

To establish a national program to identify landslide hazards and reduce 

loss from landslides, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2016 

Ms. DELBENE (for herself, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. LEE, Mr. KILMER, and Mr. HECK of Washington) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology, 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 establish a national program to identify landslide hazards 

and reduce loss from landslides, 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 ‘‘National Landslide 

5 Loss Reduction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

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1 (1) While landslides can and do occur in every 

2 State and territory of the United States, the type, 

3 including sink holes, ground fissures, and subsid4 ence, the severity, and frequency of landslides vary 

5 from place to place, depending on the terrain, geol6 ogy, seismicity and climate. 

7 (2) Landslides in the United States cause an 

8 estimated $3,000,000,000 in damage each year, and 

9 that estimation could be improved through better 

10 tracking of landslide occurrences and losses. 

11 (3) The most recent official estimate of deaths 

12 from landslides in the United States was in 1985, 

13 and it found that landslides kill an estimated 25 to 

14 50 people each year. 

15 (4) On March 22, 2014, a massive landslide 

16 near Oso, Washington, killed 43 people, engulfed 42 

17 homes, and severely damaged public infrastructure 

18 and private property. 

19 (5) There is no collective landslide inventory for 

20 most counties, States, or the United States, nor is 

21 there an agreed-upon methodology for creating one, 

22 since the availability of Light Detection and Rang23 ing (LIDAR), a powerful tool for creating landslide 

24 inventories, is uneven and the quality is highly vari25 able. 

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1 (6) Because landslide hazard analysis continues 

2 to evolve, developing analysis methods is an impor3 tant element of technical assistance for nongovern4 mental entities and State and local governments. 

5 SEC. 3. NATIONAL LANDSLIDE HAZARDS REDUCTION PRO6 GRAM. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior, 

8 acting through the Director of the United States Geologi9 cal Survey, shall establish a national program to identify 

10 landslide hazards and reduce losses from landslides 

11 through activities under this section. 

12 (b) USGS PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of 

13 the Interior, acting through the Director of the United 

14 States Geological Survey, shall— 

15 (1) develop a national strategy for research on 

16 landslides and landslide hazards; 

17 (2) develop and maintain a landslide hazard as18 sessment system to identify, map, and assess land19 slide hazards; 

20 (3) in coordination with the State Geological 

21 Surveys, USGS shall conduct Federal-State working 

22 groups to establish regional priorities for identifying, 

23 mapping, and assessing landslide hazards as well as 

24 develop and implement guidelines for geologists and 

25 geological and geotechnical engineers; 

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1 (4) develop and maintain a national landslide 

2 hazard inventory database; 

3 (5) compile, maintain, and evaluate data on— 

4 (A) the nationwide impact of landslides on 

5 health and safety, the economy, and the envi6 ronment; and 

7 (B) landslide hazard stabilization and re8 duction of losses from landslides; and 

9 (6) in coordination with the Assistant Adminis10 trator for Weather Services for the National Oceanic 

11 and Atmospheric Administration and Director, Na12 tional Weather Service, the Administrator of the 

13 Federal Emergency Management Agency, and State 

14 Geological Surveys, develop and disseminate guide15 lines and training materials for planners and deci16 sionmakers on the use of the landslide hazard as17 sessment system and on reducing losses from land18 slides. 

19 (c) NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ACTIVITIES.—The 

20 Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Assistant Ad21 ministrator for Weather Services for the National Oceanic 

22 and Atmospheric Administration and Director, National 

23 Weather Service, in consultation with others qualified to 

24 provide advice, as necessary, shall develop and disseminate 

25 landslide-related curricula and training modules for State 

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1 and local elected and appointed officials and Federal, 

2 State, local, and tribal emergency managers. 

3 (d) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON

4 LANDSLIDES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an 

6 Interagency Coordinating Committee on Landslides 

7 (in this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’) 

8 chaired by the Director of the United States Geo9 logical Survey. 

