Tsunami Preparedness Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Fisheries and Oceans.
Tsunami Preparedness Act - (Sec. 2) Sets forth the purposes of this Act, including improvement of tsunami detection, forecast, warnings, notification, preparedness, and mitigation in order to protect life and property both in the United States and elsewhere in the world.
(Sec. 3) Directs the Administrator of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to operate regional tsunami detection and warning systems for the Pacific Ocean region and for the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico regions that will provide maximum detection capability for U.S. coastal tsunamis. Requires the Administrator to establish tsunami warning centers to provide a link between the detection and warning system and the tsunami hazard mitigation program established under this Act.
Directs the Administrator to maintain national and regionally-based data management systems to support and establish data management requirements for the tsunami detection and monitoring system.
(Sec. 4) Directs the Administrator to develop and conduct a community-based tsunami hazard mitigation program to improve tsunami preparedness of at-risk areas.
(Sec. 5) Directs the Administrator to establish a tsunami research program to develop detection, prediction, communication, and mitigation science and technology that supports tsunami forecasts and warnings, including advanced sensing techniques, information and communication technology, data collection, analysis and assessment for tsunami tracking and numerical forecast modeling that will, among other things, help determine the likely path, severity, duration, and travel time of a tsunami. Requires the Administrator to investigate the potential for improved technology for tsunami and other hazard warnings by incorporating into the existing system a full range of options for providing such warnings to the public.
Requires the Administrator to investigate the potential for improved communications systems for tsunami and other hazard warnings by incorporating into the existing network a full range of options for providing those warnings to the public, including telephones, the Internet, automatic alert televisions and radios, and other technologies that may be developed.
(Sec. 6) Directs the Administrator to take certain actions to upgrade and modernize the U.S. tsunami detection and warning system. Requires the Administrator to report annually to Congress on the status of the tsunami detection and warning system, as well as progress and accomplishments of the national tsunami hazard mitigation program.
The summary continues for 5 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate amended" stage on July 1, 2005. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 19, 2005: Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries and Oceans.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
DANIEL INOUYE (D-HI) introduced it on January 24, 2005, and 25 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 17 Democrats, 8 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 24, 2005, 7899 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7723 days ago, on July 19, 2005.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers