Sponsors (3)
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Maria E. Cantwell · Last progress February 12, 2026
The bill strengthens tsunami detection, warnings, planning, and tribal inclusion with dedicated funding and transparency measures, but it increases federal and local costs, raises administrative and timing burdens, and risks uneven benefits for smaller or under‑resourced communities without careful implementation.
Indigenous Tribal governments and Native Hawaiian organizations are explicitly included in warnings, outreach, planning, and statutory definitions, so tribal communities gain clearer access to programs and a formal role in preparedness decisions.
Coastal and tsunami‑prone communities will receive faster, more reliable warnings through expanded real‑time data streams (GNSS, tidal gauges, buoys, seismic stations) and system reliability measures (drills, fail‑safe requirements, staffing/supercomputing), improving life‑saving alerts.
Authorized funding (approximately $35M/year) with minimum shares for mitigation and research provides dedicated federal resources to strengthen warning systems, mapping, and mitigation programs.
Taxpayers face increased federal costs from the $35M/year authorization and additional implementation spending (staffing, upgrades, drills, modeling), raising overall fiscal burdens.
Smaller Tribal, territorial, and local governments may be strained by the resources, technical capacity, and staff time needed to use new products, participate in drills, and implement mitigation, risking uneven benefits.
Federal agencies and research partners will face significant coordination, data‑integration, privacy, and administrative burdens to share agency datasets and build interoperable systems, potentially slowing implementation.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Expands tsunami law to add Tribal entities, broaden data sources (GNSS, tidal gauges, buoys), require interagency data sharing and modeling updates, and mandate GAO assessments of major subduction-zone tsunami risks.
Makes several targeted changes to U.S. tsunami warning, research, education, and mitigation efforts by expanding covered data sources, improving partnerships and data sharing (including GNSS streams), and explicitly including Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations in warning products and outreach. Requires a Government Accountability Office assessment and public report on preparedness for major subduction-zone tsunamis, and directs the Administration to produce an implementation strategy after the report.