[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 465 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 465

To provide for the establishment of a tsunami hazard mitigation program 
                  for all United States insular areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2005

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the establishment of a tsunami hazard mitigation program 
                  for all United States 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 insular areas, especially in 
        the Pacific because of its earthquake-prone perimeter.
            (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) False tsunami alerts can result in significant costs to 
        several communities, and reduce the seriousness with which 
        future alerts will be taken.
            (6) 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.
            (7) Once a tsunami occurs, 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.
            (8) 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 United States 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 insular areas 
        of the United States;
            (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 insular areas 
of the United States, including American Samoa, Guam, the United States 
Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Marianas Islands.
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