I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1674

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2005

Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. EHLERS, and Mr. WU) 

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

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Tsunami 

5 Warning and Education Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are—
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1 (1) to improve tsunami detection, forecasting, 

2 warnings, notification, preparedness, and mitigation 

3 to protect life and property both in the United 

4 States and elsewhere in the world; 

5 (2) to enhance and modernize the existing Pa6 cific Tsunami Warning System to increase coverage, 

7 reduce false alarms and increase the accuracy of 

8 forecasts and warnings, and to expand detection and 

9 warning systems to include other vulnerable States 

10 and United States territories, including the Atlantic 

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

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

13 and assessment efforts to improve tsunami fore14 casting, preparedness, mitigation, response, and re15 covery; 

16 (4) to improve and increase education and out17 reach activities and ensure that those receiving tsu18 nami warnings and the at-risk public know what to 

19 do when a tsunami is approaching; 

20 (5) to provide technical and other assistance to 

21 speed international efforts to establish regional tsu22 nami warning systems in vulnerable areas worldwide, 

23 including the Indian Ocean; and 
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1 (6) to improve Federal, State, and international 

2 coordination for tsunami and other coastal hazard 

3 warnings and preparedness. 

4 SEC. 3. TSUNAMI FORECASTING AND WARNING PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na6 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through 

7 the National Weather Service, shall operate a program to 

8 provide tsunami forecasting and warnings for the Pacific 

9 Ocean region and for the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, 

10 and Gulf of Mexico region. 

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

12 shall—

13 (1) include the tsunami warning centers estab14 lished under subsection (d); 

15 (2) provide tsunami forecasting capability based 

16 on models and measurements, including tsunami in17 undation models and maps for use in increasing the 

18 preparedness of communities, including through the 

19 TsunamiReady program; 

20 (3) include a cooperative effort among the Na21 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 

22 United States Geological Survey, and the National 

23 Science Foundation under which the Geological Sur24 vey and the National Science Foundation shall pro25 vide rapid and reliable seismic information to the 
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1 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

2 from international and domestic seismic networks; 

3 (4) provide a capability for the dissemination of 

4 warnings to at-risk States and tsunami communities 

5 through rapid and reliable notification to govern6 ment officials and the public through such means as 

7 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra8 tion weather radio and the All Hazard Alert Broad9 casting Radio; and 

10 (5) include any technology the Administrator 

11 considers appropriate to fulfill the objectives of the 

12 program under this section. 

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

14 shall operate—

15 (1) a Pacific tsunami warning system capable 

16 of forecasting tsunamis anywhere in the Pacific 

17 Ocean region and providing adequate warnings; and 

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

19 of Mexico tsunami warning system capable of fore20 casting tsunamis and providing adequate warnings 

21 in areas of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and 

22 Gulf of Mexico that the National Weather Service 

23 determines—

24 (A) to be geologically active, or to have sig25 nificant potential for geological activity; and 
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1 (B) to pose significant risks of tsunamis 

2 for States along the coastal areas of the Atlan3 tic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico. 

4 (d) TSUNAMI WARNING CENTERS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, through 

6 the National Weather Service, shall maintain or es7 tablish—

8 (A) a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in 

9 Hawaii; 

10 (B) a West Coast and Alaska Tsunami 

11 Warning Center in Alaska; and 

12 (C) any additional forecast and warning 

13 centers determined by the National Weather 

14 Service to be necessary. 

15 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 

16 each tsunami warning center shall include—

17 (A) continuously monitoring data from 

18 seismological, deep ocean, and tidal monitoring 

19 stations; 

20 (B) evaluating earthquakes that have the 

21 potential to generate tsunamis; 

22 (C) evaluating deep ocean buoy data and 

23 tidal monitoring stations for indications of tsu24 nami resulting from earthquakes and other 

25 sources; 
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1 (D) disseminating forecasts and tsunami 

2 warning bulletins to Federal, State, and local 

3 government officials and the public; 

4 (E) coordinating with the tsunami hazard 

5 mitigation program described in section 4 to en6 sure ongoing sharing of information between 

7 forecasters and emergency management offi8 cials; and 

9 (F) making data gathered under this Act 

10 and post-warning analyses conducted by the 

11 National Weather Service available to research12 ers. 

13 (e) TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY; MAINTENANCE AND

14 UPGRADES.—

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

16 the National Weather Service shall—

17 (A) develop requirements for the equip18 ment used to forecast tsunamis, which shall in19 clude provisions for multipurpose detection plat20 forms, reliability and performance metrics, and 

21 to the maximum extent practicable how the 

22 equipment will be integrated with other United 

23 States and global ocean and coastal observation 

24 systems, the global earth observing system of 
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1 systems, global seismic networks, and the Ad2 vanced National Seismic System; and 

3 (B) develop and execute a plan for the 

4 transfer of technology from ongoing research 

5 described in section 5 into the program under 

6 this section. 

7 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—(A) Not later than 

8 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

9 National Weather Service shall transmit to Congress 

10 a report on how the tsunami forecast system under 

11 this section will be integrated with other United 

12 States and global ocean and coastal observation sys13 tems, the global earth observing system of systems, 

14 global seismic networks, and the Advanced National 

15 Seismic System. 

16 (B) Not later than 3 years after the date of en17 actment to this Act, the National Weather Service 

18 shall transmit a report to Congress on how tech19 nology developed under section 5 is being trans20 ferred into the program under this section. 

21 (f) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATIONS.—The Adminis22 trator shall notify the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

23 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent24 atives Committee on Science within 3 months of—
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1 (1) impaired regional forecasting capabilities 

2 due to equipment or system failures; and 

3 (2) significant contractor failures or delays in 

4 completing work associated with the tsunami fore5 casting and warning system. 

6 (g) EXTERNAL REVIEW.—The Administrator of the 

7 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

8 enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of 

9 Sciences to review the tsunami detection, forecast, and 

10 warning program operated by the National Weather Serv11 ice under this Act to assess further modernization and cov12 erage needs, as well as long-term operational reliability 

13 issues, taking into account measures implemented under 

14 this Act. The review shall also include an assessment of 

15 how well the forecast equipment has been integrated into 

16 other United States and global ocean and coastal observa17 tion systems and the global earth observing system of sys18 tems. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit a report con20 taining the National Academy of Sciences’ recommenda21 tions, the Administrator’s responses to the recommenda22 tions, including those where the Administrator disagrees 

23 with the Academy, a timetable to implement the accepted 

24 recommendations, and the cost of implementing all the 

25 Academy’s recommendations, to the Senate Committee on 
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1 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of 

2 Representatives Committee on Science. 

3 SEC. 4. TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na5 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through 

6 the National Weather Service, shall conduct a community7 based tsunami hazard mitigation program to improve tsu8 nami preparedness of at-risk areas in the United States 

9 and its territories. 

10 (b) COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—In conducting the 

11 program under this section, the Administrator shall estab12 lish a coordinating committee comprising representatives 

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

14 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 3(c) 

19 in the United States and its territories can have the 

20 opportunity to participate in the program; and 

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 
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1 the use of inundation maps and other mitigation 

2 practices. 

3 (c) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The program under 

4 this section shall—

5 (1) use National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad6 ministration inundation models to improve the qual7 ity and extent of inundation mapping, including as8 sessment of vulnerable inner coastal areas; 

9 (2) promote and improve community outreach 

10 and education networks and programs to ensure 

11 community readiness, including the development of 

12 multi-hazard risk and vulnerability assessment train13 ing and decision support tools, implementation of 

14 technical training and public education programs, 

15 and provide for certification of prepared commu16 nities; 

17 (3) integrate tsunami preparedness and mitiga18 tion programs into ongoing hazard warning and risk 

19 management programs in affected areas; 

20 (4) promote the adoption of tsunami warning 

21 and mitigation measures by Federal, State, tribal, 

22 and local governments and nongovernmental entities, 

23 including educational programs to discourage devel24 opment in high-risk areas; and 
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1 (5) provide for periodic external review of the 

2 program. 

3 SEC. 5. TSUNAMI RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

4 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and At5 mospheric Administration shall, in consultation with other 

6 agencies and academic institutions, establish or maintain 

7 a tsunami research program to develop detection, forecast, 

8 communication, and mitigation science and technology, in9 cluding advanced sensing techniques, information and 

10 communication technology, data collection, analysis, and 

11 assessment for tsunami tracking and numerical forecast 

12 modeling. Such research program shall—

13 (1) consider other appropriate research to miti14 gate the impact of tsunamis; 

15 (2) coordinate with the National Weather Serv16 ice on technology to be transferred to operations; 

17 and 

18 (3) ensure that research and findings are avail19 able to the scientific community. 

20 SEC. 6. GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION NET21 WORK. 

22 (a) INTERNATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM.—

23 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos24 pheric Administration, through the National Weather 

25 Service, in coordination with other members of the United 
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1 States Interagency Committee of the National Tsunami 

2 Mitigation Program, shall provide technical assistance and 

3 training to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commis4 sion, the World Meteorological Organization, and other 

5 international entities, as part of international efforts to 

6 develop a fully functional global tsunami forecast and 

7 warning system comprising regional tsunami warning net8 works, modeled on the International Tsunami Warning 

9 System of the Pacific. 

10 (b) INTERNATIONAL TSUNAMI INFORMATION CEN11 TER.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic and At12 mospheric Administration, through the National Weather 

13 Service, shall operate an International Tsunami Informa14 tion Center to improve tsunami preparedness for all Pa15 cific Ocean nations participating in the International Tsu16 nami Warning System of the Pacific, and which may also 

17 provide such assistance to other nations participating in 

18 a global tsunami warning system established through the 

19 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. As part of 

20 its responsibilities around the world, the Center shall—

21 (1) monitor international tsunami warning ac22 tivities around the world; 

23 (2) assist member states in establishing na24 tional warning systems, and make information avail-
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1 able on current technologies for tsunami warning 

2 systems; 

3 (3) maintain a library of materials to promul4 gate knowledge about tsunamis in general and for 

5 use by the scientific community; and 

6 (4) disseminate information, including edu7 cational materials and research reports. 

8 (c) DETECTION EQUIPMENT; TECHNICAL ADVICE

9 AND TRAINING.—In carrying out this section, the Na10 tional Weather Service—

11 (1) shall give priority to assisting nations in 

12 identifying vulnerable coastal areas, creating inunda13 tion maps, obtaining or designing real-time detection 

14 and reporting equipment, and establishing commu15 nication and warning networks and contact points in 

16 each vulnerable nation; and 

17 (2) may establish a process for transfer of de18 tection and communication technology to affected 

19 nations for the purposes of establishing the inter20 national tsunami warning system. 

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

22 Weather Service may not provide assistance under this 

23 section for any nation unless that nation agrees to share 

24 relevant data or products associated with the development 
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1 and operation of the tsunami warning network in that re2 gion. 

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad5 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad6 ministration $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 

7 through 2008 to carry out this Act. Of the amounts appro8 priated for any fiscal year authorized under this Act—

9 (1) 70 percent shall be for the tsunami forecast 

10 and warning systems under section 3 and inter11 national activities under section 6; 

12 (2) 20 percent shall be for the tsunami hazard 

13 mitigation program under section 4; and 

14 (3) 10 percent shall be for the tsunami research 

15 program under section 5.

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