[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3881 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3881
To reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 12, 2026
Ms. Cantwell (for herself, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr. Sullivan) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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This Act may be cited as the ``Tsunami Warning, Research, and
Education Act of 2026''.

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c3582158fb9605e406dc6ed1caf8d2d3e51070039479dfa3e444078417a052f8

Section 511 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act
of 2017 (33 U.S.C. 3208) is amended--
(1) in the manner preceding paragraph (1), by inserting
``and Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian
organizations (as such terms are defined for purposes of this
section in section 802 of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act
(33 U.S.C. 3201))'' after ``managers'';
(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and emergency
managers'' and inserting ``, emergency managers, Indian Tribes,
Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations'';
(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a
semicolon;
(4) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and inserting
a semicolon; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) working with tsunami-prone, rural communities to
assess and enhance emergency planning and response efforts; and
``(5) educating tsunami-prone communities about the
TsunamiReady program.''.

238cdac144f4faa16f104324f04b3c250aba88539b800faf680602e30fe6e2bc

(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered event.--The term ``covered event'' means a
tsunami or combined earthquake and tsunami event that impacts
the United States.
(2) Critical infrastructure.--The term ``critical
infrastructure'' has the meaning given such term in subsection
(e) of the Critical Infrastructures Protection Act of 2001 (42
U.S.C. 5195c(e)).
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States, in consultation with the entities described in
subsection (d), shall produce a report on how the United States
should prepare for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover
from each of the following types of covered events:
(A) A covered event in the Cascadia Subduction
Zone.
(B) A covered event that impacts Alaska, including
in the Alaska-Aleutian Subduction Zone.
(C) A covered event in the Kuril-Kamchatka
Subduction Zone.
(2) Requirements.--The report under this subsection shall,
with respect to each type of covered event described in
paragraph (1)--
(A) consider the assessment required under section
(c); and
(B) include each of the following:
(i) A description of a command structure
plan, including the roles of Federal agencies,
State and local governments, Indian Tribes,
Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian
organizations for during and following the
covered event.
(ii) A description of how Federal agencies
can improve coordination to enhance the ability
to prepare and plan for, mitigate against,
provide warning of, respond to, and recover
from the covered event.
(iii) A strategy to ensure collaboration
between relevant Federal agencies for purposes
of--
(I) completing a risk assessment of
Federal facilities to identify such
facilities that may need improvements
to withstand the covered event; and
(II) developing a strategic plan
to--
(aa) support mitigation
efforts for and retrofitting of
Federal, State, local, and
Tribal critical infrastructure;
and
(bb) help save lives during
and immediately after the
covered event.
(iv) A strategy to improve Federal guidance
and assistance to State and local governments,
Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native
Hawaiian organizations in developing and
implementing comprehensive plans to develop the
ability to prepare and plan for, mitigate
against, provide warning of, respond to, and
recover from the covered event.
(v) In the case the covered event is large
scale, an interagency search and rescue
strategy for such covered event, which strategy
shall include--
(I) a command structure plan,
including the roles of Federal
agencies, State and local governments,
Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations,
and Native Hawaiian organizations if
such command structure would differ
from the structure under clause (i);
(II) the sources of personnel and
assets that can be utilized to support
search and rescue efforts;
(III) an estimation of the required
personnel and assets and an
identification of any gaps in personnel
and assets; and
(IV) an identification of and a
strategy to address the vulnerabilities
of existing infrastructure that will be
necessary for search and rescue
efforts.
(vi) A strategy for addressing the impacts
of the covered event to critical
infrastructure, including the responsibilities
of Federal agencies, State and local
governments, Indian Tribes, Tribal
organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations,
and private entities.
(vii) Recommendations on how Federal
agencies can develop a mitigation strategy,
including providing financial assistance to
State, local, and Tribal operators, for any
infrastructure that provides information to
support or issue warnings for the covered
event.
(viii) Recommendations on administrative or
legislative changes required to implement the
report for the covered event.
(3) Public availability.--Not later than 1 month after
completing the report under this subsection, the Comptroller
General shall make such report available to the public.
(c) Assessment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, to inform the report under section (b),
the Comptroller General, in consultation with the entities
described in subsection (d), shall conduct an assessment, with
respect to each type of covered event described in subsection
(b)(1), of the potential impact of the covered event on--
(A) the loss of life;
(B) critical infrastructure, including for
transportation, health care, energy, communication, and
search and rescue capacity;
(C) secondary events, such as landslides, dam and
levee failures, and fires;
(D) pollution or other discharges; and
(E) ports and navigational channels.
(2) Submission to congress.--Upon completion of the
assessment under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall
provide a copy of the assessment to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives.
(d) Entities Described.--The entities described in this subsection
are--
(1) the Administration, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, the United States Geological Survey, the National Guard
Bureau, the Coast Guard, the United States Transportation
Command, the Department of Transportation, and other Federal
agencies as determined appropriate by the Comptroller General;
(2) the States of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and
Washington;
(3) Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native
Hawaiian organizations;
(4) local governments;
(5) institutions of higher education and other research
institutions with relevant expertise; and
(6) private sector representatives that may be impacted by
the applicable type of covered event described in subsection
(b)(1).
(e) Strategy.--Not later than 6 months after the completion of the
report required under subsection (b), the Administrator, in
consultation with the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, the
Commandant of the Coast Guard, the Commander of the United States
Transportation Command, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the Director of the United States Geological Survey,
the Secretary of Transportation, and other heads of Federal agencies as
determined appropriate by the Administrator, shall provide the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives a written strategy and briefing on how the
Administration will implement such report with respect to each type of
covered event described in subsection (b)(1).

4de009f698781cccf8b74275a7720726d8ee12c43258dfd9cab5315668d1cbff

In this Act, the terms ``Administration'', ``Administrator'',
``Indian Tribe'', ``Native Hawaiian organization'', and ``Tribal
organization'' have the meanings given such terms in section 802 of the
Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3201).
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79d5bcea1305ca1577537427e63c5d156e120991a21e45042a894c7745fff770

A bill to reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act, and for other purposes. — S. 3881

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