The 2004 reauthorization of National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) directed that the Director of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...

 (NIST) establish the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (ACEHR) to assess:

• trends and developments in the science and engineering of earthquake hazards reduction;
• the effectiveness of NEHRP in performing its statutory activities:
  • improved design and construction methods and practices;
  • land use
    Land use
    Land use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...
    
     controls and redevelopment;
  • prediction
    Earthquake prediction
    An earthquake prediction is a prediction that an earthquake of a specific magnitude will occur in a particular place at a particular time . Despite considerable research efforts by seismologists, scientifically reproducible predictions cannot yet be made to a specific day or month...
    
     techniques and early-warning
    Earthquake warning system
    An earthquake warning system is a system of accelerometers, communication, computers, and alarms that is devised for regional notification of a substantial earthquake while it is in progress...
    
     systems;
  • coordinated emergency preparedness plans; and
  • public education and involvement programs;
• any need to revise NEHRP; and
• the management, coordination, implementation, and activities of the NEHRP.

On June 27, 2006, the official Charter of the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction was established by the U.S. Department of Commerce, parent agency for NIST. The committee is to be widely representative of the stakeholder community. Federal employees may not serve on the committee. As established by the charter, ACEHR will have 11–15 voting members, in addition to having the Chairperson of the United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

(USGS) Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee (SESAC) serve in an ex officio capacity.