[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 566 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 566

To provide for the establishment of the National Volcano Early Warning 
                         and Monitoring System.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2011

 Ms. Murkowski 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 Program Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Program.--The term ``program'' means the National 
        Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring Program established under 
        section 3(a).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL VOLCANO EARLY WARNING AND MONITORING PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish within the United 
States Geological Survey a program to be known as the ``National 
Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring Program''.
    (b) Components.--The program shall consist of a national volcano 
watch office and data center, which shall oversee and coordinate the 
activities of United States Geological Survey regional volcano watch 
and data centers.
    (c) Purposes.--The purposes of the program are--
            (1) to monitor and study volcanoes and volcanic activity 
        throughout the United States at a level commensurate with the 
        threat posed by each volcano; and
            (2) to warn and protect people and property from undue and 
        avoidable harm from volcanic activity.

SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT.

    (a) Management Plan.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare a management 
        plan for establishing and operating the program.
            (2) Inclusions.--The management plan shall include--
                    (A) annual cost estimates of--
                            (i) operating the program; and
                            (ii) updating the data collection, 
                        monitoring, and analysis systems;
                    (B) annual standards and performance goals; and
                    (C) recommendations for establishing new, or 
                enhancing existing, partnerships with State agencies or 
                universities.
    (b) Partnerships.--The Secretary may enter into cooperative 
agreements or partnerships with State agencies and universities, under 
which the Secretary may designate the agency or university as volcano 
observatory partners for the program.
    (c) Coordination With Other Federal Agencies.--The Secretary shall 
coordinate activities authorized under this Act with the heads of 
relevant Federal agencies including--
            (1) the Secretary of Transportation;
            (2) the Secretary of Commerce;
            (3) the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration; and
            (4) the Director of the Federal Emergency Management 
        Administration.
    (d) Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may establish a competitive 
        grant program to support research and monitoring of volcanic 
        activities in furtherance of this Act.
            (2) Cost-sharing requirement.--The non-Federal share of the 
        total cost of an activity provided assistance under this 
        subsection shall be 25 percent.
    (e) Annual Report.--The Secretary shall annually submit to Congress 
a report that describes the activities undertaken during the previous 
year to carry out this Act.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2022.
                                 <all>