I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5309 

To authorize and strengthen the tsunami detection, forecast, warning, research, and mitigation program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SCHRADER, and Mr. DEFAZIO) 

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

Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To authorize and strengthen the tsunami detection, forecast, 

warning, research, and mitigation program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 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 ‘‘Tsunami Warning, 

5 Education, and Research Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND EDU2 CATION ACT. 

3 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

4 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

5 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi6 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

7 section or other provision of the Tsunami Warning and 

8 Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.). 

9 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF PURPOSES OF TSUNAMI WARNING 

10 AND EDUCATION ACT. 

11 Section 3 (33 U.S.C. 3202) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘research,’’ 

13 after ‘‘warnings,’’; 

14 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol15 lows: 

16 ‘‘(2) to enhance and modernize the existing 

17 United States Tsunami Warning System to increase 

18 the accuracy of forecasts and warnings, to maintain 

19 full coverage of tsunami detection assets, and to re20 duce false alarms;’’; 

21 (3) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(3) to improve and develop standards and 

24 guidelines for mapping, modeling, and assessment 

25 efforts to improve tsunami detection, forecasting, 


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1 warnings, notification, mitigation, resiliency, re2 sponse, outreach, and recovery;’’; 

3 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), and 

4 (6) as paragraphs (5), (6), and (8), respectively; 

5 (5) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(4) to improve research efforts related to im8 proving tsunami detection, forecasting, warnings, no9 tification, mitigation, resiliency, response, outreach, 

10 and recovery;’’; 

11 (6) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and increase’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘, increase, and develop uniform standards 

14 and guidelines for’’; and 

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘, including the warning 

16 signs of locally generated tsunami’’ after ‘‘ap17 proaching’’; 

18 (7) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, by 

19 striking ‘‘, including the Indian Ocean; and’’ and in20 serting a semicolon; and 

21 (8) by inserting after paragraph (6), as so re22 designated, the following: 

23 ‘‘(7) to foster resilient communities in the face 

24 of tsunami and other coastal hazards; and’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF TSUNAMI FORECASTING AND 

2 WARNING PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 4 (33 

4 U.S.C. 3203) is amended by striking ‘‘Atlantic Ocean, 

5 Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico region’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘Atlantic Ocean region, including the Caribbean Sea and 

7 the Gulf of Mexico’’. 

8 (b) COMPONENTS.—Subsection (b) of such section 4 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘established’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘supported or maintained’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and safe13 guarding port and harbor operations’’ after ‘‘com14 munities’’; 

15 (3) in paragraph (7)— 

16 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including graphical 

17 warning products,’’ after ‘‘warnings’’; 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘, territories,’’ after 

19 ‘‘States’’; and 

20 (C) by inserting ‘‘and Wireless Emergency 

21 Alerts’’ after ‘‘Hazards Program’’; and 

22 (4) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘and com23 mercial and Federal undersea communications ca24 bles’’ after ‘‘observing technologies’’. 

25 (c) TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM.—Subsection (c) of 

26 such section 4 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(c) TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM.—The program 

2 under this section shall operate a tsunami warning system 

3 that— 

4 ‘‘(1) is capable of forecasting tsunami, includ5 ing forecasting tsunami arrival time and inundation 

6 estimates, anywhere in the Pacific and Arctic Ocean 

7 regions and providing adequate warnings; 

8 ‘‘(2) is capable of forecasting and providing 

9 adequate warnings in areas of the Atlantic Ocean, 

10 including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, 

11 that are determined— 

12 ‘‘(A) to be geologically active, or to have 

13 significant potential for geological activity; and 

14 ‘‘(B) to pose significant risks of tsunami 

15 for States along the coastal areas of the Atlan16 tic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(3) supports other international tsunami fore19 casting and warning efforts.’’. 

20 (d) TSUNAMI WARNING CENTERS.—Subsection (d) 

21 of such section 4 is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(d) TSUNAMI WARNING CENTERS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

24 support or maintain centers, as part of the National 

25 Centers for Environmental Prediction, to support 


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1 the tsunami warning system required by subsection 

2 (c). The Centers shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) the National Tsunami Warning Cen4 ter, located in Alaska, which is primarily re5 sponsible for Alaska, the continental United 

6 States, and the Caribbean; 

7 ‘‘(B) the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, 

8 located in Hawaii, which is primarily respon9 sible for Hawaii and other areas of the Pacific 

10 not covered by the National Center; and 

11 ‘‘(C) any additional forecast and warning 

12 centers determined by the National Weather 

13 Service to be necessary. 

14 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities 

15 of the centers supported or maintained pursuant to 

16 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) Continuously monitoring data from 

18 seismological, deep ocean, coastal sea level, and 

19 tidal monitoring stations and other data sources 

20 as may be developed and deployed. 

21 ‘‘(B) Evaluating earthquakes, landslides, 

22 and volcanic eruptions that have the potential 

23 to generate tsunami. 

24 ‘‘(C) Evaluating deep ocean buoy data and 

25 tidal monitoring stations for indications of tsuVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:11 Aug 09, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5309.IH H5309

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1 nami resulting from earthquakes and other 

2 sources. 

3 ‘‘(D) To the extent practicable, utilizing a 

4 range of models to predict tsunami arrival 

5 times and flooding estimates. 

6 ‘‘(E) Disseminating forecasts and tsunami 

7 warning bulletins to Federal, State, and local 

8 government officials and the public. 

9 ‘‘(F) Coordinating with the tsunami haz10 ard mitigation program conducted under section 

11 5 to ensure ongoing sharing of information be12 tween forecasters and emergency management 

13 officials. 

14 ‘‘(G) Making data gathered under this Act 

15 and post-warning analyses conducted by the 

16 National Weather Service or other relevant Ad17 ministration offices available to researchers. 

18 ‘‘(3) FAIL-SAFE WARNING CAPABILITY.—The 

19 tsunami warning centers supported or maintained 

20 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall maintain a fail-safe 

21 warning capability and ability to perform back-up 

22 duties for each other. 

23 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL WEATHER

24 SERVICE.—The National Weather Service shall co25 ordinate with the centers supported or maintained 


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1 pursuant to paragraph (1) to ensure that regional 

2 and local forecast offices— 

3 ‘‘(A) have the technical knowledge and ca4 pability to disseminate tsunami warnings for 

5 the communities they serve; and 

6 ‘‘(B) leverage connections with local emer7 gency management officials for optimally dis8 seminating tsunami warnings and forecasts. 

9 ‘‘(5) UNIFORM OPERATING PROCEDURES.—The 

10 Administrator shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) develop uniform operational proce12 dures for the centers supported or maintained 

13 pursuant to paragraph (1), including the use of 

14 software applications, checklists, decision sup15 port tools, and tsunami warning products that 

16 have been standardized across the program sup17 ported under this section; 

18 ‘‘(B) ensure that processes and products of 

19 the warning system operated pursuant to sub20 section (c)— 

21 ‘‘(i) reflect industry best practices; 

22 ‘‘(ii) conform to the maximum extent 

23 practicable with internationally recognized 

24 standards for information technology; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) conform to the maximum extent 

2 practicable with other warning products 

3 and practices of the National Weather 

4 Service; 

5 ‘‘(C) ensure that future adjustments to 

6 operational protocols, processes, and warning 

7 products— 

8 ‘‘(i) are made consistently across the 

9 warning system operated pursuant to sub10 section (c); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) are applied in a uniform manner 

12 across such warning system; and 

13 ‘‘(D) disseminate guidelines and metrics 

14 for evaluating and improving tsunami forecast 

15 models. 

16 ‘‘(6) AVAILABLE RESOURCES.—The Adminis17 trator, through the National Weather Service, shall 

18 ensure that resources are available to fulfill the obli19 gations of this Act. This includes ensuring super20 computing resources are available to run such com21 puter models as are needed for purposes of the tsu22 nami warning system operated pursuant to sub23 section (c).’’. 


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1 (e) TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY; MAINTENANCE AND

2 UPGRADES.—Subsection (e) of such section 4 is amended 

3 to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(e) TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY; MAINTENANCE

5 AND UPGRADES.—In carrying out this section, the Admin6 istrator shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) develop requirements for the equipment 

8 used to forecast tsunami, including— 

9 ‘‘(A) provisions for multipurpose detection 

10 platforms; 

11 ‘‘(B) reliability and performance metrics; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(C) to the maximum extent practicable, 

14 requirements for the integration of equipment 

15 with other United States and global ocean and 

16 coastal observation systems, the global Earth 

17 observing system of systems, the global seismic 

18 networks, and the Advanced National Seismic 

19 System; 

20 ‘‘(2) develop and execute a plan for the transfer 

21 of technology from ongoing research conducted as 

22 part of the program supported or maintained under 

23 section 6 into the program under this section; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) ensure that the Administration’s oper2 ational tsunami detection equipment is properly 

3 maintained.’’. 

4 (f) FEDERAL COOPERATION.—Subsection (f) of such 

5 section 4 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL COOPERATION.—When deploying and 

7 maintaining tsunami detection technologies under the pro8 gram under this section, the Administrator shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) identify which assets of other Federal 

10 agencies are necessary to support such program; and 

11 ‘‘(2) work with each agency identified under 

12 paragraph (1)— 

13 ‘‘(A) to acquire the agency’s assistance; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) to prioritize the necessary assets.’’. 

16 (g) UNNECESSARY PROVISIONS.—Such section 4 is 

17 further amended by striking subsections (g) through (k). 

18 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF NATIONAL TSUNAMI HAZARD 

19 MITIGATION PROGRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 (33 U.S.C. 3204) is 

21 amended by striking subsections (a) through (d) and in22 serting the following: 

23 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Administrator, in 

24 consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Emer25 gency Management Agency and the heads of such other 


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1 agencies as the Administrator considers relevant, shall 

2 conduct a community-based tsunami hazard mitigation 

3 program to improve tsunami preparedness and resiliency 

4 of at-risk areas in the United States and the territories 

5 of the United States. 

6 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The Program con7 ducted pursuant to subsection (a) shall include the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(1) Technical and financial assistance to 

10 coastal States, territories, tribes, and local govern11 ments to develop and implement activities under this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(2) Integration of tsunami preparedness and 

14 mitigation programs into ongoing State-based haz15 ard warning, resilience planning, and risk manage16 ment activities, including predisaster planning, emer17 gency response, evacuation planning, disaster recov18 ery, hazard mitigation, and community development 

19 and redevelopment programs in affected areas. 

20 ‘‘(3) Activities to promote the adoption of tsu21 nami resilience, preparedness, warning, and mitiga22 tion measures by Federal, State, territorial, tribal, 

23 and local governments and nongovernmental entities, 

24 including educational and risk communication pro25 grams to discourage development in high-risk areas. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Activities to support the development of 

2 regional tsunami hazard and risk assessments, using 

3 inundation models that meet programmatic stand4 ards for accuracy. Such regional risk assessments 

5 may include the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) The sources, sizes, and histories of 

7 tsunami in that region. 

8 ‘‘(B) Inundation models and maps of crit9 ical infrastructure and socioeconomic vulner10 ability in areas subject to tsunami inundation. 

11 ‘‘(C) Maps of evacuation areas and evacu12 ation routes. 

13 ‘‘(D) Evaluations of the size of populations 

14 that will require evacuation, including popu15 lations with special evacuation needs. 

16 ‘‘(5) Activities to support the development of 

17 community-based outreach and education programs 

18 to ensure community readiness and resilience, in19 cluding the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) The development, implementation, 

21 and assessment of technical training and public 

22 education programs, including education pro23 grams that address unique characteristics of 

24 distant and near-field tsunami. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The development of decision support 

2 tools. 

3 ‘‘(C) The incorporation of social science re4 search into community readiness and resilience 

5 efforts. 

6 ‘‘(D) The development of evidence-based 

7 education guidelines. 

8 ‘‘(6) Dissemination of guidelines and standards 

9 for community planning, education, and training 

10 products, programs, and tools, including standards 

11 for— 

12 ‘‘(A) mapping products; 

13 ‘‘(B) inundation models; and 

14 ‘‘(C) effective emergency exercises. 

15 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In addition to activi16 ties conducted under subsection (b), the program con17 ducted pursuant to subsection (a) may include the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(1) Multidisciplinary vulnerability assessment 

20 research, education, and training to help integrate 

21 risk management and resilience objectives with com22 munity development planning and policies. 

23 ‘‘(2) Risk management training for local offi24 cials and community organizations to enhance un25 derstanding and preparedness. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Development of practical applications for 

2 existing or emerging technologies, such as modeling, 

3 remote sensing, geospatial technology, engineering, 

4 and observing systems. 

5 ‘‘(4) Risk management, risk assessment, and 

6 resilience data and information services, including— 

7 ‘‘(A) access to data and products derived 

8 from observing and detection systems; and 

9 ‘‘(B) development and maintenance of new 

10 integrated data products to support risk man11 agement, risk assessment, and resilience pro12 grams. 

13 ‘‘(5) Risk notification systems that coordinate 

14 with and build upon existing systems and actively 

15 engage decisionmakers, local and State government 

16 agencies, business communities, nongovernmental or17 ganizations, and the media. 

18 ‘‘(d) NO PREEMPTION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION OF AT-RISK AREAS.—The 

20 establishment of national standards for inundation 

21 models under this section shall not prevent States, 

22 territories, tribes, and local governments from desig23 nating additional areas as being at risk based on 

24 knowledge of local conditions. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NO NEW REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

2 Nothing in this Act may be construed as estab3 lishing new regulatory authority for any Federal 

4 agency.’’. 

5 (b) REPORT ON ACCREDITATION OF TSUNAMIREADY

6 PROGRAM.—Not later than 180 days after the date of en7 actment of this Act, the Administrator of the National 

8 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall submit to 

9 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

10 of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and 

11 Technology of the House of Representatives a report on 

12 which authorities and activities would be needed to have 

13 the TsunamiReady program of the National Weather 

14 Service accredited by the Emergency Management Accred15 itation Program. 

16 SEC. 6. MODIFICATION OF TSUNAMI RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

17 Section 6 (33 U.S.C. 3205) is amended— 

18 (1) in the matter before paragraph (1), by 

19 striking ‘‘The Administrator shall’’ and all that fol20 lows through ‘‘establish or maintain’’ and inserting 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, in con23 sultation with such other Federal agencies, State and ter24 ritorial governments, and academic institutions as the Ad25 ministrator considers appropriate, the coordinating comVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:11 Aug 09, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5309.IH H5309

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1 mittee under section 11(b), and the panel under section 

2 8(a), support or maintain’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘and assessment for tsunami 

4 tracking and numerical forecast modeling. Such re5 search program shall—’’ and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘assessment for tsunami tracking and numerical 

7 forecast modeling, and standards development. 

8 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The research program 

9 supported or maintained pursuant to subsection (a) 

10 shall—’’; 

11 (3) in subsection (b), as designated by para12 graph (2)— 

13 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(1) consider other appropriate research to 

16 mitigate the impact of tsunami, including the im17 provement of near-field tsunami detection and fore18 casting capabilities, which may include use of new 

19 generation Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of 

20 Tsunamis and National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

21 Administration supercomputer capacity to develop a 

22 rapid tsunami forecast for all United States coast23 lines;’’; 

24 (B) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘include’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘conduct’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

4 (C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

5 paragraph (5); and 

6 (D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(4) develop the technical basis for validation of 

9 tsunami maps, numerical tsunami models, digital 

10 elevation models, and forecasts; and’’; and 

11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(c) PILOT PROJECT.—The Administrator may, pur13 suant to subsection (b), develop a pilot project for near14 field tsunami forecast development for the Cascadia region 

15 along the west coast of the United States using new gen16 eration Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of 

17 Tsunamis, upcoming and existing cable networks, and new 

18 National Centers for Environmental Protection modeling 

19 capability.’’. 

20 SEC. 7. GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION NET21 WORK. 

22 Section 7 (33 U.S.C. 3206) is amended— 

23 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(a) SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF INTER2 NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM.—The Adminis3 trator shall, in coordination with the Secretary of State 

4 and in consultation with such other agencies as the Ad5 ministrator considers relevant, provide technical assistance 

6 and training to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic 

7 Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, 

8 and Cultural Organization, the World Meteorological Or9 ganization of the United Nations, and such other inter10 national entities as the Administrator considers appro11 priate, as part of the international efforts to develop a 

12 fully functional global tsunami forecast and warning sys13 tem comprised of regional tsunami warning networks.’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘shall’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘may’’; and 

16 (3) in subsection (c)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘estab18 lishing’’ and inserting ‘‘supporting’’; and 

19 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘establish’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘support’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘establishing’’ and in23 serting ‘‘supporting’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. TSUNAMI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY 

2 PANEL. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Act is further amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating section 8 (33 U.S.C. 3207) 

5 as section 9; and 

6 (2) by inserting after section 7 (33 U.S.C. 

7 3206) the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 8. TSUNAMI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY 

9 PANEL. 

10 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.—The Administrator shall des11 ignate the Ocean Exploration Advisory Working Group 

12 within the Science Advisory Board of the Administration 

13 to serve as the Tsunami Science and Technology Advisory 

14 Panel to provide advice to the Administrator on matters 

15 regarding tsunami science, technology, and regional pre16 paredness. 

17 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

18 ‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—The working group des19 ignated under subsection (a) shall be composed of no 

20 fewer than 7 members selected by the Administrator 

21 from among individuals from academia or State 

22 agencies who have academic or practical expertise in 

23 physical sciences, social sciences, information tech24 nology, coastal resilience, emergency management, 

25 or such other disciplines as the Administrator con26 siders appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT.—No member of 

2 the working group designated pursuant to subsection 

3 (a) may be a Federal employee. 

