National Landslide Preparedness Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1261 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 4, 2019 Received AN ACT To establish a national program to identify and reduce losses from landslide hazards, to establish a national 3D Ele- vation Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1261 RDS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Landslide 2 Preparedness Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) 3D.—The term ‘‘3D’’ means 3-dimensional. 6 (2) 3D ELEVATION DATA.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘3D ele- 8 vation data’’ means 3D, high-resolution data 9 obtained using LiDAR, IfSAR, or other meth- 10 ods over the United States (including territories 11 and freely associated states). 12 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘3D elevation 13 data’’ includes terrestrial and bathymetric ele- 14 vation data. 15 (3) 3D ELEVATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘3D 16 Elevation Program’’ means the 3D Elevation Pro- 17 gram established under section 5(a). 18 (4) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 19 ‘‘freely associated states’’ means— 20 (A) the Federated States of Micronesia; 21 (B) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 22 and 23 (C) the Republic of Palau. 24 (5) IFSAR.—The term ‘‘IfSAR’’ means 25 interferometric synthetic aperture radar. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1261 RDS (6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 1 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 2 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 3 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 4 (7) LAHAR.—The term ‘‘lahar’’ means a large 5 debris flow of mostly volcanic material that is— 6 (A) often fast-moving; and 7 (B) a hazard in watersheds downstream of 8 volcanic peaks. 9 (8) LIDAR.—The term ‘‘LiDAR’’ means light 10 detection and ranging. 11 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 13 rector of the United States Geological Survey. 14 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 15 (A) a State; and 16 (B) the District of Columbia. 17 (11) STATE OFFICE.—The term ‘‘State office’’ 18 means any unit of State government that handles 19 the identification, mapping, assessment, and re- 20 search of landslide hazards or responding to land- 21 slide events, including— 22 (A) a State geological survey office; 23 (B) a State department of emergency re- 24 sponse; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1261 RDS (C) a State department of transportation. 1 (12) TERRITORY.—The term ‘‘territory’’ 2 means— 3 (A) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 4 (B) Guam; 5 (C) American Samoa; 6 (D) the Commonwealth of the Northern 7 Mariana Islands; and 8 (E) the United States Virgin Islands. 9 SEC. 3. NATIONAL LANDSLIDE HAZARDS REDUCTION PRO- 10 GRAM. 11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 12 a program, to be known as the ‘‘National Landslide Haz- 13 ards Reduction Program’’ (referred to in this section as 14 the ‘‘program’’)— 15 (1) to identify and understand landslide haz- 16 ards and risks; 17 (2) to reduce losses from landslides; 18 (3) to protect communities at risk of landslide 19 hazards; and 20 (4) to help improve communication and emer- 21 gency preparedness, including by coordinating with 22 communities and entities responsible for infrastruc- 23 ture that are at risk of landslide hazards. 24 (b) DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1261 RDS (1) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary, in 1 coordination with the Interagency Coordinating 2 Committee on Landslide Hazards established by 3 subsection (c)(1) (referred to in this section as the 4 ‘‘Committee’’) and in coordination with existing ac- 5 tivities of the United States Geological Survey and 6 other Federal agencies, shall— 7 (A) identify, map, assess, and research 8 landslide hazards; 9 (B) respond to landslide events; and 10 (C) in coordination with State offices, 11 units of local government, territories, freely as- 12 sociated states, and Indian tribes— 13 (i) establish working groups with 14 State offices, units of local government, 15 territories, freely associated states, and In- 16 dian tribes to identify regional and local 17 priorities for researching, identifying, map- 18 ping, and assessing landslide hazards; and 19 (ii) develop and implement landslide 20 hazard guidelines for— 21 (I) geologists; 22 (II) geological and geotechnical 23 engineers; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1261 RDS (III) emergency management 1 personnel; and 2 (IV) land use and other decision- 3 makers. 4 (2) NATIONAL STRATEGY.—Not later than 1 5 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 6 every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary, in coordina- 7 tion with the Committee, shall develop and publish 8 a national strategy for landslide hazards, risk reduc- 9 tion, and response in the United States (including 10 territories and freely associated states), which shall 11 include— 12 (A) goals and priorities for the program; 13 (B) priorities for data acquisition, re- 14 search, communications, and risk management 15 on landslides and landslide hazards across rel- 16 evant Federal agencies; and 17 (C) a detailed interagency plan, which shall 18 take into consideration national disaster pre- 19 paredness, response, and recovery frameworks, 20 to carry out the national strategy, including de- 21 tails about the programs, projects, and budgets 22 that will be used to implement the national 23 strategy. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1261 RDS (3) NATIONAL LANDSLIDE HAZARDS DATA- 1 BASE.—In carrying out the program, the Secretary, 2 in coordination with State offices, units of local gov- 3 ernment, territories, freely associated states, and In- 4 dian tribes, shall develop and maintain a publicly ac- 5 cessible national landslide hazard and risk inventory 6 database to compile, maintain, standardize, and 7 evaluate data regarding— 8 (A) landslide hazards and risks; 9 (B) the impact of landslides on— 10 (i) health and safety; 11 (ii) the economy and infrastructure; 12 and 13 (iii) the environment; 14 (C) landslide hazard stabilization; and 15 (D) reduction of losses from landslides. 16 (4) LANDSLIDE HAZARD AND RISK PREPARED- 17 NESS FOR COMMUNITIES.—In carrying out the pro- 18 gram, the Secretary, in coordination with the Sec- 19 retary of the Army, the Secretary of Commerce, the 20 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of 21 Transportation, and the heads of other relevant Fed- 22 eral agencies, and in consultation with State offices, 23 units of local government, territories, freely associ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1261 RDS ated states, and Indian tribes, shall develop and dis- 1 seminate— 2 (A) landslide planning and risk reduction 3 guidance, guidelines, maps, tools, and training 4 materials to help inform State, territorial, freely 5 associated state, local, and Tribal governments 6 and decisionmakers with respect to— 7 (i) the use and implementation of 8 landslide hazard assessments; 9 (ii) the applied use of the database 10 developed under paragraph (3); 11 (iii) reducing losses from landslides; 12 and 13 (iv) resources available for commu- 14 nities working to improve landslide hazard 15 preparedness; and 16 (B) landslide preparedness curricula and 17 training modules for— 18 (i) State, territorial, freely associated 19 state, local, and Tribal officials; 20 (ii) Federal, State, territorial, freely 21 associated state, local, and Tribal emer- 22 gency managers; and 23 (iii) the National Guard. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 1261 RDS (5) DEBRIS FLOW EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.— 1 In carrying out the program, the Secretary, in co- 2 ordination with the Secretary of Commerce and the 3 Secretary of Homeland Security, shall expand the 4 early warning system for debris flow by— 5 (A) expanding the early warning system 6 for post-wildfire debris flow to include recently 7 burned areas across the western United States; 8 (B) developing procedures with State, ter- 9 ritorial, freely associated state, local, and Tribal 10 governments to monitor stormwater drainage in 11 areas with high debris flow risk; and 12 (C) identifying high-risk debris flow areas, 13 such as recently burned land and potential 14 lahar hazard areas. 15 (6) EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES.—In 16 carrying out the program, the Secretary, in coordi- 17 nation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Sec- 18 retary of Homeland Security, the heads of other rel- 19 evant Federal agencies, States offices, units of local 20 government, territories, freely associated states, and 21 Indian tribes, shall establish and support emergency 22 response procedures for the rapid deployment of 23 Federal scientists, equipment, and services to areas 24 impacted by a significant landslide event— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 1261 RDS (A) to support emergency response efforts 1 and improve the safety of emergency respond- 2 ers; 3 (B) to improve data collection; and 4 (C) to conduct research to advance the un- 5 derstanding of the causes, impacts, and reduc- 6 tion of landslide hazards and risks. 7 (c) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 8 LANDSLIDE HAZARDS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a com- 10 mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Interagency Coordi- 11 nating Committee on Landslide Hazards’’. 12 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be 13 composed of the following members (or their des- 14 ignees): 15 (A) The Secretary, who shall serve as 16 Chairperson of the Committee. 17 (B) The Secretary of Agriculture. 18 (C) The Secretary of the Army. 19 (D) The Secretary of Commerce. 20 (E) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 21 (F) The Secretary of Transportation. 22 (G) The Director of the National Science 23 Foundation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 1261 RDS (H) The Director of the Office of Science 1 and Technology Policy. 2 (I) The Director of the Office of Manage- 3 ment and Budget. 4 (3) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet at 5 the call of the Chairperson. 6 (4) PURPOSE AND DUTIES.—The Committee 7 shall— 8 (A) advise and oversee the program; 9 (B) facilitate communication and coordina- 10 tion across Federal agencies in the planning, 11 management, budgeting, and execution of land- 12 slide activities; and 13 (C) support the development and execution 14 of the national strategy under subsection (b)(2), 15 including by— 16 (i) supporting the development of na- 17 tional goals and priorities for the national 18 strategy; 19 (ii) articulating Federal agency roles, 20 responsibilities, and resources for carrying 21 out the national strategy; and 22 (iii) overseeing the implementation of 23 the national strategy. 24 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 HR 1261 RDS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 1 an advisory committee, to be known as the ‘‘Advi- 2 sory Committee on Landslides’’ (referred to in this 3 subsection as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). 4 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee 5 shall be composed of not fewer than 11 members— 6 (A) of whom none may be an individual de- 7 scribed in any of subparagraphs (A) through 8 (F) of section 7342(a)(1) of title 5, United 9 States Code; and 10 (B) who shall be representatives of— 11 (i) States, including State geological 12 organizations; 13 (ii) territories and freely associated 14 states, including territorial and freely asso- 15 ciated state geological organizations; 16 (iii) Indian tribes, including Tribal ge- 17 ological organizations; 18 (iv) research institutions and institu- 19 tions of higher education that are quali- 20 fied— 21 (I) to provide advice regarding 22 landslide hazard and risk reduction; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 HR 1261 RDS (II) to represent related sci- 1 entific, architectural, engineering, and 2 planning disciplines; 3 (v) industry standards development 4 organizations; and 5 (vi) State, territorial, freely associated 6 state, local, and Tribal emergency manage- 7 ment agencies. 8 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Com- 10 mittee shall submit to the Committee rec- 11 ommendations for the implementation of the 12 program, including recommendations regard- 13 ing— 14 (i) landslide hazard and risk reduction 15 and planning; 16 (ii) tools for communities; 17 (iii) research; and 18 (iv) such other topics as the Advisory 19 Committee determines appropriate. 20 (B) CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary and 21 the agency heads described in subparagraphs 22 (B) through (I) of subsection (c)(2) shall take 23 into consideration any recommendation of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1261.RDS H1261 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 14 HR 1261 RDS Advisory Committee submitted under subpara- 1 graph (A). 2 (e) GRANT PROGRAMS.— 3 (1) COOPERATIVE LANDSLIDE HAZARD MAP- 4 PING AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to appropria- 6 tions, the Secretary may— 7 (i) provide grants, on a competitive 8 basis, to State, territorial, freely associated 9 state, local, and Tribal governments to re- 10 search, map, assess, and collect data on 11 landslide hazards within the jurisdictions 12 of those governments; and 13 (ii) accept and use f [Text truncated for display. 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