109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1674

AN ACT

To authorize and strengthen the tsunami detection, forecast, 

warning, and mitigation program of the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration, to be carried out by 

the National Weather Service, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tsunami Warning and 

3 Education Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘Administration’’ means the Na7 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

8 (2) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad9 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos10 pheric Administration. 

11 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

12 The purposes of this Act are—

13 (1) to improve tsunami detection, forecasting, 

14 warnings, notification, outreach, and mitigation to 

15 protect life and property in the United States; 

16 (2) to enhance and modernize the existing Pa17 cific Tsunami Warning System to increase coverage, 

18 reduce false alarms, and increase the accuracy of 

19 forecasts and warnings, and to expand detection and 

20 warning systems to include other vulnerable States 

21 and United States territories, including the Atlantic 

22 Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico areas; 

23 (3) to improve mapping, modeling, research, 

24 and assessment efforts to improve tsunami detection, 

25 forecasting, warnings, notification, outreach, mitiga26 tion, response, and recovery; 
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1 (4) to improve and increase education and out2 reach activities and ensure that those receiving tsu3 nami warnings and the at-risk public know what to 

4 do when a tsunami is approaching; 

5 (5) to provide technical and other assistance to 

6 speed international efforts to establish regional tsu7 nami warning systems in vulnerable areas worldwide, 

8 including the Indian Ocean; and 

9 (6) to improve Federal, State, and international 

10 coordination for detection, warnings, and outreach 

11 for tsunami and other coastal impacts. 

12 SEC. 4. TSUNAMI FORECASTING AND WARNING PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, through the 

14 National Weather Service and in consultation with other 

15 relevant Administration offices, shall operate a program 

16 to provide tsunami detection, forecasting, and warnings 

17 for the Pacific and Arctic Ocean regions and for the Atlan18 tic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico region. 

19 (b) COMPONENTS.—The program under this section 

20 shall—

21 (1) include the tsunami warning centers estab22 lished under subsection (d); 

23 (2) utilize and maintain an array of robust tsu24 nami detection technologies; 
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1 (3) maintain detection equipment in operational 

2 condition to fulfill the detection, forecasting, and 

3 warning requirements of this Act; 

4 (4) provide tsunami forecasting capability based 

5 on models and measurements, including tsunami in6 undation models and maps for use in increasing the 

7 preparedness of communities, including through the 

8 TsunamiReady program; 

9 (5) maintain data quality and management sys10 tems to support the requirements of the program; 

11 (6) include a cooperative effort among the Ad12 ministration, the United States Geological Survey, 

13 and the National Science Foundation under which 

14 the Geological Survey and the National Science 

15 Foundation shall provide rapid and reliable seismic 

16 information to the Administration from international 

17 and domestic seismic networks; 

18 (7) provide a capability for the dissemination of 

19 warnings to at-risk States and tsunami communities 

20 through rapid and reliable notification to govern21 ment officials and the public, including utilization of 

22 and coordination with existing Federal warning sys23 tems, including the National Oceanic and Atmos24 pheric Administration Weather Radio All Hazards 

25 Program; 
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1 (8) allow, as practicable, for integration of tsu2 nami detection technologies with other environ3 mental observing technologies; and 

4 (9) include any technology the Administrator 

5 considers appropriate to fulfill the objectives of the 

6 program under this section. 

7 (c) SYSTEM AREAS.—The program under this section 

8 shall operate—

9 (1) a Pacific tsunami warning system capable 

10 of forecasting tsunami anywhere in the Pacific and 

11 Arctic Ocean regions and providing adequate warn12 ings; and 

13 (2) an Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf 

14 of Mexico tsunami warning system capable of fore15 casting tsunami and providing adequate warnings in 

16 areas of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and 

17 Gulf of Mexico that are determined—

18 (A) to be geologically active, or to have sig19 nificant potential for geological activity; and 

20 (B) to pose significant risks of tsunami for 

21 States along the coastal areas of the Atlantic 

22 Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico. 

23 (d) TSUNAMI WARNING CENTERS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, through 

2 the National Weather Service, shall maintain or es3 tablish—

4 (A) a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in 

5 Hawaii; 

6 (B) a West Coast and Alaska Tsunami 

7 Warning Center in Alaska; and 

8 (C) any additional forecast and warning 

9 centers determined by the National Weather 

10 Service to be necessary. 

11 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 

12 each tsunami warning center shall include—

13 (A) continuously monitoring data from 

14 seismological, deep ocean, and tidal monitoring 

15 stations; 

16 (B) evaluating earthquakes that have the 

17 potential to generate tsunami; 

18 (C) evaluating deep ocean buoy data and 

19 tidal monitoring stations for indications of tsu20 nami resulting from earthquakes and other 

21 sources; 

22 (D) disseminating forecasts and tsunami 

23 warning bulletins to Federal, State, and local 

24 government officials and the public; 
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1 (E) coordinating with the tsunami hazard 

2 mitigation program described in section 5 to en3 sure ongoing sharing of information between 

4 forecasters and emergency management offi5 cials; and 

6 (F) making data gathered under this Act 

7 and post-warning analyses conducted by the 

8 National Weather Service or other relevant Ad9 ministration offices available to researchers. 

10 (e) TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY; MAINTENANCE AND

11 UPGRADES.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 

13 the National Weather Service, in consultation with 

14 other relevant Administration offices, shall—

15 (A) develop requirements for the equip16 ment used to forecast tsunami, which shall in17 clude provisions for multipurpose detection plat18 forms, reliability and performance metrics, and 

19 to the maximum extent practicable how the 

20 equipment will be integrated with other United 

21 States and global ocean and coastal observation 

22 systems, the global earth observing system of 

23 systems, global seismic networks, and the Ad24 vanced National Seismic System; 
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1 (B) develop and execute a plan for the 

2 transfer of technology from ongoing research 

3 described in section 6 into the program under 

4 this section; and 

5 (C) ensure that maintaining operational 

6 tsunami detection equipment is the highest pri7 ority within the program carried out under this 

8 Act. 

9 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

10 (A) Not later than 1 year after the date of 

11 enactment of this Act, the National Weather 

12 Service, in consultation with other relevant Ad13 ministration offices, shall transmit to Congress 

14 a report on how the tsunami forecast system 

15 under this section will be integrated with other 

16 United States and global ocean and coastal ob17 servation systems, the global earth observing 

18 system of systems, global seismic networks, and 

19 the Advanced National Seismic System. 

20 (B) Not later than 3 years after the date 

21 of enactment to this Act, the National Weather 

22 Service, in consultation with other relevant Ad23 ministration offices, shall transmit a report to 

24 Congress on how technology developed under 
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1 section 6 is being transferred into the program 

2 under this section. 

3 (f) FEDERAL COOPERATION.—When deploying and 

4 maintaining tsunami detection technologies, the Adminis5 trator shall seek the assistance and assets of other appro6 priate Federal agencies. 

7 (g) ANNUAL EQUIPMENT CERTIFICATION.—At the 

8 same time Congress receives the budget justification docu9 ments in support of the President’s annual budget request 

10 for each fiscal year, the Administrator shall transmit to 

11 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

12 of the Senate and the Committee on Science of the House 

13 of Representatives a certification that—

14 (1) identifies the tsunami detection equipment 

15 deployed pursuant to this Act, as of December 31 of 

16 the preceding calendar year; 

17 (2) certifies which equipment is operational as 

18 of December 31 of the preceding calendar year; 

19 (3) in the case of any piece of such equipment 

20 that is not operational as of such date, identifies 

21 that equipment and describes the mitigation strategy 

22 that is in place—

23 (A) to repair or replace that piece of equip24 ment within a reasonable period of time; or 
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1 (B) to otherwise ensure adequate tsunami 

2 detection coverage; 

3 (4) identifies any equipment that is being devel4 oped or constructed to carry out this Act but which 

5 has not yet been deployed, if the Administration has 

6 entered into a contract for that equipment prior to 

7 December 31 of the preceding calendar year, and 

8 provides a schedule for the deployment of that 

9 equipment; and 

10 (5) certifies that the Administrator expects the 

11 equipment described in paragraph (4) to meet the 

12 requirements, cost, and schedule provided in that 

13 contract. 

14 (h) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATIONS.—The Adminis15 trator shall notify the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

16 and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Science of the House of Representatives within 30 days 

18 of—

19 (1) impaired regional forecasting capabilities 

20 due to equipment or system failures; and 

21 (2) significant contractor failures or delays in 

22 completing work associated with the tsunami fore23 casting and warning system. 

24 (i) REPORT.—Not later than January 31, 2010, the 

25 Comptroller General of the United States shall transmit 
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1 a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

2 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

3 Science of the House of Representatives that—

4 (1) evaluates the current status of the tsunami 

5 detection, forecasting, and warning system and the 

6 tsunami hazard mitigation program established 

7 under this Act, including progress toward tsunami 

8 inundation mapping of all coastal areas vulnerable to 

9 tsunami and whether there has been any degrada10 tion of services as a result of the expansion of the 

11 program; 

12 (2) evaluates the National Weather Service’s 

13 ability to achieve continued improvements in the de14 livery of tsunami detection, forecasting, and warning 

15 services by assessing policies and plans for the evo16 lution of modernization systems, models, and com17 putational abilities (including the adoption of new 

18 technologies); and 

19 (3) lists the contributions of funding or other 

20 resources to the program by other Federal agencies, 

21 particularly agencies participating in the program. 

22 (j) EXTERNAL REVIEW.—The Administrator shall 

23 enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of 

24 Sciences to review the tsunami detection, forecast, and 

25 warning program established under this Act to assess fur-
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1 ther modernization and coverage needs, as well as long2 term operational reliability issues, taking into account 

3 measures implemented under this Act. The review shall 

4 also include an assessment of how well the forecast equip5 ment has been integrated into other United States and 

6 global ocean and coastal observation systems and the glob7 al earth observing system of systems. Not later than 2 

8 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis9 trator shall transmit a report containing the National 

10 Academy of Sciences’ recommendations, the Administra11 tor’s responses to the recommendations, including those 

12 where the Administrator disagrees with the Academy, a 

13 timetable to implement the accepted recommendations, 

14 and the cost of implementing all the Academy’s rec15 ommendations, to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

16 and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Science of the House of Representatives. 

18 (k) REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish 

20 a process for monitoring and certifying contractor per21 formance in carrying out the requirements of any contract 

22 to construct or deploy tsunami detection equipment, in23 cluding procedures and penalties to be imposed in cases 

24 of significant contractor failure or negligence. 
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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, through the 

4 National Weather Service and in consultation with other 

5 relevant Administration offices, shall conduct a commu6 nity-based tsunami hazard mitigation program to improve 

7 tsunami preparedness of at-risk areas in the United States 

8 and its territories. 

9 (b) COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—In conducting the 

10 program under this section, the Administrator shall estab11 lish a coordinating committee comprising representatives 

12 of Federal, State, local, and tribal government officials. 

13 The Administrator may establish subcommittees to ad14 dress region-specific issues. The committee shall—

15 (1) recommend how funds appropriated for car16 rying out the program under this section will be allo17 cated; 

18 (2) ensure that areas described in section 4(c) 

19 in the United States and its territories can have the 

20 opportunity to participate in the program; 

21 (3) provide recommendations to the National 

22 Weather Service on how to improve the 

23 TsunamiReady program, particularly on ways to 

24 make communities more tsunami resilient through 

25 the use of inundation maps and other mitigation 

26 practices; and 
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1 (4) ensure that all components of the program 

2 are integrated with ongoing hazard warning and risk 

3 management activities, emergency response plans, 

4 and mitigation programs in affected areas, including 

5 integrating information to assist in tsunami evacu6 ation route planning. 

7 (c) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The program under 

8 this section shall—

9 (1) use inundation models that meet a standard 

10 of accuracy defined by the Administration to im11 prove the quality and extent of inundation mapping, 

12 including assessment of vulnerable inner coastal and 

13 nearshore areas, in a coordinated and standardized 

14 fashion to maximize resources and the utility of data 

15 collected; 

16 (2) promote and improve community outreach 

17 and education networks and programs to ensure 

18 community readiness, including the development of 

19 comprehensive coastal risk and vulnerability assess20 ment training and decision support tools, implemen21 tation of technical training and public education pro22 grams, and providing for certification of prepared 

23 communities; 

24 (3) integrate tsunami preparedness and mitiga25 tion programs into ongoing hazard warning and risk 
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1 management activities, emergency response plans, 

2 and mitigation programs in affected areas, including 

3 integrating information to assist in tsunami evacu4 ation route planning; 

5 (4) promote the adoption of tsunami warning 

6 and mitigation measures by Federal, State, tribal, 

7 and local governments and nongovernmental entities, 

8 including educational programs to discourage devel9 opment in high-risk areas; and 

10 (5) provide for periodic external review of the 

11 program. 

12 (d) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

13 be construed to require a change in the chair of any exist14 ing tsunami hazard mitigation program subcommittee. 

15 SEC. 6. TSUNAMI RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

16 The Administrator shall, in consultation with other 

17 agencies and academic institutions, and with the coordi18 nating committee established under section 5(b), establish 

19 or maintain a tsunami research program to develop detec20 tion, forecast, communication, and mitigation science and 

21 technology, including advanced sensing techniques, infor22 mation and communication technology, data collection, 

23 analysis, and assessment for tsunami tracking and numer24 ical forecast modeling. Such research program shall—
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1 (1) consider other appropriate research to miti2 gate the impact of tsunami; 

3 (2) coordinate with the National Weather Serv4 ice on technology to be transferred to operations; 

5 (3) include social science research to develop 

6 and assess community warning, education, and evac7 uation materials; and 

8 (4) ensure that research and findings are avail9 able to the scientific community. 

