Geoscience Policy Monthly Review
august 2014
The Monthly Review is part of a continuing effort to improve communications about the role of geoscience in policy.
Current and archived monthly reviews are available online.Subscribe to receive the Monthly Review directly.
natural hazards
Bipartisan House bill would improve tsunami forecasting and preparedness in U.S.
July 31, 2014
Before the August recess, a bipartisan coalition of members from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology released the Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2014 (H.R. 5309), a bill which would reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act of 2006. The bill is intended to enhance coordination among coastal states to improve tsunami research and mitigation.
H.R. 5309 would create a tsunami advisory panel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and directs NOAA to increase seismic monitoring at tsunami warning centers and to fund research on tsunami detection. The bill also directs the agency to provide advice and technical assistance to local officials and international entities, with the goal of developing a global tsunami warning system.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and was cosponsored by Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX). Congress passed the Tsunami Warning and Education Act of 2006 in response to the 2004 East Indian earthquake and tsunami; Rep. Bonamici cited the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan as the impetus for reauthorization of the program.
Sources: E&E News, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology