{ "id": "R43141", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R43141", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Overview and Issues for Congress", "retrieved": "2023-08-19T04:03:30.969938", "id": "R43141_24_2023-07-20", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2023-07-20_R43141_0b419fbd0514618145214ba436aebd5d6897b1d4.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R43141/24", "sha1": "0b419fbd0514618145214ba436aebd5d6897b1d4" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2023-07-20_R43141_0b419fbd0514618145214ba436aebd5d6897b1d4.html" } ], "date": "2023-07-20", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R43141", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Overview and Issues for Congress", "retrieved": "2023-08-19T04:03:30.967438", "id": "R43141_20_2021-12-21", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2021-12-21_R43141_4d0d7c23626734b1b955525e8b7eabf813a7bd37.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R43141/20", "sha1": "4d0d7c23626734b1b955525e8b7eabf813a7bd37" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2021-12-21_R43141_4d0d7c23626734b1b955525e8b7eabf813a7bd37.html" } ], "date": "2021-12-21", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R43141", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 592010, "date": "2018-12-13", "retrieved": "2019-12-20T20:21:11.296926", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief", "summary": "Portions of all 50 states and the District of Columbia are vulnerable to earthquake hazards, although risks vary greatly across the country and within individual states. Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state, experiencing a magnitude 7 earthquake almost every year and a magnitude 8 earthquake every 13 years, on average, since 1900. On November 30, 2018, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck north of Anchorage at 8:29 AM local time, causing extensive damage. \nUnder the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. Better coordination was a concern that led to changes to the program in legislation enacted in 2004 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2004; P.L. 108-360; 42 U.S.C. 7704).\nP.L. 108-360 authorized appropriations for NEHRP through FY2009. Although authorization for appropriations expired in 2009, Congress continued to appropriate funds for NEHRP activities during the nine intervening years. In FY2018, Congress appropriated $169.5 million for program activities, $30.6 million more than FY2017 spending of $138.9 million. The budget request for FY2019 would reduce total funding for NEHRP activities, primarily at the USGS and NSF, by $35.1 million and $13.7 million, respectively, compared to their FY2018 enacted amounts.\t\nOn November 27, 2018, Congress passed the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2018, and President Trump signed the bill into law on December 11 (P.L. 115-307). The new act largely leaves the current four-agency NEHRP program intact, while providing some new areas of emphasis. For example, the act emphasizes activities to promote greater resilience to earthquakes. Resilience would include, for example, designing and building structures that not only protect human lives during an earthquake but also continue to be functional structures after an earthquake. Those structures then could be reoccupied instead of being total losses.\nThe 2018 NEHRP reauthorization act removes statutory language referring to seeking a capability to predict earthquakes. Earthquake prediction thus far has proven to be virtually impossible, and in its 1990 reauthorization (P.L. 101-614), Congress shifted the NEHRP program emphasis from prediction to hazard reduction. P.L. 115-307 continues that emphasis, along with a new focus on activities that would enhance the effectiveness of an earthquake early warning system, among other changes to the program. An earthquake early warning system would automatically send an alert to areas in danger of potential shaking after the earthquake is initially triggered. The alert would notify electric utilities, railway systems, and even hospital operating rooms to cease activities before the earthquake-triggered shaking begins.\nThe 2018 NEHRP reauthorization act authorizes appropriations for NEHRP activities from FY2019 to FY2023, for a total amount of about $760 million over the five-year span, or approximately $152 million annually. That annual amount is slightly higher than enacted appropriations for the program in FY2017, but slightly lower than the amount enacted in FY2018.\nOne persistent question has been how to assess more precisely the relationship between NEHRP activities and reduced earthquake risk and actual losses from earthquakes. P.L. 115-307 appears to address that question by requiring the Comptroller General of the United States to review the program\u2019s activities and produce a report for Congress that addresses earthquake risks and hazards. The review and report would look at how states, tribes, and local governments are using NEHRP-generated information and implementing measures to reduce their earthquake risk.