10 SEC. 7. GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION NET11 WORK. 

12 (a) INTERNATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM.—

13 The Administrator, through the National Weather Service 

14 and in consultation with other relevant Administration of15 fices, in coordination with other members of the United 

16 States Interagency Committee of the National Tsunami 

17 Hazard Mitigation Program, shall provide technical assist18 ance and training to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic 

19 Commission, the World Meteorological Organization, and 

20 other international entities, as part of international efforts 

21 to develop a fully functional global tsunami forecast and 

22 warning system comprising regional tsunami warning net23 works, modeled on the International Tsunami Warning 

24 System of the Pacific. 
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1 (b) INTERNATIONAL TSUNAMI INFORMATION CEN2 TER.—The Administrator, through the National Weather 

3 Service and in consultation with other relevant Adminis4 tration offices, in cooperation with the Intergovernmental 

5 Oceanographic Commission, shall operate an International 

6 Tsunami Information Center to improve tsunami pre7 paredness for all Pacific Ocean nations participating in 

8 the International Tsunami Warning System of the Pacific, 

9 and may also provide such assistance to other nations par10 ticipating in a global tsunami warning system established 

11 through the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commis12 sion. As part of its responsibilities around the world, the 

13 Center shall—

14 (1) monitor international tsunami warning ac15 tivities around the world; 

16 (2) assist member states in establishing na17 tional warning systems, and make information avail18 able on current technologies for tsunami warning 

19 systems; 

20 (3) maintain a library of materials to promul21 gate knowledge about tsunami in general and for use 

22 by the scientific community; and 

23 (4) disseminate information, including edu24 cational materials and research reports. 
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1 (c) DETECTION EQUIPMENT; TECHNICAL ADVICE

2 AND TRAINING.—In carrying out this section, the Na3 tional Weather Service—

4 (1) shall give priority to assisting nations in 

5 identifying vulnerable coastal areas, creating inunda6 tion maps, obtaining or designing real-time detection 

7 and reporting equipment, and establishing commu8 nication and warning networks and contact points in 

9 each vulnerable nation; 

10 (2) may establish a process for transfer of de11 tection and communication technology to affected 

12 nations for the purposes of establishing the inter13 national tsunami warning system; and 

14 (3) shall provide technical and other assistance 

15 to support international tsunami programs. 

16 (d) DATA-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The National 

17 Weather Service, when deciding to provide assistance 

18 under this section, may take into consideration the data 

19 sharing policies and practices of nations proposed to re20 ceive such assistance, with a goal to encourage all nations 

21 to support full and open exchange of data. 

22 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad24 ministrator to carry out this Act—
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1 (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, of 

2 which—

3 (A) not less than 27 percent of the amount 

4 appropriated shall be for the tsunami hazard 

5 mitigation program under section 5; and 

6 (B) not less than 8 percent of the amount 

7 appropriated shall be for the tsunami research 

8 program under section 6; 

9 (2) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, of 

10 which—

11 (A) not less than 27 percent of the amount 

12 appropriated shall be for the tsunami hazard 

13 mitigation program under section 5; and 

14 (B) not less than 8 percent of the amount 

15 appropriated shall be for the tsunami research 

16 program under section 6; 

17 (3) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, of 

18 which—

19 (A) not less than 27 percent of the amount 

20 appropriated shall be for the tsunami hazard 

21 mitigation program under section 5; and 

22 (B) not less than 8 percent of the amount 

23 appropriated shall be for the tsunami research 

24 program under section 6; 
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1 (4) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, of 

2 which—

3 (A) not less than 27 percent of the amount 

4 appropriated shall be for the tsunami hazard 

5 mitigation program under section 5; and 

6 (B) not less than 8 percent of the amount 

7 appropriated shall be for the tsunami research 

8 program under section 6; and 

9 (5) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, of 

10 which—

11 (A) not less than 27 percent of the amount 

12 appropriated shall be for the tsunami hazard 

13 mitigation program under section 5; and 

14 (B) not less than 8 percent of the amount 

15 appropriated shall be for the tsunami research 

16 program under section 6. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 6, 

2006. 

Attest:

Clerk. 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1674

AN ACT

To authorize and strengthen the tsunami detection, 

Service, and for other purposes.tion, to be carried out by the National Weather National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administraforecast, warning, and mitigation program of the