[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 91 (Friday, July 1, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7930-S7936]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TSUNAMI PREPAREDNESS ACT

  The Senate proceeded to consider the bill (S. 50) to authorize and 
strengthen the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 
tsunami detection, forecast, warning, and mitigation program, and for 
other purposes, which had been reported from the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation, with an amendment.
  (Strike the part shown in black brackets and insert the part shown in 
italic.)

                                 S. 50

       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 ``Tsunami Preparedness Act''.

     [SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       [(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
       [(1) Tsunami are a series of large waves of long wavelength 
     created by the displacement of water by violent undersea 
     disturbances such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, 
     landslides, explosions, and the impact of cosmic bodies.
       [(2) Tsunami have caused, and can cause in the future, 
     enormous loss of human life, injury, destruction of property, 
     and economic and social disruption in coastal and island 
     communities.
       [(3) While 85 percent of tsunami occur in the Pacific 
     Ocean, and coastal and island communities in this region are 
     the most vulnerable to the destructive results, tsunami can 
     occur at any point in any ocean or related body of water 
     where there are earthquakes, volcanoes, or any other activity 
     that displaces a large volume of water.
       [(4) A number of States and territories are subject to the 
     threat of tsunamis, including Alaska, California, Hawaii, 
     Oregon, Washington, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
     Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. 
     Virgin Islands.
       [(5) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is 
     responsible for maintaining a tsunami detection and warning 
     system for the Nation, issuing warnings to United States 
     communities at risk from tsunami, and preparing those 
     communities to respond appropriately, through--
       [(A) the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, 
     Hawaii, which serves as a warning center for Hawaii, all 
     other United States assets in the Pacific, and Puerto Rico;
       [(B) the Alaska/West Coast Tsunami Warning Center in 
     Palmer, Alaska, which is responsible for issuing warnings for 
     Alaska, British Columbia, California, Oregon, and Washington;
       [(C) the Federal-State national tsunami hazard mitigation 
     program;
       [(D) a tsunami research and assessment program, including 
     programs conducted by the Pacific Marine Environmental 
     Laboratory;
       [(E) the TsunamiReady Program, which educates and prepares 
     communities for survival before and during a tsunami; and
       [(F) other related programs.
       [(6) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     also represents the United States as a member of the 
     International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning 
     System in the Pacific, administered by the Intergovernmental 
     Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, for which the Pacific 
     Tsunami Warning Center acts as the operational center and 
     shares seismic and water level information with 26 member 
     states, and maintains UNESCO's International Tsunami 
     Information Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii, which provides 
     technical and educational assistance to member states.
       [(7) The Tsunami Warning Centers receive seismographic 
     information from the Global Seismic Network, an international 
     system of earthquake monitoring stations, from the United 
     States Geological Survey National Earthquake Information 
     Center, and from cooperative regional seismic networks, and 
     use these data to issue tsunami warnings and integrate the 
     information with data from their own tidal and deep ocean 
     monitoring stations, to cancel or verify the existence of a 
     damaging tsunami. Warnings are disseminated by the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to State emergency 
     operation centers.
       [(8) Current gaps in the International Tsunami Warning 
     System, such as the lack of regional warning systems in the 
     Indian Ocean, the southwest Pacific Ocean, Central and South 
     America, the Mediterranean Sea, and Caribbean, pose risks for 
     coastal and island communities.
       [(9) The tragic and extreme loss of life experienced by 
     countries in the Indian Ocean following the magnitude 9.0 
     earthquake and resulting tsunami in that region on December 
     26, 2004, illustrates the destructive consequences which can 
     occur in the absence of an effective tsunami warning and 
     notification system.
       [(10) An effective tsunami warning and notification system 
     is part of a multi-hazard disaster warning and preparedness 
     program and requires near real-time seismic, sea level, and 
     oceanographic data, high-speed data analysis capabilities, a 
     high-speed tsunami warning communication system, a sustained 
     program of education and risk assessment, and an established 
     local communications infrastructure for timely and effective 
     dissemination of warnings to activate evacuation of tsunami 
     hazard zones.
       [(11) The Tsunami Warning System for the Pacific is a model 
     for other regions of the world to adopt, and can be expanded 
     and modernized to increase detection, forecast, and 
     warning capabilities for vulnerable states and 
     territories, reduce the incidence of costly false alarms, 
     improve reliability of measurement and assessment 
     technology, and increase community preparedness.
       [(12) Tsunami warning and preparedness capability can be 
     developed in other vulnerable areas of the world, such as the 
     Indian Ocean, by identifying tsunami hazard zones, educating 
     populations, developing alert and notification communications 
     infrastructure, and by deploying near real-time tsunami 
     detection sensors and gauges, establishing hazard 
     communication and warning networks, expanding global 
     monitoring of seismic activity, encouraging the increased 
     exchange of seismic and tidal data between nations, and 
     improving international coordination when a tsunami is 
     detected.
       [(13) UNESCO has recognized the need to establish tsunami 
     warning systems for regions beyond the Pacific Basin that are 
     vulnerable to tsunams, including the Indian Ocean, and has 
     convened a working group to lead an effort to expand the 
     International Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific to such 
     vulnerable regions.
       [(14) The international community and all vulnerable 
     nations should take coordinated efforts to establish and 
     participate in regional tsunami warning systems and other 
     hazard warnings systems developed to meet the goals of the 
     United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
       [(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       [(1) to improve tsunami detection, forecast, warnings, 
     notification, preparedness, and mitigation in order to 
     protect life and property both in the United States and 
     elsewhere in the world;
       [(2) to improve and modernize the existing Pacific Tsunami 
     Warning System to increase coverage, reduce false alarms and 
     increase accuracy of forecasts and warnings, and expand 
     detection and warning systems to include other vulnerable 
     States and United States territories, including the 
     Caribbean/Atlantic/Gulf region;
       [(3) to increase and accelerate mapping, modeling, 
     research, assessment, education, and outreach efforts in 
     order to improve forecasting, preparedness, mitigation, 
     response, and recovery of tsunami and related coastal 
     hazards;
       [(4) to provide technical and other assistance to speed 
     international efforts to establish regional tsunami warning 
     systems in vulnerable areas worldwide, including the Indian 
     Ocean; and
       [(5) to improve Federal, State, and international 
     coordination for tsunami and other coastal hazard warnings 
     and preparedness.

     [SEC. 3. TSUNAMI DETECTION AND WARNING SYSTEM.

