WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week the U.S. Senate passed legislation that will provide a boost to tsunami warning systems in Washington state’s coastal communities.

Drafted with bipartisan support following the tragic Indian Ocean tsunami in December, the legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., includes several measures to directly help coastal communities fund local warning systems and evacuation planning.

“In the event of a tsunami off the Pacific Coast, coastal residents will have just minutes to move to higher ground,” Cantwell said. “This legislation gets our communities the tools they need to improve and refine their emergency preparedness.”

The Tsunami Preparedness Act (S. 50) includes a Cantwell-backed section designed to provide an additional $5 million each year to address preparedness needs for at-risk coastal communities. The section also authorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fund three regional pilot projects that would integrate federal, state, and local response programs, which will serve as models for the rest of the nation.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously more than three months after it was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee.

The bipartisan legislation will improve the system of tsunami monitoring buoys off the coast of Washington and across the globe. In addition, the Tsunami Preparedness Act will require the immediate repair of malfunctioning tsunami detection and warning buoys. It was reported in January that three of the six existing PacificCoast tsunameters were broken – including the buoy off the coast of Washington.The bill will also expand the current network of buoys to cover the entire Pacific Ocean, as well as at-risk areas in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

Led by Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Ranking Member Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, the Tsunami Preparedness Act is now co-sponsored by 25 senators.Similar legislation is being considered by the House of Representatives.