4 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Not less frequently than 

5 once every 4 years, the working group designated under 

6 subsection (a) shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) review the activities of the Administration, 

8 and other Federal activities as appropriate, relating 

9 to tsunami research, detection, forecasting, warning, 

10 mitigation, resiliency, and preparation; and 

11 ‘‘(2) submit to the Administrator and such oth12 ers as the Administrator considers appropriate— 

13 ‘‘(A) the findings of the working group 

14 with respect to the most recent review con15 ducted pursuant to paragraph (1); and 

16 ‘‘(B) such recommendations for legislative 

17 or administrative action as the working group 

18 considers appropriate to improve Federal tsu19 nami research, detection, forecasting, warning, 

20 mitigation, resiliency, and preparation. 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not less frequently 

22 than once every 4 years, the Administrator shall submit 

23 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor24 tation of the Senate, and the Committee on Science, 

25 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 


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1 a report on the findings and recommendations received by 

2 the Administrator under subsection (c)(2).’’. 

3 SEC. 9. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF TSUNAMI WARN4 ING AND EDUCATION ACT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

7 submit to Congress a report on the implementation of the 

8 Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3201 et 

9 seq.). 

10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

11 (a) shall include the following: 

12 (1) A detailed description of the progress made 

13 in implementing sections 4(d)(6), 5(b)(6), and 

14 6(b)(4) of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act. 

15 (2) A description of the ways that tsunami 

16 warnings and warning products issued by the Tsu17 nami Forecasting and Warning Program established 

18 under section 4 of the Tsunami Warning and Edu19 cation Act (33 U.S.C. 3203) can be standardized 

20 and streamlined with warnings and warning prod21 ucts for hurricanes, coastal storms, and other coast22 al flooding events. 

23 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 Section 9 of the Act, as redesignated by section 

25 8(a)(1) of this Act, is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad3 ministrator to carry out this Act $27,000,000 for each of 

4 fiscal years 2015 through 2017, of which— 

5 ‘‘(1) not less than 27 percent of the amount ap6 propriated for each fiscal year shall be for activities 

7 under the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Pro8 gram under section 5; and 

9 ‘‘(2) not less than 8 percent of the amount ap10 propriated for each fiscal year shall be for the Tsu11 nami Research Program under section 6.’’. 

12 SEC. 11. OUTREACH RESPONSIBILITIES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na14 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in coordi15 nation with State and local emergency managers, shall de16 velop and carry out formal outreach activities to improve 

17 tsunami education and awareness and foster the develop18 ment of resilient communities. Outreach activities may in19 clude— 

20 (1) the development of outreach plans to ensure 

21 the close integration of tsunami warning centers 

22 supported or maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of 

23 the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 

24 U.S.C. 3203(d)) with local Weather Forecast Offices 

25 of the National Weather Service and emergency 

26 managers; 


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1 (2) working with appropriate local Weather 

2 Forecast Offices to ensure they have the technical 

3 knowledge and capability to disseminate tsunami 

4 warnings to the communities they serve; and 

5 (3) evaluating the effectiveness of warnings and 

6 of coordination with local Weather Forecast Offices 

7 after significant tsunami events. 

8 (b) COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL

9 TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall con11 vene a coordinating committee to assist the Adminis12 trator in the conduct of the program required by 

13 section 5(a) of the Tsunami Warning and Education 

14 Act (33 U.S.C. 3204(a)). 

15 (2) COMPOSITION.—The coordinating com16 mittee shall be composed of members from each of 

17 the States at risk from tsunami, and any other such 

18 representatives as the Administrator considers ap19 propriate to represent Federal, State, tribal, terri20 torial, and local governments. 

21 (3) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The Administrator may 

22 approve the formation of subcommittees to address 

23 specific program components or regional issues. 

24 (4) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The coordinating com25 mittee shall— 


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1 (A) provide feedback on how funds should 

2 be prioritized to carry out the program required 

3 by section 5(a) of the Tsunami Warning and 

4 Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3204(a)); 

5 (B) ensure that areas described in section 

6 4(c) of the Tsunami Warning and Education 

7 Act (33 U.S.C. 3203(c)) in the United States 

8 and its territories have the opportunity to par9 ticipate in the program; 

10 (C) provide recommendations to the Ad11 ministrator on how to improve and continuously 

12 advance the TsunamiReady program, particu13 larly on ways to make communities more tsu14 nami resilient through the use of inundation 

15 maps and models and other hazard mitigation 

16 practices; and 

17 (D) ensure that all components of the pro18 gram required by section 5(a) of the Tsunami 

19 Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 

20 3204(a)) are integrated with ongoing State21 based hazard warning, risk management, and 

22 resilience activities, including— 

23 (i) integrating activities with emer24 gency response plans, disaster recovery, 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
26 

•HR 5309 IH

1 hazard mitigation, and community develop2 ment programs in affected areas; and 

3 (ii) integrating information to assist 

4 in tsunami evacuation route planning. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS