[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3720 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3720

   To require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 
  establish a tsunami hazard mitigation program for all United States 
                   coastal States and insular areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2002

 Mr. Faleomavaega introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                       the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 
  establish a tsunami hazard mitigation program for all United States 
                   coastal States and insular areas.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Tsunamis are very large ocean waves caused by 
        underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, which can travel 
        thousands of miles in open water.
            (2) Tsunamis are threats to low-elevation coastal States of 
        the United States and insular areas.
            (3) Local tsunamis give residents only a few minutes to 
        seek safety.
            (4) Tsunamis originating in one place give residents of 
        distant localities more time to evacuate potentially-threatened 
        areas, but better data is needed to accurately predict their 
        potential to inflict damage in any given area.
            (5) The announcement of a tsunami warning which results in 
        the evacuation of low-lying areas can be very costly.
            (6) False tsunami alerts can result in significant costs to 
        several communities, and reduce the seriousness with which 
        future alerts will be taken.
            (7) The failure to issue tsunami alerts can be even more 
        costly and can result in avoidable death and personal injury, 
        as well as destruction of property.
            (8) Once a tsunami is generated, the technology exists to 
        analyze seismic changes in the Earth and changes in ocean water 
        height to determine the direction any given tsunami is 
        traveling and the populated areas in which it may cause 
        destruction.
            (9) The key steps to reducing damage caused by tsunamis are 
        to assess the hazard, educate the public to the hazard, monitor 
        the Earth's seismic activity on a real-time basis, and alert 
        local governments and the public in time for them to take 
        appropriate action.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration shall establish a tsunami hazard mitigation program for 
all coastal States and insular areas, to perform hazard assessment, 
monitoring and warning, and public education functions. Such program 
shall--
            (1) provide warnings of tsunamis, and maintain the 
        equipment necessary to make such warnings;
            (2) conduct periodic tests of the tsunami warning system to 
        ensure its operational effectiveness;
            (3) make tsunami warnings available to the broadest extent 
        practicable;
            (4) establish a long-term plan to determine areas of 
        possible inundation for all reasonably threatened coastal 
        States and insular areas of the United States, beginning with 
        the most populous;
            (5) coordinate the preparation of local evacuation plans 
        for susceptible communities; and
            (6) coordinate with and maintain membership in the 
        International Tsunami Information Center.
    (b) Primary Beneficiaries.--The program established under 
subsection (a) shall be designed for the benefit of all coastal States 
and insular areas of the United States, including Puerto Rico, the 
United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.
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