S. 558 — what changed

In general— The Administrator shall establish a system, to be known as the “National Integrated Flood Information System”, to better inform and provide for more timely decision making to reduce flood-related effects and costs.

System functions— The Administrator, through the National Integrated Flood Information System, shall—

provide an effective flood early warning system that—

collects and integrates information on the key indicators of floods and flood impacts, including streamflow, reservoir release and diversion, precipitation, soil moisture, snow water equivalent, land cover, and evaporative demand;

makes usable, reliable, and timely forecasts of floods;

assesses the severity of flood conditions and effects;

provide timely data, information, and products that reflect differences in flood conditions among localities, regions, watersheds, and States;

coordinate and integrate, through interagency agreements as practicable, Federal research and monitoring in support of the flood early warning information system provided under paragraph (1);

use existing forecasting and assessment programs and partnerships;

make improvements in seasonal precipitation and temperature, subseasonal precipitation and temperature, and flood water prediction; and

continue ongoing research and monitoring activities relating to floods, including research activities relating to—

the prediction, length, severity, and impacts of floods and improvement of the accuracy, timing, and specificity of flash flood warnings;

the role of extreme weather events and climate variability in floods; and

how water travels over and through surfaces.

Partnerships— The Administrator, through the National Integrated Flood Information System, may—

facilitate the development of 1 or more academic cooperative partnerships to assist in carrying out the functions of the National Integrated Flood Information System described in subsection (b);

use and support monitoring by citizen scientists, including by developing best practices to facilitate maximum data integration, as the Administrator considers appropriate;

engage with, and leverage the resources of, entities within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act, such as the National Weather Service with respect to forecast and warning functions, the National Integrated Drought Information System, the Regional Climate Center, and the National Mesonet Program, to improve coordination of water monitoring, forecasting, and management; and

engage with and support water monitoring by the United States Geological Survey—

to improve the availability and continuity of streamflow data at critical locations through the deployment of rapid deployment gages and the flood-hardening of at-risk streamflow gauges; and

to increase storm surge monitoring data through the deployment of additional storm surge sensors.

Consultation— In developing and maintaining the National Integrated Flood Information System, the Administrator shall consult with relevant Federal, State, local, and Tribal government agencies, research institutions, and the private sector.

Cooperation from other Federal agencies— Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appropriate with the Administrator in carrying out this section.

Definitions— In this section:

Freely Associated States— The term Freely Associated States means the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, which have each entered into a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

United States— The term United States means the 50 States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Freely Associated States.

In general— The Administrator shall establish a program, to be known as the “NOAA Precipitation Frequency Atlas of the United States”, to compile, estimate, analyze, and communicate the frequency of precipitation in the United States.

Functions— The NOAA Precipitation Frequency Atlas of the United States—

shall better inform the public and provide information on—

temporal and spatial distribution of heavy precipitation;

analyses of seasonality in precipitation; and

trends in annual maximum series data; and

may serve as the official source of the Federal Government on estimates of precipitation frequency and associated information with respect to the United States.

Coverage— The NOAA Precipitation Frequency Atlas of the United States shall include such estimates of the frequency of precipitation in the United States as the Administrator determines appropriate.

Frequency— Such estimates—

shall be conducted not less frequently than once every 10 years; and

may be conducted more frequently if determined appropriate by the Administrator.

Publication— Such estimates and methodologies used to conduct such estimates shall be—

subject to an appropriate, scientific process, as determined by the Administrator; and

published on a publicly accessible website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Partnerships— The Administrator may partner with other Federal agencies, members of the private sector, academic cooperative partnerships, or nongovernment associations to assist in carrying out the functions described in subsection (c).

Consultation— In carrying out this section, the Administrator may consult with relevant Federal, State, local, Tribal, and Territorial government agencies, research institutions, and the private sector, as the Administrator determines necessary.

Coordination— In carrying out this section, the Administrator may coordinate with other Federal agencies.

Definitions— In this section:

Assistant Administrator— The term Assistant Administrator means the Assistant Administrator for Weather Services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Decision support services— The term decision support services means information, including data and refined products, that supports water resources-related decision-making processes.

Institution of higher education— The term institution of higher education has the meaning given that term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).

NOAA line offices— The term NOAA line offices means the following offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

The National Ocean Service.

The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.

The National Marine Fisheries Service.

The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

Establishment— The Administrator shall establish a hydrologic research fellowship program (in this section referred to as the “program”) for qualified individuals.

Qualified individual— For purposes of this section, a qualified individual is an individual who is—

a citizen of the United States; and

enrolled in a research-based graduate program, at an institution of higher education, in a field that advances the research priorities developed by the Assistant Administrator under paragraph (7), such as—

hydrology;

earth sciences;

atmospheric sciences;

computer sciences;

engineering;

environmental sciences;

geosciences;

urban planning; or

related social sciences.

Award guidelines— Fellowships under the program shall be awarded pursuant to guidelines established by the Assistant Administrator.

Selection preference— In selecting qualified individuals for participation in the program, the Assistant Administrator shall give preference to applicants from historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions.

Placement— The program shall support the placement of qualified individuals in positions within the executive branch of the Federal Government where such individuals can address and advance the research priorities developed by the Assistant Administrator under paragraph (7).

Fellowship term— A fellowship under the program shall be for a period of up to 2 years.

Fellowship research priorities— The Assistant Administrator, in consultation with representatives from the NOAA line offices, the United States Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Army Corps of Engineers, as appropriate, shall develop and publish priorities for the conduct of research by fellows, which may include the following:

Advance the collaborative development of a flexible community-based water resources modeling system.

Apply artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to advance existing hydrologic modeling capabilities.

Support the evolution and integration of hydrologic modeling within an Earth Systems Modeling Framework.

Improve visualizations of hydrologic model outputs.

Advance the state of coupled freshwater and salt water modeling and forecasting capabilities.

Advance understanding and process representation of water quality parameters.

Advance the assimilation of in-situ and remotely sensed observations and data.

Support the integration of social science to advance decision support services.

Develop methods to study groundwater sustainability and estimate the efficiency of recharge management.

earned a degree from a program described in subsection (b)(2)(B);

successfully fulfilled the requirements of the fellowship within the executive branch of the Federal Government; and

meets qualification standards established by the Office of Personnel Management.

Exercise of authority— The direct hire authority provided by this subsection shall be exercised with respect to an individual described in paragraph (1) not later than 2 years after the date on which the individual completed the fellowship under the program.

Definitions— In this section:

Extreme weather— The term extreme weather includes observed or anticipated severe and unseasonable atmospheric conditions, including drought, heavy precipitation, hurricanes, tornadoes and other windstorms (including derechos), large hail, extreme heat, extreme cold, flooding, sustained temperatures or precipitation that deviate substantially from historical averages, and any other weather event that the Administrator determines qualifies as extreme weather.

Long-term— The term long-term shall have such meaning as the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in consultation with the Administrator, considers appropriate for purposes of this section.

Other environmental trends— The term other environmental trends means wildfires, coastal flooding, inland flooding, land subsidence, rising sea levels, and any other challenges relating to changes in environmental systems over time that the Administrator determines qualify as environmental challenges other than extreme weather.