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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tsunami Warning and 
Education Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘Administration’’ means the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
(2) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to improve tsunami detection, forecasting, 
warnings, notification, outreach, and mitigation to 
protect life and property in the United States; 
(2) to enhance and modernize the existing Pa-
cific Tsunami Warning System to increase coverage, 
reduce false alarms, and increase the accuracy of 
forecasts and warnings, and to expand detection and 
warning systems to include other vulnerable States 
and United States territories, including the Atlantic 
Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico areas; 
(3) to improve mapping, modeling, research, 
and assessment efforts to improve tsunami detection, 
forecasting, warnings, notification, outreach, mitiga-
tion, response, and recovery;
(4) to improve and increase education and out-
reach activities and ensure that those receiving tsu-
nami warnings and the at-risk public know what to 
do when a tsunami is approaching; 
(5) to provide technical and other assistance to 
speed international efforts to establish regional tsu-
nami warning systems in vulnerable areas worldwide, 
including the Indian Ocean; and 
(6) to improve Federal, State, and international 
coordination for detection, warnings, and outreach 
for tsunami and other coastal impacts. 
SEC. 4. TSUNAMI FORECASTING AND WARNING PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, through the 
National Weather Service and in consultation with other 
relevant Administration offices, shall operate a program 
to provide tsunami detection, forecasting, and warnings 
for the Pacific and Arctic Ocean regions and for the Atlan-
tic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico region. 
(b) COMPONENTS.—The program under this section 
shall—
(1) include the tsunami warning centers estab-
lished under subsection (d); 
(2) utilize and maintain an array of robust tsu-
nami detection technologies;
(3) maintain detection equipment in operational 
condition to fulfill the detection, forecasting, and 
warning requirements of this Act; 
(4) provide tsunami forecasting capability based 
on models and measurements, including tsunami in-
undation models and maps for use in increasing the 
preparedness of communities, including through the 
TsunamiReady program; 
(5) maintain data quality and management sys-
tems to support the requirements of the program; 
(6) include a cooperative effort among the Ad-
ministration, the United States Geological Survey, 
and the National Science Foundation under which 
the Geological Survey and the National Science 
Foundation shall provide rapid and reliable seismic 
information to the Administration from international 
and domestic seismic networks; 
(7) provide a capability for the dissemination of 
warnings to at-risk States and tsunami communities 
through rapid and reliable notification to govern-
ment officials and the public, including utilization of 
and coordination with existing Federal warning sys-
tems, including the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration Weather Radio All Hazards 
Program;
(8) allow, as practicable, for integration of tsu-
nami detection technologies with other environ-
mental observing technologies; and 
(9) include any technology the Administrator 
considers appropriate to fulfill the objectives of the 
program under this section. 
(c) SYSTEM AREAS.—The program under this section 
shall operate—
(1) a Pacific tsunami warning system capable 
of forecasting tsunami anywhere in the Pacific and 
Arctic Ocean regions and providing adequate warn-
ings; and 
(2) an Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf 
of Mexico tsunami warning system capable of fore-
casting tsunami and providing adequate warnings in 
areas of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and 
Gulf of Mexico that are determined—
(A) to be geologically active, or to have sig-
nificant potential for geological activity; and 
(B) to pose significant risks of tsunami for 
States along the coastal areas of the Atlantic 
Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico. 
(d) TSUNAMI WARNING CENTERS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, through 
the National Weather Service, shall maintain or es-
tablish—
(A) a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in 
Hawaii; 
(B) a West Coast and Alaska Tsunami 
Warning Center in Alaska; and 
(C) any additional forecast and warning 
centers determined by the National Weather 
Service to be necessary. 
(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 
each tsunami warning center shall include—
(A) continuously monitoring data from 
seismological, deep ocean, and tidal monitoring 
stations; 
(B) evaluating earthquakes that have the 
potential to generate tsunami; 
(C) evaluating deep ocean buoy data and 
tidal monitoring stations for indications of tsu-
nami resulting from earthquakes and other 
sources; 
(D) disseminating forecasts and tsunami 
warning bulletins to Federal, State, and local 
government officials and the public;