[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 31, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5505]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT BILL APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I wish to discuss H.R. 6147, which 
includes the Fiscal Year 2019 Interior and Related Agencies 
Appropriations bill. This bill provides critical funding for the U.S. 
Geological Survey, USGS, and the Advanced National Seismic System, 
ANSS.
  In recent years, USGS funding for external grants for local 
earthquake monitoring and research has become highly competitive and 
does not always reach areas of need. In a solicitation from May 2017, 
for example, USGS only funded approximately 15 percent of the grant 
proposals that were submitted to the agency for funding in this area.
  I am particularly concerned by USGS's reduction of funding and 
utilization of local earthquake monitoring programs and ANSS partner 
facilities in areas of moderate earthquake risk, particularly in the 
northeast region of the United States.
  It is true that most earthquakes tend to occur in zones where past 
earthquakes have taken place. However, each year, there are earthquakes 
that take place at unexpected locations, including in my home State of 
Massachusetts. The Northeast is a region of high population density, 
and the cities and towns in this region are often home to older 
buildings that are situated on soft soil and vulnerable to earthquake 
activity. This means that even small earthquakes can be felt by local 
residents and can be misinterpreted another disaster or even as a 
terrorist event if accurate and timely information is not readily made 
available.
  While we cannot yet identify the active faults in the Northeast, 
earthquake data and research are pointing us toward those localities 
where we need to look for active faults. Once these faults are found, 
they can be studied to better define the probabilities of future 
potentially damaging earthquakes in the Northeast and New England 
region. Important advancements in understanding earthquake hazards and 
in promoting earthquake risk reduction activities are realized because 
of the efforts of local seismic experts at places like Weston 
Observatory in my home State of Massachusetts. These external partners 
play critical roles in delivering accurate earthquake assessments and 
warnings to State and local emergency management agencies and the 
general public.
  I look forward to working with USGS to identify ways to expand 
funding for research at ANSS partner facilities that will improve their 
ability to deliver accurate earthquake assessments and products to 
their local populations across the United States, including the 
Northeast. As recently as 2011, a Northeast region stakeholder plan for 
ANSS called for improved delivery of seismic information to users in 
the region; an improved understanding of earthquake hazards in the 
Northeast; improved education and outreach on earthquakes and 
earthquake safety; and a multi-hazard approach to earthquake monitoring 
in this region. The stakeholders also called for funding support to 
local earthquake monitoring centers in the Northeast for these 
activities. Damaging earthquakes are rare, but they have happened in 
the past, and the evidence is overwhelming that they can happen again 
at some point in the future.
  In order to be fully prepared, I urge the USGS to begin now to 
reinvest in local seismic monitoring programs and ANSS partner 
facilities in the Northeast and in New England in particular.
  Thank you.

                          ____________________