Hirono, colleagues reintroduce volcano warning and monitoring legislation

US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in reintroducing bipartisan legislation to reauthorize a domestic program focused on detecting and warning about volcanic threats.

The National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act will enable the US Geological Survey (USGS) to continue to improve its volcano monitoring and early warning capabilities around the country.

“In 2022, Hawaiʻi Island residents experienced an eruption from Maunaloa for the first time in nearly 40 years and they have continued to see new eruptions from the summit of Kilauea volcano,” said Hirono. “This program, first authorized in 2019, will help scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to continue improving their volcano monitoring and warning capabilities through expanded infrastructure and modernized technology. These improvements will further enable our scientists to provide comprehensive, up-to-date volcanic hazard information that keeps our communities safe. Reauthorizing this program is necessary to ensure that officials at volcano observatories throughout the country can continue to provide real-time hazard information for residents, visitors, and emergency responders.”

The National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act passed Congress in 2018. The legislation provides USGS with the resources needed to organize, modernize, standardize, and stabilize the monitoring systems of US volcano observatories and centralizes the collected data. The original bill’s authorizations expired at the end of Fiscal Year 2023.

The reauthorization of the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act:

• Authorizes a total of $75 million over a 10-year period;
• Adds the US Forest Service to the interagency coordination list;
• Requires five-year management plans on a regular basis, and includes coordination with new or existing cooperative partners; 
• Establishes an Implementation Committee to help provide recommended requirements, implementation steps, and performance standards for the system; 
• Establishes public communication and messaging responsibilities for coordination between partners to avoid confusion or duplication; 
• Expands the list of emerging technologies for advanced monitoring networks to support modernization of data collection and networks; and
• Updates technical language.

The full text of the legislation is available here.