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pdfPUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
131 STAT. 91
Public Law 115–25
115th Congress
An Act
To improve the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weather research
through a focused program of investment on affordable and attainable advances
in observational, computing, and modeling capabilities to support substantial
improvement in weather forecasting and prediction of high impact weather events,
to expand commercial opportunities for the provision of weather data, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Weather
Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Apr. 18, 2017
[H.R. 353]
Weather
Research and
Forecasting
Innovation Act
of 2017.
15 USC 8501
note.
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I—UNITED STATES WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING
IMPROVEMENT
Sec. 101. Public safety priority.
Sec. 102. Weather research and forecasting innovation.
Sec. 103. Tornado warning improvement and extension program.
Sec. 104. Hurricane forecast improvement program.
Sec. 105. Weather research and development planning.
Sec. 106. Observing system planning.
Sec. 107. Observing system simulation experiments.
Sec. 108. Annual report on computing resources prioritization.
Sec. 109. United States Weather Research program.
Sec. 110. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE II—SUBSEASONAL AND SEASONAL FORECASTING INNOVATION
Sec. 201. Improving subseasonal and seasonal forecasts.
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TITLE III—WEATHER SATELLITE AND DATA INNOVATION
Sec. 301. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite and data
management.
Sec. 302. Commercial weather data.
Sec. 303. Unnecessary duplication.
TITLE IV—FEDERAL WEATHER COORDINATION
Sec. 401. Environmental Information Services Working Group.
Sec. 402. Interagency weather research and forecast innovation coordination.
Sec. 403. Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and National Weather Service exchange program.
Sec. 404. Visiting fellows at National Weather Service.
Sec. 405. Warning coordination meteorologists at weather forecast offices of National Weather Service.
Sec. 406. Improving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration communication of hazardous weather and water events.
Sec. 407. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Ready All
Hazards Award Program.
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131 STAT. 92
PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
408.
409.
410.
411.
412.
413.
414.
Department of Defense weather forecasting activities.
National Weather Service; operations and workforce analysis.
Report on contract positions at National Weather Service.
Weather impacts to communities and infrastructure.
Weather enterprise outreach.
Hurricane hunter aircraft.
Study on gaps in NEXRAD coverage and recommendations to address
such gaps.
TITLE V—TSUNAMI WARNING, EDUCATION, AND RESEARCH ACT OF 2017
Sec. 501. Short title.
Sec. 502. References to the Tsunami Warning and Education Act.
Sec. 503. Expansion of purposes of Tsunami Warning and Education Act.
Sec. 504. Modification of tsunami forecasting and warning program.
Sec. 505. Modification of national tsunami hazard mitigation program.
Sec. 506. Modification of tsunami research program.
Sec. 507. Global tsunami warning and mitigation network.
Sec. 508. Tsunami science and technology advisory panel.
Sec. 509. Reports.
Sec. 510. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 511. Outreach responsibilities.
Sec. 512. Repeal of duplicate provisions of law.
15 USC 8501.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) SEASONAL.—The term ‘‘seasonal’’ means the time range
between 3 months and 2 years.
(2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, a territory,
or possession of the United States, including a Commonwealth,
or the District of Columbia.
(3) SUBSEASONAL.—The term ‘‘subseasonal’’ means the time
range between 2 weeks and 3 months.
(4) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under Secretary’’ means
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.
(5) WEATHER INDUSTRY AND WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The
terms ‘‘weather industry’’ and ‘‘weather enterprise’’ are interchangeable in this Act, and include individuals and organizations from public, private, and academic sectors that contribute
to the research, development, and production of weather forecast products, and primary consumers of these weather forecast
products.
TITLE I—UNITED STATES WEATHER RESEARCH
AND
FORECASTING
IMPROVEMENT
15 USC 85011.
SEC. 101. PUBLIC SAFETY PRIORITY.
In conducting research, the Under Secretary shall prioritize
improving weather data, modeling, computing, forecasting, and
warnings for the protection of life and property and for the enhancement of the national economy.
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15 USC 85012.
SEC. 102. WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVATION.
(a) PROGRAM.—The Assistant Administrator for the Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research shall conduct a program to
develop improved understanding of and forecast capabilities for
atmospheric events and their impacts, placing priority on developing
more accurate, timely, and effective warnings and forecasts of high
impact weather events that endanger life and property.
(b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program described in subsection
(a) shall focus on the following activities:
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
(1) Improving the fundamental understanding of weather
consistent with section 101, including the boundary layer and
other processes affecting high impact weather events.
(2) Improving the understanding of how the public receives,
interprets, and responds to warnings and forecasts of high
impact weather events that endanger life and property.
(3) Research and development, and transfer of knowledge,
technologies, and applications to the National Weather Service
and other appropriate agencies and entities, including the
United States weather industry and academic partners, related
to—
(A) advanced radar, radar networking technologies, and
other ground-based technologies, including those emphasizing rapid, fine-scale sensing of the boundary layer and
lower troposphere, and the use of innovative, dual-polarization, phased-array technologies;
(B) aerial weather observing systems;
(C) high performance computing and information technology and wireless communication networks;
(D) advanced numerical weather prediction systems
and forecasting tools and techniques that improve the forecasting of timing, track, intensity, and severity of high
impact weather, including through—
(i) the development of more effective mesoscale
models;
(ii) more effective use of existing, and the development of new, regional and national cloud-resolving
models;
(iii) enhanced global weather models; and
(iv) integrated assessment models;
(E) quantitative assessment tools for measuring the
impact and value of data and observing systems, including
Observing System Simulation Experiments (as described
in section 107), Observing System Experiments, and Analyses of Alternatives;
(F) atmospheric chemistry and interactions essential
to accurately characterizing atmospheric composition and
predicting meteorological processes, including cloud microphysical, precipitation, and atmospheric electrification processes, to more effectively understand their role in severe
weather; and
(G) additional sources of weather data and information,
including commercial observing systems.
(4) A technology transfer initiative, carried out jointly and
in coordination with the Director of the National Weather
Service, and in cooperation with the United States weather
industry and academic partners, to ensure continuous development and transition of the latest scientific and technological
advances into operations of the National Weather Service and
to establish a process to sunset outdated and expensive operational methods and tools to enable cost-effective transfer of
new methods and tools into operations.
(c) EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program under this
section, the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research shall collaborate with and support the
non-Federal weather research community, which includes
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131 STAT. 93
Collaboration.
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
institutions of higher education, private entities, and nongovernmental organizations, by making funds available through
competitive grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that
not less than 30 percent of the funds for weather research
and development at the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research should be made available for the purpose described
in paragraph (1).
(d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each year, concurrent with the annual
budget request submitted by the President to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, the Under Secretary shall submit
to Congress a description of current and planned activities under
this section.
15 USC 8513.
SEC. 103. TORNADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT AND EXTENSION PROGRAM.
Collaboration.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in collaboration with
the United States weather industry and academic partners, shall
establish a tornado warning improvement and extension program.
(b) GOAL.—The goal of such program shall be to reduce the
loss of life and economic losses from tornadoes through the development and extension of accurate, effective, and timely tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings, including the prediction of tornadoes beyond 1 hour in advance.
(c) PROGRAM PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, in coordination with the Director
of the National Weather Service, shall develop a program plan
that details the specific research, development, and technology
transfer activities, as well as corresponding resources and timelines,
necessary to achieve the program goal.
(d) ANNUAL BUDGET FOR PLAN SUBMITTAL.—Following completion of the plan, the Under Secretary, acting through the Assistant
Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and in
coordination with the Director of the National Weather Service,
shall, not less frequently than once each year, submit to Congress
a proposed budget corresponding with the activities identified in
the plan.
Deadline.
Coordination.
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Coordination.
15 USC 8514.
SEC. 104. HURRICANE FORECAST IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
Collaboration.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in collaboration with
the United States weather industry and such academic entities
as the Administrator considers appropriate, shall maintain a project
to improve hurricane forecasting.
(b) GOAL.—The goal of the project maintained under subsection
(a) shall be to develop and extend accurate hurricane forecasts
and warnings in order to reduce loss of life, injury, and damage
to the economy, with a focus on—
(1) improving the prediction of rapid intensification and
track of hurricanes;
(2) improving the forecast and communication of storm
surges from hurricanes; and
(3) incorporating risk communication research to create
more effective watch and warning products.
(c) PROJECT PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary, acting through
the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
Deadline.
Consultation.
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131 STAT. 95
and in consultation with the Director of the National Weather
Service, shall develop a plan for the project maintained under
subsection (a) that details the specific research, development, and
technology transfer activities, as well as corresponding resources
and timelines, necessary to achieve the goal set forth in subsection
(b).
SEC. 105. WEATHER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and not less frequently than once each year thereafter, the
Under Secretary, acting through the Assistant Administrator for
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and in coordination with the
Director of the National Weather Service and the Assistant
Administrator for Satellite and Information Services, shall issue
a research and development and research to operations plan to
restore and maintain United States leadership in numerical weather
prediction and forecasting that—
(1) describes the forecasting skill and technology goals,
objectives, and progress of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration in carrying out the program conducted under section 102;
(2) identifies and prioritizes specific research and development activities, and performance metrics, weighted to meet
the operational weather mission of the National Weather
Service to achieve a weather-ready Nation;
(3) describes how the program will collaborate with stakeholders, including the United States weather industry and academic partners; and
(4) identifies, through consultation with the National
Science Foundation, the United States weather industry, and
academic partners, research necessary to enhance the integration of social science knowledge into weather forecast and
warning processes, including to improve the communication
of threat information necessary to enable improved severe
weather planning and decisionmaking on the part of individuals
and communities.
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SEC. 106. OBSERVING SYSTEM PLANNING.
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Consultation.
15 USC 8516.
The Under Secretary shall—
(1) develop and maintain a prioritized list of observation
data requirements necessary to ensure weather forecasting
capabilities to protect life and property to the maximum extent
practicable;
(2) consistent with section 107, utilize Observing System
Simulation Experiments, Observing System Experiments, Analyses of Alternatives, and other appropriate assessment tools
to ensure continuous systemic evaluations of the observing
systems, data, and information needed to meet the requirements of paragraph (1), including options to maximize observational capabilities and their cost-effectiveness;
(3) identify current and potential future data gaps in
observing capabilities related to the requirements listed under
paragraph (1); and
(4) determine a range of options to address gaps identified
under paragraph (3).
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15 USC 8515.
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Assessments.
Evaluation.
15 USC 8517.
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Deadlines.
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SEC. 107. OBSERVING SYSTEM SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—In support of the requirements of section
106, the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research shall undertake Observing System Simulation Experiments, or such other quantitative assessments as the Assistant
Administrator considers appropriate, to quantitatively assess the
relative value and benefits of observing capabilities and systems.
Technical and scientific Observing System Simulation Experiment
evaluations—
(1) may include assessments of the impact of observing
capabilities on—
(A) global weather prediction;
(B) hurricane track and intensity forecasting;
(C) tornado warning lead times and accuracy;
(D) prediction of mid-latitude severe local storm outbreaks; and
(E) prediction of storms that have the potential to
cause extreme precipitation and flooding lasting from 6
hours to 1 week; and
(2) shall be conducted in cooperation with other appropriate
entities within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, other Federal agencies, the United States weather
industry, and academic partners to ensure the technical and
scientific merit of results from Observing System Simulation
Experiments or other appropriate quantitative assessment
methodologies.
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Observing System Simulation Experiments shall quantitatively—
(1) determine the potential impact of proposed space-based,
suborbital, and in situ observing systems on analyses and forecasts, including potential impacts on extreme weather events
across all parts of the Nation;
(2) evaluate and compare observing system design options;
and
(3) assess the relative capabilities and costs of various
observing systems and combinations of observing systems in
providing data necessary to protect life and property.
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Observing System Simulation Experiments—
(1) shall be conducted prior to the acquisition of major
Government-owned
or
Government-leased
operational
observing systems, including polar-orbiting and geostationary
satellite systems, with a lifecycle cost of more than
$500,000,000; and
(2) shall be conducted prior to the purchase of any major
new commercially provided data with a lifecycle cost of more
than $500,000,000.
(d) PRIORITY OBSERVING SYSTEM SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS.—
(1) GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM RADIO OCCULTATION.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research shall complete an Observing System
Simulation Experiment to assess the value of data from Global
Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation.
(2) GEOSTATIONARY HYPERSPECTRAL SOUNDER GLOBAL CONSTELLATION.—Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic
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131 STAT. 97
and Atmospheric Research shall complete an Observing System
Simulation Experiment to assess the value of data from a
geostationary hyperspectral sounder global constellation.
(e) RESULTS.—Upon completion of all Observing System Simulation Experiments, the Assistant Administrator shall make available
to the public the results an assessment of related private and
public sector weather data sourcing options, including their availability, affordability, and cost-effectiveness. Such assessments shall
be developed in accordance with section 50503 of title 51, United
States Code.
SEC.
108.
ANNUAL
REPORT
PRIORITIZATION.
ON
COMPUTING
RESOURCES
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act and not less frequently than once each year thereafter, the
Under Secretary, acting through the Chief Information Officer of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and in
coordination with the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research and the Director of the National Weather
Service, shall produce and make publicly available a report that
explains how the Under Secretary intends—
(1) to continually support upgrades to pursue the fastest,
most powerful, and cost-effective high performance computing
technologies in support of its weather prediction mission;
(2) to ensure a balance between the research to operations
requirements to develop the next generation of regional and
global models as well as highly reliable operational models;
(3) to take advantage of advanced development concepts
to, as appropriate, make next generation weather prediction
models available in beta-test mode to operational forecasters,
the United States weather industry, and partners in academic
and Government research; and
(4) to use existing computing resources to improve advanced
research and operational weather prediction.
Public
information.
Coordination.
Public
information.
15 USC 8518.
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SEC. 109. UNITED STATES WEATHER RESEARCH PROGRAM.
Section 108 of the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Authorization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567; 15 U.S.C. 313
note) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting
a semicolon;
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the
end and inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
‘‘(5) submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, not
less frequently than once each year, a report, including—
‘‘(A) a list of ongoing research projects;
‘‘(B) project goals and a point of contact for each project;
‘‘(C) the five projects related to weather observations,
short-term weather, or subseasonal forecasts within Office
of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research that are closest to
operationalization;
‘‘(D) for each project referred to in subparagraph (C)—
‘‘(i) the potential benefit;
‘‘(ii) any barrier to operationalization; and
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Lists.
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‘‘(iii) the plan for operationalization, including
which line office will financially support the project
and how much the line office intends to spend;
‘‘(6) establish teams with staff from the Office of Oceanic
and Atmospheric Research and the National Weather Service
to oversee the operationalization of research products developed
by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research;
‘‘(7) develop mechanisms for research priorities of the Office
of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research to be informed by the
relevant line offices within the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the relevant user community, and
the weather enterprise;
‘‘(8) develop an internal mechanism to track the progress
of each research project within the Office of Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research and mechanisms to terminate a project
that is not adequately progressing;
‘‘(9) develop and implement a system to track whether
extramural research grant goals were accomplished;
‘‘(10) provide facilities for products developed by the Office
of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research to be tested in operational
simulations, such as test beds; and
‘‘(11) encourage academic collaboration with the Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the National Weather
Service by facilitating visiting scholars.’’;
(2) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding paragraph
(1), by striking ‘‘Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(c) SUBSEASONAL DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘subseasonal’ means the time range between 2 weeks and 3 months.’’.
15 USC 8519.
SEC. 110. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) FISCAL YEARS 2017 AND 2018.—For each of fiscal years
2017 and 2018, there are authorized to be appropriated to Office
of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research—
(1) $111,516,000 to carry out this title, of which—
(A) $85,758,000 is authorized for weather laboratories
and cooperative institutes; and
(B) $25,758,000 is authorized for weather and air chemistry research programs; and
(2) an additional amount of $20,000,000 for the joint technology transfer initiative described in section 102(b)(4).
(b) LIMITATION.—No additional funds are authorized to carry
out this title and the amendments made by this title.
TITLE II—SUBSEASONAL AND
SEASONAL FORECASTING INNOVATION
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SEC. 201. IMPROVING SUBSEASONAL AND SEASONAL FORECASTS.
Section 1762 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (Public Law
99–198; 15 U.S.C. 313 note) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)
FINDINGS.—’’;
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)
POLICY.—’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The Under Secretary, acting through the
Director of the National Weather Service and the heads of such
other programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the Under Secretary considers appropriate, shall—
‘‘(1) collect and utilize information in order to make usable,
reliable, and timely foundational forecasts of subseasonal and
seasonal temperature and precipitation;
‘‘(2) leverage existing research and models from the weather
enterprise to improve the forecasts under paragraph (1);
‘‘(3) determine and provide information on how the forecasted conditions under paragraph (1) may impact—
‘‘(A) the number and severity of droughts, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, heat waves, coastal inundation,
winter storms, high impact weather, or other relevant natural disasters;
‘‘(B) snowpack; and
‘‘(C) sea ice conditions; and
‘‘(4) develop an Internet clearinghouse to provide the forecasts under paragraph (1) and the information under paragraphs (1) and (3) on both national and regional levels.
‘‘(d) COMMUNICATION.—The Director of the National Weather
Service shall provide the forecasts under paragraph (1) of subsection
(c) and the information on their impacts under paragraph (3) of
such subsection to the public, including public and private entities
engaged in planning and preparedness, such as National Weather
Service Core partners at the Federal, regional, State, tribal, and
local levels of government.
‘‘(e) COOPERATION.—The Under Secretary shall build upon
existing forecasting and assessment programs and partnerships,
including—
‘‘(1) by designating research and monitoring activities
related to subseasonal and seasonal forecasts as a priority
in one or more solicitations of the Cooperative Institutes of
the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research;
‘‘(2) by contributing to the interagency Earth System Prediction Capability; and
‘‘(3) by consulting with the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Homeland Security to determine the highest priority subseasonal and seasonal forecast needs to enhance
national security.
‘‘(f) FORECAST COMMUNICATION COORDINATORS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall foster effective communication, understanding, and use of the forecasts
by the intended users of the information described in subsection
(d). This may include assistance to States for forecast communication coordinators to enable local interpretation and planning based on the information.
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—For each State that requests assistance under this subsection, the Under Secretary may—
‘‘(A) provide funds to support an individual in that
State—
‘‘(i) to serve as a liaison among the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, other Federal
departments and agencies, the weather enterprise, the
State, and relevant interests within that State; and
‘‘(ii) to receive the forecasts and information under
subsection (c) and disseminate the forecasts and
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Public
information.
Consultation.
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information throughout the State, including to county
and tribal governments; and
‘‘(B) require matching funds of at least 50 percent,
from the State, a university, a nongovernmental organization, a trade association, or the private sector.
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Assistance to an individual State under
this subsection shall not exceed $100,000 in a fiscal year.
‘‘(g) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Each Federal department and agency shall cooperate as appropriate with
the Under Secretary in carrying out this section.
‘‘(h) REPORTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after the date
of the enactment of the Weather Research and Forecasting
Innovation Act of 2017, the Under Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report, including—
‘‘(A) an analysis of the how information from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on subseasonal and seasonal forecasts, as provided under subsection (c), is utilized in public planning and preparedness;
‘‘(B) specific plans and goals for the continued development of the subseasonal and seasonal forecasts and related
products described in subsection (c); and
‘‘(C) an identification of research, monitoring,
observing, and forecasting requirements to meet the goals
described in subparagraph (B).
‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In developing the report under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall consult with relevant
Federal, regional, State, tribal, and local government agencies,
research institutions, and the private sector.
‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) FOUNDATIONAL FORECAST.—The term ‘foundational
forecast’ means basic weather observation and forecast data,
largely in raw form, before further processing is applied.
‘‘(2) NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORE PARTNERS.—The
term ‘National Weather Service core partners’ means government and nongovernment entities which are directly involved
in the preparation or dissemination of, or discussions involving,
hazardous weather or other emergency information put out
by the National Weather Service.
‘‘(3) SEASONAL.—The term ‘seasonal’ means the time range
between 3 months and 2 years.
‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State, a territory,
or possession of the United States, including a Commonwealth,
or the District of Columbia.
‘‘(5) SUBSEASONAL.—The term ‘subseasonal’ means the time
range between 2 weeks and 3 months.
‘‘(6) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘Under Secretary’ means
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.
‘‘(7) WEATHER INDUSTRY AND WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The
terms ‘weather industry’ and ‘weather enterprise’ are interchangeable in this section and include individuals and organizations from public, private, and academic sectors that contribute
to the research, development, and production of weather forecast products, and primary consumers of these weather forecast
products.
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131 STAT. 101
‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For each of fiscal
years 2017 and 2018, there are authorized out of funds appropriated
to the National Weather Service, $26,500,000 to carry out the
activities of this section.’’.
TITLE III—WEATHER SATELLITE AND
DATA INNOVATION
SEC. 301. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
SATELLITE AND DATA MANAGEMENT.
(a) SHORT-TERM MANAGEMENT
OF
15 USC 8531
note.
ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVA-
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TIONS.—
(1) MICROSATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall complete
and operationalize the Constellation Observing System for
Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate–1 and Climate–2
(COSMIC) in effect on the day before the date of the
enactment of this Act—
(i) by deploying constellations of microsatellites
in both the equatorial and polar orbits;
(ii) by integrating the resulting data and research
into all national operational and research weather forecast models; and
(iii) by ensuring that the resulting data of National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s COSMIC–
1 and COSMIC–2 programs are free and open to all
communities.
(B) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not less frequently than once
each year until the Under Secretary has completed and
operationalized the program described in subparagraph (A)
pursuant to such subparagraph, the Under Secretary shall
submit to Congress a report on the status of the efforts
of the Under Secretary to carry out such subparagraph.
(2) INTEGRATION OF OCEAN AND COASTAL DATA FROM THE
INTEGRATED OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM.—In National Weather
Service Regions where the Director of the National Weather
Service determines that ocean and coastal data would improve
forecasts, the Director, in consultation with the Assistant
Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the
Assistant Administrator of the National Ocean Service, shall—
(A) integrate additional coastal and ocean observations,
and other data and research, from the Integrated Ocean
Observing System (IOOS) into regional weather forecasts
to improve weather forecasts and forecasting decision support systems; and
(B) support the development of real-time data sharing
products and forecast products in collaboration with the
regional associations of such system, including contributions from the private sector, academia, and research
institutions to ensure timely and accurate use of ocean
and coastal data in regional forecasts.
(3) EXISTING MONITORING AND OBSERVATION-CAPABILITY.—
The Under Secretary shall identify degradation of existing monitoring and observation capabilities that could lead to a reduction in forecast quality.
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PUBL025
131 STAT. 102
PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
(4) SPECIFICATIONS FOR NEW SATELLITE SYSTEMS OR DATA
DETERMINED BY OPERATIONAL NEEDS.—In developing specifica-
Recommendation.
Assessment.
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Recommendations.
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tions for any satellite systems or data to follow the Joint
Polar Satellite System, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, and any other satellites, in effect on the
day before the date of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall ensure the specifications are determined to the
extent practicable by the recommendations of the reports under
subsection (b) of this section.
(b) INDEPENDENT STUDY ON FUTURE OF NATIONAL OCEANIC
AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION SATELLITE SYSTEMS AND
DATA.—
(1) AGREEMENT.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall seek to
enter into an agreement with the National Academy of
Sciences to perform the services covered by this subsection.
(B) TIMING.—The Under Secretary shall seek to enter
into the agreement described in subparagraph (A) before
September 30, 2018.
(2) STUDY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Under an agreement between the
Under Secretary and the National Academy of Sciences
under this subsection, the National Academy of Sciences
shall conduct a study on matters concerning future satellite
data needs.
(B) ELEMENTS.—In conducting the study under
subparagraph (A), the National Academy of Sciences
shall—
(i) develop recommendations on how to make the
data portfolio of the Administration more robust and
cost-effective;
(ii) assess the costs and benefits of moving toward
a constellation of many small satellites, standardizing
satellite bus design, relying more on the purchasing
of data, or acquiring data from other sources or
methods;
(iii) identify the environmental observations that
are essential to the performance of weather models,
based on an assessment of Federal, academic, and
private sector weather research, and the cost of
obtaining the environmental data;
(iv) identify environmental observations that
improve the quality of operational and research
weather models in effect on the day before the date
of enactment of this Act;
(v) identify and prioritize new environmental
observations that could contribute to existing and
future weather models; and
(vi) develop recommendations on a portfolio of
environmental observations that balances essential,
quality-improving, and new data, private and nonprivate sources, and space-based and Earth-based sources.
(C) DEADLINE AND REPORT.—In carrying out the study
under subparagraph (A), the National Academy of Sciences
shall complete and transmit to the Under Secretary a
report containing the findings of the National Academy
of Sciences with respect to the study not later than 2
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
131 STAT. 103
years after the date on which the Administrator enters
into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences
under paragraph (1)(A).
(3) ALTERNATE ORGANIZATION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Under Secretary is unable
within the period prescribed in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) to enter into an agreement described in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph with the National Academy
of Sciences on terms acceptable to the Under Secretary,
the Under Secretary shall seek to enter into such an agreement with another appropriate organization that—
(i) is not part of the Federal Government;
(ii) operates as a not-for-profit entity; and
(iii) has expertise and objectivity comparable to
that of the National Academy of Sciences.
(B) TREATMENT.—If the Under Secretary enters into
an agreement with another organization as described in
subparagraph (A), any reference in this subsection to the
National Academy of Sciences shall be treated as a reference to the other organization.
(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be appropriated, out of funds appropriated to National
Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, to
carry out this subsection $1,000,000 for the period encompassing fiscal years 2018 through 2019.
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SEC. 302. COMMERCIAL WEATHER DATA.
15 USC 8532.
(a) DATA AND HOSTED SATELLITE PAYLOADS.—Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, the Secretary of Commerce may enter
into agreements for—
(1) the purchase of weather data through contracts with
commercial providers; and
(2) the placement of weather satellite instruments on
cohosted government or private payloads.
(b) STRATEGY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in
consultation with the Under Secretary, shall submit to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
of the House of Representatives a strategy to enable the
procurement of quality commercial weather data. The strategy
shall assess the range of commercial opportunities, including
public-private partnerships, for obtaining surface-based, aviation-based, and space-based weather observations. The strategy
shall include the expected cost-effectiveness of these opportunities as well as provide a plan for procuring data, including
an expected implementation timeline, from these nongovernmental sources, as appropriate.
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The strategy shall include—
(A) an analysis of financial or other benefits to, and
risks associated with, acquiring commercial weather data
or services, including through multiyear acquisition
approaches;
(B) an identification of methods to address planning,
programming, budgeting, and execution challenges to such
approaches, including—
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Contracts.
Deadline.
Consultation.
Plan.
Analysis.
PUBL025
131 STAT. 104
Deadlines.
Publication.
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Determination.
Criteria.
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(i) how standards will be set to ensure that data
is reliable and effective;
(ii) how data may be acquired through commercial
experimental or innovative techniques and then evaluated for integration into operational use;
(iii) how to guarantee public access to all forecastcritical data to ensure that the United States weather
industry and the public continue to have access to
information critical to their work; and
(iv) in accordance with section 50503 of title 51,
United States Code, methods to address potential
termination liability or cancellation costs associated
with weather data or service contracts; and
(C) an identification of any changes needed in the
requirements development and approval processes of the
Department of Commerce to facilitate effective and efficient
implementation of such strategy.
(3) AUTHORITY FOR AGREEMENTS.—The Assistant Administrator for National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service may enter into multiyear agreements necessary
to carry out the strategy developed under this subsection.
(c) PILOT PROGRAM.—
(1) CRITERIA.—Not later than 30 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall publish
data and metadata standards and specifications for space-based
commercial weather data, including radio occultation data, and,
as soon as possible, geostationary hyperspectral sounder data.
(2) PILOT CONTRACTS.—
(A) CONTRACTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall, through
an open competition, enter into at least one pilot contract
with one or more private sector entities capable of providing
data that meet the standards and specifications set by
the Under Secretary for providing commercial weather data
in a manner that allows the Under Secretary to calibrate
and evaluate the data for its use in National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration meteorological models.
(B) ASSESSMENT OF DATA VIABILITY.—Not later than
the date that is 3 years after the date on which the Under
Secretary enters into a contract under subparagraph (A),
the Under Secretary shall assess and submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives the results of a
determination of the extent to which data provided under
the contract entered into under subparagraph (A) meet
the criteria published under paragraph (1) and the extent
to which the pilot program has demonstrated—
(i) the viability of assimilating the commercially
provided data into National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration meteorological models;
(ii) whether, and by how much, the data add value
to weather forecasts; and
(iii) the accuracy, quality, timeliness, validity, reliability, usability, information technology security, and
cost-effectiveness of obtaining commercial weather data
from private sector providers.
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
131 STAT. 105
(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For each of fiscal
years 2017 through 2020, there are authorized to be appropriated for procurement, acquisition, and construction at
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information
Service, $6,000,000 to carry out this subsection.
(d) OBTAINING FUTURE DATA.—If an assessment under subsection (c)(2)(B) demonstrates the ability of commercial weather
data to meet data and metadata standards and specifications published under subsection (c)(1), the Under Secretary shall—
(1) where appropriate, cost-effective, and feasible, obtain
commercial weather data from private sector providers;
(2) as early as possible in the acquisition process for any
future National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorological space system, consider whether there is a suitable,
cost-effective, commercial capability available or that will be
available to meet any or all of the observational requirements
by the planned operational date of the system;
(3) if a suitable, cost-effective, commercial capability is
or will be available as described in paragraph (2), determine
whether it is in the national interest to develop a governmental
meteorological space system; and
(4) submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report
detailing any determination made under paragraphs (2) and
(3).
(e) DATA SHARING PRACTICES.—The Under Secretary shall continue to meet the international meteorological agreements into
which the Under Secretary has entered, including practices set
forth through World Meteorological Organization Resolution 40.
SEC. 303. UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION.
Determination.
Reports.
15 USC 8533.
In meeting the requirements under this title, the Under Secretary shall avoid unnecessary duplication between public and private sources of data and the corresponding expenditure of funds
and employment of personnel.
TITLE IV—FEDERAL WEATHER
COORDINATION
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SEC.
401.
ENVIRONMENTAL
GROUP.
INFORMATION
SERVICES
WORKING
15 USC 8541.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Science Advisory Board shall continue to maintain
a standing working group named the Environmental Information
Services Working Group (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Working
Group’’)—
(1) to provide advice for prioritizing weather research initiatives at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
to produce real improvement in weather forecasting;
(2) to provide advice on existing or emerging technologies
or techniques that can be found in private industry or the
research community that could be incorporated into forecasting
at the National Weather Service to improve forecasting skill;
(3) to identify opportunities to improve—
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131 STAT. 106
PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
(A) communications between weather forecasters, Federal, State, local, tribal, and other emergency management
personnel, and the public; and
(B) communications and partnerships among the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the
private and academic sectors; and
(4) to address such other matters as the Science Advisory
Board requests of the Working Group.
(b) COMPOSITION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group shall be composed
of leading experts and innovators from all relevant fields of
science and engineering including atmospheric chemistry,
atmospheric physics, meteorology, hydrology, social science, risk
communications, electrical engineering, and computer sciences.
In carrying out this section, the Working Group may organize
into subpanels.
(2) NUMBER.—The Working Group shall be composed of
no fewer than 15 members. Nominees for the Working Group
may be forwarded by the Working Group for approval by the
Science Advisory Board. Members of the Working Group may
choose a chair (or co-chairs) from among their number with
approval by the Science Advisory Board.
(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not less frequently than once each year,
the Working Group shall transmit to the Science Advisory Board
for submission to the Under Secretary a report on progress made
by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in adopting
the Working Group’s recommendations. The Science Advisory Board
shall transmit this report to the Under Secretary. Within 30 days
of receipt of such report, the Under Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the House of Representatives a copy of such report.
15 USC 8542.
SEC.
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President.
Determination.
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402.
INTERAGENCY WEATHER RESEARCH
INNOVATION COORDINATION.
AND
FORECAST
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy shall establish an Interagency Committee for
Advancing Weather Services to improve coordination of relevant
weather research and forecast innovation activities across the Federal Government. The Interagency Committee shall—
(1) include participation by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its constituent elements, the National Science Foundation, and such
other agencies involved in weather forecasting research as the
President determines are appropriate;
(2) identify and prioritize top forecast needs and coordinate
those needs against budget requests and program initiatives
across participating offices and agencies; and
(3) share information regarding operational needs and forecasting improvements across relevant agencies.
(b) CO-CHAIR.—The Federal Coordinator for Meteorology shall
serve as a co-chair of this panel.
(c) FURTHER COORDINATION.—The Director of the Office of
Science and Technology Policy shall take such other steps as are
necessary to coordinate the activities of the Federal Government
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
131 STAT. 107
with those of the United States weather industry, State governments, emergency managers, and academic researchers.
SEC. 403. OFFICE OF OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH AND
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EXCHANGE PROGRAM.
15 USC 8543.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research and the Director of National Weather Service
may establish a program to detail Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research personnel to the National Weather Service and National
Weather Service personnel to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research.
(b) GOAL.—The goal of this program is to enhance forecasting
innovation through regular, direct interaction between the Office
of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research’s world-class scientists and
the National Weather Service’s operational staff.
(c) ELEMENTS.—The program shall allow up to 10 Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research staff and National Weather
Service staff to spend up to 1 year on detail. Candidates shall
be jointly selected by the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research and the Director of the National Weather
Service.
(d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not less frequently than once each year,
the Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives
a report on participation in such program and shall highlight any
innovations that come from this interaction.
SEC. 404. VISITING FELLOWS AT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
15 USC 8544.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National Weather Service
may establish a program to host postdoctoral fellows and academic
researchers at any of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
(b) GOAL.—This program shall be designed to provide direct
interaction between forecasters and talented academic and private
sector researchers in an effort to bring innovation to forecasting
tools and techniques to the National Weather Service.
(c) SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT.—Such fellows shall be
competitively selected and appointed for a term not to exceed 1
year.
SEC. 405. WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGISTS AT WEATHER
FORECAST OFFICES OF NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
(a) DESIGNATION
OF
15 USC 8545.
WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLO-
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GISTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National Weather
Service shall designate at least one warning coordination meteorologist at each weather forecast office of the National Weather
Service.
(2) NO ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES AUTHORIZED.—Nothing in
this section shall be construed to authorize or require a change
in the authorized number of full time equivalent employees
in the National Weather Service or otherwise result in the
employment of any additional employees.
(3) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.—Performance of
the responsibilities outlined in this section is not limited to
the warning coordination meteorologist position.
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
(b) PRIMARY ROLE OF
GISTS.—The primary role of
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WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOthe warning coordination meteorologist
shall be to carry out the responsibilities required by this section.
(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), consistent with
the analysis described in section 409, and in order to increase
impact-based decision support services, each warning coordination meteorologist designated under subsection (a) shall—
(A) be responsible for providing service to the
geographic area of responsibility covered by the weather
forecast office at which the warning coordination meteorologist is employed to help ensure that users of products
of the National Weather Service can respond effectively
to improve outcomes from weather events;
(B) liaise with users of products and services of the
National Weather Service, such as the public, media outlets, users in the aviation, marine, and agricultural communities, and forestry, land, and water management interests,
to evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the products
and services of the National Weather Service;
(C) collaborate with such weather forecast offices and
State, local, and tribal government agencies as the Director
considers appropriate in developing, proposing, and implementing plans to develop, modify, or tailor products and
services of the National Weather Service to improve the
usefulness of such products and services;
(D) ensure the maintenance and accuracy of severe
weather call lists, appropriate office severe weather policy
or procedures, and other severe weather or dissemination
methodologies or strategies; and
(E) work closely with State, local, and tribal emergency
management agencies, and other agencies related to disaster management, to ensure a planned, coordinated, and
effective preparedness and response effort.
(2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a responsibility
set forth in paragraph (1) to such other staff as the Director
considers appropriate to carry out such responsibility.
(d) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a warning
coordination meteorologist designated under subsection (a)
may—
(A) work with a State agency to develop plans for
promoting more effective use of products and services of
the National Weather Service throughout the State;
(B) identify priority community preparedness objectives;
(C) develop plans to meet the objectives identified
under paragraph (2); and
(D) conduct severe weather event preparedness planning and citizen education efforts with and through various
State, local, and tribal government agencies and other disaster management-related organizations.
(2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a responsibility
set forth in paragraph (1) to such other staff as the Director
considers appropriate to carry out such responsibility.
(e) PLACEMENT WITH STATE AND LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGERS.—
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
131 STAT. 109
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, the Director
of the National Weather Service may place a warning coordination meteorologist designated under subsection (a) with a State
or local emergency manager if the Director considers doing
so is necessary or convenient to carry out this section.
(2) TREATMENT.—If the Director determines that the placement of a warning coordination meteorologist placed with a
State or local emergency manager under paragraph (1) is near
a weather forecast office of the National Weather Service, such
placement shall be treated as designation of the warning
coordination meteorologist at such weather forecast office for
purposes of subsection (a).
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SEC.
406.
IMPROVING NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC
ADMINISTRATION
COMMUNICATION
OF
HAZARDOUS
WEATHER AND WATER EVENTS.
(a) PURPOSE OF SYSTEM.—For purposes of the assessment
required by subsection (b)(1)(A), the purpose of National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration system for issuing watches and
warnings regarding hazardous weather and water events shall be
risk communication to the general public that informs action to
prevent loss of life and property.
(b) ASSESSMENT OF SYSTEM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall—
(A) assess the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration system for issuing watches and warnings
regarding hazardous weather and water events; and
(B) submit to Congress a report on the findings of
the Under Secretary with respect to the assessment conducted under subparagraph (A).
(2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by paragraph
(1)(A) shall include the following:
(A) An evaluation of whether the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration system for issuing
watches and warnings regarding hazardous weather and
water events meets the purpose described in subsection
(a).
(B) Development of recommendations for—
(i) legislative and administrative action to improve
the system described in paragraph (1)(A); and
(ii) such research as the Under Secretary considers
necessary to address the focus areas described in paragraph (3).
(3) FOCUS AREAS.—The assessment required by paragraph
(1)(A) shall focus on the following:
(A) Ways to communicate the risks posed by hazardous
weather or water events to the public that are most likely
to result in action to mitigate the risk.
(B) Ways to communicate the risks posed by hazardous
weather or water events to the public as broadly and rapidly as practicable.
(C) Ways to preserve the benefits of the existing
watches and warnings system.
(D) Ways to maintain the utility of the watches and
warnings system for Government and commercial users
of the system.
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Deadline.
Reports.
Evaluation.
Recommendations.
PUBL025
131 STAT. 110
(4) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the assessment required
by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Secretary shall—
(A) consult with such line offices within the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the Under Secretary considers relevant, including the National Ocean
Service, the National Weather Service, and the Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research;
(B) consult with individuals in the academic sector,
including individuals in the field of social and behavioral
sciences, and other weather services;
(C) consult with media outlets that will be distributing
the watches and warnings;
(D) consult with non-Federal forecasters that produce
alternate severe weather risk communication products;
(E) consult with emergency planners and responders,
including State and local emergency management agencies,
and other government users of the watches and warnings
system, including the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, the Office of Personnel Management, the Coast
Guard, and such other Federal agencies as the Under Secretary determines rely on watches and warnings for operational decisions; and
(F) make use of the services of the National Academy
of Sciences, as the Under Secretary considers necessary
and practicable, including contracting with the National
Research Council to review the scientific and technical
soundness of the assessment required by paragraph (1)(A),
including the recommendations developed under paragraph
(2)(B).
(5) METHODOLOGIES.—In conducting the assessment
required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Secretary shall use
such methodologies as the Under Secretary considers are generally accepted by the weather enterprise, including social and
behavioral sciences.
(c) IMPROVEMENTS TO SYSTEM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, based on the
assessment required by subsection (b)(1)(A), make such recommendations to Congress to improve the system as the Under
Secretary considers necessary—
(A) to improve the system for issuing watches and
warnings regarding hazardous weather and water events;
and
(B) to support efforts to satisfy research needs to enable
future improvements to such system.
(2) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING RECOMMENDATIONS.—In carrying out paragraph (1)(A), the Under Secretary shall ensure
that any recommendation that the Under Secretary considers
a major change—
(A) is validated by social and behavioral science using
a generalizable sample;
(B) accounts for the needs of various demographics,
vulnerable populations, and geographic regions;
(C) accounts for the differences between types of
weather and water hazards;
(D) responds to the needs of Federal, State, and local
government partners and media partners; and
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(E) accounts for necessary changes to Federally operated watch and warning propagation and dissemination
infrastructure and protocols.
(d) WATCHES AND WARNINGS DEFINED.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), in
this section, the terms ‘‘watch’’ and ‘‘warning’’, with respect
to a hazardous weather and water event, mean products issued
by the Administration, intended for consumption by the general
public, to alert the general public to the potential for or presence
of the event and to inform action to prevent loss of life and
property.
(2) EXCEPTION.—ln this section, the terms ‘‘watch’’ and
‘‘warning’’ do not include technical or specialized meteorological
and hydrological forecasts, outlooks, or model guidance products.
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SEC. 407. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
WEATHER READY ALL HAZARDS AWARD PROGRAM.
15 USC 8546.
(a) PROGRAM.—The Director of the National Weather Service
is authorized to establish the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Weather Ready All Hazards Award Program. This
award program shall provide annual awards to honor individuals
or organizations that use or provide National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio All Hazards receivers
or transmitters to save lives and protect property. Individuals or
organizations that utilize other early warning tools or applications
also qualify for this award.
(b) GOAL.—This award program draws attention to the lifesaving work of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Ready All Hazards Program, as well as emerging
tools and applications, that provide real-time warning to individuals
and communities of severe weather or other hazardous conditions.
(c) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—
(1) NOMINATIONS.—Nominations for this award shall be
made annually by the Weather Field Offices to the Director
of the National Weather Service. Broadcast meteorologists,
weather radio manufacturers and weather warning tool and
application developers, emergency managers, and public safety
officials may nominate individuals or organizations to their
local Weather Field Offices, but the final list of award nominees
must come from the Weather Field Offices.
(2) SELECTION OF AWARDEES.—Annually, the Director of
the National Weather Service shall choose winners of this
award whose timely actions, based on National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio All Hazards
receivers or transmitters or other early warning tools and
applications, saved lives or property, or demonstrated public
service in support of weather or all hazard warnings.
(3) AWARD CEREMONY.—The Director of the National
Weather Service shall establish a means of making these
awards to provide maximum public awareness of the importance of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Weather Radio, and such other warning tools and applications
as are represented in the awards.
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Deadline.
Reports.
PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
SEC. 408. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE WEATHER FORECASTING ACTIVITIES.
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report analyzing the impacts of the proposed Air Force
divestiture in the United States Weather Research and Forecasting
Model, including—
(1) the impact on—
(A) the United States weather forecasting capabilities;
(B) the accuracy of civilian regional forecasts;
(C) the civilian readiness for traditional weather and
extreme weather events in the United States; and
(D) the research necessary to develop the United States
Weather Research and Forecasting Model; and
(2) such other analysis relating to the divestiture as the
Under Secretary considers appropriate.
Contracts.
Analysis.
SEC.
409.
NATIONAL WEATHER
WORKFORCE ANALYSIS.
SERVICE;
OPERATIONS
AND
The Under Secretary shall contract or continue to partner
with an external organization to conduct a baseline analysis of
National Weather Service operations and workforce.
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15 USC 8547.
SEC. 410. REPORT ON CONTRACT POSITIONS AT NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall submit
to Congress a report on the use of contractors at the National
Weather Service for the most recently completed fiscal year.
(b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) shall
include, with respect to the most recently completed fiscal year,
the following:
(1) The total number of full-time equivalent employees
at the National Weather Service, disaggregated by each equivalent level of the General Schedule.
(2) The total number of full-time equivalent contractors
at the National Weather Service, disaggregated by each equivalent level of the General Schedule that most closely approximates their duties.
(3) The total number of vacant positions at the National
Weather Service on the day before the date of enactment of
this Act, disaggregated by each equivalent level of the General
Schedule.
(4) The five most common positions filled by full-time
equivalent contractors at the National Weather Service and
the equivalent level of the General Schedule that most closely
approximates the duties of such positions.
(5) Of the positions identified under paragraph (4), the
percentage of full-time equivalent contractors in those positions
that have held a prior position at the National Weather Service
or another entity in National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
(6) The average full-time equivalent salary for Federal
employees at the National Weather Service for each equivalent
level of the General Schedule.
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131 STAT. 113
(7) The average salary for full-time equivalent contractors
performing at each equivalent level of the General Schedule
at the National Weather Service.
(8) A description of any actions taken by the Under Secretary to respond to the issues raised by the Inspector General
of the Department of Commerce regarding the hiring of former
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees
as contractors at the National Weather Service such as the
issues raised in the Investigative Report dated June 2, 2015
(OIG–12–0447).
(c) ANNUAL PUBLICATION.—For each fiscal year after the fiscal
year covered by the report required by subsection (a), the Under
Secretary shall, not later than 180 days after the completion of
the fiscal year, publish on a publicly accessible Internet website
the information described in paragraphs (1) through (8) of subsection (b) for such fiscal year.
Deadline.
Web posting.
SEC. 411. WEATHER IMPACTS TO COMMUNITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
(a) REVIEW.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National Weather
Service shall review existing research, products, and services
that meet the specific needs of the urban environment, given
its unique physical characteristics and forecasting challenges.
(2) ELEMENTS.—The review required by paragraph (1) shall
include research, products, and services with the potential to
improve modeling and forecasting capabilities, taking into
account factors including varying building heights, impermeable
surfaces, lack of tree canopy, traffic, pollution, and interbuilding wind effects.
(b) REPORT AND ASSESSMENT.—Upon completion of the review
required by subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report on the research, products, and services of the
National Weather Service, including an assessment of such
research, products, and services that is based on the review, public
comment, and recent publications by the National Academy of
Sciences.
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SEC. 412. WEATHER ENTERPRISE OUTREACH.
15 USC 8548.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may establish mechanisms for outreach to the weather enterprise—
(1) to assess the weather forecasts and forecast products
provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
(2) to determine the highest priority weather forecast needs
of the community described in subsection (b).
(b) OUTREACH COMMUNITY.—In conducting outreach under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall contact leading experts and
innovators from relevant stakeholders, including the representatives
from the following:
(1) State or local emergency management agencies.
(2) State agriculture agencies.
(3) Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C.
5304)) and Native Hawaiians (as defined in section 6207 of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7517)).
(4) The private aerospace industry.
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Determination.
Contracts.
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131 STAT. 114
PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
(5) The private earth observing industry.
(6) The operational forecasting community.
(7) The academic community.
(8) Professional societies that focus on meteorology.
(9) Such other stakeholder groups as the Under Secretary
considers appropriate.
15 USC 8549.
SEC. 413. HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT.
(a) BACKUP CAPABILITY.—The Under Secretary shall acquire
backup for the capabilities of the WP–3D Orion and G–IV hurricane
aircraft of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
that is sufficient to prevent a single point of failure.
(b) AUTHORITY TO ENTER AGREEMENTS.—In order to carry out
subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall negotiate and enter into
1 or more agreements or contracts, to the extent practicable and
necessary, with governmental and non-governmental entities.
(c) FUTURE TECHNOLOGY.—The Under Secretary shall continue
the development of Airborne Phased Array Radar under the United
States Weather Research Program.
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For each of fiscal
years 2017 through 2020, support for implementing subsections
(a) and (b) is authorized out of funds appropriated to the Office
of Marine and Aviation Operations.
SEC. 414. STUDY ON GAPS IN NEXRAD COVERAGE AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS SUCH GAPS.
(a) STUDY ON GAPS IN NEXRAD COVERAGE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall
complete a study on gaps in the coverage of the Next Generation
Weather Radar of the National Weather Service (‘‘NEXRAD’’).
