II 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1674 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 6, 2006 
Received 
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, 
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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; 
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(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; 
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(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; 
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(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.— 
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(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; 
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(E) coordinating with the tsunami hazard 
mitigation program described in section 5 to en-
sure ongoing sharing of information between 
forecasters and emergency management offi-
cials; and 
(F) making data gathered under this Act 
and post-warning analyses conducted by the 
National Weather Service or other relevant Ad-
ministration offices available to researchers. 
(e) TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY; MAINTENANCE AND 
UPGRADES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 
the National Weather Service, in consultation with 
other relevant Administration offices, shall— 
(A) develop requirements for the equip-
ment used to forecast tsunami, which shall in-
clude provisions for multipurpose detection plat-
forms, reliability and performance metrics, and 
to the maximum extent practicable how the 
equipment will be integrated with other United 
States and global ocean and coastal observation 
systems, the global earth observing system of 
systems, global seismic networks, and the Ad-
vanced National Seismic System; 
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(B) develop and execute a plan for the 
transfer of technology from ongoing research 
described in section 6 into the program under 
this section; and 
(C) ensure that maintaining operational 
tsunami detection equipment is the highest pri-
ority within the program carried out under this 
Act. 
(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the National Weather 
Service, in consultation with other relevant Ad-
ministration offices, shall transmit to Congress 
a report on how the tsunami forecast system 
under this section will be integrated with other 
United States and global ocean and coastal ob-
servation systems, the global earth observing 
system of systems, global seismic networks, and 
the Advanced National Seismic System. 
(B) Not later than 3 years after the date 
of enactment to this Act, the National Weather 
Service, in consultation with other relevant Ad-
ministration offices, shall transmit a report to 
Congress on how technology developed under 
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section 6 is being transferred into the program 
under this section. 
(f) FEDERAL COOPERATION.—When deploying and 
maintaining tsunami detection technologies, the Adminis-
trator shall seek the assistance and assets of other appro-
priate Federal agencies. 
(g) ANNUAL EQUIPMENT CERTIFICATION.—At the 
same time Congress receives the budget justification docu-
ments in support of the President’s annual budget request 
for each fiscal year, the Administrator shall transmit to 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
of the Senate and the Committee on Science of the House 
of Representatives a certification that— 
(1) identifies the tsunami detection equipment 
deployed pursuant to this Act, as of December 31 of 
the preceding calendar year; 
(2) certifies which equipment is operational as 
of December 31 of the preceding calendar year; 
(3) in the case of any piece of such equipment 
that is not operational as of such date, identifies 
that equipment and describes the mitigation strategy 
that is in place— 
(A) to repair or replace that piece of equip-
ment within a reasonable period of time; or 
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(B) to otherwise ensure adequate tsunami 
detection coverage; 
(4) identifies any equipment that is being devel-
oped or constructed to carry out this Act but which 
has not yet been deployed, if the Administration has 
entered into a contract for that equipment prior to 
December 31 of the preceding calendar year, and 
provides a schedule for the deployment of that 
equipment; and 
(5) certifies that the Administrator expects the 
equipment described in paragraph (4) to meet the 
requirements, cost, and schedule provided in that 
contract. 
(h) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATIONS.—The Adminis-
trator shall notify the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
Science of the House of Representatives within 30 days 
of— 
(1) impaired regional forecasting capabilities 
due to equipment or system failures; and 
(2) significant contractor failures or delays in 
completing work associated with the tsunami fore-
casting and warning system. 
(i) REPORT.—Not later than January 31, 2010, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall transmit 
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a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
Science of the House of Representatives that— 
(1) evaluates the current status of the tsunami 
detection, forecasting, and warning system and the 
tsunami hazard mitigation program established 
under this Act, including progress toward tsunami 
inundation mapping of all coastal areas vulnerable to 
tsunami and whether there has been any degrada-
tion of services as a result of the expansion of the 
program; 
(2) evaluates the National Weather Service’s 
ability to achieve continued improvements in the de-
livery of tsunami detection, forecasting, and warning 
services by assessing policies and plans for the evo-
lution of modernization systems, models, and com-
putational abilities (including the adoption of new 
technologies); and 
(3) lists the contributions of funding or other 
resources to the program by other Federal agencies, 
particularly agencies participating in the program. 
(j) EXTERNAL REVIEW.—The Administrator shall 
enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of 
Sciences to review the tsunami detection, forecast, and 
warning program established under this Act to assess fur-
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