Last week, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, along with fellow Democratic Washington Congressional Reps. Suzan DelBene and Kim Schrier and Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse introduced the bipartisan National Landslide Preparedness Reauthorization Act.
The legislation is aimed at helping save lives, protect communities and property, and improve natural disaster emergency preparedness, Gluesenkamp Perez stated in a news release.
The legislation would reauthorize the National Landslide Preparedness Act through 2028. Since 2021, the law has helped address key gaps in science and mapping critical to understanding landslide hazards, the release stated.
The information helps communities plan for and respond to natural hazards, update the nation’s topographical maps, and inform public safety, national security, planning, infrastructure, transportation, agriculture and natural resource management.
“Landslides are dangerous and damaging, so we need the tools to protect life, property and our local economies,” Gluesenkamp Perez stated in the release. “Recently, Southwest Washington experienced several landslides, which affect local small businesses, transportation and recreation and require significant resources to overcome. Our bipartisan legislation will extend common sense, proactive measures to keep our communities prepared and identify landslide-prone areas before it’s too late.”
The bill would reauthorize pieces of the National Landslide Preparedness Act:
• Expanded early warning systems: The law expanded existing early warning systems for post-wildfire landslides in recently burned areas across the United States. It also required procedures to be developed for federal monitoring of stormwater drainage in areas with a high risk of landslides, in coordination with state, local, and tribal governments, the release stated.
• Federal program focused specifically on landslide hazards: The law established a National Landslides Hazard Reduction program through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which is identifying risks and hazards from landslides to protect at-risk communities and improve communication and emergency preparedness.
• New maps to help communities prepare for landslide risk: The law directed the USGS to implement a 3D Elevation Program to increase data collection and landslide threat identification across the country. Enhanced elevation data, such as LIDAR, is critical for numerous reasons: to help communities plan for and respond to natural hazards; to update the nation’s topographical maps; and to inform a myriad of uses including public safety, national security, planning, infrastructure, transportation, agriculture and natural resource management.
• Landslide-related grant programs: The law authorized new programs to provide funding to state, territorial, local and tribal governments for landslide research, mapping, assessment and data collection, according to the release.
• Committees that focus on landslide risks: The law established an advisory committee on landslides and creates an interagency committee to coordinate better landslide responses from the multiple government agencies with jurisdiction.
Last week, Gluesenkamp Perez voted against a Republican continuing resolution that will lower funding levels for the U.S. Geological Survey, she stated. Last year, Gluesenkamp Perez and DelBene announced $299,250 in federal landslide preparedness funding for Clark County.
Gluesenkamp Perez, DelBene and Schrier previously introduced the legislation in the 118th Congress, and its provisions passed the House, but it failed to be signed into law.