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43141", "sha1": "071ce5071c1d6d50c7e4c89f4a9ccd3b2ab6d81b", "filename": "files/20181213_R43141_071ce5071c1d6d50c7e4c89f4a9ccd3b2ab6d81b.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43141_files&id=/0.png": "files/20181213_R43141_images_84136fc040886a11e47db49eee82d68d1d5cebd1.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43141", "sha1": "1d17d1fe50a809b340b2a8a82ec05c16beac119a", "filename": "files/20181213_R43141_1d17d1fe50a809b340b2a8a82ec05c16beac119a.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4839, "name": "Earth Sciences & Natural Hazards" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4845, "name": "Federal Emergency Management" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4884, "name": "Critical Infrastructure" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 588156, "date": "2018-12-03", "retrieved": "2018-12-04T14:06:26.516024", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief", "summary": "Portions of all 50 states and the District of Columbia are vulnerable to earthquake hazards, although risks vary greatly across the country and within individual states. Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state, experiencing a magnitude 7 earthquake almost every year and a magnitude 8 earthquake every 13 years, on average, since 1900. On December 1, 2018, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck north of Anchorage at 8:29 AM local time, causing extensive damage. \nUnder the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. Better coordination was a concern that led to changes to the program in legislation enacted in 2004 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2004; P.L. 108-360; 42 U.S.C. 7704).\nP.L. 108-360 authorized appropriations for NEHRP through FY2009. Although authorization for appropriations expired in 2009, Congress continued to appropriate funds for NEHRP activities during the nine intervening years. In FY2018, Congress appropriated $169.5 million for program activities, $30.6 million more than FY2017 spending of $138.9 million. The budget request for FY2019 would reduce total funding for NEHRP activities, primarily at the USGS and NSF, by $35.1 million and $13.7 million, respectively, compared to their FY2018 enacted amounts.\t\nOn November 27, 2018, Congress passed the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2018, and sent the bill to the President Trump on November 29. The new act largely leaves the current four-agency NEHRP program intact, while providing some new areas of emphasis. For example, the act emphasizes activities to promote greater resilience to earthquakes. Resilience would include, for example, designing and building structures that not only protect human lives during an earthquake but also continue to be functional structures after an earthquake. Those structures then could be reoccupied instead of being total losses.\nThe 2018 NEHRP reauthorization act removes statutory language referring to seeking a capability to predict earthquakes. Earthquake prediction thus far has proven to be virtually impossible, and in its 1990 reauthorization (P.L. 101-614), Congress shifted the NEHRP program emphasis from prediction to hazard reduction. The 2018 NEHRP reauthorization act continues that emphasis, along with a new focus on activities that would enhance the effectiveness of an earthquake early warning system, among other changes to the program. An earthquake early warning system would automatically send an alert to areas in danger of potential shaking after the earthquake is initially triggered. The alert would notify electric utilities, railway systems, and even hospital operating rooms to cease activities before the earthquake-triggered shaking begins.\nThe 2018 NEHRP reauthorization act authorizes appropriations for NEHRP activities from FY2019 to FY2023, for a total amount of about $760 million over the five-year span, or approximately $152 million annually. That annual amount is slightly higher than enacted appropriations for the program in FY2017, but slightly lower than the amount enacted in FY2018.\nOne persistent question has been how to assess more precisely the relationship between NEHRP activities and reduced earthquake risk and actual losses from earthquakes. The 2018 NEHRP reauthorization act appears to address that question by requiring the Comptroller General of the United States to review the program\u2019s activities and produce a report for Congress that addresses earthquake risks and hazards. The review and report would look at how states, tribes, and local governments are using NEHRP-generated information and implementing measures to reduce their earthquake risk.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43141", "sha1": "dc89324d57f63df6751d30f91000b1965522bf50", "filename": "files/20181203_R43141_dc89324d57f63df6751d30f91000b1965522bf50.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43141_files&id=/0.png": "files/20181203_R43141_images_84136fc040886a11e47db49eee82d68d1d5cebd1.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43141", "sha1": "110d608304ccc794cff00513dade6916e9d608fc", "filename": "files/20181203_R43141_110d608304ccc794cff00513dade6916e9d608fc.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4839, "name": "Earth Sciences & Natural Hazards" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4845, "name": "Federal Emergency Management" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4884, "name": "Critical Infrastructure" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 585529, "date": "2018-09-20", "retrieved": "2018-10-05T22:21:53.014874", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief", "summary": "Under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. Better coordination was a concern that led to changes to the program in legislation enacted in 2004 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2004; P.L. 108-360; 42 U.S.C. 7704).\nP.L. 108-360 authorized appropriations for NEHRP through FY2009. Although authorization for appropriations expired in 2009, Congress has continued to appropriate funds for NEHRP activities. Congress made available $169.5 million for program activities in FY2018 appropriations, $30.6 million more than FY2017 spending of $138.9 million. The budget request for FY2019 would reduce total funding for NEHRP activities at the USGS and NSF by $35.1 million and $13.7 million, respectively, compared to FY2018 enacted amounts for those agencies.\t\nLegislation introduced in the 115th Congress, S. 1768 and H.R. 6650 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Acts of 2017 and 2018, respectively), largely would leave the current four-agency NEHRP program intact, while providing some new areas of emphasis. The bills would emphasize activities to promote greater resilience to earthquakes and activities that would enhance the effectiveness of an earthquake early warning system, among other changes. Both bills would remove statutory language referring to an original purpose of the program to seek a capability to predict earthquakes; earthquake prediction has proved to be virtually impossible. In its 1990 reauthorization, NEHRP shifted its program emphasis from prediction to hazard reduction. S. 1768 and H.R. 6650 would continue that emphasis, along with a focus on enhancing the concept of resilience. Resilience would include, for example, designing and building structures that not only protect human lives during an earthquake but also continue to be functional structures after an earthquake. Those structures then could be reoccupied instead of being total losses.\nS. 1768 was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which held a markup on December 13, 2017. The committee ordered the bill to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, which made several changes to the original legislation. Notably, the amended bill added a section authorizing appropriations for FY2018 through FY2022. H.R. 6650 was introduced on August 3, 2018, and was referred to the House Committees on Science, Space, and Technology; Natural Resources; and Transportation and Infrastructure. The bill is largely similar to S. 1768, although total appropriation amounts authorized by H.R. 6650 would slightly exceed the amounts authorized by S. 1768 over the four-year period FY2019-FY2022. \nOne persistent question has been how to establish a precise relationship between NEHRP activities and reduced earthquake risk and actual losses from earthquakes. Section 4 of S. 1768 and H.R. 6650 appears to address that question by requiring the Comptroller General of the United States to review the program\u2019s activities and produce a report for Congress that addresses earthquake risks and hazards. The review and report would look at how states, tribes, and local governments use NEHRP-generated information and implement measures to reduce their earthquake risk.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43141", "sha1": "09b1d279f1364f481a81c245bd548f662f96c5ca", "filename": "files/20180920_R43141_09b1d279f1364f481a81c245bd548f662f96c5ca.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43141_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180920_R43141_images_84136fc040886a11e47db49eee82d68d1d5cebd1.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43141", "sha1": "141fff7a8efbe70b7fdbfe85c9da02b1cf9c34d3", "filename": "files/20180920_R43141_141fff7a8efbe70b7fdbfe85c9da02b1cf9c34d3.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4839, "name": "Earth Sciences & Natural Hazards" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4845, "name": "Federal Emergency Management" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4884, "name": "Critical Infrastructure" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 585195, "date": "2018-01-31", "retrieved": "2018-09-13T22:44:33.177932", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief", "summary": "Under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. Better coordination was a concern that led to changes to the program in legislation enacted in 2004 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2004; P.L. 108-360).\nP.L. 108-360 authorized appropriations for NEHRP through FY2009. Although authorization for appropriations expired in 2009, Congress has continued to appropriate funds for NEHRP activities. Congress made available $138.9 million for program activities in FY2017 appropriations, slightly more than FY2016 spending of $134.9 million. The budget request for FY2018 would reduce total funding for NEHRP activities to $124.1 million, a decrease of about 8% compared to FY2017.\nLegislation introduced in the 115th Congress, S. 1768 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2017), largely would leave the current four-agency NEHRP program intact, while providing some new areas of emphasis. The bill, introduced on September 6, 2017, would emphasize activities to promote greater resilience to earthquakes and activities that would enhance the effectiveness of an earthquake early warning system, among other changes. S. 1768 would remove statutory language referring to an original purpose of the program to seek a capability to predict earthquakes. In its 1990 reauthorization, NEHRP shifted its program emphasis from prediction to hazard reduction, and S. 1768 would continue that emphasis along with enhancing the concept of resilience. Resilience would include, for example, designing and building structures that not only protect human lives during an earthquake, but would also continue to be functional structures after an earthquake. Those structures could then be reoccupied instead of being total losses.\nS. 1768 was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which held a markup on December 13, 2017. The committee ordered the bill to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, which made several changes to the original legislation. Notably, the amended bill added a section authorizing appropriations for fiscal years 2018 through 2022. The amounts authorized would slightly exceed the appropriations Congress enacted for the four-agency program in FY2017.\nNo similar legislation has been introduced in the House.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43141", "sha1": "b734c954f13514ea0abaa6ed4f19d736a3b3c1cf", "filename": "files/20180131_R43141_b734c954f13514ea0abaa6ed4f19d736a3b3c1cf.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43141_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180131_R43141_images_e607f58ed7aef4a0fe92deea5cbd8c6148834f46.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43141", "sha1": "a48edb478375e669cf00e2922881502457f810a3", "filename": "files/20180131_R43141_a48edb478375e669cf00e2922881502457f810a3.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4839, "name": "Earth Sciences & Natural Hazards" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4845, "name": "Federal Emergency Management" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 574166, "date": "2017-10-12", "retrieved": "2017-10-17T14:18:38.875032", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief", "summary": "Under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. Better coordination was a concern that led to changes to the program in legislation enacted in 2004 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2004; P.L. 108-360).\nP.L. 108-360 authorized appropriations for NEHRP through FY2009. Although authorization for appropriations expired in 2009, Congress has continued to appropriate funds for NEHRP activities. Congress made available $138.9 million for program activities in FY2017 appropriations, slightly more than FY2016 spending of $134.9 million. The budget request for FY2018 would reduce total funding for NEHRP activities to $124.1 million, a decrease of about 8% compared to FY2017.\nLegislation introduced in the 115th Congress, S. 1768 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2017), largely would leave the current four-agency NEHRP program intact, while providing some new areas of emphasis and omitting specific authorization of appropriations levels for the member agencies. The bill, introduced on September 6, 2017, would emphasize activities to promote greater resilience to earthquakes and activities that would enhance the effectiveness of an earthquake early warning system, among other changes. S. 1768 would remove statutory language referring to an original purpose of the program to seek a capability to predict earthquakes. In its 1990 reauthorization, NEHRP shifted its program emphasis from prediction to hazard reduction, and S. 1768 would continue that emphasis along with enhancing the concept of resilience. Resilience would include, for example, designing and building structures that not only protect human lives during an earthquake, but would also continue to be functional structures after an earthquake. Those structures could then be reoccupied instead of being total losses.\nNo similar legislation has been introduced in the House.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43141", "sha1": "9f2472cdfe05b172d29589b49d32042580cf06a4", "filename": "files/20171012_R43141_9f2472cdfe05b172d29589b49d32042580cf06a4.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43141_files&id=/0.png": "files/20171012_R43141_images_e607f58ed7aef4a0fe92deea5cbd8c6148834f46.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43141", "sha1": "9170ccdef6ce0a8e91f0c74251d8ae8089a97fff", "filename": "files/20171012_R43141_9170ccdef6ce0a8e91f0c74251d8ae8089a97fff.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4845, "name": "Federal Emergency Management" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 451856, "date": "2016-04-19", "retrieved": "2016-05-24T19:20:39.037941", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief", "summary": "Under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. Better coordination was a concern that led to changes to the program in legislation enacted in 2004 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2004; P.L. 108-360).\nP.L. 108-360 authorized appropriations for NEHRP through FY2009. Total funding enacted from reauthorization through FY2009 was $613.2 million, approximately 68% of the total amount of $902.4 million authorized by P.L. 108-360. Although authorization for appropriations expired in 2009, Congress has continued to appropriate funds for NEHRP activities. Congress made available $133.6 million for program activities in FY2016 appropriations, slightly more than FY2015 spending of $128.0 million. The budget request for FY2017 reflects another small increase, for a total of $136.1 million. \nIt is difficult to assess what effect funding at the levels enacted through FY2014 under NEHRP has had on the U.S. capability to detect earthquakes and minimize losses after an earthquake occurs. The NEHRP program\u2019s effectiveness is a perennial issue for Congress; the effectiveness of mitigation measures taken before an earthquake occurs is inherently difficult to capture precisely, in terms of dollars saved or fatalities prevented. A major earthquake in a populated urban area within the United States would cause damage, and in question is how much damage would be prevented by mitigation strategies underpinned by the NEHRP program. A 2015 report issued by the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction, created by P.L. 108-360, calls for congressional reauthorization of NEHRP, in part to reinvigorate the federal investment and interest in NEHRP and to ensure that earthquake hazard reduction remains a federal priority.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43141", "sha1": "acf746b12cd1cac06281dc91e50ad8715bbe1479", "filename": "files/20160419_R43141_acf746b12cd1cac06281dc91e50ad8715bbe1479.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43141", "sha1": "6eb897febaa7cf5f0604e9bda39016bc5da45b50", "filename": "files/20160419_R43141_6eb897febaa7cf5f0604e9bda39016bc5da45b50.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4089, "name": "Emergency and Disaster Response" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 446710, "date": "2014-08-27", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:09:13.291077", "title": "The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief", "summary": "Under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. Better coordination was a concern that led to changes to the program in legislation enacted in 2004 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2004; P.L. 108-360).\nP.L. 108-360 authorized appropriations for NEHRP through FY2009. Total funding enacted from reauthorization through FY2009 was $613.2 million, approximately 68% of the total amount of $902.4 million authorized by P.L. 108-360. Although authorization for appropriations expired in 2009, Congress has continued to appropriate funds for NEHRP activities. NEHRP agencies spent $119.5 million for program activities in FY2013, less than FY2012 spending of $124.1 million and less than the FY2014 enacted amount of $121.4. Also, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA; P.L. 111-5) provided some additional funding for earthquake activities under NEHRP. \nWhat effect funding at the levels enacted through FY2014 under NEHRP has had on the U.S. capability to detect earthquakes and minimize losses after an earthquake occurs is difficult to assess. The NEHRP program\u2019s effectiveness is a perennial issue for Congress; it is inherently difficult to capture precisely, in terms of dollars saved or fatalities prevented, the effectiveness of mitigation measures taken before an earthquake occurs. A major earthquake in a populated urban area within the United States would cause damage, and in question is how much damage would be prevented by mitigation strategies underpinned by the NEHRP program.\nLegislation introduced during the 113th Congress, Title 1 of the Natural Hazards Risk Reduction Act of 2013 (H.R. 2132), would make changes to the program and would authorize appropriations totaling $906 million over five years, through FY2017, for NEHRP. Ninety percent of the funding would be designated for the USGS and NSF, and the remainder would be for FEMA and NIST. 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