S. 320 — National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2025

This section revises the congressional findings under the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 as follows: (1) expands the declaration of earthquake vulnerability to all States and Tribal jurisdictions (from 50 States and Puerto Rico), with at least 39 States subject to major or moderate seismic risk, and states that almost half the U.S. population resides in areas at risk of a damaging earthquake over the 50-year period beginning on the date of enactment of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 (from a large portion previously); (2) inserts estimates from a 2023 Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Geological Survey report (FEMA P-366) of $14.7 billion in annualized losses to the national building stock and $107.8 trillion in total economic exposure nationwide; (3) expands earthquake hazards reduction measures to include building and infrastructure evaluation and retrofitting, high-risk inventories (especially for community resilience), and programs requiring or incentivizing replacement or retrofit of such structures; (4) inserts "Tribal" in references to contributors to the hazards reduction program and in descriptions of government roles; (5) declares a well-funded seismological research program "necessary" to provide scientific understanding to improve and expand the earthquake early warning system (from one that "could provide" understanding to fully implement an effective system); (6) adds statements on risks from buildings and infrastructure built to older codes and standards, including a 2021 Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Institute of Standards and Technology report (FEMA P-2090/NIST SP-1254) with unimplemented recommendations for post-earthquake functional recovery to support community resilience; and (7) specifies that a cited 2011 study's $300 million annual loss valuation (in 2011 dollars) excludes costs of seismic retrofits.

This section modifies the statement of purpose and objectives of the earthquake hazards reduction program under the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7702) as follows: (1) in objective (1), expands public education efforts to include Tribal government officials (in addition to State and local officials) and shifts focus from "locations and structures" to "buildings and infrastructure" susceptible to earthquake damage; (2) in objective (2), broadens development of design methods to include "construction, evaluation, and retrofitting" and adds "housing and care facilities for vulnerable populations" to the priority list of structures (after "high occupancy buildings"); and (3) in objective (4), expands code development efforts to include Tribal government officials (in addition to State and local officials) and strengthens the requirement from "encourage consideration of" to "incorporate" seismic risk information in land-use policy and construction activity decisions.

This section revises definitions in Section 4 of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 by (1) inserting ", including secondary effects such as earthquake-caused tsunamis" after "earthquakes" in paragraph (3); and (2) adding new paragraphs defining (11) tribal government (as defined in 2 U.S.C. 658 under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974), (12) functional recovery (i.e., a post-earthquake performance state in which a building or lifeline infrastructure system is maintained or restored to safely and adequately support the basic intended pre-earthquake functions or service levels), and (13) earthquake forecast (i.e., a statement of probabilities that one or more earthquakes within a specified magnitude range may occur within a specified time interval and geographic region).

This section revises the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP)—which coordinates federal research, planning, mitigation, and preparedness to reduce earthquake risks—by expanding program activities to include Tribal governments; designing, evaluating, and retrofitting buildings and infrastructure; post-earthquake recovery standards addressing reoccupancy and downtime; seismic inventories and performance evaluations of high-risk structures; technical assistance for inventories and retrofitting; and improved understanding of earthquake-related hazards such as liquefaction, tsunamis, landslides, and fires. It further (1) updates Interagency Coordinating Committee duties to address secondary hazards and coordinate earthquake early warning alerts with the Federal Communications Commission; (2) corrects a cross-reference in the biennial report requirement; (3) expands the advisory committee to include the Chair of the Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee and Tribal governments; (4) directs the lead agency (NIST) to address earthquake-caused fires, develop inventory guidelines, and provide related technical assistance in coordination with FEMA; and (5) directs FEMA to incorporate Tribal governments; conduct and assist with performance evaluations; promote post-earthquake functional recovery; disseminate information on seismic-resistant design; and assist with evacuation planning for earthquakes and related hazards.

This section revises the seismic standards that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development must develop for properties assisted under HUD programs (i.e., public and affordable housing) by (1) changing the terminology from "seismic safety standards" to "seismic performance standards"; and (2) expanding the property damage reduction goal from reducing the risk of "shake-related property damage" to reducing the risk of "seismic-related property damage to improve the post-earthquake functional recovery time" to the maximum extent practicable. (Thus, the standards now emphasize resilience and quicker recovery for HUD-assisted housing after earthquakes.)

This section amends section 8 of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7705b) by (1) correcting a cross-reference in subsection (b) from "under paragraph (1)" to "under subsection (a)"; (2) requiring each Program agency (i.e., federal agencies participating in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program) to implement applicable recommendations from the report on post-earthquake reoccupancy and functional recovery, within their Program responsibilities and activities; and (3) establishing biennial reporting requirements, with each Program agency submitting its first report to the Interagency Coordinating Committee by September 30, 2025, and every two years thereafter on progress implementing those recommendations, which the Committee must include in its own biennial reports under section 5(a)(4) along with a prioritized work plan and necessary Program budget.

This section revises the U.S. Geological Survey's post-earthquake investigations program by (1) expanding its purpose to investigate major domestic and international earthquakes (previously, major earthquakes) and (2) specifying that the "Agency" whose earthquake expertise may be utilized is the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (As background, the program studies earthquake causes, ground motion, building and infrastructure performance, and the effectiveness of federal mitigation efforts to reduce future U.S. losses of life and property.)

This section authorizes appropriations for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP)—which coordinates federal efforts to reduce earthquake risks through research, monitoring, mitigation, and preparedness across the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Science Foundation (NSF), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—as follows: (1) $8.5 million annually for FY2024-FY2028 for the program generally (subsection (a)(8)(K)-(O)); (2) $92.427 million annually for FY2024-FY2028 for USGS (subsection (b)(2)(K)-(O)), of which at least $36 million each year for completing the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) to modernize earthquake monitoring; (3) $54 million annually for FY2024-FY2028 for NSF (subsection (c)(2)(K)-(O)); and (4) $5.9 million annually for FY2024-FY2028 for NIST (subsection (d)(2)(K)-(O)).

This section establishes funding controls for the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (i.e., National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program) by adding two new subsections to its general authorization provision (42 U.S.C. 7706). Subsection (e) requires that funds used by a federal agency to carry out the Act come only from amounts authorized to be appropriated specifically to that agency, as provided in advance in appropriations Acts. Subsection (f) requires that any amounts appropriated to a federal agency for responsibilities under the Act that are cancelled pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1552(a) (i.e., cancellation of unobligated balances) be transferred to the general fund of the Treasury and applied to deficit reduction.