A substantive set of changes. v3 reduces authorized appropriations for the General Program, USGS, and NSF, and adds new funding controls. It also refines legislative instructions, corrects a renumbering error, and broadens the scope of entities for lead agency coordination while narrowing how agencies implement recommendations.
National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2025
- Sponsor
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]
- Committees
- Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee (primary)
- Last action
- Jan 7, 2026
Bottom line
This bill updates and reauthorizes a critical federal program for earthquake hazard reduction, focusing on modernizing infrastructure resilience and incorporating Tribal government involvement.
What it actually does
This bill reauthorizes the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) for fiscal years 2024 through 2028, updating its foundational findings, purposes, and definitions. It expands the program's scope to explicitly include Tribal governments, emphasizes a shift towards post-earthquake functional recovery and community resilience, and mandates the implementation of recommendations to achieve these goals. The bill also increases authorized appropriations for the participating federal agencies: FEMA, USGS, NSF, and NIST.
Proponents argue
Supporters argue that the bill is essential for continuing and enhancing the nation's efforts to understand, mitigate, and respond to earthquake hazards. They emphasize the importance of updated findings, the focus on functional recovery, the inclusion of Tribal governments, and the increased funding for research and implementation, which will ultimately save lives and reduce economic losses by ensuring communities can quickly recover from seismic events.
Opponents contend
No explicit opposition is typically raised against reauthorization bills that update and improve existing, widely supported programs like NEHRP, especially when they focus on public safety and resilience. Potential concerns, if any, might revolve around the level of appropriations or specific mandates, but these are generally minor in the context of overall program support for earthquake hazard reduction.
The bill is moderately complex due to its amending nature, but its structure is clear, making it accessible for a reader to understand its core changes within a reasonable timeframe.
Section 2
Updates to NEHRP Foundational Findings
This section updates the foundational findings of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977. It revises population vulnerability statistics, incorporates new economic loss estimates (e.g., $14.7 billion annually for national building stock), expands mitigation measures to include evaluation and retrofitting, and emphasizes functional recovery and community resilience. It also explicitly includes Tribal jurisdictions and governments in the scope of earthquake hazard reduction efforts, reflecting a modern understanding of risk and governance.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue these updates reflect current scientific understanding of earthquake risks and economic impacts, making the program more relevant and effective in guiding national preparedness and mitigation strategies.
Critics contend
No specific opposition is typically raised against updating factual findings to reflect current data and scientific understanding.
Tradeoffs
Balancing the need for comprehensive data with the clarity and conciseness required for legislative findings.
Section 3
Expanded Purpose of NEHRP
This section amends the stated purposes of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act to explicitly include Tribal governments alongside state and local governments. It expands the focus from 'locations and structures' to 'buildings and infrastructure' and adds 'evaluation, and retrofitting' to construction efforts. It also specifically mentions 'housing and care facilities for vulnerable populations' as high-occupancy buildings requiring attention, broadening the program's protective scope.
Section 4
New Definitions for Key Terms
This section adds new definitions to the Act. It clarifies 'earthquake hazards' to include secondary effects like tsunamis, defines 'Tribal government' by referencing the Congressional Budget Act, introduces 'functional recovery' as a post-earthquake performance state for a building or lifeline infrastructure system, and defines 'earthquake forecast' as a probabilistic statement. These definitions provide a clear statutory basis for the program's expanded focus.
Section 5(a)
Expanded NEHRP Program Activities
This subsection expands NEHRP activities to include designing, evaluating, and retrofitting buildings and infrastructure. It mandates the development of standards for post-earthquake recovery-based performance objectives, including reoccupancy and downtime. It also requires publishing and maintaining tsunami susceptibility maps, developing best practices for inventorying high-risk infrastructure, and providing technical assistance to State, local, and Tribal governments for inventory creation, seismic evaluations, and cost-effective retrofitting.
Section 5(g)
Enhanced Responsibilities for USGS
This section significantly expands the duties of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). It mandates coordination with NOAA and FEMA on oceanic earthquakes and tsunamis, consultation with the FCC to ensure rapid and reliable broadcasting of earthquake alerts in predominant languages, expansion of the earthquake early warning system to additional high-risk areas, and coordination with affected State and Tribal governments on system improvements. It also requires USGS to issue earthquake forecasts for aftershocks.
Section 7(c) and (d)
Mandate for Implementing Functional Recovery Recommendations
This section mandates that each NEHRP Program agency implement, as part of their responsibilities, the applicable recommendations from the 2021 FEMA P2090/NST SP-1254 report to improve post-earthquake reoccupancy and functional recovery time of the built environment. Agencies are required to submit biennial reports to the Interagency Coordinating Committee on their progress, and this information must be included in the Committee's biennial report to Congress, along with a prioritized work plan and budget.
Section 9
Reauthorization of Appropriations for FY2024-2028
This section reauthorizes appropriations for the NEHRP program and its participating agencies for fiscal years 2024 through 2028. It specifies annual amounts: $8,500,000 for general program authorization, $92,427,000 for USGS (with not less than $36,000,000 specifically for the Advanced National Seismic System), $54,000,000 for NSF, and $5,900,000 for NIST. This provides a stable financial framework for the program's continuation and expansion.
This section adds new funding controls, stating that funds may only come from amounts authorized to be appropriated and that any appropriated amount cancelled pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1552(a) (expired appropriations) shall be transferred to the general fund of the Treasury and applied to deficit reduction.
Section 10
Why it matters:This is standard legislative practice for fiscal housekeeping provisions, often placed at the end of authorization bills. The deficit reduction clause is a common mechanism to ensure unspent funds revert to the Treasury.
Case for: Proponents would argue these provisions ensure fiscal discipline, prevent agencies from using unauthorized funds, and contribute to deficit reduction by returning unspent or expired appropriations to the Treasury.
Case against: No significant case against, as these are standard fiscal accountability measures.
Estimated impact: Potentially millions of dollars in unspent funds could be redirected to deficit reduction over time, depending on agency expenditure rates and program efficiency.