On 16 April 2026, AGU joined other science societies in a letter to the House urging passage of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) Reauthorization Act of 2025.

The undersigned organizations encourage the Committee to urge House leadership that S.320, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) Reauthorization Act of 2025, is advanced by the full House under suspension of the
rules for immediate consideration and passage.

Reauthorization of NEHRP ensures agencies prioritize and fund programming that addresses our nation’s tremendous earthquake risk—preserving public safety, strengthening national security, and sustaining the economic stability of our
communities.

For nearly five decades, NEHRP has been our nation’s only coordinated program for developing and implementing capabilities that increase seismic resilience and bolster state and local efforts to prepare for earthquakes. NEHRP is a fiscal standout.
According to a National Institute of Building Sciences study, adopting modern seismic code provisions grounded in NEHRP research returns about $12 for every $1 invested, common retrofit packages average ~13:1, and stand-alone federal earthquake mitigation grants deliver ~3:1.

The risk is broad and consequential. Almost half of the U.S. population—roughly 150 million people—live in parts of 42 states that are at risk of a damaging earthquake in the next 50 years. Sixteen of those states face a very high risk, in which a major event in a metropolitan region would cause unprecedented loss of life, damage to buildings and infrastructure, and cascading social and economic impacts.

It is now more important than ever to reauthorize NEHRP. S. 320 addresses the nation’s seismic risk by encouraging state and local entities to inventory high-risk buildings and infrastructure and expand the definition of seismic events to include earthquake-caused tsunamis. It also makes Tribal governments eligible recipients across NEHRP activities, improves mitigation for earthquake-related hazards, and advances functional recovery concepts that ensure buildings and critical infrastructure can support our communities’ basic functions and services for faster recovery

We respectfully ask you to seek prompt consideration and passage of S. 320 – currently
held at the desk– via suspension of the rules.

 

Read the full letter and signatories here.