07.01.05

Senate Passes Tsunami Safety Legislation Includes Cantwell-backed provision providing more resources for at-risk coastal communities

WASHINGTON , D.C. – The Senate today passed legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that will provide a boost to tsunami warning systems in Washington state's coastal communities. Crafted with bipartisan support following the tragic Indian Ocean tsunami in December, the legislation includes several measures pushed by Cantwell to directly help coastal communities, including those in Puget Sound , fund local warning systems and evacuation planning.

"This legislation is vitally important for our coastal communities," said Cantwell. "In the event of a tsunami off the Pacific Coast, coastal residents will have just minutes to move to higher ground. This legislation gets our communities the tools they need to improve and refine their emergency preparedness."

The Tsunami Preparedness Act (S. 50) includes a Cantwell-backed section designed to provide an additional $5 million each year to address preparedness needs for at-risk coastal communities. The section also authorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fund three regional pilot projects that would integrate federal, state, and local response programs, which will serve as models for the rest of the nation.

The bill passed the Senate – unanimously – more than three months after it was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, of which Cantwell is a member. On two occasions since that vote, Cantwell urged Senate leadership to immediately pass the legislation; once following a second tsunami scare in the Indian Ocean in March, and again two weeks ago following a scare off the Northern California coast, which resulted in evacuations in two Clallam County communities.

La Push, on the Pacific Ocean, and Neah Bay , at the Pacific's intersection with the Strait of Juan de Fuca, evacuated their low-lying neighborhoods to higher ground earlier this month, as a federal tsunami warning was issued after an earthquake occurred some 80 miles from Crescent City, California. While no real threat developed, glitches in the emergency response raised concerns among some local officials.

"Our state and local authorities have made great gains toward updating and improving their local warning systems and evacuation plans," Cantwell said. "But as the scare a few weeks ago shows, there's still work to be done."

Cantwell introduced the legislation in January with other members of the Senate Commerce Committee. The bipartisan legislation will improve the system of tsunami monitoring buoys off the coast of Washington and across the globe. The legislation will also provide for tsunami risk assessments in the Puget Sound and Washington's coastal communities.

In addition, the Tsunami Preparedness Act will require the immediate repair of malfunctioning tsunami detection and warning buoys. It was reported in January that three of the six existing Pacific Coast tsunameters were broken – including the buoy off the coast of Washington. The bill will also expand the current network of buoys to cover the entire Pacific Ocean, as well as at-risk areas in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

Cantwell also added to the legislation provisions that will ensure comprehensive vulnerability assessments and inundation mapping for inland bodies of water, including the Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca . Although mapping has been completed for the 45,000 Washingtonians who live within a mile of the coastline, they have yet been completed for at-risk areas near inland bodies of water, which are home to another 250,000 state residents.

Cantwell announced her support for the bill during a January tour of Seattle 's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). PMEL provides research support to all aspects of the tsunami program in the U.S. and is home to many of the world's leading tsunami researchers. The lab will have a leading role in developing technology for the new global tsunami warning system.

Led by Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R -AK) and Ranking Member Daniel Inouye (D-HI), the Tsunami Preparedness Act is now co-sponsored by 25 senators. Similar legislation is being considered by the House of Representatives.

A summary of the legislation follows below:

The Tsunami Preparedness Act (S. 50)

On January 24, 2004, Senator Cantwell introduced -- along with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Stevens (R-AK) and Ranking Member Inouye (D-HI) -- the Tsunami Preparedness Act. This legislation will direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to upgrade the existing Pacific tsunami detection and warning system, as well as expand it to any area in the Atlantic and Caribbean that NOAA determines is at-risk for a tsunami event. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on the bill during the first week in February. The bill will make significant improvements in the tsunami monitoring and detection system off the coast of Washington, including:

The immediate repair of malfunctioning tsunami buoys. Just after the tragic Indian Ocean tsunami, it was discovered that three of the six existing Pacific Coast detection and warning buoys (also known as tsunameters) were not functioning or only transmitting data intermittently--including the buoy off the coast of Washington. The legislation requires NOAA to immediately fix these deep ocean detection buoys, and to notify Congress whenever a malfunction occurs.

Comprehensive mapping of at-risk areas, such as the Puget Sound . While it's commonly known that almost 45,000 Washingtonians live less than a mile from the Pacific Coast, communities located near inland bodies of water can also be at substantial risk, depending on factors such as proximity to fault lines. At Sen. Cantwell's request, the bill's tsunami mapping and community outreach program was expanded to cover vulnerable inland bodies of water such as the Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca. NOAA estimates that more than 250,000 additional Washingtonians live in areas at risk from tsunami inundation – from Olympia and Seattle, to Everett and Bellingham. But to date, NOAA has not had the resources to complete inundation mapping for almost 50 of these at-risk communities in Washington. These areas will now be included in the bill's new community-based tsunami hazard mitigation program, which will improve inundation mapping, outreach and education, and integrated rescue and recovery guidelines.

An expanded network of buoys and new tsunami warning centers. The bill will expand the current network of six tsunami detection and warning buoys to cover the entire Pacific Ocean, as well as at-risk areas in the Atlantic and Caribbean. It will also provide additional resources to our nation's two existing tsunami warning centers in Hawaii and Alaska. Relying on technology developed at Seattle's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), these centers will monitor seismological, deep ocean and tidal data, as well as assess earthquakes that may have potential to generate tsunamis. These centers will also be responsible for issuing warning bulletins.

An investment in tsunami research and technology. Seattle's PMEL will play a leading role in the bill's research program, which will focus on development of the next generation of tsunami prediction, detection, communication and mitigation technology. Already, PMEL is at work on the "next generation" of warning and detection buoys.

Creating an integrated costal vulnerability and adaptation program. The bill that passed the Senate Commerce Committee today incorporates a new program designed to improve the resiliency of coastal communities to natural hazards and disasters. This effort will include three regional pilot projects that will provide regional assessments of U.S. coastal vulnerability to hazards associated with tsunami and other coastal hazards including sea level rise, increases in severe weather events, and climate variability and change. The new section also establishes a coordinated program to provide technical planning and assistance to coastal states and local governments as they implement these new warning and mitigation strategies. The bill authorizes an additional $5 million per year for the next six years to pay for these programs.

A stable federal funding source. The bill authorizes $40 million annually through fiscal year 2012 to carry out these tsunami-related initiatives.

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