[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 782 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 782
To provide for the establishment of the National Volcano Early Warning
and Monitoring System.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 2, 2009
Ms. Murkowski (for herself and Mr. Begich) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of the National Volcano Early Warning
and Monitoring System.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Volcano Early Warning and
Monitoring System Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the United States and the territories of the United
States contain 169 hazardous volcanoes;
(2) since 1980, eruptions have claimed many lives and cost
billions of dollars in property damage in the United States;
(3) ash eruptions pose a hazard to high-flying jet
aircraft, including the more than 20,000 passengers who travel
on jets over Alaska every day;
(4) in 1989, an eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, caused
in-flight failure of all 4 engines of a passenger Boeing 747
aircraft;
(5) international flights over the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands and the intense domestic air traffic
of the Pacific Northwest also face potential engine failure in
the event of an eruption;
(6) mudflows from ice-clad Cascade volcanoes of the States
of Washington, Oregon, and California pose a serious hazard to
cities and transportation arteries in the Pacific Northwest;
(7) lava flows, toxic gas emissions, and explosions impact
residents and visitors to Hawaii and have the potential to
cause catastrophic property damage;
(8) frequent seismic unrest requires careful monitoring in
the Mammoth Lakes area of California and Yellowstone National
Park in the States of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho;
(9) modern technology, in the form of geophysical
monitoring networks on the ground and the use of near-real time
satellite data, makes possible warnings before eruptions,
giving emergency response agencies and the public time to
prepare, which minimizes potential damage to property and loss
of life;
(10) the efficacy of monitoring is being demonstrated by
the forecast and subsequent tracking of explosive eruptions of
Redoubt Volcano by the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a
partnership of the United States Geological Survey, the
University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of
Geological and Geophysical Surveys;
(11) the United States Geological Survey and the university
and State partners of the United States Geological Survey
operate--
(A) the Alaska Volcano Observatory located in
Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska;
(B) the Cascades Volcano Observatory located in
Vancouver, Washington;
(C) the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory located in
Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii;
(D) the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory located in
Yellowstone National Park in the State of Wyoming,
Montana, and Idaho; and
(E) the Long Valley Observatory, located in Mammoth
Lakes and Menlo Park, California; and
(12) a detailed survey of the volcanoes in the United
States and the monitoring status of those volcanoes has
revealed a serious monitoring gap, leaving the United States
exposed to preventable damage from large volcanic eruptions.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United
States Geological Survey.
(2) System.--The term ``System'' means the National Volcano
Early Warning and Monitoring System established under section
4(a)(1).
SEC. 4. NATIONAL VOLCANO EARLY WARNING AND MONITORING SYSTEM.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish within the
United States Geological Survey a program, to be known as the
``National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System'', to
monitor, warn, and protect citizens of the United States from
undue and avoidable harm from volcanic activity.
(2) Purposes.--The purposes of the System are--
(A) to organize, modernize, standardize, and
stabilize the monitoring systems of the volcano
observatories in the United States; and
(B) to unify the monitoring systems of volcano
observatories in the United States into a single
interoperative system.
(3) Objective.--The objective of the System is to monitor
all the volcanoes in the United States at a level commensurate
with the threat posed by the volcanoes by--
(A) upgrading existing networks on monitored
volcanoes; and
(B) installing new networks on unmonitored
volcanoes.
(b) System Components.--
(1) In general.--The System shall include--
(A) a national volcano watch office that is
operational 24 hours a day and 7 days a week;
(B) a national volcano data center; and
(C) an external grants program to support research
in volcano monitoring science and technology.
(2) Modernization activities.--Modernization activities
under the System shall include the comprehensive application of
emerging technologies, including digital broadband
seismometers, real-time continuous global positioning systems,
radar satellite interferometry, and spectrometry to measure gas
emission.
(c) Management.--
(1) Management plan.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
submit to Congress a 5-year management plan for
establishing and operating the System.
(B) Inclusions.--The management plan submitted
under subparagraph (A) shall include--
(i) annual cost estimates for modernization
activities and operation of the System;
(ii) annual milestones, standards, and
performance goals; and
(iii) recommendations for, and progress
towards, establishing new, or enhancing
existing, partnerships to leverage resources.
(2) Advisory committee.--The Secretary shall establish an
advisory committee to assist the Secretary in implementing the
System, to be comprised of representatives of relevant agencies
and members of the scientific community appointed by the
Secretary.
(3) Partnerships.--The Secretary may enter into cooperative
agreements with universities and State agencies designating the
universities and agencies as volcano observatory partners for
the System.
(4) Coordination.--The Secretary shall coordinate the
activities under this Act with the heads of relevant Federal
agencies, including--
(A) the Secretary of Transportation;
(B) the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration;
(C) the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration; and
(D) the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Administration.
(d) Annual Report.--Annually, the Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report that describes the activities carried out under this
Act.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry
out this Act $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year
thereafter.
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