An act to amend the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 and the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to authorize the appropriation of funds to the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to carry out the earthquake hazards reduction program and the fire prevention and control program, and for other purposes.
PL 96-472 (S.1393), enacted 10/19/1980

PUBLIC LAW 96-472—OCT. 19, 1980 
94 STAT. 2257 
Public Law 96-472 
96th Congress 
An Act 
To amend the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 and the Federal Fire 
Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to authorize the appropriation of funds to the 
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to carry out the earth-
quake hazards reduction program and the fire prevention and control program, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, 
TITLE I—EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS REDUCTION PROGRAM 
SEC. 101. (a) Paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 5(a) of the 
Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7704(a)) are 
amended to read as follows: 
"(1) be designed and administered to achieve the objectives set 
forth in subsection (c); 
"(2) involve, where appropriate, each of the agencies listed in 
subsection (d) and the non-Federal participation specified in 
subsection (h); and 
"(3) include each of the elements described in subsections (e) 
and (f) and the assistance to the States specified in subsection 
(g).". 
(b) Section 5(b) of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 
(42 U.S.C. 77040))) is amended to read as follows: 
"(b) DUTIES.— 
"(1) The President shall— 
"(A) assign and specify the role and responsibility of each 
appropriate Federal department, agency, and entity with 
respect to each object and element of the program; and 
"(B) establish goals, priorities, budgets, and target dates 
for implementation of the program. 
"(2) The Federal Emergency Management Agency (hereinafter 
referred to as the 'Agency') is designated as the agency with the 
primary responsibilities to plan and coordinate the National 
Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. The Director of the 
Agency (hereinafter referred to as the 'Director') shall— 
"(A) recommend to the President the role and responsibil-
ity of each appropriate Federal department, agency, and 
entity with respect to each object and element of the 
program; 
"(B) recommend to the President goals, priorities, budgets, 
and target dates for implementation of the program; 
"(C) provide a method for cooperation and coordination 
with, and £issistance (to the extent of available resources) to, 
interested governmental entities in all States, particularly 
those containing areas of high or moderate seismic risk; 
"(D) provide for qualified and sufficient staffing for the 
program and its components; 
Oct. 19, 1980 
[S. 1393] 
Earthquake 
hazards 
reduction and 
fire prevention 
and control 
programs. 
Federal 
Emergency 
Management 
Agency, 
designated 
responsibilities. 
94 STAT. 2258 
PUBLIC LAW 96-472—OCT. 19, 1980 
Program plan, 
transmittal to 
Congress. 
42 u s e 7704. 
5 u s e app. 
42 u s e 7704. 
Intraagency 
plan, transmittal 
to Congress. 
Preparedness 
plan. 
"(E) compile and maintain a written program plan for the 
program specified in subsections (a), (e), (f), and (g)» which 
plan will recommend base and incremental budget options 
for the agencies to carry out the elements and programs 
specified through at least 1985, and which plan shall be 
completed by September 30, 1981, and transmitted to the 
Congress and shall be updated annually; and 
"(F) recommend appropriate roles for State and local units 
of 
government, individuals, and private organizations.". 
(c) Section 5(d) of such Act is amended by striking out "(3)(B)" and 
inserting in lieu thereof "(IXA)", by striking out "National Bureau of 
Standards" and inserting in lieu thereof "Department of Commerce", 
and by striking out "National Fire Prevention and Control Adminis-
tration" and inserting in lieu thereof "Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency". 
(d) Section 5(e)(6) of such Act is amended by striking out "political" 
and by inserting in lieu thereof "potential". 
(e)(1) That portion of section 5(0 of such Act which precedes 
paragraph (1) thereof is amended to read as follows: 
"(f) MITIGATION ELEMENTS.—The mitigation elements of the pro-
gram shall provide for—". 
(2) Paragraph (1) of section 5(f) of such Act is amended to read as 
follows: 
"(1) ISSUANCE OF EARTHQUAKE PREDICTIONS.—The Director of 
the United States Geological Survey is hereby given the author-
ity, after notification of the Director, to issue an earthquake 
prediction or other earthqusdce advisory as he deems necessary. 
For the purposes of evaluating a prediction, the National Earth-
quake Prediction Evaluation Council shall be exempt from the 
requirements of section 10(aX2) of the Federal Advisory Commit-
tee Act. The Director shall have responsibility to provide State 
and local officials and residents of an area for which a prediction 
has been made with recommendations of actions to be taken;". 
(3)(A) Section 5(f) of such Act is amended by striking out "and" at 
the end of paragraph (5), by striking out the period at the end of 
paragraph (6) and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon, and by 
inserting after paragraph (6) the following: 
"(7) transmittal to Congress by the Director of an intraagency 
coordination plan for earthquake hazard mitigation and 
response within thirty days after enactment of this paragraph, 
which plan shall coordinate all of the directorates of the Agency; 
and 
"(8) the development and implementation by the Director of a 
preparedness plan for response to earthquake predictions which 
includes the following items: 
"(A) A prototype plan to be in place in one major metro-
politan area by September 30,1981. 
"(B) An action plan to be completed for specific adapta-
tions of the prototype plan to other high risk metropolitan 
areas by September 30,1981. 
"(C) These prediction response plans are to be integrated 
with preparedness response plans. 
"(D) The plans shall include coordination with State and 
local governmentEil companion efforts. 
"(E) The plans shall be updated as new, relevant informa-
tion becomes available.". 
(B) The last sentence of section 5(f) of such Act is repealed. 
PUBLIC LAW 96-472—OCT. 19, 1980 
94 STAT. 2259 
(f) Section 5 of such Act is amended by inserting at the end thereof 
the following: 
"(i) STUDY.—Within one year after the date of enactment of this 
subsection, the Director shall conduct a study and prepare and 
transmit recommendations to Congress to amend the Disaster Relief 
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5121, et seq.) to include provisions for funding 
for the period of time following a validated earthquake prediction.". 
SEC. 102. (a) Section 6 of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 
1977 (42 U.S.C. 7705) is amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT. 
"The President shall, within ninety days after the end of each fiscal 
year, submit an annual report to the appropriate authorizing com-
mittees in the Congress describing the status of the program, and 
describing and evaluating progress achieved during the preceding 
fiscal year in reducing the risks of earthquake hazards. Each such 
report shall include a copy of the program plan described in section 
5(b)(2)(E) and any recommendations for legislation and other action 
the President deems necessary and appropriate.". 
SEC. 103. (a) Section 7(a) of such Act is amended by inserting "(1)" 
after "(a)" and by inserting at the end thereof the following: 
"(2) There are authorized to be appropriated to the Director to 
carry out the provisions of sections 5 and 6 of this Act for the fiscal 
year ending September 30,1981— 
"(A) $1,000,000 for continuation of the Interagency Committee 
on Seismic Safety in Construction and the Building Seismic 
Safety Council programs, 
"(B) $1,500,000 for plans and preparedness for earthquake 
disasters, 
"(C) $500,000 for prediction response planning, 
"(D) $600,000 for architectural and engineering planning and 
practice programs, 
"(E) $1,000,000 for development and application of a public 
education program, 
"(F) $3,000,000 for use by the National Science Foundation in 
addition to the amount authorized to be appropriated under 
subsection (c), which amount includes $2,400,000 for earthquake 
policy research and $600,000 for the strong ground motion 
element of the siting program, and 
"(G) $1,000,000 for use by the Center for Building Technology, 
National Bureau of Standards in addition to the amount author-
ized to be appropriated under subsection (d) for earthquake 
activities in the Center.". 
Ot)) Section 7(b) of such Act is amended by striking out "and" after 
"1979;" and by inserting "; and $32,484,000 for the fiscal year ending 
September 30,1981" before the period at the end thereof. 
(c) Section 7(c) of such Act is amended by striking out "and" after 
"1979;" and by inserting "; and $26,600,000 for the fiscal year ending 
September 30,1981" before the period at the end thereof. 
(d) Section 7 of such Act is amended by inserting at the end thereof 
the following: 
"(d) NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS.—TO enable the Bureau to 
carry out responsibilities that may be assigned to it under this Act, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $425,000 for the fiscal year 
ending September 30,1981.". 
SEC. 104. Funds may be transferred among the line items listed in 
the amendment made by section 103(a), but neither the total funds 
transferred from any line item nor the total funds transferred to any 
Report to 
Congress. 
42 u s e 7704. 
Ante, p. 2257. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
42 u s e 7706. 
42 u s e 7704, 
supra. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
Funds, transfer. 
Supra. 
94 STAT. 2260 
PUBLIC LAW 96-472—OCT. 19, 1980 
Report to 
Congress. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
15 u s e 2210. 
15 u s e 278f. 
50 u s e app. 2251 
note. 
Studies. 
line item may exceed 10 per centum of the amount authorized for 
that line item in the amendment made by section 103(a) unless— 
(1) thirty calendar days have passed after the Director or his 
designee has transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives, to the President of the Senate, to the chairman of the 
Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Repre-
sentatives, and to the chairman of the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate a written report 
containing a full and complete explanation of the transfer 
involved and the reason for it, or 
(2) before the expiration of thirty calendar days both chairmen 
of the Committee on Science and Technology of the House and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate have written to the Director to the effect that they have 
no objection to the proposed transfer. 
TITLE n—FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL 
SEC. 201. Section 17 of 
the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act 
of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216) is amended by inserting at the end thereof the 
following: 
"(c) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, 
except as otherwise specifically provided with respect to the payment 
of claims under section 11 of this Act, an amount not to exceed 
$23,814,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1981, which 
amount includes— 
"(1) not less than $1,100,000 for the first year of a three-year 
concentrated demonstration program of nre prevention and 
control in two States with high fire death rates; 
"(2) not less than $2,575,000 for rural fire prevention and 
control; and 
"(3) not less than $4,255,000 for research and development for 
the activities under section 18 of this Act at the Fire Research 
Center of the National Bureau of Standards, of which not less 
than $250,000 shall be available for adjustments required by law 
in salaries, pay, retirement, and employee benefits. 
The funds authorized in paragraph (3) shall be in addition to funds 
authorized in any other law for research and development at the Fire 
Research Center.". 
SEC. 202. Section 16 of 
the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act 
of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2215) is amended by deleting the words: "June 30 of 
the year following the date of enactment of this Act and each year 
thereafter" from the first sentence and inserting in lieu thereof; 
"ninety calendar days following the year ending September 30,1980 
and similarly each year thereaftier". 
TITLE 
ra—MULTIHAZARD 
RESEARCH, PLANNING, AND 
MITIGATION 
SEC. 301. It is recognized that natural and manmade hazards may 
not be independent of one another in any given disaster. Further-
more, planning for and responding to different hazards have certain 
common elements. To make maximum use of these commonsdities, 
the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (herein-
after referred to as the "Director") is authorized and directed to: 
(1) initiate, within one year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, studies with the objective of defining and developing a 
PUBLIC LAW 96-472—OCT. 19, 1980 
94 STAT. 2261 
multihazard research, planning, and implementation process 
within the Agency; 
(2) develop, within one year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, in cooperation with State and local governments, protot3^i-
cal multihazard mitigation projects which can be used to evalu-
ate several approaches to the varjdng hazard mitigation needs of 
State and local governments and to assess the applicability of 
these prototypes to other jurisdictions with similar needs; 
(3) investigate and evaluate, within one year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the effectiveness of a range of incentives 
for hazard reductions that can be applied at the State and local 
government levels; 
(4) prepare recommendations as to the need for legislation that 
will limit the legal liability of those third party persons or groups 
which are called upon to provide technical assistance and advice 
to public employees, including policemen, firemen, and transpor-
tation employees, who are generally the first to respond to a 
hazardous incident; which recommendations shall be provided to 
the appropriate committees of Congress within one hundred and 
eighty days after the date of enactment of this Act; 
(5) prepare, within one hundred and eighty days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, a report on the status of the Agency's 
emergency information and communications systems which will 
provide recommendations on— 
(A) the advisability of developing a single, unified emer-
gency information and communication systism for use by 
the Agency in carr5dng out its emergency management 
activities; 
(B) the potential for using communication and remote 
sensing satellites as part of the Agency's emergency infor-
mation and communication system; and 
(C) the type of system to be developed, if needed, including 
the relationship of the proposed system and its needs to the 
existing and emerging information and communication sys-
tems in other Federal agencies; and 
(6) conduct a program of multihazard research, planning, and 
mitigation in coordination with those studies and evaluations 
authorized in paragraphs (1) through (5), as well as other hazard 
research, planning, and mitigation deemed necessary by the 
Director. 
Mitigation 
project 
development. 
Hazard 
reduction 
incentives. 
Report to 
congressional 
committees. 
Report. 
94 STAT. 2262 
PUBLIC LAW 96-472—OCT. 19, 1980 
Appropriation 
SEC. 302. For the fiscal year ending September 30,1981, there are 
50 uscT*'°225i authorized to be appropriated to the Director $1,000,000 to carry out 
note. ^^^ 
paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 301 and such sums as may be 
necessary to cany out paragraph (6) of 
such section. 
Approved October 19, 1980. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 96-951, Pt. 1 accompanying H.R. 7114 (Comm. on Science and 
Technology) and No. 96-951, Pt. II accompanying H.R. 7114 
(Comm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
SENATE REPORT No. 96-778 (Comm. on Commerce, Science, and Transportation). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 126 (1980): 
May 22, considered and passed Senate. 
June 30, H.R. 7114 considered and passed House; passage vacated and S. 1393, 
amended, passed in lieu. 
Sept. 30, Senate concurred in House amendments with amendments. 
Oct. 2, House concurred in Senate amendments.