PREAMBLE *

CHAPTER I — Purposes and principles of COSMOS *

CHAPTER II — MEMBERSHIP *

CHAPTER III — COSMOS Components *

CHAPTER IV — General Membership (GM) *

CHAPTER V — Strong-Motion Programs Board (SMPB) *

CHAPTER VI — Secretariat *

CHAPTER VII — Senior Advisory Council (SAC) *

CHAPTER VIII — Finances *

CHAPTER IX — Data-Dissemination Requirements for the Membership *

CHAPTER X — Technical Assistance *

CHAPTER XI — Amending the Charter *

Chapter XII — Adoption and Signature *

addendum I *

addendum II *

We the members of the Consortium of Organizations for Strong-Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS) determined

Accordingly, our respective Agencies, Institutions, and Organizations, through representatives assembled in the city of Oakland, have agreed to the present Charter of the COSMOS and do hereby establish a consortium to be known as the Consortium of Organizations for Strong-Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS).

The Purposes of COSMOS are:

1. Develop policies and foster innovative ideas for the urgent improvement in the strong-motion measurement and their applications,
2. Promote the advancement of strong-motion measurement in densely urbanized areas and other locations of special significance to society likely to be struck by future earthquakes,
3. Encourage and assist the rapid, convenient, and effective distribution of strong-motion data according to COSMOS standards,
4. Strengthen, expand, and support strong-motion programs,
5. Serve as a consortium through which programs and institutions can work to solve mutual problems with instruments, data and its dissemination, and data utilization, and
6. Advance systematic user influence on data acquisition and data dissemination processes.

1. All Members, in order to ensure the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.
2. Members agree to adopt COSMOS recommendations and participate in COSMOS activities to the extent that these are in accord with member organization’s missions, needs, policies, and resources.
3. Members shall be committed to increase seismic safety through the acquisition, dissemination, analysis, and/or application of strong-motion measurements and information.
4. Members who record strong-motion data agree to make such data available conveniently and rapidly to users in established COSMOS format, within the practical constraints of their institutions.
5. The COSMOS shall not recommend actions that would adversely affect carrying out the mission of member organizations.
6. Member strong-motion programs may, through the COSMOS, benefit from other member programs, to address mutual strong-motion data acquisition and dissemination concerns, advanced recording technologies, instrument technologies, maintenance techniques, and data dissemination technologies.

1. Membership in the COSMOS shall be open to all agencies, organizations, private companies and consultants, professional institutions, professional societies, and universities, which accept the obligations contained in this Charter and are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
2. Members of the COSMOS shall be organizations that agree to support its purposes and principles and to be governed by its Charter.
3. The admission of any member in the COSMOS will be effected by action of the Strong-Motion Programs Board (SMPB) upon the recommendation of the General Membership (GM), as provided in Articles 8 (10) and 12 (4).
4. Members may withdraw from the COSMOS by sending a letter to the Chair of the GM stating their withdrawal and its effective date.

1. Regular members, comprised of organizations of two types:

1. Strong-Motion Program Members, consisting of organizations which operate and maintain five or more strong-motion stations on a permanent basis or maintain major strong-motion data dissemination facilities,
2. Strong-Motion User Members, consisting of earthquake engineering research centers, universities, research institutions, government agencies, private companies and consultants or other organizations that use strong-motion data directly either in research or in the professional practice of earthquake engineering or emergency response and recovery,

2. Affiliate Members, comprised of agencies, organizations, private companies, professional organizations, and universities of two types:

1. Strong-Motion Services Members, which include special-interest organizations, including instrumentation manufacturers and software providers,
2. Liaison Members comprised of professional societies, such as Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and Structural Engineering Association of California (SEAOC) and public agencies, such as Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and National Science Foundation (NSF) with a specific interest in advancing the status of strong-motion observation in the United States, or other organizations concerned with earthquake-recording or data-dissemination efforts, such as Council of the National Seismic System (CNSS) or Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS).

1. An organization may apply to become a member of the COSMOS by: 1) providing a description of its work or interest in strong motion, 2) pledging support to the purposes and principles of the COSMOS, 3) identifying membership status for which it is applying, and 4) identifying the official representative of the organization to attend regular meetings of the COSMOS.

1. General Membership (GM),
2. Strong-Motion Programs Board (SMPB),
3. Senior Advisory Council (SAC), and
4. Secretariat.

1. The General Membership (GM) shall consist of all the Members of the COSMOS.
2. Each Member organization shall designate one official representative and one alternate for the meetings of the GM.
3. The official representative and alternate shall serve terms not to exceed 4 years without renewal. *

1. The GM may discuss any matters within the scope of the present Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any components provided for in the present Charter, and, shall make any recommendations to the SMPB.
2. The GM should call the attention of the SMPB to opportunities and situations, which are likely to influence the advancement of strong-motion measurement.
3. The GM shall endeavor to effect excellent communication among the members regarding knowledge about strong-motion data collection dissemination and use.
4. The GM shall develop recommendations based on studies, working group contributions, and workshops for the purpose of pursuing the purposes according to the principles of COSMOS as stated in Chapter I, Articles 1 and 2.
5. The GM shall receive and consider annual and special reports from the SMPB as provided by its Chair.
6. The GM shall receive and consider reports from the other components of the COSMOS.
7. The GM shall elect the Chair of the GM to serve a term of two years.
8. The GM shall elect Elected members of the SMPB from a slate of nominees provided by a Nominating Committee appointed by the Chair of the GM and shall elect Standing members from a slate of nominees provided by the SMPB.
9. The GM shall elect six members of the SAC.
10. The GM shall recommend nominations for regular and affiliate members.
11. The GM may recommend suspensions of rights and privileges when members do not comply with purposes, principles, and provisions of the COSMOS Charter.
12. The GM may periodically review and recommend changes to the purposes and principles of COSMOS.
13. The GM may establish Working Groups in concurrence with the SMPB to conduct various tasks and responsibilities of COSMOS.
14. Representatives of Member organizations shall be eligible to serve on committees, working groups, and councils to draft standards and policies.

1. Voting privileges shall be restricted to the official representative of each Regular Member of the General Membership (GM).
2. A quorum of the GM shall be 40 percent of the total GM.
3. Decisions of the GM shall be made by a simple majority of the members present at an official meeting or by letter ballot.

1. The GM shall meet in regular sessions, typically yearly. Meetings may occur at or near the time and location of the annual meeting of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. A special meeting may be called if requested by at least ten percent of the GM or the SMPB.
2. The meetings of the GM shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order with recorded minutes.

1. The Strong-Motion Programs Board (SMPB) initially shall consist of ten Regular Members of COSMOS of which four members are Core members, three members are Standing Members and three members are Elected Members.
2. Core Members initially shall include the major, publicly supported U.S. strong motion programs: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Calif. Div. of Mines and Geology, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The representative of each Core member on the SMPB shall be the organization official with direct management responsibility for the organizations strong-motion program.*
3. Standing Members shall be the Chair of the SAC and two members to be elected by the GM from a slate of candidates provided by a nominating committee from the following categories:

1. private or university strong motion programs with 20 or more stations,
2. major distributors of strong-motion data, and
3. the national earthquake engineering centers.

4. Elected Members shall be regular members of the COSMOS elected by the GM to two-year terms. They shall include the elected Chair of the GM and two additional members elected by the GM to represent the interests of small strong-motion programs, structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, lifeline engineering, engineering seismology, emergency response or post disaster response community.
5. The Executive Director of the Secretariat shall be an ex-officio member of the SMPB.

1. The Strong-Motion Programs Board (SMPB) has primary responsibility for establishing policies of COSMOS.
2. The SMPB shall act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the COSMOS as set forth in this Charter.
3. The SMPB shall submit annual and, when necessary, special reports to the GM.
4. The SMPB shall admit new Members of the COSMOS on recommendation of the GM as provided in Article 8 (10) after initial formation.
5. The SMPB shall review Standing membership categories every two years to reflect institutional involvement.
6. The SMPB shall nominate a slate of candidates for each of the Standing membership categories specified in Article 11 (3) from which the GM shall elect Standing Members of the SMPB to serve terms of two years.

1. Each member of the SMPB shall have one vote.
2. Decisions of the SMPB on all matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the total membership.
3. A quorum of the SMPB shall be two-thirds of the SMPB members.
4. A member shall not vote if they have a potential conflict of interest on the matter before the SMPB. Voting to recommend a system or policy that may benefit the member financially constitutes a potential conflict of interest.

1. The representative of each Core Member organization shall serve as the Chair for the SMPB for two-year terms, in rotation. Members have the option of waiving their term as Chair.
2. The Chair of the SMPB shall rotate in an order to be determined.
3. The SMPB shall conduct at least two meetings per year. The SMPB shall prepare minutes of its meetings for presentation to the GM.
4. The SMPB may establish such advisory committees and working groups, as it deems necessary for the performance of the functions of the COSMOS.
5. Logistic and administrative support for meetings and other activities during a given year shall be provided by the organization represented by the current Chair, unless other arrangements are made and approved by the SMPB.
6. Any Member of the COSMOS may participate and non-members may participate without vote, in SMPB debates.*
7. The meetings of the SMPB shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order with recorded minutes.

1. The Secretariat shall conduct the administrative affairs of COSMOS.
2. The Executive Director of the Secretariat shall be appointed by the SMPB. The Executive Director of the Secretariat shall report to the SMPB.
3. The Executive Director of the Secretariat shall serve as an ex-officio member of the SMPB, SAC, and GM.

1. The Senior Advisory Council (SAC) is established to promote and advance strong-motion information for purposes of public earthquake safety.
2. The SAC shall provide continuing broad overview of strong-motion needs and promote and encourage the expansion of investment by government bodies and private entities in strong motion instrumentation. The SAC will provide high-level review and comment and when appropriate recommend endorsement of instrumentation proposals being developed or submitted, providing support and/or recommending revisions for improvements.
3. The SAC will provide high-level overview of strong motion activities independent of specific network programs, identifying strong-motion data needs, and conceiving, identifying, and developing strategies to move the state of the art and practice in strong-motion instrumentation and data utilization forward in keeping with the mission of reducing earthquake hazards.
4. The SAC is established as an advisory council of the COSMOS with recommendations to be presented to the SMPB for review and adoption.
5. The SAC shall respond to specific requests of the SMPB and may develop unsolicited advice and recommendations for the COSMOS.

1. The Senior Advisory Council (SAC) shall be comprised of 14 members. Four members of the SAC shall be senior management officials of the Core member institutions. The chair of the GM and the chair of the SMPB also shall be members of the SAC. The other Core members of the SMPB shall be ex-officio members of the SAC.
2. Four SAC members shall be appointed by the SMPB to serve two-year terms.
3. The GM shall elect five members of the SAC. ^*

1. Each member of the SAC shall have one vote.
2. Decisions of the SAC on all matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of a majority of members present.
3. A quorum for the SAC is defined as a majority of SAC members.
4. The meetings of the SAC shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order with recorded minutes.
5. The SAC shall hold one meeting per year and meet more frequently as warranted.
6. The Chair of the SAC shall be elected by the SAC membership.

1. Initial ongoing day-to-day costs of COSMOS are expected to be minimal.
2. Travel costs of member representatives for the purpose of participating in GM meetings will be borne by the member organizations.
3. Travel costs of member representatives to participate in SMPB and SAC meetings will be borne by the member organizations, unless other arrangements are approved by the Secretariat. Administrative costs will be borne by the current Chair member organization of the SMPB, unless other arrangements are approved by the SMPB.
4. Special donations or other support from private or public entities may be accepted to support the costs of larger workshops or other planned events.
5. The Secretariat shall develop a financial plan for COSMOS to develop a fiscal basis to support activities beyond the minimal operating costs necessary to initiate COSMOS.

1. The COSMOS strong-motion program members commit to timely release of strong-motion data after an earthquake, releasing data as rapidly as practical in the context of their organization’s specific mission requirements.
2. The COSMOS members understand that appropriate organizational credit for data is critical for the long-term health of strong-motion programs. Therefore all data released by the COSMOS members will be credited to its originating program.
3. The COSMOS members understand that making the utilization of data convenient for users is important for its effective use, and agree to handle record format issues with appropriate care. Members agree to the extent practicable to distribute their data in the approved standard Strong Motion Data Format (SMDF). When adherence to SMDF is not practicable, members agree to hold to a single format and avoid changes from year to year or earthquake to earthquake. Members choosing this alternative are encouraged to make available at their web site or by other means a conversion program, which will convert their format(s) to SMDF. They also agree not to discourage others from providing such conversion programs.
4. The COSMOS members agree to assist in the development and evolution of a critically needed master database of all strong-motion stations by providing information on station location, site conditions, and instrument information to the COSMOS.

1. The COSMOS may assist with or arrange instrument loans, training programs, and other means of helping strong motion programs.
2. The COSMOS may facilitate the use of strong-motion data through various types of assistance to data users.
3. The COSMOS may provide certain utilities and support to members upon request to facilitate data dissemination.

Amendments to the Charter of the COSMOS require:

1. two-thirds vote of the GM, and
2. two-thirds vote of the SMPB.

1. The initial members of COSMOS shall include the members of CASMP.
2. The present Charter shall be adopted when signed by a majority of the membership of the CASMP and a majority of the representatives of the Core Members of the COSMOS.
3. The adopted copy of the Charter shall be deposited with the Secretariat of the COSMOS and with the SMPB upon their establishment.
4. Nothing herein is intended to require any member to waive their intellectual property rights or otherwise surrender intellectual property without its consent. *