H.R. 1561 — what changed

Goal— The goal of such program shall be to develop and extend accurate hurricane forecasts and warnings in order to reduce loss of life, injury, and damage to the economy.

Program plan— Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Administrator for OAR, in consultation with the Assistant Administrator for NWS, 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.

Budget for plan— Following completion of the plan, the Assistant Administrator for OAR, in consultation with the Assistant Administrator for NWS, shall transmit annually to Congress a proposed budget corresponding to the activities identified in the plan.

Establishment— The NOAA 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”) to—

provide advice for prioritizing weather research initiatives at NOAA to produce real improvement in weather forecasting;

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 NWS to improve forecasting skill;

address such other matters as the Science Advisory Board requests of the Working Group.

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.

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.

Annual report— The Working Group shall transmit annually to the Science Advisory Board for submission to the Under Secretary a report on progress made by NOAA 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 transmit it to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.

Establishment— The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall establish an Inter-agency Committee for Advancing Weather Services to improve coordination of relevant weather research and forecast innovation activities across the Federal Government. The Interagency Committee shall—

include participation by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, NOAA and its constituent elements, the National Science Foundation, and such other agencies involved in weather forecasting research as the President determines are appropriate;

identify and prioritize top forecast needs and coordinate those needs against budget requests and program initiatives across participating offices and agencies; and

share information regarding operational needs and forecasting improvements across relevant agencies.

Further coordination— The Director shall take such other steps as are necessary to coordinate the activities of the Federal Government with those of the American weather industry, State governments, emergency managers, and academic researchers.

Fiscal year 2015— There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2015—

$90,800,000 to OAR to carry out this Act, of which—

$70,000,000 is authorized for weather laboratories and cooperative institutes; and

$20,800,000 is authorized for weather and air chemistry research programs; and

out of funds made available for research and development at NOAA, an additional amount of $16,000,000 for OAR to carry out the joint technology transfer initiative described in section 3(b)(4).

$100,000,000 to carry out this Act, of which—

$80,000,000 is authorized for weather laboratories and cooperative institutes; and

$20,000,000 is authorized for weather and air chemistry research programs; and

an additional amount of $20,000,000 for the joint technology transfer initiative described in section 3(b)(4).

Limitation— No additional funds are authorized to carry out this Act, and the amendments made by this Act.