10 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be 

11 composed of the Directors, or their designees, of— 

12 (A) the Federal Emergency Management 

13 Agency; 

14 (B) the National Science Foundation; 

15 (C) the National Institute of Standards 

16 and Technology; 

17 (D) the Office of Science and Technology 

18 Policy; 

19 (E) the National Weather Service; and 

20 (F) the Office of Management and Budget. 

21 (3) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet not 

22 less than 3 times a year at the call of the chair. 

23 (4) PURPOSE AND DUTIES.—The Committee 

24 shall— 

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1 (A) oversee the planning, management, 

2 and coordination of the program established 

3 under subsection (a); 

4 (B) develop, not later than 6 months after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, and up6 date periodically— 

7 (i) a strategic plan that establishes 

8 goals and priorities for such program; and 

9 (ii) a detailed management plan to 

10 implement such strategic plan; and 

11 (C) develop a coordinated interagency 

12 budget for such program. 

13 (5) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Committee shall 

14 transmit an annual report to Congress which shall 

15 include— 

16 (A) the budget developed under paragraph 

17 (4)(C), reported by agency and by each goal es18 tablished under paragraph (4)(B)(i); 

19 (B) a description of the activities of the 

20 Committee under this subsection and the re21 sults of such activities during the previous year; 

22 and 

23 (C) a description of the extent to which 

24 any recommendations of the Advisory Com25 mittee have been implemented. 

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1 (6) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

3 United States Geological Survey shall establish 

4 an Advisory Committee on Landslides (in this 

5 subsection referred to as the ‘‘Advisory Com6 mittee’’). 

7 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—There shall be at least 

8 11 members of the Advisory Committee, none 

9 of whom may be an individual described in sub10 paragraphs (A) through (F) of section 

11 7342(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code. The 

12 Advisory Committee shall include representa13 tives of— 

14 (i) State geologists; 

15 (ii) research and academic institutions 

16 who are qualified to provide advice on 

17 landslide hazards reduction and represent 

18 all related scientific, architectural, and en19 gineering disciplines; 

20 (iii) industry standards development 

21 organizations; and 

22 (iv) State, local, and tribal emergency 

23 management agencies. 

24 (C) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Advisory 

25 Committee may submit recommendations to the 

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1 Committee, which shall consider any rec2 ommendations so submitted. 

3 (e) GRANT PROGRAMS.— 

4 (1) COOPERATIVE LANDSLIDE HAZARD MAP5 PING AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

7 Interior shall make grants, administered 

8 through the United States Geological Survey, 

9 on a competitive basis to support the efforts of 

10 State and local governments to map and assess 

11 landslide hazards within the jurisdictions of 

12 such governments. 

13 (B) PRIORITY.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

15 consult annually with State Geological Sur16 veys to establish priorities for the grant 

17 program established under this paragraph. 

18 (ii) MATCHING FUND

19 PRIORITIZATION.—The Secretary shall 

20 prioritize a grant for a project under this 

21 paragraph to an entity that provides such 

22 assurances as the Secretary considers nec23 essary that the entity will receive up to 50 

24 percent of the total cost of the project 

25 from non-Federal sources. 

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1 (C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA2 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated to the Secretary $8,000,000 for fiscal 

4 year 2017 and each fiscal year thereafter to 

5 carry out this paragraph. 

6 (2) PARTNERSHIPS FOR LANDSLIDE LOSS RE7 DUCTION PROGRAM.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

9 Interior, working with the National Science 

10 Foundation, shall make grants, on a competi11 tive basis, to support efforts by institutions of 

12 higher education, State and local governments, 

13 and nongovernmental entities to research land14 slides. 

15 (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA16 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro17 priated $10,400,000 for fiscal year 2017 and 

18 each fiscal year thereafter to carry out this 

19 paragraph. 

20 (3) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary of the 

21 Interior shall annually submit to Congress a report 

22 on the grants awarded under this subsection with re23 spect to a year, including the following information: 

24 (A) A list of activities under such grants 

25 during such year. 

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1 (B) The results of such activities. 

Æ 

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