Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 876 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency to carry out a plan for the purchase and installation of an earthquake early warning system for the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 876 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITION. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 3 2019’’. 4 (b) CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE DEFINED.—In 5 this Act, the term ‘‘Cascadia Subduction Zone’’ means the 6 landward-dipping fault that is approximately 684 miles 7 long, separates the Juan de Fuca and North America 8 plates, and stretches along a portion of the western coast 9 of the United States beginning off Cape Mendocino, Cali- 10 fornia, along the State of Oregon, the State of Wash- 11 ington, to Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 12 SEC. 2. EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR 13 CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE. 14 (a) PLAN FOR PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION.— 15 (1) DEVELOPMENT AND FUNDING.—The Ad- 16 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 17 Agency shall— 18 (A) develop a plan for the purchase and in- 19 stallation of an earthquake early warning sys- 20 tem for the Cascadia Subduction Zone; and 21 (B) identify the funds necessary for imple- 22 mentation of the plan. 23 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 24 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 876 RFS Administrator shall submit to the appropriate com- 1 mittees of Congress a copy of the plan. 2 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 4 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 5 a report that summarizes the actions taken to implement 6 the plan. 7 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi- 8 nitions apply: 9 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 10 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 11 gress’’ means the Committee on Transportation and 12 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 13 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 14 mental Affairs of the Senate. 15 (2) EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.— 16 The term ‘‘earthquake early warning system’’ in- 17 cludes— 18 (A) improvements to regional and geodetic 19 networks that support building a capability for 20 an earthquake early warning system; and 21 (B) seismometers, Global Positioning Sys- 22 tem receivers, and associated infrastructure. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 876 RFS SEC. 3. EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI TASK FORCE. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish an 2 Earthquake and Tsunami Task Force for the purpose of 3 developing a comprehensive strategy and recommenda- 4 tions on how the Nation should prepare and plan for, miti- 5 gate against, respond to, recover from, and more success- 6 fully adapt to a covered event in the Cascadia Subduction 7 Zone. 8 (b) TASK FORCE.— 9 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the 10 Task Force shall include a cross section of subject 11 matter experts representing the following: 12 (A) Relevant Federal agencies. 13 (B) The States of Oregon, Washington, 14 and California. 15 (C) Indian tribes, local governments, and 16 private sector representatives that may be im- 17 pacted by a covered event in the Cascadia 18 Subduction Zone. 19 (D) Universities, academia, and research 20 institutions with expertise in topics relevant to 21 the work of the Task Force. 22 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Administrator (or the 23 Administrator’s designee) shall serve as the chair- 24 person of the Task Force. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 876 RFS (3) DETAILED EMPLOYEES.—Members of the 1 Task Force may detail employees to assist the Ad- 2 ministrator (or the Administrator’s designee) in ful- 3 filling the responsibilities of the Task Force. 4 (c) COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.— 5 (1) STRATEGY.—The comprehensive strategy to 6 be developed under subsection (a) shall include the 7 following: 8 (A) A description of how Federal agencies 9 will coordinate to develop the ability to prepare 10 and plan for, mitigate against, respond to, re- 11 cover from, and more successfully adapt to the 12 impacts of a covered event in the Cascadia 13 Subduction Zone. 14 (B) A strategy to ensure collaboration be- 15 tween the Department of Transportation, the 16 Department of Energy, the Coast Guard, the 17 Corps of Engineers, and other Federal agencies, 18 as appropriate, for purposes of— 19 (i) completing a needs assessment of 20 Federal facilities in need of hardening for 21 a covered event; and 22 (ii) developing a strategic plan to 23 mitigate and retrofit Federal, State, tribal, 24 and local critical assets for freight, energy, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 876 RFS and transit purposes to withstand a cov- 1 ered event and to help save lives during 2 and immediately after a covered event. 