       [(a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration shall operate regional tsunami 
     detection and warning systems for the Pacific Ocean region 
     and for the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico 
     region that will provide maximum detection capability for 
     United States coastal tsunami.
       [(b) System Requirements.--
       [(1) Pacific system.--The Pacific tsunami warning system 
     shall cover the entire Pacific Ocean area, including the 
     Western Pacific, the Central Pacific, the North Pacific, the 
     South Pacific, and the East Pacific and Arctic areas.
       [(2) Atlantic, caribbean, and gulf of mexico system.--The 
     Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf system shall cover areas of the 
     Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico that 
     the Administrator determines--
       [(A) to be geologically active, or to have significant 
     potential for geological activity; and
       [(B) to pose measurable risks of tsunamis for States along 
     the coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of 
     Mexico.
       [(3) Components.--The systems shall--
       [(A) utilize an array of deep ocean detection buoys, 
     including redundant and spare buoys;
       [(B) include an associated tide gauge and water level 
     system designed for long-term continuous operation tsunami 
     transmission capability;
       [(C) provide for establishment of a cooperative effort 
     between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     and the United States Geological Survey under which the 
     Geological Survey provides rapid and reliable seismic 
     information to the Administration from international and 
     domestic seismic networks;
       [(D) provide for information and data processing through 
     the tsunami warning centers established under subsection (c);

[[Page S7931]]

       [(E) be integrated into United States and global ocean and 
     earth observing systems; and
       [(F) provide a communications infrastructure for at-risk 
     tsunami communities that supports rapid and reliable alert 
     and notification to the public such as the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration weather radio and the All 
     Hazard Alert Broadcasting Radio.
       [(c) Tsunami Warning Centers.--
       [(1) In general.--The Administrator shall establish tsunami 
     warning centers to provide a link between the detection and 
     warning system and the tsunami hazard mitigation program 
     established under section 4 including--
       [(A) a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii;
       [(B) a West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in 
     Alaska; and
       [(C) any additional warning centers determined by the 
     Administrator to be necessary.
       [(2) Responsibilities.--The responsibilities of each 
     tsunami warning center shall include--
       [(A) continuously monitoring data from seismological, deep 
     ocean, and tidal monitoring stations;
       [(B) evaluating earthquakes that have the potential to 
     generate tsunami;
       [(C) evaluating deep ocean buoy data and tidal monitoring 
     stations for indications of tsunami resulting from sources 
     other than earthquakes; and
       [(D) disseminating information and warning bulletins 
     appropriate for local and distant tsunamis to government 
     agencies and the public and alerting potentially impacted 
     coastal areas for evacuation.
       [(d) Transfer of Technology; Maintenance and Upgrades.--In 
     carrying out this section, the Administrator shall--
       [(1) promulgate specifications and standards for forecast, 
     detection, and warning systems, including detection 
     equipment;
       [(2) develop and execute a plan for the transfer of 
     technology from ongoing research to long-term operations;
       [(3) ensure that detection equipment is maintained in 
     operational condition to fulfill the forecasting, detection 
     and warning requirements of the regional tsunami detection 
     and warning systems;
       [(4) obtain, to the greatest extent practicable, priority 
     treatment in budgeting for, acquiring, transporting, and 
     maintaining weather sensors, tide gauges, water level gauges, 
     and tsunami buoys incorporated into the system including 
     obtaining ship time; and
       [(5) ensure integration of the tsunami detection system 
     with other United States and global ocean and coastal 
     observation systems, the global earth observing system of 
     systems, global seismic networks, and the Advanced National 
     Seismic System.
       [(e) Certification.--Amounts appropriated for any fiscal 
     year pursuant to section 8 to carry out this section may not 
     be obligated or expended for the acquisition of services for 
     construction or deployment of tsunami detection equipment 
     unless the Administrator certifies in writing to the Senate 
     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the 
     House of Representatives Committee on Science within 60 
     calendar days after the date on which the President submits 
     the Budget of the United States for that fiscal year to the 
     Congress that--
       [(1) each contractor for such services has met the 
     requirements of the contract for such construction or 
     deployment;
       [(2) the equipment to be constructed or deployed is capable 
     of becoming fully operational without the obligation or 
     expenditure of additional appropriated funds; and
       [(3) the Administrator does not reasonably foresee 
     unanticipated delays in the deployment and operational 
     schedule specified in the contract.

     [SEC. 4. TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM.

       [(a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration is authorized to conduct a 
     community-based tsunami hazard mitigation program to improve 
     tsunami preparedness of at-risk areas.
       [(b) Coordinating Committee.--In conducting the program, 
     the Administrator shall establish a coordinating committee 
     comprising representatives of--
       [(1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
       [(2) the United States Geological Survey;
       [(3) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
       [(4) the National Science Foundation; and
       [(5) affected coastal States and territories.
       [(c) Program Components.--The program shall--
       [(1) improve the quality and extent of inundation mapping, 
     including assessment of vulnerable inner coastal areas;
       [(2) promote and improve community outreach and education 
     networks and programs to ensure community readiness, 
     including the development of multi-hazard risk and 
     vulnerability assessment training and decision support tools, 
     implementation of technical training and public education 
     programs, and provide for certification of prepared 
     communities;
       [(3) integrate tsunami preparedness and mitigation programs 
     into ongoing hazard warning and risk management programs in 
     affected areas including the National Response Plan;
       [(4) promote the adoption of tsunami warning and mitigation 
     measures by Federal, State, tribal, and local governments and 
     non-governmental entities through a grant program for 
     training, development of guidelines, and other purposes;
       [(5) through the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the 
     lead agency, develop tsunami specific rescue and recovery 
     guidelines for the National Response Plan, including long-
     term mitigation measures, educational programs to discourage 
     development in high-risk areas, and use of remote sensing and 
     other technology in rescue and recovery operations;
       [(6) require budget coordination, through the 
     Administration, to carry out the purposes of this Act and to 
     ensure that participating agencies provide necessary funds 
     for matters within their respective areas of authority and 
     expertise; and
       [(7) provide for periodic external review of the program 
     and for inclusion of the results of such reviews in the 
     report required by section 6(c).

     [SEC. 5. TSUNAMI RESEARCH PROGRAM.

       [(a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall, in coordination 
     with other agencies and academic institutions, establish a 
     tsunami research program to develop detection, prediction, 
     communication, and mitigation science and technology that 
     supports tsunami forecasts and warnings, including advanced 
     sensing techniques, information and communication technology, 
     data collection, analysis and assessment for tsunami tracking 
     and numerical forecast modeling that will--
       [(1) help determine--
       [(A) whether an earthquake or other seismic event will 
     result in a tsunami; and
       [(B) the likely path, severity, duration, and travel time 
     of a tsunami;
       [(2) develop techniques and technologies that may be used 
     to communicate tsunami forecasts and warnings as quickly and 
     effectively as possible to affected communities;
       [(3) develop techniques and technologies to support 
     evacuation products, including real-time notice of the 
     condition of critical infrastructure along tsunami evacuation 
     routes for public officials and first responders; and
       [(4) develop techniques for utilizing remote sensing 
     technologies in rescue and recovery operations.
       [(b) Communications Technology.--The Administrator, in 
     consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
     Communications and Information and the Federal Communications 
     Commission, shall investigate the potential for improved 
     communications systems for tsunami and other hazard warnings 
     by incorporating into the existing network a full range of 
     options for providing those warnings to the public, 
     including, as appropriate--
       [(1) telephones, including special alert rings;
       [(2) wireless and satellite technology, including cellular 
     telephones and pagers;
       [(3) the Internet, including e-mail;
       [(4) automatic alert televisions and radios;
       [(5) innovative and low-cost combinations of such 
     technologies that may provide access to remote areas; and
       [(6) other technologies that may be developed.

     [SEC. 6. TSUNAMI SYSTEM UPGRADE AND MODERNIZATION.

       [(a) System Upgrades.--The Administrator of the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall--
       [(1) authorize and direct the immediate repair of existing 
     deep ocean detection buoys and related components of the 
     system;
       [(2) ensure the deployment of an array of deep ocean 
     detection buoys in the regions described in section 3(a) of 
     this Act;
       [(3) ensure expansion or upgrade of the tide gauge network 
     in the regions described in section 3(a); and
       [(4) complete the upgrades not later than December 31, 
     2007.
       [(b) Congressional Notifications.--The Administrator shall 
     notify the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on 
     Science of--
       [(1) impaired regional detection coverage due to equipment 
     or system failures; and
       [(2) significant contractor failures or delays in 
     completing work associated with the tsunami detection and 
     warning system.
       [(c) Annual Report.--The Administrator shall transmit an 
     annual report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 
     and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee 
     on Science on the status of the tsunami detection and warning 
     system, including accuracy, false alarms, equipment failures, 
     improvements over the previous year, and goals for further 
     improvement (or plans for curing failures) of the system, as 
     well as progress and accomplishments of the national tsunami 
     hazard mitigation program.
       [(d) External Review.--The National Academy of Science 
     shall review the tsunami detection, forecast, and warning 
     system operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration under this Act to assess further modernization 
     and coverage needs, as well as long-term operational 
     reliability issues, taking into account measures implemented 
     under this Act, and transmit a report containing its 
     recommendations, including an estimate of the costs of 
     implementing those recommendations, to the Senate Committee 
     on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of 
     Representatives Committee on Science within 24 months after 
     the date of enactment of this Act.

[[Page S7932]]

     [SEC. 7. GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION NETWORK.

       [(a) International Tsunami Warning System.--The 
     Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration, in coordination with other members of the 
     United States Interagency Committee of the National Tsunami 
     Mitigation Program, shall provide technical assistance and 
     advice to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of 
     UNESCO, the World Meteorological Organization, and other 
     international entities, as part of international efforts to 
     develop a fully functional global tsunami warning system 
     comprised of regional tsunami warning networks, modeled on 
     the International Tsunami Warning System of the Pacific.
       [(b) Detection Equipment; Technical Advice.--In carrying 
     out this section, the Administrator--
       [(1) shall give priority to assisting nations in 
     identifying vulnerable coastal areas, creating inundation 
     maps, obtaining or designing real-time detection and 
     reporting equipment, and establishing communication and 
     warning networks and contact points in each vulnerable 
     nation; and
       [(2) may establish a process for transfer of detection and 
     communication technology to affected nations for the purposes 
     of establishing the international tsunami warning system.
       [(c) Data-Sharing Requirement.--The Administrator may not 
     provide assistance under this section for any region unless 
     all affected nations in that region participating in the 
     tsunami warning network agree to share relevant data 
     associated with the development and operation of the network.
       [(d) Receipt of International Reimbursement Authorized.--
     The Administrator may accept payment to, or reimbursement of, 
     the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in cash 
     or in kind from international organizations and foreign 
     authorities, or payment or reimbursement made on behalf of 
     such an authority, for expenses incurred by the Administrator 
     in carrying out any activity under this Act. Any such 
     payments or reimbursements shall be considered a 
     reimbursement to the appropriated funds of the 
     Administration.

     [SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       [There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
     Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 
     through 2012 to carry out this Act.]

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Tsunami Preparedness Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
       (1) Tsunami are a series of large waves of long wavelength 
     created by the displacement of water by violent undersea 
     disturbances such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, 
     landslides, explosions, and the impact of cosmic bodies.
       (2) Tsunami have caused, and can cause in the future, 
     enormous loss of human life, injury, destruction of property, 
     and economic and social disruption in coastal and island 
     communities.
       (3) While 85 percent of tsunami occur in the Pacific Ocean, 
     and coastal and island communities in this region are the 
     most vulnerable to the destructive results, tsunami can occur 
     at any point in any ocean or related body of water where 
     there are earthquakes, volcanoes, or any other activity that 
     displaces a large volume of water.
       (4) A number of States and territories are subject to the 
     threat of tsunamis, including Alaska, California, Hawaii, 
     Oregon, Washington, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
     Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. 
     Virgin Islands.
       (5) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is 
     responsible for maintaining a tsunami detection and warning 
     system for the Nation, issuing warnings to United States 
     communities at risk from tsunami, and preparing those 
     communities to respond appropriately, through--
       (A) the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, 
     Hawaii, which serves as a warning center for Hawaii, all 
     other United States assets in the Pacific, and Puerto Rico;
       (B) the Alaska/West Coast Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, 
     Alaska, which is responsible for issuing warnings for Alaska, 
     British Columbia, California, Oregon, and Washington;
       (C) the Federal-State national tsunami hazard mitigation 
     program;
       (D) a tsunami research and assessment program, including 
     programs conducted by the Pacific Marine Environmental 
     Laboratory;
       (E) the TsunamiReady Program, which educates and prepares 
     communities for survival before and during a tsunami;
       (F) an archive of historical tsunami data, held at the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National 
     Geophysical Data Center; and
       (G) other related programs, including those operated in 
     coordination with academic institutions.
       (6) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     also represents the United States as a member of the 
     International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning 
     System in the Pacific, administered by the Intergovernmental 
     Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, for which the Pacific 
     Tsunami Warning Center acts as the operational center and 
     shares seismic and water level information with 26 member 
     states, and maintains UNESCO's International Tsunami 
     Information Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii, which provides 
     technical and educational assistance to member states.
       (7) The Tsunami Warning Centers receive seismographic 
     information from the Global Seismic Network, an international 
     system of earthquake monitoring stations, from the United 
     States Geological Survey National Earthquake Information 
     Center, the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, and 
     cooperative regional seismic networks, and use these data to 
     issue tsunami warnings and integrate the information with 
     data from their own tidal and deep ocean monitoring stations, 
     to cancel or verify the existence of a damaging tsunami. 
     Warnings are disseminated by the National Oceanic and 
     Atmospheric Administration to State emergency operation 
     centers.
       (8) Current gaps in the International Tsunami Warning 
     System, such as the lack of regional warning systems in the 
     Indian Ocean, the southwest Pacific Ocean, Central and South 
     America, the Mediterranean Sea, and Caribbean, pose risks for 
     coastal and island communities.
       (9) The tragic and extreme loss of life experienced by 
     countries in the Indian Ocean following the magnitude 9.0 
     earthquake and resulting tsunami in that region on December 
     26, 2004, illustrates the destructive consequences which can 
     occur in the absence of an effective tsunami warning and 
     notification system.
       (10) An effective tsunami warning and notification system 
     is part of a multi-hazard disaster warning and preparedness 
     program and requires real-time seismic, sea level, and 
     oceanographic data, high-speed data analysis capabilities, a 
     high-speed tsunami warning communication system, a sustained 
     program of education and risk assessment to develop response 
     strategies, and an established local communications 
     infrastructure for timely and effective dissemination  of 
     warnings to activate evacuation of tsunami hazard zones.
       (11) The Tsunami Warning System for the Pacific is a model 
     for other regions of the world to adopt, and can be expanded 
     and modernized to increase detection, forecast, and warning 
     capabilities for vulnerable states and territories, reduce 
     the incidence of costly false alarms, improve reliability of 
     measurement and assessment technology, and increase community 
     preparedness.
       (12) Tsunami warning and preparedness capability can be 
     developed in other vulnerable areas of the world, such as the 
     Indian Ocean, by identifying tsunami hazard zones, educating 
     populations, developing alert and notification communications 
     infrastructure, and by deploying near real-time tsunami 
     detection sensors and gauges, establishing hazard 
     communication and warning networks, expanding global 
     monitoring of seismic activity, encouraging the increased 
     exchange of seismic and tidal data between nations, and 
     improving international coordination when a tsunami is 
     detected.
       (13) UNESCO has recognized the need to establish tsunami 
     warning systems for regions beyond the Pacific Basin that are 
     vulnerable to tsunami, including the Indian Ocean, and has 
     convened a working group to lead an effort to expand the 
     International Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific to such 
     vulnerable regions.
       (14) The international community and all vulnerable nations 
     should take coordinated efforts to establish and participate 
     in regional tsunami warning systems and other hazard warnings 
     systems developed to meet the goals of the United Nations 
     International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
       (15) On February 16, 2005, the United States, together with 
     53 other Nations participating in the Third Earth Observation 
     Summit in Brussels, Belgium, adopted a 10-year implementation 
     plan as the basis for establishing the Global Earth 
     Observation System of Systems.
       (16) The Global Earth Observation System of Systems will 
     consist of existing and future earth observation systems, 
     including the United States tsunami detection and warning 
     system.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to improve tsunami detection, forecast, warnings, 
     notification, preparedness, and mitigation in order to 
     protect life and property both in the United States and 
     elsewhere in the world;
       (2) to improve and modernize the existing Pacific Tsunami 
     Warning System to increase coverage, reduce false alarms and 
     increase accuracy of forecasts and warnings, and expand 
     detection and warning systems to include other vulnerable 
     States and United States territories, including the 
     Caribbean/Atlantic/Gulf region;
       (3) to increase and accelerate mapping, modeling, research, 
     assessment, education, and outreach efforts in order to 
     improve forecasting, preparedness, mitigation, response, and 
     recovery of tsunami and related coastal hazards;
       (4) to provide technical and other assistance to speed 
     international efforts to establish regional tsunami warning 
     systems in vulnerable areas worldwide, including the Indian 
     Ocean; and
       (5) to improve Federal, State, and international 
     coordination for tsunami and other coastal hazard warnings 
     and preparedness.

     SEC. 3. TSUNAMI DETECTION AND WARNING SYSTEM.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration shall operate regional tsunami 
     detection and warning systems for the Pacific Ocean region 
     and for the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico 
     region that will provide maximum detection capability for 
     United States coastal tsunami.
       (b) System Requirements.--
       (1) Pacific system.--The Pacific tsunami warning system 
     shall cover the entire Pacific Ocean area, including the 
     Western Pacific, the Central Pacific, the North Pacific, the 
     South Pacific, and the East Pacific and Arctic areas.
       (2) Atlantic, caribbean, and gulf of mexico system.--The 
     Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf system shall cover areas of the 
     Atlantic Ocean,

[[Page S7933]]

     Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico that the Administrator 
     determines--
       (A) to be geologically active, or to have significant 
     potential for geological activity; and
       (B) to pose measurable risks of tsunamis for States along 
     the coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of 
     Mexico.
       (3) Components.--The systems shall--
       (A) utilize an array of deep ocean detection buoys, 
     including redundant and spare buoys;
       (B) include an associated tide gauge and water level system 
     designed for long-term continuous operation tsunami 
     transmission capability;
       (C) allow for such additional sensors as may be necessary 
     to provide other ocean and earth observation capabilities;
       (D) provide for the establishment of a cooperative effort 
     between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     and the United States Geological Survey under which the 
     Geological Survey and State earthquake information centers 
     provide rapid and reliable real-time seismic information to 
     the Administration from international and domestic seismic 
     networks;
       (E) provide for information and data processing through the 
     tsunami warning centers established under subsection (c);
       (F) be integrated into United States and global ocean and 
     earth observing systems, including the Global Earth 
     Observation System of Systems;
       (G) provide a communications infrastructure, in 
     coordination with local communications providers, for at-risk 
     tsunami communities that supports rapid and reliable alert 
     and notification to the public, such as the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration's Weather, Alert, and 
     Readiness Network, which includes the weather radio and the 
     All Hazard Alert Broadcasting Radio; and
       (H) the integration of NOAA's Advanced Weather Interactive 
     Processing System with other communications technologies.
       (4) Federal cooperation.--In deploying and maintaining 
     detection buoys utilized in the tsunami warning system, the 
     Administrator should leverage the assistance and assets of 
     the United States Coast Guard, the Navy, and other Federal 
     agency assets in the region. Within 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide a 
     report to the Senate committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation, the House of Representatives Committee on 
     Science, and the House of Representatives Committee on 
     Resources that summarizes the extent to which the United 
     States Coast Guard or any other Federal agency is assistance 
     in deploying and maintaining such buoys.
       (c) Tsunami Warning Centers.--
       (1) In general.--The Administrator shall establish tsunami 
     warning centers to provide a link between the detection and 
     warning system and the tsunami hazard mitigation program 
     established under section 4 including--
       (A) a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii;
       (B) a West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in 
     Alaska; and
       (C) any additional warning centers determined by the 
     Administrator to be necessary.
       (2) Responsibilities.--The responsibilities of each tsunami 
     warning center shall include--
       (A) continuously monitoring data from seismological 
     stations, deep ocean detection buoys, and tidal monitoring 
     stations and providing such data to the national tsunami 
     archive;
       (B) evaluating earthquakes that have the potential to 
     generate tsunami;
       (C) evaluating deep ocean buoy data and tidal monitoring 
     stations for indications of tsunami resulting from sources 
     other than earthquakes; and
       (D) disseminating information and warning bulletins 
     appropriate for local and distant tsunamis to government 
     agencies and the public and alerting potentially impacted 
     coastal areas for evacuation.
       (d) Data Management.--The Administrator shall maintain 
     national and regionally-based data management systems to 
     support and establish data management requirements for the 
     tsunami detection and monitoring system, including 
     requirements for--
       (1) quality control and quality assurance;
       (2) archiving and maintaining data;
       (3) supporting integration of observations from the system 
     with other national and international water level 
     measurements, such as the Global Sea Level Monitoring System;
       (4) integration of observations from the system with other 
     elements of the global and coastal components of the 
     integrated ocean and coastal observing system and the Global 
     Earth Observation System of Systems; and
       (5) the development of and access to data sets and 
     integrated data products designed to support multi-hazard 
     regional vulnerability assessment and adaptation programs 
     such as the program established under section 8.

     SEC. 4. TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration shall, in coordination with 
     other agencies and academic institutions, develop and conduct 
     a community-based tsunami hazard mitigation program to 
     improve tsunami preparedness of at-risk areas.
       (b) Coordinating Committee.--In developing and conducting 
     the program, the Administrator shall establish a coordinating 
     committee comprising representatives of--
       (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
       (2) the United States Geological Survey;
       (3) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
       (4) the National Science Foundation;
       (5) the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
       (6) affected coastal States and territories.
       (c) Program Components.--The program shall--
       (1) improve the quality and extent of inundation mapping, 
     including assessment of vulnerable inner coastal areas;
       (2) promote and improve community outreach and education 
     networks and programs to ensure community awareness and 
     readiness, including the development of multi-hazard risk and 
     vulnerability assessment training and decision support tools, 
     implementation of technical training and public education 
     programs, and provide for certification of prepared 
     communities;
       (3) integrate tsunami awareness, preparedness, and 
     mitigation programs into ongoing hazard warning and risk 
     management programs in affected areas including the National 
     Response Plan and State coastal zone management plans;
       (4) promote the adoption of tsunami warning and mitigation 
     measures by Federal, State, tribal, and local governments and 
     non-governmental entities through a grant program for 
     training, development of guidelines, and other purposes;
       (5) through the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the 
     lead agency, develop tsunami specific rescue and recovery 
     guidelines for the National Response Plan, including long-
     term mitigation measures, educational programs to discourage 
     development in high-risk areas, and use of remote sensing and 
     other technology in rescue and recovery operations;
       (6) require budget coordination, through the 
     Administration, to carry out the purposes of this Act and to 
     ensure that participating agencies provide necessary funds 
     for matters within their respective areas of authority and 
     expertise; and
       (7) provide for periodic external review of the program and 
     for inclusion of the results of such reviews in the report 
     required by section 6(e).

     SEC. 5. TSUNAMI RESEARCH PROGRAM.

       (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall, in coordination 
     with other agencies and academic institutions, establish a 
     tsunami research program to develop detection, prediction, 
     communication, and mitigation science and technology that 
     supports tsunami forecasts and warnings, including advanced 
     sensing techniques, information and communication technology, 
     data collection, analysis and assessment for tsunami tracking 
     and numerical forecast modeling that will--
       (1) help determine--
       (A) whether an earthquake or other seismic event will 
     result in a tsunami; and
       (B) the likely path, severity, duration, and travel time of 
     a tsunami;
       (2) develop techniques and technologies that may be used to 
     communicate tsunami forecasts and warnings as quickly and 
     effectively as possible to affected communities;
       (3) develop techniques and technologies to support 
     evacuation products, including real-time notice of the 
     condition of critical infrastructure along tsunami evacuation 
     routes for public officials and first responders; and
       (4) develop techniques for utilizing remote sensing 
     technologies in rescue and recovery operations.
       (b) Communications Technology.--The Administrator, in 
     consultation with in consultation with the Assistant 
     Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and 
     the Federal Communications Commission, shall investigate the 
     potential for improved communications systems for tsunami and 
     other hazard warnings by incorporating into the existing 
     network a full range of options for providing those warnings 
     to the public, including, as appropriate--
       (1) telephones, including special alert rings;
       (2) wireless and satellite technology, including cellular 
     telephones and pagers;
       (3) the Internet, including e-mail;
       (4) automatic alert televisions and radios;
       (5) innovative and low-cost combinations of such 
     technologies that may provide access to remote areas; and
       (6) other technologies that may be developed.

     SEC. 6. TSUNAMI SYSTEM UPGRADE AND MODERNIZATION.

       (a) System Upgrades.--The Administrator of the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall--
       (1) authorize and direct the immediate repair of existing 
     deep ocean detection buoys and related components of the 
     system;
       (2) ensure the deployment of an array of deep ocean 
     detection buoys capable of carrying multi-observation 
     technology in the regions described in section 3(a) of this 
     Act;
       (3) ensure expansion or upgrade of the seismic monitoring 
     and tide gauge networks in the regions described in section 
     3(a); and
       (4) complete the upgrades not later than December 31, 2007.
       (b) Transfer of Technology; Maintenance and Upgrades.--In 
     carrying out this section, the Administrator shall--
       (1) promulgate specifications and standards for forecast, 
     detection, and warning systems, including detection 
     equipment;
       (2) develop and execute a plan for the transfer of 
     technology from ongoing research to long-term operations;
       (3) ensure that detection equipment is maintained in 
     operational condition to fulfill the forecasting, detection 
     and warning requirements of the regional tsunami detection 
     and warning systems;
       (4) obtain, to the greatest extent practicable, priority 
     treatment in budgeting for, acquiring, transporting, and 
     maintaining weather sensors, tide gauges, water level gauges, 
     and tsunami buoys incorporated into the system including 
     obtaining ship time; and
       (5) ensure integration of the tsunami detection system with 
     other United States and global ocean and coastal observation 
     systems, the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, 
     global seismic networks, and the Advanced National Seismic 
     System.

[[Page S7934]]

       (c) Certification.--Amounts appropriated for any fiscal 
     year pursuant to section 9 to carry out this section may not 
     be obligated or expended for the acquisition of services for 
     construction or deployment of tsunami detection equipment 
     unless the Administrator certifies in writing to the Senate 
     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the House 
     of Representatives Committee on Science, and the House of 
     Representatives Committee on Resources within 60 calendar 
     days after the date on which the President submits the Budget 
     of the United States for that fiscal year to the Congress 
     that--
       (1) each contractor for such services has met the 
     requirements of the contract for such construction or 
     deployment;
       (2) the equipment to be constructed or deployed is capable 
     of becoming fully operational without the obligation or 
     expenditure of additional appropriated funds; and
       (3) the Administrator does not reasonably foresee 
     unanticipated delays in the deployment and operational 
     schedule specified in the contract.
       (d) Congressional Notifications.--The Administrator shall 
     notify the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation, the House of Representatives Committee on 
     Science, and the House of Representatives Committee on 
     Resources of--
       (1) impaired regional detection coverage due to equipment 
     or system failures; and
       (2) significant contractor failures or delays in completing 
     work associated with the tsunami detection and warning 
     system.
       (e) Annual Report.--The Administrator shall transmit an 
     annual report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 
     and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee 
     on Science the status of the tsunami detection and warning 
     system, including accuracy, false alarms, equipment failures, 
     improvements over the previous year, and goals for further 
     improvement (or plans for curing failures) of the system, as 
     well as progress and accomplishments of the national tsunami 
     hazard mitigation program.
       (f) External Review.--The National Academy of Science shall 
     review the tsunami detection, forecast, and warning system 
     operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration under this Act to assess further modernization 
     and coverage needs, as well as long-term operational 
     reliability issues, taking into account measures implemented 
     under this Act, and transmit a report containing its 
     recommendations, including an estimate of the costs of 
     implementing those recommendations, to the Senate Committee 
     on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of 
     Representatives Committee on Science within 24 months after 
     the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 7. GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION NETWORK.

       (a) International Tsunami Warning System.--The 
     Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration, in coordination with other members of the 
     United States Interagency Committee of the National Tsunami 
     Mitigation Program, shall provide technical assistance and 
     advice to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of 
     UNESCO, the World Meteorological Organization, the Group on 
     Earth Observations, and other international entities, as part 
     of international efforts to develop a fully functional global 
     tsunami warning system comprised of regional tsunami warning 
     networks, modeled on the International Tsunami Warning System 
     of the Pacific, and consistent with the 10-year 
     implementation plan for the Global Earth Observation System 
     of Systems.
       (b) International Tsunami Information Center.--The 
     Administrator shall operate an International Tsunami 
     Information Center to improve tsunami preparedness for all 
     Pacific Ocean nations participating in the International 
     Tsunami Warning System of the Pacific, and which may also 
     provide such assistance to other nations participating in a 
     global tsunami warning system established through the 
     International Oceanographic Committee of UNESCO. As part of 
     its responsibilities in the Pacific, the Center shall--
       (1) monitor international tsunami warning activities in the 
     Pacific;
       (2) assist member states in establishing national warning 
     systems, and make information available on current 
     technologies for tsunami warning systems;
       (3) maintain a library of materials to promulgate knowledge 
     about tsunamis in general and for use by the scientific 
     community; and
       (4) disseminate information, including educational 
     materials and research reports.
       (c) Technical Assistance.--In carrying out this section, 
     the Administrator--
       (1) shall give priority to assisting nations in identifying 
     vulnerable coastal areas, creating inundation maps, obtaining 
     or designing real-time detection and reporting equipment, and 
     establishing communication and warning networks and contact 
     points in each vulnerable nation;
       (2) may establish a process for transfer of detection and 
     communication technology to affected nations for the purposes 
     of establishing the international tsunami warning system; and
       (3) shall provide technical and other assistance to support 
     international tsunami education, response, vulnerability, and 
     adaptation programs.
       (d) Data-Sharing Requirement.--The Administrator may not 
     provide assistance under this section for any region unless 
     all affected nations in that region participating in the 
     tsunami warning network agree to share relevant data 
     associated with the development and operation of the network.
       (e) Funding Assistance.--The Administrator, in coordination 
     with the Secretary of State, shall seek funding assistance 
     from participating nations needed to ensure establishment of 
     a fully functional global tsunami warning system.
       (f) Receipt of International Reimbursement Authorized.--The 
     Administrator may accept payment to, or reimbursement of, the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in cash or in 
     kind from international organizations and foreign 
     authorities, or payment or reimbursement made on behalf of 
     such an authority, for expenses incurred by the Administrator 
     in carrying out any activity under this Act. Any such 
     payments or reimbursements shall be considered a 
     reimbursement to the appropriated funds of the 
     Administration.

     SEC. 8. COASTAL COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION 
                   PROGRAM.

       (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall establish an 
     integrated coastal vulnerability and adaptation program 
     focused on improving the resilience of coastal communities to 
     natural hazards and disasters. The program shall be regional 
     in nature, build upon and integrate existing Federal and 
     State programs, and provide usable products that will improve 
     preparedness of communities, businesses, and government 
     entities. The program may include the following activities:
       (1) Development of multi-hazard vulnerability maps to 
     characterize and assess risks of coastal communities to a 
     range of natural hazards and provide a baseline for assessing 
     future risks.
       (2) Multi-disciplinary vulnerability assessment research 
     and education that will help integrate risk management with 
     community development planning and policies.
       (3) Risk management and leadership training for the public, 
     local officials, and institutions that will enhance 
     understanding and preparedness.
       (4) Risk assessment technology development, including 
     research and development of emerging technologies and 
     practical application of existing or emerging technologies, 
     such as modeling, remote sensing, geospatial technology, 
     engineering, and observing systems.
       (5) Risk management data and information services, 
     including access to data and products derived from observing 
     and detection systems, as well as development and maintenance 
     of new integrated data products that would support risk 
     assessment and risk management programs.
       (6) Risk communication systems that coordinate with and 
     build upon existing alert, warning, and forecast systems and 
     actively engage policy officials, government agencies, 
     businesses, communities, non-governmental organizations, and 
     the media in the design and implementation of the system.
       (b) Regional Pilot Projects.--
       (1) In general.--Within 1 year after the date of enactment 
     of this Act, the Administrator shall, in consultation with 
     the appropriate Federal, State, tribal, and local 
     governmental entities, establish 3 pilot projects to conduct 
     regional assessments of the vulnerability of coastal areas of 
     the United States to hazards associated with tsunami and 
     other coastal hazards, including sea level rise, increases in 
     severe weather events, and climate variability and change. 
     Priority shall be given to collaborative partnership 
     proposals from regionally-based multi-organizational 
     coalitions. In preparing the regional assessments, the 
     Administrator shall collect and compile current information 
     on tsunami, climate change, sea level rise, natural hazards, 
     coastal erosion and mapping, and ongoing regional efforts to 
     address them.
       (2) Scope.--Regional assessments under the pilot program 
     shall include an evaluation of--
       (A) the social impacts associated with threats to and 
     potential losses of housing, communities, and infrastructure;
       (B) the physical impacts such as coastal erosion, flooding 
     and loss of estuarine habitat, saltwater intrusion of 
     aquifers and saltwater encroachment, and species migration;
       (C) the economic impact on local, State, tribal, and 
     regional economies, including the impact on coastal 
     infrastructure and the abundance or distribution of 
     economically important living marine resources; and
       (D) opportunities to enhance the resilience of at-risk 
     communities, economic sectors, and natural resources.
       (c) Selection Criteria.--The Administrator shall rely on 
     the following criteria in identifying appropriate regional 
     pilot projects:
       (1) Vulnerability to tsunami, hurricanes, extreme weather, 
     flooding, climate, and other coastal hazards.
       (2) Dependence on economic sectors and natural resources 
     that are particularly sensitive to coastal hazards.
       (3) Opportunities to link and leverage related regional 
     risk observation, research, forecasting, assessment, 
     educational and risk management programs.
       (4) Demonstration of strong, interagency collaboration in 
     the area of risk management.
       (5) Access to NOAA and other Federal agency programs, 
     facilities, and infrastructure related to tsunami and other 
     coastal hazards monitoring, warning, forecasting, research 
     assessment, and data management.
       (d) Regional Adaptation Plans.--The Administrator shall, 
     within 3 years after the commencement of each project under 
     subsection (b), submit to the Congress regional adaptation 
     plans--
       (1) based on the information contained in the regional 
     assessments conducted under subsection (b);
       (2) developed with the participation of other Federal 
     agencies, State, tribal, and local government agencies, and 
     non-governmental entities (including academia and the private 
     sector) that will be critical in the implementation of the 
     plan at the State, tribal, and local levels;
       (3) that recommend targets and strategies to address 
     coastal impacts associated with tsunami, climate change, sea 
     level rise, or climate variability;

[[Page S7935]]

       (4) that include recommendations for both short- and long-
     term adaptation strategies; and
       (5) that include recommendations on--
       (A) Federal flood insurance program modifications;
       (B) areas that have been identified as high risk through 
     mapping and assessment;
       (C) enhancing the effectiveness of State coastal zone 
     management programs in mitigating or preventing coastal 
     risks;
       (D) mitigation incentives such as rolling easements, 
     strategic retreat, State or Federal acquisition in fee simple 
     or other interest in land, construction standards, and 
     zoning;
       (E) land and property owner education;
       (F) economic planning for small communities dependent upon 
     affected coastal resources, including fisheries; and
       (G) funding requirements and mechanisms.
       (e) Technical Planning and Financial Assistance.--The 
     Administrator, through the National Ocean Service, shall 
     establish a coordinated program--
       (1) to provide technical planning assistance and financial 
     assistance to coastal States, tribes, and local governments 
     as they develop and implement adaptation or mitigation 
     strategies and plans under this section; and
       (2) to make products, information, tools, and technical 
     expertise generated from the development of the regional 
     assessment and the regional adaptation plan available to 
     coastal States for the purposes of developing their own 
     State, tribal, and local plans.

     SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
     Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration--
       (1) $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2012 
     to carry out this Act (other than section 8); and
       (2) $5,000,000 for each of such fiscal years to carry out 
     section 8, of which at least $3,000,000 for each fiscal year 
     shall be used to carry out the pilot projects authorized by 
     section 8(b).
  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, today I rise in support of S. 50, the 
Tsunami Preparedness Act, which Senator Stevens and I introduced in 
January 2004, and which is now being considered by the full Senate. We 
are joined by 24 of our friends and colleagues as cosponsors, including 
Senators Cantwell, Burns, Lautenberg, Snowe, Akaka, Murkowski, Clinton, 
Smith, Murray, Lieberman, Landrieu, Bill Nelson, Kerry, Chambliss, 
Wyden, Dayton, Boxer, Feinstein, Mikulski, Sarbanes, Corzine, Lott, 
Gregg, and Ben Nelson.
  This bill, which the Commerce Committee unanimously approved in 
March, provides a scientific and technological response to minimize the 
threats posed by tsunami to our own shores and coastal communities 
around the world. While we have had limited observation and detection 
capabilities dating back to 1949, we must have a more robust, reliable, 
and well-maintained tsunami warning system. The appalling scope of the 
Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004 made clear the need and the 
urgency to develop more advanced detection capabilities.
  Our legislation builds on our previous work and will establish a 
warning system in the Pacific that is a model for the world. It also 
provides for expansion and improvement to repair gaps that have been 
identified recently.
  Protecting human life and property from natural disaster requires 
three components: the ability to reliably detect and forecast, the 
capacity to broadcast warnings in a timely and informative manner, and 
the capability to respond and safely evacuate coastal communities. 
Above all, however, it requires the willingness to invest resources to 
prepare for a threat that is largely unseen and unpredictable, until 
the last moment, when a monstrous wave actually strikes.
  The people of Alaska and Hawaii have long memories and a keen 
awareness of the threat of tsunami. Perhaps it is because Hawaii sits 
in a position of terrible vulnerability in the Pacific Ocean, which is 
the site of 85 percent of the world's tsunami activity, and because 
Alaska, perched on the northern edge of the Pacific's Ring of Fire, 
suffers frequent tsunami-generating earthquakes. Yet we are not the 
only States at risk from tsunami. There is a 14 percent chance that the 
coast of Oregon will, within the next 50 years, see a tsunami similar 
in magnitude to the one that recently took so many lives in the Indian 
Ocean. A recent study by the University of Southern California found 
that undersea slumping off the California coast could generate a 
tsunami with the potential to take many thousands of lives and cause 
over $40 billion in damages.

  In order to protect local communities, Hawaii established in 1949 a 
tsunami warning center, following a tragic Hilo tsunami. In response to 
the Good Friday earthquake and tsunami of 1964, which accounted for 90 
percent of the deaths in the State that year, Alaska established an 
observatory in Palmer, AK, in 1967. Collaborations between the two 
centers and other partners led to a nascent capacity for predicting and 
warning coastal communities about potential tsunami in Alaska and 
Hawaii and beyond.
  As we came to understand the broader threat that tsunami posed, Ted 
Stevens and I worked together to pass legislation in 1994 to direct the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, to develop a 
Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. We are pleased to report that the 
program has laid the foundation for tsunami preparedness.
  Through its Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, PMEL, NOAA has 
developed Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tunami--or ``DART''--
buoys, which accurately measure the subtle variations in the ocean's 
sea level caused by tsunami traveling over open water. With these 
measurements, as well as readings from coastal gauges, mathematical 
models can forecast tsunami direction, speed, and inundation with 
astonishing accuracy. Although the worldwide network of seismic sensors 
operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS, provides excellent notice 
of earthquakes with the potential to generate tsunami, the DART buoys 
represent a next-generation approach to detection and forecasting of 
tsunami that will form the backbone of our domestic preparedness.
  Interpreting these data and issuing warnings are Hawaii's Pacific 
Tsunami Warning Center, and Alaska's West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning 
Center, which jointly have the capacity to cover our domestic shores, 
and, at the same time, to reach out to all cooperating nations of the 
world.
  Forecasting and warning networks, however, depend on ears who know 
how to respond, and so the Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program has 
partnered with States and local authorities to produce inundation 
mapping, develop evacuation routes, and conduct tsunami education. As a 
result of much hard work, 15 counties along the West Coast and in 
Alaska and Hawaii have become national and world leaders by becoming 
``tsunami ready.''
  The appalling scope of the Indian Ocean tragedy illustrates the 
importance and necessity of our work of the past 10 years, and with 
stark clarity, we can see that despite our best efforts, much remains 
to be done. Now, as before, Senator Stevens and I have come together to 
lead the charge toward national and international tsunami preparedness.
  The bill formally authorizes NOAA to establish, operate, and maintain 
a dependable national tsunami warning system that would provide maximum 
tsunami detection capability for the Nation. The system would build on 
the model established in the Pacific, and provide for its repair, 
expansion and modernization by the close of calendar year 2007. The 
system would include four components: an expanded and upgraded 
detection and warning system, a Federal-State tsunami hazard mitigation 
program, a tsunami research program, and a modernization and upgrade 
program. In addition, S. 50 would direct NOAA to provide any necessary 
technical or other assistance to international efforts to establish 
regional systems in other parts of the world, including the Indian 
Ocean.
  The detection and warning system established by the bill would cover 
the Pacific Ocean region, as well as the Atlantic-Caribbean-Gulf of 
Mexico region. The system would incorporate a variety of seismic and 
tsunami detection technologies, including deep ocean buoys. The system 
also would encompass tsunami warning centers charged with collecting 
and analyzing the data and distributing warnings, including the 
existing Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and the West Coast/
Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska, as well as any others deemed 
necessary by the NOAA Administrator.
  The bill formally authorizes NOAA's Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program 
and its community-based tsunami hazard mitigation program to improve 
tsunami preparedness of at-risk areas. The bill directs a Federal-State 
coordinating committee for the program to work together to improve 
inundation mapping, community outreach and education, and promote and 
integrate tsunami warning and mitigation measures, including rescue and 
recovery

[[Page S7936]]

guidelines. The program would provide grants to States to ensure the 
program elements are implemented in coastal communities.
  The bill requires NOAA to establish, along with other agencies and 
academic institutions, a tsunami research program to continuously 
improve detection, prediction, communication, and mitigation science 
and technology to support tsunami forecasts and warnings. This program 
would also focus on the potential for improved communications systems 
for tsunami and other hazard warnings, including telephones, wireless 
and satellite technology, the Internet, television and radio, and any 
innovative combination of these technologies.
  Another critical component of the bill requires NOAA to upgrade and 
modernize the U.S. tsunami detection system by December 2007, and 
provide accountability for the long-term operation of the system. NOAA 
is required to repair and upgrade the system, ensuring deployment of 
existing deep ocean detection buoys and related detection equipment, as 
well as notify Congress immediately not only of any equipment or system 
failures that will impair regional detection, but also of significant 
contractor failures or delays. In addition, the bill calls for the 
National Academy of Sciences to review the system for further 
modernization recommendations.
  One of the changes we made to the bill resulted from testimony at the 
committee's February 2, 2005, hearing, and focuses on improving warning 
and preparedness for all coastal hazards, not only tsunami. The bill 
now contains a Coastal Community Vulnerability and Adaptation program 
at NOAA would encourage collaboration among Federal, State, local, and 
regional efforts through pilot projects focusing on: No. 1, development 
of vulnerability maps for coastal communities to a wide array of 
potential hazards; No. 2, better integration of risk management with 
community planning; No. 3, rick management leadership training for 
public officials; No. 4, development of risk assessment technologies; 
No. 5, new data services to support the new risk management activities; 
and No. 6, new risk communication systems. The bill would authorize $5 
million annually for fiscal year 2006-2012 for the program.
  The bill also recognizes the need for global coordination on tsunami 
preparedness, and as such, requires NOAA, and the interagency 
coordinating committee of the U.S. Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, 
to provide technical assistance and advice to international entities as 
part of an international effort to develop a fully functional global 
tsunami warning system. The bill would also encourage nations to share 
information and funding for such activities.
  Finally, the bill authorizes $35 million annually for 6 years to 
support tsnunami related activities. Through this legislation, the work 
Senator Stevens and I started over ten years ago will step up to the 
next level, and provide our Nation with coverage and protection that it 
needs, while fulfilling our duties as citizens of the global community.
  I believe that this bill will provide services of incalculable value 
to our Nation. The return on our investment may not happen this day or 
the next but it will happen. I hope that you will join me and my 
cosponsors in supporting enactment of the Tsunami Preparedness Act.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, Oregon's 363 miles of coastline are 
extremely susceptible to tsunamis. Just 2 weeks ago, at 7:40 p.m. on 
June 14, 2005, the tsunami threat became reality for those living on or 
visiting the coast. A 7.0 earthquake off the coast of California 
triggered an automatic tsunami warning for the entire west coast of the 
United States. The emergency response capabilities of these communities 
were put to the test. Fortunately, the warning was called off at 9:09 
p.m. after it was determined that the earthquake failed to produce a 
tsunami.
  Looking back, a lot of things went right. In Oregon, in cities such 
as Seaside and Cannon Beach, the alarms were sounded and people 
evacuated. However, there is a lot more that needs to be done. Models 
indicate that should an offshore earthquake trigger a tsunami, coastal 
towns will only have between 12 and 30 minutes before the first wave 
hits the beach. On June 14, for many people on the coast, the 
information would have come too late.
  I am pleased that the Tsunami Preparedness Act, S. 50, of which I am 
a consponsor and strong supporter, will pass the Senate by unanimous 
consent today. The world has recently seen how potentially devastating 
a tsunami can be. America needs to take steps to prepare and be ready. 
Oregonians are acutely aware that, at some point, a tsunami could hit 
the coast of the United States. This bill will give our coastal 
communities opportunities that weren't afforded the victims of the 
tragic tsunami in Southeast Asia last year. It will harness the brains 
and expertise of universities, like Oregon State University and Oregon 
Health and Science University, to improve our tsunami detection and 
warning system and to make available the resources necessary to 
adequately prepare, inform, and protect U.S. citizens.
  The U.S. has the tools to establish a top-notch national tsunami 
warning system and hazard mitigation program. Oregon universities are 
leading the way in tsunami research, and the practical applications of 
this research must be used. Our region, and the other vulnerable areas 
in the Nation, will benefit from better knowledge about the tracking, 
forecasting, and effects of tsunami waves. I look forward to the 
implementation of the Tsunami Preparedness Act and to reviewing the 
first annual report to Congress on the status and progress of work on 
this issue.
  The committee amendment was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 1101

                (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)

  The amendment (No. 1101) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The bill (S. 50), as amended, was read the third time, and passed.

                          ____________________