I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 876 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
to carry out a plan for the purchase and installation of an earthquake 
early warning system for the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2019 
Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency to carry out a plan for the purchase 
and installation of an earthquake early warning system 
for the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITION. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 
2019’’. 
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(b) CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE DEFINED.—In 
this Act, the term ‘‘Cascadia Subduction Zone’’ means the 
landward-dipping fault that is approximately 684 miles 
long, separates the Juan de Fuca and North America 
plates, and stretches along a portion of the western coast 
of the United States beginning off Cape Mendocino, Cali-
fornia, along the State of Oregon, the State of Wash-
ington, to Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 
SEC. 2. EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR 
CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE. 
(a) PLAN FOR PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION.— 
(1) DEVELOPMENT
AND
FUNDING.—The Ad-
ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency shall— 
(A) develop a plan for the purchase and in-
stallation of an earthquake early warning sys-
tem for the Cascadia Subduction Zone; and 
(B) identify the funds necessary for imple-
mentation of the plan. 
(2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator shall submit to the appropriate com-
mittees of Congress a copy of the plan. 
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
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shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 
a report that summarizes the actions taken to implement 
the plan. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) 
APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES
OF
CON-
GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs of the Senate. 
(2) EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.— 
The term ‘‘earthquake early warning system’’ in-
cludes— 
(A) improvements to regional and geodetic 
networks that support building a capability for 
an earthquake early warning system; and 
(B) seismometers, Global Positioning Sys-
tem receivers, and associated infrastructure. 
SEC. 3. EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI TASK FORCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish an 
Earthquake and Tsunami Task Force for the purpose of 
developing a comprehensive strategy and recommenda-
tions on how the Nation should prepare and plan for, miti-
gate against, respond to, recover from, and more success-
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