National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Enacted in the 116th Congress

Priority Volcanoes in the United States

In 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS, a bureau within the Department of the Interior) published a volcanic threat assessment that assigned five threat levels (very high, high, moderate, low, and very low) to 161 volcanoes in 14 states and U.S. territories (Figure 1). The assessment ranked 18 volcanoes as very high and 39 as high. Eleven of the 18 very -high-threat volcanoes are in Washington, Oregon, or California; five are in Alaska; and two are in Hawaii. The study notes that the high- and moderate-threat volcanoes are mostly in Alaska and that the more explosive Alaskan volcanoes can affect national and international aviation. The volcano ranked as the highest threat is Kilauea, the Hawaiian volcano whose 2018 eruptions were accompanied by destructive lava flows and frequent earthquakes, including one of magnitude 6.9. Kilauea is the youngest and southeastern-most volcano on the island of Hawaii.

Figure 1. Volcano Threat Levels

Source: USGS, modified by CRS. Note: CNMI (19 volcanoes) is Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; AS (3three volcanoes) is American Samoa.

S. 47—the Natural Resources Management Act

Section 5001 of S. 47 would authorizeNational Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Section 5001 of Title V of P.L. 116-9 authorizes a National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System (NVEWS) within the USGS. The bill would directlaw directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish this system to monitor volcanoes, warn U.S. citizens of volcanic activity, and protect citizens from "undue and avoidable harm" resulting from volcanic activity. S. 47 was introducedLegislation authorizing the system was introduced as Section 5001 of S. 47, the Natural Resources Management Act, on January 8, 2019, by Senators Murkowski and Cantwell and the. The Senate passed the bill on February 12, the House passed the bill on February 26, and the President signed it into law on March 12 as part of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. Senate passed the bill on February 12. The House has not yet acted on the bill.

In the 115^th Congress, the Senate passed a bill authorizing an NVEWS (S. 346); a similar bill was reported out of committee in the House (H.R. 4475). Legislation nearly identical to S. 346 was included as Title X, Subtitle A, of S. 1460.

Objective and Purposes

USGS has indicated that progressively implementing an NVEWSearly warning and monitoring system to address a monitoring gap within its Volcano Hazards Program has been a priority since 2005. USGS asserts that a gap exists between the threat posed by a dangerous volcano and the commensuratea level of monitoring needed to assess that threatcommensurate with the threats they pose. Enhanced monitoring also maymay also improve the ability to provide adequate notification and warnings in the event of dangerous volcanic activity.

Currently under its Volcano Hazards Program, the USGS conductsPrior to enactment of Section 5001, Congress had been appropriating funds for the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, and within that program the USGS had been conducting some of the activities (e.g., monitoring, warnings, and notifications) that would beare newly authorized in P.L. 116-9. The new law provides an explicit authorization for an early warning and monitoring system and specifies authorized in Section 5001 of S. 47. Congress has appropriated funds supporting these activities but has not yet authorized them explicitly in legislation. Section 5001 of S. 47 would provide an explicit authorization for an NVEWS and would specify that the system's objective is to monitor U.S. volcanoes at a level commensurate with the volcanic threat. Assessing the volcanic threat involves combining the volcano hazards—the destructive phenomena produced by a volcano, such as lava flows, ash clouds, and volcanic landslides—and the exposure to the hazard, such as the people and property at risk from a volcanic eruption (see left side of Figure 1). In the USGS 2018 volcanic threat assessment, each volcano is scored by a combination of 15 hazards factors and nine exposure factors, each summed independently, and the product of the sums is the overall threat score. The new law.

The legislation states that the NVEWS wouldsystem shall have two purposes: (1) to organize, modernize, standardize, and stabilize the monitoring systems of the five U.S. volcano observatories (the Alaska Volcano Observatory, California Volcano Observatory, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and Yellowstone Volcano Observatory) and (2) to unify the monitoring systems of these observatories into a single interoperative system.

System Components, Modernization, and Management

The bill would authorizenew law authorizes three system components in the program: (1) a 24-hour, 7seven-day-a-week operational national volcano watch office; (2) a national volcano data center; and (3) an external grants program to support volcano research. The legislation also would establishlaw also establishes an advisory committee for the program, composed of federal agency and scientific community representatives, and would authorize composed of representatives of relevant agencies and members of the scientific community and authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with academic institutions and state agencies to designate them as volcano observatory partners for the NVEWSsystem. In addition, the bill would requirelaw requires a five-year management plan for the system, due within 180 days of enactment.

The legislation would authorize (i.e., by early September 2019), and an annual report describing the activities carried out under authorities provided in the law. Section 5001 of P.L. 116-9 authorizes USGS to modernize the monitoring systemsystems at the volcano observatories within the NVEWS to incorporate emerging technologies, such as digital broadband seismometers, real-time Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, satellite and airborne radar interferometry, acoustic pressure sensors, and spectrometryspectrometry to measure gas emissions from volcanoes. These technologies would provide more accurate and real-time or near-real-time measurements, enabling better assessments of the timing and location of volcanic eruption threats. These improvements likely would provide betterwould likely provide more accurate forecasts of aviation hazards and allow emergency managers to improve evacuation alerts and better position resources to prepare for imminent eruptions.

Funding and Authorization of Appropriations

In its FY2018 budget justification, the Trump Administration proposed suspending implementation of current NVEWS activities within USGS and reducing funding for the Volcano Hazards Program by about $3.6 million (from a total of about $28 million in FY2017). Congress instead chose to increase funding for the program to $42.6 million in FY2018.

In its FY2019 budget justification, the Administration again proposed to reduce funding for the Volcano Hazards Program compared to the prior year (the FY2019 request is for $22.3 million), and it proposed a specific $1.5 million reduction to the NVEWS program activities at USGS.

Section 5001 of S. 47 would authorizeSection 5001 of P.L. 116-9 authorizes to be appropriated a total of $55 million for the NVEWSearly warning and monitoring program to cover the period FY2019 through -FY2023. That total would be equivalent to $11 million per year, or about 26% of the overall Volcano Hazards Program budget for FY2018. The bill. The new law states that funds made available through its authorization would supplement, not supplant, federal funds made available for other USGS hazards activities and programs.

In FY2019, the USGS budget for its overall volcano hazards program was $42.6 million.