WA Congressional Delegation Tackles Landslide Preparedness

Rep. Kim Schrier, along with three House colleagues representing different parts of Washington, has introduced landslide preparedness legislation.

The bill 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.

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Schrier's bill aspires to a coordinated national strategy for landslide hazards and risk reduction. As she told KPQ last year,

In some areas, we have a lot of data about landslides and what makes them happen. 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 almost 11 years ago to the day under conditions of oppressively heavy rainfall.

Schrier's bill is in no small measure a response to that tragedy, which not only blocked SR 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, telling KPQ,  "I don't know how anybody in the state of Washington could forget the heartbreak and the drama of those days and weeks."

Among Schrier's cosponsors here are Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) and Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04), who is quoted in a press release as saying,

Washington state is no stranger to landslides and the devastation they bring. To better prepare for these natural disasters, we need the best science and technology that ensures our communities are able to prevent and respond when the time comes.

This legislation is a step in the right direction towards saving lives and protecting our local communities from the unpredictable threats of landslides.