republic-os/legal/us/code/title-42/chapter-86/section-7702.md

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LegalText	42 U.S.C. § 7702	Congressional statement of purpose	us	united_states_code	code_section	42	THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE	86	EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS REDUCTION	7702	42 U.S.C. § 7702	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc42@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t42/s7702	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-42/usc42.xml	b7ff985f9a03a1a4cb7aa0af1d700cef76b65233bc1dd973806132d24c04d6e8	644321055a08eb1f260a6a3e31ac157fa024756abf612a9fd6857e7e400cf24e	fbaebc56feefd6f74bc5e84bc88a92dd349a1dea0cf040d0b824b9de26324030	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

42 U.S.C. § 7702 - Congressional statement of purpose

Text

It is the purpose of the Congress in this chapter to reduce the risks of life and property from future earthquakes and increase the resilience of communities in the United States through the establishment and maintenance of an effective earthquake hazards reduction program. The objectives of such program shall include—

(1) the education of the public, including State and local officials, as to earthquake phenomena, the identification of locations and structures which are especially susceptible to earthquake damage, ways to reduce the adverse consequences of an earthquake to individuals and the communities, and related matters;

(2) the development of technologically and economically feasible design and construction methods and procedures to make new and existing structures, in areas of seismic risk, earthquake resistant, giving priority to the development of such methods and procedures for power generating plants, dams, hospitals, schools, public utilities and other lifeline infrastructure, public safety structures, high occupancy buildings, and other structures which are especially needed to facilitate community-wide post-earthquake recovery and in times of disaster;

(3) the implementation to the greatest extent practicable, in all areas of high or moderate seismic risk, of a system (including personnel, technology, and procedures) for identifying, evaluating, and accurately characterizing seismic hazards;

(4) the development, publication, and promotion, in conjunction with State and local officials and professional organizations, of model building and planning codes and other means to encourage consideration of information about seismic risk in making decisions about land-use policy and construction activity;

(5) the development, in areas of seismic risk, of improved understanding of, and capability with respect to, earthquake-related issues, including methods of mitigating the risks from earthquakes, planning to prevent such risks, disseminating warnings of earthquakes, organization emergency services, and planning for re-occupancy, recovery, reconstruction, and redevelopment after an earthquake;

(6) the development of ways to increase the use of existing scientific and engineering knowledge to mitigate earthquake hazards; and

(7) the development of ways to assure the availability of affordable earthquake insurance.

(Pub. L. 95–124, § 3, Oct. 7, 1977, 91 Stat. 1099; Pub. L. 101–614, § 3, Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 3231; Pub. L. 115–307, § 2(b), (c)(1)(B), Dec. 11, 2018, 132 Stat. 4408, 4409.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments2018—Pub. L. 115–307, § 2(b)(1), inserted “and increase the resilience of communities” after “future earthquakes” in introductory provisions. Par. (1). Pub. L. 115–307, § 2(b)(2), inserted “to individuals and the communities” after “an earthquake”. Par. (2). Pub. L. 115–307, § 2(b)(3), (c)(1)(B), substituted “lifeline infrastructure” for “lifelines” and “to facilitate community-wide post-earthquake recovery and in times of disaster” for “in time of disaster”. Par. (3). Pub. L. 115–307, § 2(b)(4), struck out “for predicting damaging earthquakes and” before “for identifying,”. Par. (4). Pub. L. 115–307, § 2(b)(5), inserted “and planning” after “model building”. Par. (5). Pub. L. 115–307, § 2(b)(6), substituted “re-occupancy, recovery, reconstruction,” for “reconstruction”. 1990—Pub. L. 101–614 inserted sentence at end, listing objectives of program.