[Senate Report 115-113]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 150
115th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 115-113
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NATIONAL VOLCANO EARLY WARNING AND MONITORING SYSTEM ACT
_______
June 15, 2017.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 346]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 346) to provide for the establishment of
the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with
amendments and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. Beginning on page 1, strike line 6 and all that follows
through page 4, line 13.
2. On page 4, line 14, strike ``3'' and insert ``2''.
3. On page 4, line 21, strike ``4'' and insert ``3''.
4. On page 4, line 22, strike ``4'' and insert ``3''.
5. On page 8, line 14, strike ``5'' and insert ``4''.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 346 is to provide for the establishment
of the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The United States is the third most active country for
volcanic eruptions, ranking only behind Indonesia and Japan in
its number of historically active volcanoes. It is home to 169
active volcanoes, of which 55 are considered still to be
threatening to life and property.
In Washington State, Mount St. Helens explosively erupted
on May 18, 1980, causing 57 fatalities and destroying 27
bridges and 185 miles of highways at an estimated cost of $1.1
billion. Although Mount St. Helens is well known, Mount Rainier
near Seattle could cause far greater loss of life if it should
erupt again suddenly. The same is true of the Yellowstone
National Park caldera, should it erupt, as it has roughly every
600,000 years.
There are five active major volcanoes in the Cascade Range
of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho--Mount Baker, Glacier Peak,
Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. In the past
29 years, there have been more than 50 eruptions and at least
17 episodes of significant unrest at 34 different volcanoes in
the United States, according to the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS).
Another example of the threat from volcanic eruptions was
demonstrated on December 15, 1989, when a Boeing 747 flying 150
miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska, encountered an ash cloud
that rose from an earlier eruption of Mount Redoubt. The plane
lost power in all four engines, falling some 10,000 feet before
it could restart two of its engines. The restart saved the
lives of the plane's 231 passengers, but caused $80 million in
damage to the craft. This incident illustrates the dangers to
aircraft, especially on the West Coast and in Alaskan air
space.
Since 1990, eight commercial aircraft have lost engine
power mid-flight and dozens more have been damaged after flying
into ash clouds caused by volcanic eruptions. Notably, lesser
known volcanoes, such as Mount Redoubt in Alaska, erupted more
than 100 times from 2009 to 2010, causing the cancellation of
more than 230 commercial airline flights and putting almost
10,000 airline passengers at risk.
The Federal Aviation Administration reports that over
80,000 large aircraft a year, carrying more than 30,000
passengers a day, fly near many of Alaska's volcanoes, mostly
on the heavily traveled great-circle routes between Europe,
North America, and Asia. The Alaska Volcano Observatory, with
its partial federal funding, today is responsible for
monitoring 29 active volcanoes in the ``Ring of Fire'' area
along the Aleutian Island flight path.
The advances in volcanic and earthquake forecasting could
be aided by a national watch office and help to make more
accurate and timely predictions of eruptions possible. For
example, in 1989, the Alaska Volcano Observatory could provide
only a few days' notice before Mount Redoubt erupted that year.
In 2009, after the center's capabilities had been expanded and
hours of operation increased, it provided two months of notice
before the volcano erupted again. This was enough warning time
to reduce oil stored in the Drift River tank farm complex,
located down slope from the volcano, and mitigate the threat of
environmental damage.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 346 was introduced on February 8, 2017, by Senators
Murkowski, Cantwell, and Hirono.
In the 114th Congress, Senators Murkowski and Cantwell
introduced a similar measure, S. 2056, on September 17, 2015.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on
the bill on September 22, 2016.
In the 112th Congress, Senator Murkowski introduced a
similar measure, S. 566, on March 14, 2011. The Subcommittee on
Public Lands, Forests, and Mining held a hearing on the bill on
May 18, 2011 (S. Hrg. 112-39).
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open
business session on March 30, 2017, and ordered S. 346
favorably reported as amended.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on March 30, 2017, by a majority voice
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S.
346, if amended as described herein.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
During its consideration of S. 346, the Committee adopted
an amendment to strike the findings and make four conforming
amendments.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 provides a short title.
Section 2 contains definitions.
Section 3(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary) to establish the National Volcano Early Warning and
Monitoring System (System) within the USGS in order to
organize, modernize, standardize, and stabilize the monitoring
systems of the volcano observatories in the United States and
unify these systems into a single interoperative system. It
also sets forth the new System's objective to monitor the
nation's volcanoes at the level commensurate with the threat
posed by upgrading existing monitoring networks, installing new
networks on unmonitored volcanoes, and using geodetic and other
methods when applicable.
Subsection (b) specifies the System's components as
requiring a national volcano watch office that is operational
24 hours a day, seven days a week; a national volcano data
center; and an external grants program to support research into
volcano monitoring science and technology.
Subsection (c) directs the Secretary to submit to Congress
a five-year management plan for establishing and operating the
System within 180 days of the bill's enactment. This subsection
further directs the Secretary to establish an advisory
committee to help implement the System. It further authorizes
the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with
institutions of higher education and State agencies and directs
the Secretary to coordinate with other federal agencies.
Subsection (d) directs the Secretary to submit an annual
report to Congress on the activities carried out pursuant to
the Act.
Section 4 authorizes such sums as are necessary for each of
fiscal years 2017 through 2027 and specifies that the amounts
made available are to supplement and not supplant Federal funds
for other USGS work.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the costs of this measure has
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 346 would authorize the appropriation of such sums as
are necessary for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to
establish a system to improve monitoring of active volcanoes.
The bill also would authorize USGS to enter into cooperative
partnerships with universities and state agencies to implement
the system.
Based on an analysis of information provided by USGS and
assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates
that implementing S. 346 would cost $55 million over the 2018-
2022 period.
Enacting S. 346 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO
estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 346 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Robert Reese; Impact
on state, local, and tribal governments: Jon Sperl; Impact on
the private sector: Amy Petz.
Estimate approved by: H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 346.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the provision. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 346, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
S. 346, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
Because S. 346 is similar to legislation considered by the
Committee in the 114th Congress, the Committee did not request
Executive Agency views. The testimony provided by the
Department of the Interior at the hearing before the Energy and
Natural Resources on September 22, 2016, follows:
Statement for the Record, U.S. Department of the Interior
Thank you for providing the Department of the Interior with
the opportunity to present this Statement for the Record on S.
2056, the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System
Act. The Department strongly supports S. 2056 and shares its
goal of improving public and aviation safety through
comprehensive monitoring of the most threatening volcanoes in
the United States and its Territories.
The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) is the
U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) approach to upgrading and
modernizing its monitoring networks to ensure that all active
volcanoes in the United States and its Territories are
monitored at levels commensurate with their threat. NVEWS
priorities are based on a 2005 national assessment of volcano
threat levels, which the USGS is in the process of revising to
incorporate new knowledge. While several network upgrades were
made possible through the American Reinvestment and Recovery
Act (ARRA) stimulus of 2009-2011, the USGS has since been
making opportunistic NVEWS upgrades funded out of existing base
resources. The USGS has achieved 30% completion of network
upgrades to NVEWS standards with some Very-High-Threat and
High-Threat volcanoes lacking basic monitoring networks. As
with existing efforts, any work conducted to fulfill the
objectives of the bill would need to compete for funding with
other Administration priorities.
This legislation would enable the building out of the NVEWS
network and will improve the USGS' capabilities to detect
eruption precursors at the earliest possible stages (usually
weeks to months before an eruption) and to deliver
probabilistic eruption forecasts and warnings to the public,
land managers, emergency responders and the aviation sector.
The success of volcanic hazard mitigation efforts is highly
dependent upon the quality and comprehensiveness of the in-
ground monitoring networks deployed on and around the Nation's
active volcanoes, the scientific expertise in our volcano
observatories, and the preparedness of communities through well
developed and regularly exercised volcano emergency response
plans.
The USGS is fully prepared to deliver an updated
implementation plan for completion of the National Volcano
Early Warning and Monitoring System for the Nation's Very-High-
Threat and High-Threat volcanoes in response to the
legislation. The volcano research grants program that would be
authorized under bill S. 2056 would allow the USGS to engage
more of the Nation's major universities in this basic and
applied research and lead to advancement of the field of
volcanology. The USGS has a successful track record of
effective leveraging of resources with other federal agencies,
state geological surveys and universities. An authorized grants
program under bill S. 2056 would enable continued collaboration
and design and development of promising and cost-effective
volcano monitoring technologies of the future.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered
reported.
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