Tsunami Warning, Research, and Education Act of 2025

This bill renews and updates the national tsunami warning and education program. It aims to get warnings out faster and more clearly by improving data sharing, adding global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data, and strengthening teamwork among NOAA, USGS, NASA, and NSF. It requires standardized warning messages, backup systems, and regular drills at tsunami warning centers, and moves message systems onto a modern platform (AWIPS). It tells NOAA to check how well NOAA Weather Radio reaches people in tsunami‑risk areas and to publish the findings. It also clarifies how NOAA, FEMA, and the FCC will use the national alert system (IPAWS/EAS) to send tsunami alerts.

The bill boosts local preparedness and mapping. It updates flood‑risk (inundation) maps, adds high‑quality elevation data for ports and coasts, and studies how moving sand and floating debris could damage critical services . It makes sure data are managed and shared for operations, research, education, and recovery. Local weather offices must do more education and outreach to help coastal communities get ready. The program’s focus spans the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, wherever there is significant risk. It also reviews alert words and timing to see if people understand them, and updates the system if needed.

• Who is affected: People in coastal communities; state tsunami and emergency programs; scientists and research groups; and federal partners like NOAA, USGS, NASA, and NSF .
• What changes: Use of GNSS data and closer agency coordination; standardized warnings and a move to AWIPS; fail‑safe backups and twice‑yearly drills; clearer roles for sending alerts through IPAWS/EAS; better maps and elevation data; a public review of NOAA Weather Radio coverage; and a research plan (with social and behavioral science) that is updated on a regular schedule .
• When: Authorizes $32 million each year from 2026–2030, with at least 27% for state‑level work and at least 8% for research. Requires an initial progress update within 180 days and then yearly, plus a research and development plan within 12 months and every 36 months after that .