National Landslide Preparedness Act Reauthorization Act: What You Need To Know

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed landslide preparedness legislation cosponsored by Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA).

Schrier, a Democrat from Sammamish, represents Washington's fiercely competitive 8th congressional district.

H.R. 7003 is referred to colloquially as the National Landslide Preparedness Act Reauthorization Act. It seeks to reauthorize the National Landslide Preparedness Act through fiscal year 2028.

The original NLPA was signed into law by President Trump in 2021.

Schrier's bill, which is part of the much larger Weather Act Reauthorization Act, aspires to a coordinated national strategy for landslide hazards and risk reduction.

"In some areas, we have a lot of data about landslides and what makes them happen," Schrier says. "In other areas, we don't really have that data."

"The idea of this research is to figure out what conditions make [landslides] most likely." A good case in point, Schrier says, is the Oso landslide of 2014, which took place under conditions of oppressively heavy rainfall.

Schrier's bill is partly a response to that tragedy, which not only blocked State Route 530; it leveled homes and fatally ensnared 43 people, making it the deadliest such event in U.S. history.

At the time Schrier was a private citizen and pediatrician. She remembers the landslide vividly.

"I don't know how anybody in the state of Washington could forget the heartbreak and the drama of those days and weeks," she says.

H.R. 7003 also carries a unique local relevance. The bill enables the National Science Foundation to provide grants to eligible entities.

For example, wildfire-prone locales in North Central Washington would be eligible.

"I could imagine either Chelan County or Snohomish County applying for these grants," Schrier says. "You could work in my office and get funding to do this research."

Schrier, a three-term incumbent, is up for reelection this November.