{
  "id": "R44834",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R44834",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 586593,
      "date": "2017-05-03",
      "retrieved": "2020-01-02T14:35:08.181603",
      "title": "The U.S. Tsunami Program Reauthorization in P.L. 115-25: Section-by-Section Comparison to P.L. 109-479, Title VIII",
      "summary": "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s (NOAA\u2019s) National Weather Service (NWS) manages two tsunami warning centers, which monitor, detect, and issue warnings for tsunamis. The NWS operates the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) at Ford Island, HI, and the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) at Palmer, AK. The tsunami warning centers monitor and evaluate data from seismic networks and determine if a tsunami is likely based on the location, magnitude, and depth of an earthquake. The centers monitor relevant water-level data, typically with tide-level gauges, and data from NOAA\u2019s network of Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) detection buoys to confirm that a tsunami has been generated or to cancel any warnings if no tsunami is detected. \nIn the 114th Congress, the House passed legislation amending U.S. tsunami activities (H.R. 34) and the Senate passed similar legislation (Title V of H.R. 1561). However, the 114th Congress did not enact a final version of the legislation.\nThe 115th Congress passed the Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2017 as Title V of P.L. 115-25 on April 4, 2017. The bill was signed into law on April 18, 2017. Title V of P.L. 115-25 amended P.L. 109-479, Title VIII, the Tsunami Warning and Education Act, which was enacted on January 12, 2007. The new law does not make fundamental changes to the federal government\u2019s tsunami activities, which include tsunami forecasting and warning, mitigation, and research, as well as other tsunami-related activities. However, it does broaden the purposes of the federal activities, increasing focus on tsunami research, promoting community resilience to tsunami hazards, and refining requirements for standards and guidelines to improve education and outreach activities as well as tsunami mapping and modeling. The new law authorizes appropriations of $25.8 million per year from FY2016 through FY2021.\nAn ongoing question for the U.S. tsunami program and related activities is whether Congress will appropriate funds matching the amounts authorized in P.L. 115-25 for NOAA to carry out the tsunami program. Another challenge is how Congress should evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Because Title V of P.L. 115-25 adds an emphasis on research, a future question is how well research results are incorporated into tsunami resilience, education, warning, and other activities. More generally, if a large and damaging tsunami were to strike the United States, an additional challenge for Congress would be to sort out how effective the program was at reducing the amount of damage and the number of injuries and fatalities.\nThis report compares the enacted legislation text with P.L. 109-479, Title VIII, section by section, with brief comments on selected comparisons about how changes in P.L. 115-25, Title V, affect P.L. 109-479, Title VIII, and the authorized tsunami activities.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44834",
          "sha1": "674e9f00611cb90326739f4321d61d2a147345fb",
          "filename": "files/20170503_R44834_674e9f00611cb90326739f4321d61d2a147345fb.html",
          "images": {}
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44834",
          "sha1": "9bf45f7f4e107b380880ab58594f68dd4ff0b9cc",
          "filename": "files/20170503_R44834_9bf45f7f4e107b380880ab58594f68dd4ff0b9cc.pdf",
          "images": {}
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4839,
          "name": "Earth Sciences & Natural Hazards"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4845,
          "name": "Federal Emergency Management"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4852,
          "name": "Science & Technology R&D"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations",
    "Energy Policy"
  ]
}