Bill · S. 3881· Senate(119-S-3881)
Tsunami Warning, Research, and Education Act of 2026
- Introduced
- 2/12/2026
- Last activity
- 2/12/2026 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Sponsored by
- Maria Cantwell
- Cosponsors
- - 0 - 2
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
This bill aims to reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act. It focuses on improving the timeliness and accuracy of tsunami forecasting and warnings across the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic Oceans. The legislation expands coordination efforts to include Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations. It also establishes new requirements for data management, scientific best practices, and service back-up drills. Additionally, the bill mandates studies on alert level effectiveness and NOAA weather radio coverage. Finally, it requires a comprehensive report on preparing for specific large-scale tsunami events.
Yes· 3 of 5
Would Native Americans be better off under this?+6
The bill expands coordination with Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations.
Does this improve help for people hit by a disaster?+5
The bill enhances tsunami warning timeliness, accuracy, and coordination with various agencies to improve disaster response.
Does this put more money into scientific research?+4
The bill reauthorizes and directs support for tsunami research and the use of scientific best practices.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Improved Warning Timeliness and Accuracy: The bill amends the purpose of the Act to include the "timeliness and" of warnings, which can help people receive life-saving information faster (Section 2(b)).
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Enhanced Tribal and Native Hawaiian Inclusion: The bill adds specific provisions for coordination with, and the inclusion of, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations in warning products, decision support aids, and mitigation activities (Section 2(b) and 2(d)).
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Increased Safety through Preparedness Drills: The bill requires tsunami warning centers to conduct service back-up drills at least biannually and annual drills with various emergency managers to ensure system readiness (Section 2(c)).
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Better Community Outreach and Education: The bill directs the administration to conduct education and outreach efforts to help prepare coastal communities for tsunami hazards (Section 2(c)).
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Improved Local Emergency Planning: By including the development of standardized evacuation mapping guidelines and user-friendly repositories for inundation maps, the bill helps local governments and communities plan more effectively (Section 2(d)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- No explicit negative impacts are listed within the text of the provided bill.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Native Americans+6Good For Rural Residents+3
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Improves Disaster Relief And F E M A+5
- Education And Technology
- Increases Scientific Research Funding+4
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Government Transparency+2
- 2/12/2026
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- 2 Cosponsors added.
- Introduced in Senate
Lisa MurkowskiRepublican · Alaska
Dan SullivanRepublican · Alaska