Sec. 301. Interagency Coordinating Committee on Natural Hazards Risk Reduction
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There is established an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Natural Hazards Risk Reduction, chaired by the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In addition to the chair, the Committee shall be composed of— the directors of— the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the United States Geological Survey; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the National Science Foundation; the Office of Science and Technology Policy; and the Office of Management and Budget; and the head of any other Federal agency the Committee considers appropriate.
The Committee shall not meet less than 2 times a year at the call of the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The Committee shall oversee the planning and coordination of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, and shall make proposals for planning and coordination of any other Federal research for natural hazard mitigation that the Committee considers appropriate. The Committee shall develop and submit to Congress, not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act— a Strategic Plan for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program that includes— prioritized goals for such Program that will mitigate against the loss of life and property from future earthquakes; short-term, mid-term, and long-term research objectives to achieve those goals; a description of the role of each Program agency in achieving the prioritized goals; the methods by which progress towards the goals will be assessed; an explanation of how the Program will foster the transfer of research results onto outcomes, such as improved building codes; a description of the role of social science in informing the development of the prioritized goals and research objectives; and a description of how the George E.
Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation and the Advanced National Seismic Research and Monitoring System will be used in achieving the prioritized goals and research objectives; and a Strategic Plan for the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program that includes— prioritized goals for such Program that will mitigate against the loss of life and property from future windstorms; short-term, mid-term, and long-term research objectives to achieve those goals; a description of the role of each Program agency in achieving the prioritized goals; the methods by which progress towards the goals will be assessed; an explanation of how the Program will foster the transfer of research results onto outcomes, such as improved building codes; and a description of the role of social science in informing the development of the prioritized goals and research objectives.
Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, and at least once every two years thereafter, the Committee shall submit to the Congress— a report on the progress of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program that includes— a description of the activities funded for the previous two years of the Program, a description of how these activities align with the prioritized goals and research objectives established in the Strategic Plan, and the budgets, per agency, for these activities; the outcomes achieved by the Program for each of the goals identified in the Strategic Plan; a description of any recommendations made to change existing building codes that were the result of Program activities; and a description of the extent to which the Program has incorporated recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction; and a report on the progress of the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program that includes— a description of the activities funded for the previous two years of the Program, a description of how these activities align with the prioritized goals and research objectives established in the Strategic Plan, and the budgets, per agency, for these activities; the outcomes achieved by the Program for each of the goals identified in the Strategic Plan; a description of any recommendations made to change existing building codes that were the result of Program activities; and a description of the extent to which the Program has incorporated recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Windstorm Impact Reduction.
The Committee shall develop a coordinated budget for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and a coordinated budget for the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program. These budgets shall be submitted to the Congress at the time of the President’s budget submission for each fiscal year. The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall establish an Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction, an Advisory Committee on Windstorm Impact Reduction, and other such advisory committees as the Director considers necessary to advise the Institute on research, development, and technology transfer activities to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.
The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction shall be composed of at least 11 members, none of whom may be employees of the Federal Government, including representatives of research and academic institutions, industry standards development organizations, emergency management agencies, State and local government, and business communities who are qualified to provide advice on earthquake hazards reduction and represent all related scientific, architectural, and engineering disciplines.
The recommendations of the Advisory Committee shall be considered by Federal agencies in implementing the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. The Advisory Committee on Windstorm Impact Reduction shall be composed of at least 7 members, none of whom may be employees of the Federal Government, including representatives of research and academic institutions, industry standards development organizations, emergency management agencies, State and local government, and business communities who are qualified to provide advice on windstorm impact reduction and represent all related scientific, architectural, and engineering disciplines.
The recommendations of the Advisory Committee shall be considered by Federal agencies in implementing the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program. The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction and the Advisory Committee on Windstorm Impact Reduction shall offer assessments on— trends and developments in the natural, social, and engineering sciences and practices of earthquake hazards or windstorm impact mitigation; the priorities of the Programs’ Strategic Plans; the coordination of the Programs; and and any revisions to the Programs which may be necessary.
At least every two years, the Advisory Committees shall report to the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology on the assessments carried out under paragraph
(4)and their recommendations for ways to improve the Programs. In developing recommendations for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction shall consider the recommendations of the United States Geological Survey Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the National Science and Technology Council shall submit a report to the Congress identifying— current Federal research, development, and technology transfer activities that address hazard mitigation for natural disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, floods, and the current budgets for these activities; areas of research that are common to two or more of the hazards identified in paragraph (1); and opportunities to create synergies between the research activities for the hazards identified in paragraph (1).