(2) ELEMENTS.—In conducting the study required under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—
(A) identify areas in the United States where limited
or no NEXRAD coverage has resulted in—
(i) instances in which no or insufficient warnings
were given for hazardous weather events, including
tornadoes; or
(ii) degraded forecasts for hazardous weather
events that resulted in fatalities, significant injuries,
or substantial property damage; and
(B) for the areas identified under subparagraph (A)—
(i) identify the key weather effects for which prediction would improve with improved radar detection;
(ii) identify additional sources of observations for
high impact weather that were available and operational for such areas on the day before the date of
the enactment of this Act, including dense networks
of x-band radars, Terminal Doppler Weather Radar
(commonly known as ‘‘TDWR’’), air surveillance radars
of the Federal Aviation Administration, and cooperative network observers;
(iii) assess the feasibility and advisability of efforts
to integrate and upgrade Federal radar capabilities
that are not owned or controlled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including radar
capabilities of the Federal Aviation Administration and
the Department of Defense;
Deadline.
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
131 STAT. 115
(iv) assess the feasibility and advisability of incorporating State-operated and other non-Federal radars
into the operations of the National Weather Service;
(v) identify options to improve hazardous weather
detection and forecasting coverage; and
(vi) provide the estimated cost of, and timeline
for, each of the options identified under clause (v).
(3) REPORT.—Upon the completion of the study required
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the
House of Representatives a report that includes the findings
of the Secretary with respect to the study.
(b) RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE RADAR COVERAGE.—Not
later than 90 days after the completion of the study under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the
congressional committees referred to in subsection (a)(3) recommendations for improving hazardous weather detection and forecasting coverage in the areas identified under subsection (a)(2)(A)
by integrating additional observation solutions to the extent practicable and meteorologically justified and necessary to protect public
safety.
(c) THIRD-PARTY CONSULTATION REGARDING RECOMMENDATIONS
TO IMPROVE RADAR COVERAGE.—The Secretary of Commerce may
seek reviews by, or consult with, appropriate third parties regarding
the scientific methodology relating to, and the feasibility and advisability of implementing, the recommendations submitted under subsection (b), including the extent to which warning and forecast
services of the National Weather Service would be improved by
additional observations.
TITLE V—TSUNAMI WARNING, EDUCATION, AND RESEARCH ACT OF 2017
SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Tsunami Warning, Education,
and Research Act of 2017’’.
Deadline.
Tsunami
Warning,
Education, and
Research Act
of 2017.
33 USC 3201
note.
SEC. 502. REFERENCES TO THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND EDUCATION
ACT.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this title
an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall
be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the
Tsunami Warning and Education Act enacted as title VIII of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479; 33 U.S.C. 3201
et seq.).
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SEC. 503. EXPANSION OF PURPOSES OF TSUNAMI WARNING AND EDUCATION ACT.
Section 803 (33 U.S.C. 3202) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘research,’’ after
‘‘warnings,’’;
(2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
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131 STAT. 116
PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
‘‘(2) to enhance and modernize the existing United States
Tsunami Warning System to increase the accuracy of forecasts
and warnings, to ensure full coverage of tsunami threats to
the United States with a network of detection assets, and
to reduce false alarms;’’;
(3) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
‘‘(3) to improve and develop standards and guidelines for
mapping, modeling, and assessment efforts to improve tsunami
detection, forecasting, warnings, notification, mitigation, resiliency, response, outreach, and recovery;’’;
(4) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) as paragraphs (5), (6), and (8), respectively;
(5) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
‘‘(4) to improve research efforts related to improving tsunami detection, forecasting, warnings, notification, mitigation,
resiliency, response, outreach, and recovery;’’;
(6) in paragraph (5), as redesignated—
(A) by striking ‘‘and increase’’ and inserting ‘‘, increase,
and develop uniform standards and guidelines for’’; and
(B) by inserting ‘‘, including the warning signs of locally
generated tsunami’’ after ‘‘approaching’’;
(7) in paragraph (6), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘,
including the Indian Ocean; and’’ and inserting a semicolon;
and
(8) by inserting after paragraph (6), as redesignated, the
following:
‘‘(7) to foster resilient communities in the face of tsunami
and other similar coastal hazards; and’’.
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SEC. 504. MODIFICATION OF TSUNAMI FORECASTING AND WARNING
PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 804 (33 U.S.C.
3203(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea,
and Gulf of Mexico region’’ and inserting ‘‘Atlantic Ocean region,
including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico’’.
(b) COMPONENTS.—Subsection (b) of section 804 (33 U.S.C.
3203(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘established’’ and inserting
‘‘supported or maintained’’;
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through (9) as paragraphs (8) through (10), respectively;
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (6) as paragraphs (3) through (7), respectively;
(4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
‘‘(2) to the degree practicable, maintain not less than 80
percent of the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of
Tsunamis buoy array at operational capacity to optimize data
reliability;’’.
(5) by amending paragraph (5), as redesignated by paragraph (3), to read as follows:
‘‘(5) provide tsunami forecasting capability based on models
and measurements, including tsunami inundation models and
maps for use in increasing the preparedness of communities
and safeguarding port and harbor operations, that incorporate
inputs, including—
‘‘(A) the United States and global ocean and coastal
observing system;
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131 STAT. 117
‘‘(B) the global Earth observing system;
‘‘(C) the global seismic network;
‘‘(D) the Advanced National Seismic system;
‘‘(E) tsunami model validation using historical and
paleotsunami data;
‘‘(F) digital elevation models and bathymetry; and
‘‘(G) newly developing tsunami detection methodologies
using satellites and airborne remote sensing;’’;
(6) by amending paragraph (7), as redesignated by paragraph (3), to read as follows:
‘‘(7) include a cooperative effort among the Administration,
the United States Geological Survey, and the National Science
Foundation under which the Director of the United States
Geological Survey and the Director of the National Science
Foundation shall—
‘‘(A) provide rapid and reliable seismic information to
the Administrator from international and domestic seismic
networks; and
‘‘(B) support seismic stations installed before the date
of the enactment of the Tsunami Warning, Education, and
Research Act of 2017 to supplement coverage in areas
of sparse instrumentation;’’;
(7) in paragraph (8), as redesignated by paragraph (2)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘, including graphical warning products,’’ after ‘‘warnings’’;
(B) by inserting ‘‘, territories,’’ after ‘‘States’’; and
(C) by inserting ‘‘and Wireless Emergency Alerts’’ after
‘‘Hazards Program’’; and
(8) in paragraph (9), as redesignated by paragraph (2)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘provide and’’ before ‘‘allow’’; and
(B) by inserting ‘‘and commercial and Federal undersea
communications cables’’ after ‘‘observing technologies’’.
(c) TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM.—Subsection (c) of section 804
(33 U.S.C. 3203(c)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(c) TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM.—The program under this section shall operate a tsunami warning system that—
‘‘(1) is capable of forecasting tsunami, including forecasting
tsunami arrival time and inundation estimates, anywhere in
the Pacific and Arctic Ocean regions and providing adequate
warnings;
‘‘(2) is capable of forecasting and providing adequate
warnings, including tsunami arrival time and inundation
models where applicable, in areas of the Atlantic Ocean,
including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, that are
determined—
‘‘(A) to be geologically active, or to have significant
potential for geological activity; and
‘‘(B) to pose significant risks of tsunami for States
along the coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean
Sea, or Gulf of Mexico; and
‘‘(3) supports other international tsunami forecasting and
warning efforts.’’.
(d) TSUNAMI WARNING CENTERS.—Subsection (d) of section 804
(33 U.S.C. 3203(d)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(d) TSUNAMI WARNING CENTERS.—
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131 STAT. 118
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall support or
maintain centers to support the tsunami warning system
required by subsection (c). The Centers shall include—
‘‘(A) the National Tsunami Warning Center, located
in Alaska, which is primarily responsible for Alaska and
the continental United States;
‘‘(B) the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, located in
Hawaii, which is primarily responsible for Hawaii, the
Caribbean, and other areas of the Pacific not covered by
the National Center; and
‘‘(C) any additional forecast and warning centers determined by the National Weather Service to be necessary.
‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the centers
supported or maintained under paragraph (1) shall include
the following:
‘‘(A) Continuously monitoring data from seismological,
deep ocean, coastal sea level, and tidal monitoring stations
and other data sources as may be developed and deployed.
‘‘(B) Evaluating earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic
eruptions that have the potential to generate tsunami.
‘‘(C) Evaluating deep ocean buoy data and tidal monitoring stations for indications of tsunami resulting from
earthquakes and other sources.
‘‘(D) To the extent practicable, utilizing a range of
models, including ensemble models, to predict tsunami,
including arrival times, flooding estimates, coastal and
harbor currents, and duration.
‘‘(E) Using data from the Integrated Ocean Observing
System of the Administration in coordination with regional
associations to calculate new inundation estimates and
periodically update existing inundation estimates.
‘‘(F) Disseminating forecasts and tsunami warning bulletins to Federal, State, tribal, and local government officials and the public.
‘‘(G) Coordinating with the tsunami hazard mitigation
program conducted under section 805 to ensure ongoing
sharing of information between forecasters and emergency
management officials.
‘‘(H) In coordination with the Commandant of the Coast
Guard and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, evaluating and recommending procedures for ports and harbors at risk of tsunami inundation,
including review of readiness, response, and communication
strategies, and data sharing policies, to the maximum
extent practicable.
‘‘(I) Making data gathered under this Act and postwarning analyses conducted by the National Weather
Service or other relevant Administration offices available
to the public.
‘‘(J) Integrating and modernizing the program operated
under this section with advances in tsunami science to
improve performance without compromising service.
‘‘(3) FAIL-SAFE WARNING CAPABILITY.—The tsunami warning
centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1) shall
maintain a fail-safe warning capability and perform back-up
duties for each other.
Evaluation.
Evaluation.
Coordination.
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131 STAT. 119
‘‘(4) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.—
The Administrator shall coordinate with the forecast offices
of the National Weather Service, the centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1), and such program offices of the
Administration as the Administrator or the coordinating committee, as established in section 805(d), consider appropriate
to ensure that regional and local forecast offices—
‘‘(A) have the technical knowledge and capability to
disseminate tsunami warnings for the communities they
serve;
‘‘(B) leverage connections with local emergency
management officials for optimally disseminating tsunami
warnings and forecasts; and
‘‘(C) implement mass communication tools in effect on
the day before the date of the enactment of the Tsunami
Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2017 used by
the National Weather Service on such date and newer
mass communication technologies as they are developed
as a part of the Weather-Ready Nation program of the
Administration, or otherwise, for the purpose of timely
and effective delivery of tsunami warnings.
‘‘(5) UNIFORM OPERATING PROCEDURES.—The Administrator
shall—
‘‘(A) develop uniform operational procedures for the
centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1),
including the use of software applications, checklists, decision support tools, and tsunami warning products that
have been standardized across the program supported
under this section;
‘‘(B) ensure that processes and products of the warning
system operated under subsection (c)—
‘‘(i) reflect industry best practices when practicable;
‘‘(ii) conform to the maximum extent practicable
with internationally recognized standards for information technology; and
‘‘(iii) conform to the maximum extent practicable
with other warning products and practices of the
National Weather Service;
‘‘(C) ensure that future adjustments to operational
protocols, processes, and warning products—
‘‘(i) are made consistently across the warning
system operated under subsection (c); and
‘‘(ii) are applied in a uniform manner across such
warning system;
‘‘(D) establish a systematic method for information
technology product development to improve long-term technology planning efforts; and
‘‘(E) disseminate guidelines and metrics for evaluating
and improving tsunami forecast models.
‘‘(6) AVAILABLE RESOURCES.—The Administrator, through
the National Weather Service, shall ensure that resources are
available to fulfill the obligations of this Act. This includes
ensuring supercomputing resources are available to run, as
rapidly as possible, such computer models as are needed for
purposes of the tsunami warning system operated under subsection (c).’’.
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Requirements.
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(e) TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY; MAINTENANCE AND UPGRADES.—
Subsection (e) of section 804 (33 U.S.C. 3203(e)) is amended to
read as follows:
OF
TECHNOLOGY;
MAINTENANCE
AND
‘‘(e)
TRANSFER
UPGRADES.—In carrying out this section, the Administrator shall—
‘‘(1) develop requirements for the equipment used to forecast tsunami, including—
‘‘(A) provisions for multipurpose detection platforms;
‘‘(B) reliability and performance metrics; and
‘‘(C) to the maximum extent practicable, requirements
for the integration of equipment with other United States
and global ocean and coastal observation systems, the
global Earth observing system of systems, the global
seismic networks, and the Advanced National Seismic
System;
‘‘(2) develop and execute a plan for the transfer of technology from ongoing research conducted as part of the program
supported or maintained under section 6 into the program
under this section; and
‘‘(3) ensure that the Administration’s operational tsunami
detection equipment is properly maintained.’’.
(f) FEDERAL COOPERATION.—Subsection (f) of section 804 (33
U.S.C. 3203(f)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(f) FEDERAL COOPERATION.—When deploying and maintaining
tsunami detection technologies under the program under this section, the Administrator shall—
‘‘(1) identify which assets of other Federal agencies are
necessary to support such program; and
‘‘(2) work with each agency identified under paragraph
(1)—
‘‘(A) to acquire the agency’s assistance; and
‘‘(B) to prioritize the necessary assets in support of
the tsunami forecast and warning program.’’.
(g) UNNECESSARY PROVISIONS.—Section 804 (33 U.S.C. 3203)
is further amended—
(1) by striking subsection (g);
(2) by striking subsections (i) through (k); and
(3) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (g).
(h) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATIONS.—Subsection (g) of section
804 (33 U.S.C. 3203(g)), as redesignated by subsection (g)(3), is
amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and moving such subparagraphs 2 ems to the right;
(2) in the matter before subparagraph (A), as redesignated
by paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ and inserting
the following:
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator’’;
(3) in paragraph (1), as redesignated by paragraph (3)—
(A) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated by paragraph
(2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (B), as redesignated by paragraph
(2), by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘;
and’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(C) the occurrence of a significant tsunami warning.’’;
and
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131 STAT. 121
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—In a case in which notice is submitted
under paragraph (1) within 30 days of a significant tsunami
warning described in subparagraph (C) of such paragraph, such
notice shall include, as appropriate, brief information and analysis of—
‘‘(A) the accuracy of the tsunami model used;
‘‘(B) the specific deep ocean or other monitoring equipment that detected the incident, as well as the deep ocean
or other monitoring equipment that did not detect the
incident due to malfunction or other reasons;
‘‘(C) the effectiveness of the warning communication,
including the dissemination of warnings with State, territory, local, and tribal partners in the affected area under
the jurisdiction of the National Weather Service; and
‘‘(D) such other findings as the Administrator considers
appropriate.’’.
Deadline.
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SEC. 505. MODIFICATION OF NATIONAL TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION
PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 805(a) (33 U.S.C. 3204(a)) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Administrator, in coordination
with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency and the heads of such other agencies as the Administrator
considers relevant, shall conduct a community-based tsunami
hazard mitigation program to improve tsunami preparedness and
resiliency of at-risk areas in the United States and the territories
of the United States.’’.
(b) NATIONAL TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM.—Section
805 (33 U.S.C. 3204) is amended by striking subsections (c) and
(d) and inserting the following:
‘‘(c) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The Program conducted under
subsection (a) shall include the following:
‘‘(1) Technical and financial assistance to coastal States,
territories, tribes, and local governments to develop and implement activities under this section.
‘‘(2) Integration of tsunami preparedness and mitigation
programs into ongoing State-based hazard warning, resilience
planning, and risk management activities, including predisaster
planning, emergency response, evacuation planning, disaster
recovery, hazard mitigation, and community development and
redevelopment planning programs in affected areas.
‘‘(3) Coordination with other Federal preparedness and
mitigation programs to leverage Federal investment, avoid
duplication, and maximize effort.
‘‘(4) Activities to promote the adoption of tsunami resilience,
preparedness, warning, and mitigation measures by Federal,
State, territorial, tribal, and local governments and nongovernmental entities, including educational and risk communication
programs to discourage development in high-risk areas.
‘‘(5) Activities to support the development of regional tsunami hazard and risk assessments. Such regional risk assessments may include the following:
‘‘(A) The sources, sizes, and other relevant historical
data of tsunami in the region, including paleotsunami data.
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Coordination.
Coordination.
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Evaluation.
Recommendation.
Procedures.
Review.
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‘‘(B) Inundation models and maps of critical infrastructure and socioeconomic vulnerability in areas subject to
tsunami inundation.
‘‘(C) Maps of evacuation areas and evacuation routes,
including, when appropriate, traffic studies that evaluate
the viability of evacuation routes.
‘‘(D) Evaluations of the size of populations that will
require evacuation, including populations with special
evacuation needs.
‘‘(E) Evaluations and technical assistance for vertical
evacuation structure planning for communities where
models indicate limited or no ability for timely evacuation,
especially in areas at risk of near shore generated tsunami.
‘‘(F) Evaluation of at-risk ports and harbors.
‘‘(G) Evaluation of the effect of tsunami currents on
the foundations of closely-spaced, coastal high-rise structures.
‘‘(6) Activities to promote preparedness in at-risk ports
and harbors, including the following:
‘‘(A) Evaluation and recommendation of procedures for
ports and harbors in the event of a distant or near-field
tsunami.
‘‘(B) A review of readiness, response, and communication strategies to ensure coordination and data sharing
with the Coast Guard.
‘‘(7) Activities to support the development of communitybased outreach and education programs to ensure community
readiness and resilience, including the following:
‘‘(A) The development, implementation, and assessment
of technical training and public education programs,
including education programs that address unique
characteristics of distant and near-field tsunami.
‘‘(B) The development of decision support tools.
‘‘(C) The incorporation of social science research into
community readiness and resilience efforts.
‘‘(D) The development of evidence-based education
guidelines.
‘‘(8) Dissemination of guidelines and standards for community planning, education, and training products, programs, and
tools, including—
‘‘(A) standards for—
‘‘(i) mapping products;
‘‘(ii) inundation models; and
‘‘(iii) effective emergency exercises; and
‘‘(B) recommended guidance for at-risk port and harbor
tsunami warning, evacuation, and response procedures in
coordination with the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In addition to activities conducted under subsection (c), the program conducted under subsection (a) may include the following:
‘‘(1) Multidisciplinary vulnerability assessment research,
education, and training to help integrate risk management
and resilience objectives with community development planning
and policies.
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131 STAT. 123
‘‘(2) Risk management training for local officials and
community organizations to enhance understanding and
preparedness.
‘‘(3) In coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, interagency, Federal, State, tribal, and territorial
intergovernmental tsunami response exercise planning and
implementation in high risk areas.
‘‘(4) Development of practical applications for existing or
emerging technologies, such as modeling, remote sensing,
geospatial technology, engineering, and observing systems,
including the integration of tsunami sensors into Federal and
commercial submarine telecommunication cables if practicable.
‘‘(5) Risk management, risk assessment, and resilience data
and information services, including—
‘‘(A) access to data and products derived from observing
and detection systems; and
‘‘(B) development and maintenance of new integrated
data products to support risk management, risk assessment, and resilience programs.
‘‘(6) Risk notification systems that coordinate with and
build upon existing systems and actively engage decisionmakers, State, local, tribal, and territorial governments and
agencies, business communities, nongovernmental organizations, and the media.
‘‘(e) NO PREEMPTION WITH RESPECT TO DESIGNATION OF ATRISK AREAS.—The establishment of national standards for inundation models under this section shall not prevent States, territories,
tribes, and local governments from designating additional areas
as being at risk based on knowledge of local conditions.
‘‘(f) NO NEW REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this Act
may be construed as establishing new regulatory authority for
any Federal agency.’’.
(c) REPORT ON ACCREDITATION OF TSUNAMIREADY PROGRAM.—
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration shall submit to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives
a report on which authorities and activities would be needed to
have the TsunamiReady program of the National Weather Service
accredited by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program.
Coordination.
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SEC. 506. MODIFICATION OF TSUNAMI RESEARCH PROGRAM.
Section 806 (33 U.S.C. 3205) is amended—
(1) in the matter before paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The
Administrator shall’’ and all that follows through ‘‘establish
or maintain’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, in consultation
with such other Federal agencies, State, tribal, and territorial
governments, and academic institutions as the Administrator considers appropriate, the coordinating committee under section 805(d),
and the panel under section 808(a), support or maintain’’;
(2) in subsection (a), as designated by paragraph (1), by
striking ‘‘and assessment for tsunami tracking and numerical
forecast modeling. Such research program shall—’’ and
inserting the following: ‘‘assessment for tsunami tracking and
numerical forecast modeling, and standards development.
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The research program supported or
maintained under subsection (a) shall—’’; and
(3) in subsection (b), as designated by paragraph (2)—
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
‘‘(1) consider other appropriate and cost effective solutions
to mitigate the impact of tsunami, including the improvement
of near-field and distant tsunami detection and forecasting
capabilities, which may include use of a new generation of
the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis array,
integration of tsunami sensors into commercial and Federal
telecommunications cables, and other real-time tsunami monitoring systems and supercomputer capacity of the Administration to develop a rapid tsunami forecast for all United States
coastlines;’’;
(B) in paragraph (3)—
(i) by striking ‘‘include’’ and inserting ‘‘conduct’’;
and
(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;
(C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5);
(D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
‘‘(4) develop the technical basis for validation of tsunami
maps, numerical tsunami models, digital elevation models, and
forecasts; and’’; and
(E) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by subparagraph
(C), by striking ‘‘to the scientific community’’ and inserting
‘‘to the public and the scientific community’’.
SEC. 507. GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION NETWORK.
Coordination.
Section 807 (33 U.S.C. 3206) is amended—
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
‘‘(a) SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM.—The Administrator shall, in coordination
with the Secretary of State and in consultation with such other
agencies as the Administrator considers relevant, provide technical
assistance, operational support, and training to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, the World Meteorological Organization of the United Nations, and such other international entities as the Administrator considers appropriate, as
part of the international efforts to develop a fully functional global
tsunami forecast and warning system comprised of regional tsunami
warning networks.’’;
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘shall’’ each place it
appears and inserting ‘‘may’’; and
(3) in subsection (c)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘establishing’’ and
inserting ‘‘supporting’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2)—
(i) by striking ‘‘establish’’ and inserting ‘‘support’’;
and
(ii) by striking ‘‘establishing’’ and inserting ‘‘supporting’’.
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SEC. 508. TSUNAMI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY PANEL.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Act is further amended—
(1) by redesignating section 808 (33 U.S.C. 3207) as section
809; and
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(2) by inserting after section 807 (33 U.S.C. 3206) the
following:
‘‘SEC. 808. TSUNAMI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY PANEL.
‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.—The Administrator shall designate an
existing working group within the Science Advisory Board of the
Administration to serve as the Tsunami Science and Technology
Advisory Panel to provide advice to the Administrator on matters
regarding tsunami science, technology, and regional preparedness.
‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—
‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—The Panel shall be composed of no
fewer than 7 members selected by the Administrator from
among individuals from academia or State agencies who have
academic or practical expertise in physical sciences, social
sciences, information technology, coastal resilience, emergency
management, or such other disciplines as the Administrator
considers appropriate.
‘‘(2) FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT.—No member of the Panel may
be a Federal employee.
‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Not less frequently than once every
4 years, the Panel shall—
‘‘(1) review the activities of the Administration, and other
Federal activities as appropriate, relating to tsunami research,
detection, forecasting, warning, mitigation, resiliency, and
preparation; and
‘‘(2) submit to the Administrator and such others as the
Administrator considers appropriate—
‘‘(A) the findings of the working group with respect
to the most recent review conducted under paragraph (1);
and
‘‘(B) such recommendations for legislative or administrative action as the working group considers appropriate
to improve Federal tsunami research, detection, forecasting,
warning, mitigation, resiliency, and preparation.
‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not less frequently than once
every 4 years, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives a report on the findings and recommendations
received by the Administrator under subsection (c)(2).’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
in section 1(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479;
120 Stat. 3575) is amended by striking the item relating to section
808 and inserting the following:
33 USC 3206a.
Review.
Recommendations.
Recommendations.
‘‘Sec. 808. Tsunami Science and Technology Advisory Panel.
‘‘Sec. 809. Authorization of appropriations.’’.
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SEC. 509. REPORTS.
(a) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF TSUNAMI WARNING AND
EDUCATION ACT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of the Tsunami Warning
and Education Act enacted as title VIII of the Magnuson-
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Coordination.
Evaluation.
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Evaluation.
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479; 33 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.),
as amended by this Act.
(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) A detailed description of the progress made in
implementing sections 804(d)(6), 805(b), and 806(b)(4) of
the Tsunami Warning and Education Act the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479; 33 U.S.C. 3201
et seq.).
(B) A description of the ways that tsunami warnings
and warning products issued by the Tsunami Forecasting
and Warning Program established under section 804 of
the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3203),
as amended by this Act, may be standardized and streamlined with warnings and warning products for hurricanes,
coastal storms, and other coastal flooding events.
(b) REPORT ON NATIONAL EFFORTS THAT SUPPORT RAPID
RESPONSE FOLLOWING NEAR-SHORE TSUNAMI EVENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly, in coordination with
the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Chief
of the National Guard Bureau, and the heads of such other
Federal agencies as the Administrator considers appropriate,
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
on the national efforts in effect on the day before the date
of the enactment of this Act that support and facilitate rapid
emergency response following a domestic near-shore tsunami
event to better understand domestic effects of earthquake
derived tsunami on people, infrastructure, and communities
in the United States.
(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) A description of scientific or other measurements
collected on the day before the date of the enactment of
this Act to quickly identify and quantify lost or degraded
infrastructure or terrestrial formations.
(B) A description of scientific or other measurements
that would be necessary to collect to quickly identify and
quantify lost or degraded infrastructure or terrestrial
formations.
(C) Identification and evaluation of Federal, State,
local, tribal, territorial, and military first responder and
search and rescue operation centers, bases, and other facilities as well as other critical response assets and infrastructure, including search and rescue aircraft, located within
near-shore and distant tsunami inundation areas on the
day before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(D) An evaluation of near-shore tsunami response plans
in areas described in subparagraph (C) in effect on the
day before the date of the enactment of this Act, and
how those response plans would be affected by the loss
of search and rescue and first responder infrastructure
described in such subparagraph.
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(E) A description of redevelopment plans and reports
in effect on the day before the date of the enactment
of this Act for communities in areas that are at highrisk for near-shore tsunami, as well identification of States
or communities that do not have redevelopment plans.
(F) Recommendations to enhance near-shore tsunami
preparedness and response plans, including recommended
responder exercises, predisaster planning, and mitigation
needs.
(G) Such other data and analysis information as the
Administrator and the Secretary of Homeland Security consider appropriate.
(3) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ means—
(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation and the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
the Committee on Homeland Security, and the Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.
Recommendations.
Analysis.
Definition.
SEC. 510. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 809 of the Act, as redesignated by section l08(a)(1)
of this Act, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;
(2) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(6) $25,800,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2021,
of which—
‘‘(A) not less than 27 percent of the amount appropriated for each fiscal year shall be for activities conducted
at the State level under the tsunami hazard mitigation
program under section 805; and
‘‘(B) not less than 8 percent of the amount appropriated
shall be for the tsunami research program under section
806.’’.
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SEC. 511. OUTREACH RESPONSIBILITIES.
The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, in coordination with State and local emergency
managers, shall develop and carry out formal outreach activities
to improve tsunami education and awareness and foster the development of resilient communities. Outreach activities may include—
(1) the development of outreach plans to ensure the close
integration of tsunami warning centers supported or maintained under section 804(d) of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3203(d)), as amended by this Act, with
local Weather Forecast Offices of the National Weather Service
and emergency managers;
(2) working with appropriate local Weather Forecast Offices
to ensure they have the technical knowledge and capability
to disseminate tsunami warnings to the communities they
serve; and
(3) evaluating the effectiveness of warnings and of coordination with local Weather Forecast Offices after significant tsunami events.
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Coordination.
33 USC 3208.
Evaluation.
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PUBLIC LAW 115–25—APR. 18, 2017
SEC. 512. REPEAL OF DUPLICATE PROVISIONS OF LAW.
33 USC 3201 and
note, 3202–3207.
33 USC 3201
note.
(a) REPEAL.—The Tsunami Warning and Education Act enacted
by Public Law 109–424 (120 Stat. 2902) is repealed.
(b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section may be construed
to repeal, or affect in any way, the Tsunami Warning and Education
Act enacted as title VIII of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law
109–479; 33 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.).
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Approved April 18, 2017.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 353:
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 163 (2017):
Jan. 9, considered and passed House.
Mar. 29, considered and passed Senate, amended.
Apr. 4, House concurred in Senate amendment.
Æ
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PUBL025
| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | PUBL025.PS |
| File Modified | 2017-05-28 |
| File Created | 2017-05-20 |