3 (C) A strategy— 4 (i) to assist State, tribal, and local 5 governments in developing and imple- 6 menting a coordinated and comprehensive 7 plan to prioritize Federal, State, tribal, 8 local, and private investments and activi- 9 ties to develop the ability to prepare and 10 plan for, mitigate against, respond to, re- 11 cover from, and more successfully adapt to 12 the impacts of a covered event in the 13 Cascadia Subduction Zone; and 14 (ii) to link any existing statewide miti- 15 gation plan with such a coordinated and 16 comprehensive plan. 17 (D) With respect to the strategy described 18 in subparagraph (C), an examination of the fea- 19 sibility of the public sector, the private sector, 20 and individuals to acquire earthquake insur- 21 ance. 22 (E) An identification of funding opportuni- 23 ties to implement the comprehensive strategy 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 876 RFS and any recommendations made by the Task 1 Force, including— 2 (i) existing funding opportunities 3 across Federal agencies and other sources; 4 and 5 (ii) potential new funding opportuni- 6 ties. 7 (F) An identification of barriers to obtain- 8 ing funding for the implementation of the com- 9 prehensive strategy and recommendations on 10 how to remove the barriers. 11 (G) A strategy for appropriate Federal 12 agencies to collaborate with and assist State, 13 tribal, and local governments in developing rec- 14 ommendations for cost-effective mitigation al- 15 ternatives for aging State, tribal, and locally 16 owned critical infrastructure. 17 (H) A strategy for assisting State, tribal, 18 and local governments in developing a recovery 19 plan prior to a covered event in the Cascadia 20 Subduction Zone that addresses how State, 21 tribal, and local governments may want to re- 22 build after the event. 23 (I) An identification of the steps taken to 24 date to develop an onshore and offshore earth- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 876 RFS quake early warning system and a description 1 of the purpose and scope of such a system. 2 (J) An evaluation of the types of offshore 3 earthquake early warning systems and rec- 4 ommendations and a cost estimate for an earth- 5 quake early warning system appropriate for the 6 Cascadia Subduction Zone. 7 (K) Recommendations on how an earth- 8 quake early warning system should operate, in- 9 cluding whether and how the system should 10 interface with the private sector. 11 (L) A description of appropriate roles and 12 responsibilities for Federal, State, local, and 13 tribal governments, including who should oper- 14 ate and maintain an earthquake early warning 15 system, the cost of the system, and possible 16 funding sources for the system. 17 (M) A plan on how to integrate an earth- 18 quake early warning system into existing and 19 new public alert warning systems and tech- 20 nologies, including mobile systems. 21 (2) USE OF EXISTING PLANS.—In developing 22 the comprehensive strategy, the Task Force may use 23 existing plans, studies, and other resources. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 876 RFS (d) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The recommendations to 1 be developed by the Task Force under subsection (a) shall 2 include recommendations on— 3 (1) potential administrative or legislative 4 changes required to implement the comprehensive 5 strategy; 6 (2) the funding required to implement the com- 7 prehensive strategy and the recommendations; and 8 (3) the order of priority for implementation of 9 the comprehensive strategy. 10 (e) NATIONAL ACADEMIES.— 11 (1) COLLABORATION.—The Task Force shall 12 work simultaneously and collaboratively with the Na- 13 tional Academies. 14 (2) AGREEMENT.—The Task Force shall enter 15 into an agreement with the National Academies 16 under which the National Academies shall develop 17 recommendations for a Federal research strategy to 18 advance scientific understanding of a Cascadia 19 Subduction Zone earthquake and resulting tsunami 20 preparedness, including the following: 21 (A) Geologic conditions, ground motions, 22 and tsunami hazards. 23 (B) Implications of an effective automated 24 early warning system. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 876 RFS (C) Effects of mega-earthquake and tsu- 1 nami events on the built and natural environ- 2 ment. 3 (D) Social and behavioral factors for effec- 4 tive disaster preparedness and response. 5 (E) Cost-effective mitigation alternatives 6 for legacy and aging infrastructure. 7 (F) Strategic planning for freight, energy, 8 and transit network robustness. 9 (G) Tools that help communities invest 10 their resources for the greatest benefit. 11 (H) Any other topics identified as nec- 12 essary by the Task Force or the National Acad- 13 emies. 14 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 15 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub- 16 mit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- 17 ture of the House of Representatives and the Committee 18 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 19 Senate a report of the Task Force that includes the fol- 20 lowing: 21 (1) The comprehensive strategy to be developed 22 under subsection (a). 23 (2) The recommendations to be developed under 24 subsections (a), (d), and (e). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 876 RFS (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi- 1 nitions apply: 2 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 3 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 4 Emergency Management Agency. 5 (2) COVERED EVENT.—The term ‘‘covered 6 event’’ means an earthquake, tsunami, or combined 7 earthquake and tsunami event. 8 (3) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 9 means the Federal interagency task force to be es- 10 tablished under subsection (a). 11 Passed the House of Representatives February 6, 2019. Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H876.RFS H876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS