Tsunami Warning and Education Act

Tsunami Warning and Education Act - (Sec. 4) Directs the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through the National Weather Service (NWS) and in consultation with other NOAA offices, to operate a tsunami detection, forecasting, and warning program for the Pacific and Arctic Ocean regions and for the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico region.

Requires the program to operate a Pacific tsunami warning system and an Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico system to forecast and provide adequate warnings.

Directs the Administrator to maintain or establish a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, a West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska, and additional centers determined to be necessary by NWS. Includes among the centers' responsibilities data monitoring, earthquake evaluation, and data dissemination to researchers.

Directs NWS to develop forecasting equipment requirements and a plan to transfer technology developed from research under this Act.

Requires reports to Congress on: (1) integration of the tsunami forecast system with other observation systems; (2) equipment certifications and system failures; and (3) evaluation of tsunami detection systems. Directs the Administrator to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to assess modernization and coverage needs and operational reliability issues.

(Sec. 5) Directs the Administrator to establish: (1) a tsunami hazard mitigation program to improve tsunami preparedness of at-risk areas in the United States and its territories; and (2) a research program to develop detection, forecast, communication, and mitigation science and technology for tracking and numerical forecast modeling.

(Sec. 7) Directs the Administrator, in coordination with other members of the U.S. Interagency Committee of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, to provide technical assistance and training to specified international entities to develop a fully functional global tsunami forecast and warning system comprising regional warning networks.

Directs the Administrator, in cooperation with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, to operate an International Tsunami Information Center to improve preparedness for all Pacific Ocean nations participating in the International Tsunami Warning System of the Pacific, as well as provide assistance to other nations participating in a global warning system established through the Commission.

(Sec. 8) Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov