H.R. 6093 — what changed

Section 104 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514) is amended to read as follows:

“104. Hurricane forecast improvement program

“(a) In general—The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the United States weather industry and academic partners, shall maintain a program to improve hurricane forecasting, predictions, and warnings.

“(b) Goal—The goal of the program under subsection (a) shall be to develop and extend accurate hurricane forecasts, predictions, and warnings in order to reduce the loss of life or property related to hurricanes, with a focus on the following:

changed “(1) Improving the understanding and prediction of rapid intensification intensity change and projected path of hurricanes, including probabilistic methods for hurricane hazard mapping.

changed “(2) Improving the forecast and impact-based communication of inland flooding, compound flooding, and storm surges from hurricanes, in coordination with the program established under section 205.205 of the Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2023.

“(3) Incorporating social, behavioral, risk, communication, and economic sciences to clearly inform response to prevent the loss of life or property, such as evacuation or shelter in place.

“(4) Evaluating and incorporating, as appropriate, innovative observations, such as novel sensor technologies, observation tools or networks, crewed or uncrewed systems, and hosted instruments on commercial aircrafts, vessels, and satellites.

“(c) Activities—The Under Secretary shall award grants for research, including relating to the following:

“(1) Implementing key strategies and following priorities and objectives outlined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2019 report “Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program”.

“(2) In coordination with the National Science and Technology Council’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Subcommittee and other relevant interagency committees, improving the social, behavioral, risk, communications, and economic sciences related to vulnerabilities, risk communication, and delivery of information critical for reducing the loss of life or property related to hurricanes.

“(3) Improving the physical sciences, operational modeling, and tools related to hurricane formation, the impacts of wind and water-based hurricane hazards on the built and natural environment, and the interaction of hurricanes and tornadoes.

“(d) Warnings—In carrying out subsection (a), the Under Secretary, in coordination with the program established under section 406, shall—

“(1) conduct and transition to operations the research necessary to develop and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guidance technology relating to hurricanes and related weather phenomena;

“(2) incorporate into hurricane modeling and forecasting, as appropriate, social, behavioral, risk, communication, and economic sciences research; and

“(3) expand computational resources to support and improve higher-resolution operational modeling of hurricanes and related weather phenomena.

“(e) Annual budget—The Under Secretary shall, not less frequently than annually, submit to Congress a proposed budget corresponding with carrying out this section.”

removed The Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2017 is amended—

added “(9) to ensure data and metadata are managed, archived, and made available for operations, research, education, and mitigation activities in accordance with section 305 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017.”

added “(D) the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) network;”

added “(6) ensure data quality and management systems, support data and metadata access and archiving, and support the requirements of the program pursuant to the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–435) and chapter 31 of title 44, United States Code;”

added “(C) provide reliable and real-time support for the GNSS network data streams from NSF, NASA, and USGS maintained networks, and supplement instrumentation coverage for rapid earthquake assessment;

added “(D) assess the data and information relating to warning systems of collaborating agencies for potential utilization in NOAA’s warning system, taking into consideration advancement in research and technology;

added “(E) incorporate, as practicable, tsunami notifications and warnings in the USGS Earthquake Early Warning System; and

added “(F) incorporate, as practicable, preliminary analysis or data from the National Earthquake Information Center regarding the source and magnitude of an offshore earthquake within five minutes of detection;”

added “(11) update tsunami inundation maps, models, or other geographic products, in order to best support, as appropriate, relevant agencies with tsunami mitigation and recovery activities.”

added “(d) Tsunami warning alert level evaluation—The Administrator, in collaboration with social scientists, emergency personnel, and high-risk communities, shall—

added “(1) evaluate tsunami alert levels terminology, timing, and effectiveness;

added “(2) determine if such alerts produce the desired response and understanding from possible tsunami-prone communities; and

added “(3) if necessary, update the alert level system for increased effectiveness.”

added “(I) Providing a Tsunami Warning Coordinator to coordinate with partners and stakeholders products and services of the centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1).”

added “(3) Fail-safe warning capability—The Administrator shall support and maintain fail-safe warning capability for the tsunami warning centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1), and such centers shall conduct at least one service back up drill biannually.”

added “(D) conduct education and outreach efforts to help prepare coastal communities for tsunami hazards.”

“(F) align the analytic techniques and methodologies of the existing tsunami warning centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1) to ensure seamless continuity of operations and mitigate risk of operational failure by prioritizing investments that include—

“(i) replacing end of life equipment;

“(ii) ensuring product consistency;

“(iii) enabling consistent operational process for backup capabilities;

“(iv) mitigating existing operational security risks; and

“(v) meeting information security requirements specified in chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code.”

added “(7) Reporting—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this paragraph and annually thereafter until such time as all relevant requirements have been satisfied, the Administrator shall provide to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate an update briefing on the progress of the following:

added “(A) Standardizing products and procedures under paragraph (5), including tsunami assessments, forecast guidance, and related products.

added “(B) Migrating the message generation systems of the centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1) to the Advanced Weather Information Processing Systems, or successor systems.

added “(C) The structural reorganization effort, if necessary, to align such centers’ organizational charts.

added “(D) The expected timeline for the full completion of standardizing such centers’ products and procedures.”

added “(D) ensure research is coordinated with tsunami warning operations;”

added “(B) Coastal digital elevation models (DEMs) to support the development of inundation maps.”

added “(I) Evaluation of the variation of inundation impact resulting from tsunami-driven sediment transport.

added “(J) Evaluation of tsunami debris impact on critical infrastructure (as such term is defined in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e))) and lifelines.

added “(K) High-resolution and high-quality digital elevation models needed for at-risk coastlines, ports, and harbors, particularly for regions not covered by existing inundation maps.”

added “(5) develop decision support tools;

added “(6) leverage and prioritize research opportunities; and”

added “(c) Research and development plan—Not later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this subsection and not less frequently than every 36 months thereafter, the Administrator, in consultation with the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services, shall develop a research and development and research to operations plan to improve tsunami detection and forecasting capabilities that—

added “(1) identifies and prioritizes research and development priorities to satisfy section 804;

added “(2) identifies key research needs for better detecting tsunamis that may occur in open ocean and along the coastlines of the United States and its territories, improve forecasting of tsunamis that are not seismically driven, and other opportunities determined appropriate;

added “(3) develops plans for transitioning research to operations; and

added “(4) identifies collaboration opportunities that may further and align tsunami research, development, warnings, and operations between the centers supported or maintained under section 804, the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Tsunami Research, the National Science Foundation, the United States Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, institutions of higher education, private entities, stakeholders, and others determined appropriate.”

“809. Authorization of appropriations

added “There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this title $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, of which—

added “(1) not less than 27 percent of the amount appropriated for each fiscal year shall be for activities conducted at the State level under the national tsunami hazard mitigation program under section 805; and

added “(2) not less than 8 percent of the amount appropriated shall be for the tsunami research program under section 806.”

removed “From funds authorized to be appropriated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.”

Section 108 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8518) is amended by striking subsection (a)(3)(C) and all that follows through subsection (b)(7) and inserting the following new subsections:

“(b) Computing research initiative

“(1) In general—The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Energy, shall carry out an initiative, which may leverage Department of Energy high performance computers, cloud computing, or expertise, to run advanced coupled models in order to conduct proof of concept scenarios in comparison with current issued forecasts and models. The Under Secretary and Secretary of Energy shall carry out the initiative through a competitive, merit-reviewed process, and consider applications from Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), nonprofit institutions, and other appropriate entities (or a consortia thereof).

“(2) Components—In carrying out the initiative under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall prevent duplication and coordinate research efforts in artificial intelligence, high performance computing, cloud computing, quantum computing, modeling and simulation, machine learning, data assimilation, large scale data analytics, and predictive analysis across the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and may—

changed “(A) conduct comparative research between to compare National Weather Service issued forecasts forecast and operational models model outputs to predictions and models model outputs developed to run on high performance computers or with cloud computing resources;through such initiative;

changed “(B) share relevant modeling system and applications innovations developed through such initiative, including Unified Forecast System-based applications, through community-based activities;activities, in accordance with section 10601 of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (15 U.S.C. 8512a);

“(C) leverage coordinating activities managed by the National Science and Technology Council, the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services, and other relevant interagency entities;

“(D) provide sufficient capacity for long-term archive and access of model output to support research and long-term study;

“(E) determine computing decisions based on an agile requirements framework; and

“(F) support the training, recruitment, and retention of the next generation weather, water, and climate computing workforce through incentives and pathways for career development and employment opportunities.

“(3) Research security—The activities authorized under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as division B of Public Law 117–167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.).

“(4) Termination—The authority under this subsection shall terminate five years after the date of the enactment of this subsection.

“(c) Artificial intelligence investments—The Under Secretary shall leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to facilitate, optimize, and further leverage advanced computing to accomplish critical missions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by enhancing existing and forthcoming high-performance and cloud computing infrastructure or systems.

changed “(d) Centers of excellence—The Under Secretary may establish expand, and where applicable establish, centers of excellence to aid the adoption of next-generation artificial intelligence and machine learning enabled advanced computing capabilities. Each such center may carry out activities that include the following:

“(1) Leveraging robust public-private partnership models to provide access to training, experience, and long-term development of workforce and infrastructure.

“(2) Developing and optimizing tools, libraries, algorithms, data structures, and other supporting software necessary for specific applications on high performance computing systems.

“(3) Applying modern artificial intelligence, deep machine-learning, and advanced data analysis technologies to address current and future mission challenges.

“(4) To the maximum extent practicable, explore quantum computing and related application partnerships with public, private, and academic entities to improve the accuracy and resolution of weather predictions.

changed “(e) Multi-Year contracts—The Under Secretary may enter into multi-year contracts in accordance with section 3903 of title 41, United States Code, and shall ensure compliance with all clauses provided in such section to support operational research operations, research, and development related to high performance and cloud computing infrastructure or systems.systems with an unfunded contingent liability in the event of cancellation.

“(f) Report—Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report evaluating the following:

“(1) The effectiveness of the initiative required under subsection (b), including applied research discoveries and advanced modeling improvements achieved.

“(2) A best estimate of the overall value of high-resolution probabilistic forecast guidance for hazardous weather or water events (as such term is defined in section 406) using a next-generation weather forecast and warning framework.

“(3) The needs for cloud computing, quantum computing, or high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination collaboration between the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“(4) A timeline and guidance for implementation of the following:

“(A) High-resolution numerical weather prediction models.

“(B) Methods for meeting the cloud computing, quantum computing, or high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination needs identified under paragraph (3).”

Subsection (b) of section 12304 of the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3603) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(5) Ships of opportunity pilot program

changed “(A) In general—The Administrator, in coordination with the heads of relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall, subject to relevant regulations and certifications, establish a maintain pilot program programs or projects to contract with research or commercial ship operators for data collection and assess the potential costs, benefits, and viability of a global network of ocean and atmospheric observing instruments operating on research or commercial ocean vessels, including in the Arctic, in order to supplement the Integrated Coastal Coastal, Great Lakes, and Ocean Observation System in improving understanding of coastal and ocean systems and their relationships to human activities.

“(B) Standards and specifications—The Administrator shall ensure that data acquired through the pilot program established pursuant to subparagraph (A) meets the most recent standards and specifications required for observation services and data as published pursuant to subsection (c) of section 302 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017.

“(C) Report—Not later than five years after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall submit to Congress a report on the requirements for a global network of ocean and atmospheric instruments operating on research or commercial ocean vessels for measurement and data transmission.

“(D) Sunset—This paragraph shall terminate on the earlier of—

“(i) September 30, 2029; or

“(ii) one year after the date on which the report required under subparagraph (B) is submitted by the Administrator.”

added “105. Weather research and development planning

added “Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this section and not less frequently than semiannually 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 maintain United States leadership in numerical weather prediction and forecasting that—

added “(1) describes the forecasting skill and technology goals, objectives, expected budget, and progress of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in carrying out the program conducted under section 102;

added “(2) identifies and prioritizes specific research and development activities, data collection and analysis, predictive modeling, demonstration of potential operational forecast application, education, training, and performance metrics, weighted to meet the operational weather and flood-event mission of the National Weather Service to achieve a weather-ready Nation;

added “(3) describes how the program conducted under section 102 will collaborate with Federal agencies and departments, international partners, and stakeholders, including the United States weather industry and academic partners, and the role of each in advancing weather forecasting and communication;

added “(4) identifies, through consultation with the National Science Foundation, the United States weather industry, and academic partners, research necessary to advance the scientific understanding of weather processes and provide information to improve weather warning and forecast systems in the United States most effectively; and

added “(5) describes how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is advancing community weather modeling.”

added “(d) Annual briefing—Not less frequently than once each year, the Under Secretary shall brief the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives on participation in the program under subsection (a) and shall highlight any innovations that come from the interaction described in subsection (b).”

“(F) aviation weather phenomena, including atmospheric composition and turbulence, to improve scientific understanding and forecast capabilities for the airspace system;”

The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by striking section 302 (15 U.S.C. 8532) and inserting the following new section:

“302. Commercial Data Program

changed “(a) Program establishment—The Under Secretary, in coordination with the heads of appropriate offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall maintain a Commercial Data Program to obtain coordinate and execute acquisition of weather and environmental data and services from private sector entities for operational use.

changed “(b) Program elements—The Under Secretary shall acquire satellite, ground-based, airborne, or marine-based in situ, remote sensing, or crowd-sourced data and services for operational use relating to weather and environmental forecasting and modeling. The Under Secretary shall ensure the Commercial Data Program coordinates, collaborates, and shares data purchases and ensures access to data needs across the Administration, including among the following:

“(1) The National Mesonet Program.

“(2) The Aircraft Based Observation Program.

“(3) The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observation Program, including existing regional associations.

“(4) The National Integrated Drought Information System, including the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network.

“(5) The Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program.

“(6) The National Data Buoy Center.

“(7) The Uncrewed Systems Operation Center.

“(8) The Ocean Exploration Program.

“(9) Any other program or office the Under Secretary determines appropriate.

“(c) Standards and specifications—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section and on a continuous basis thereafter, the Under Secretary shall publish data, metadata, and service standards and specifications required for acquired observation services and data for use, licensing, and attribution to ensure quality, impact, and compatibility of such services and data with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration modeling capabilities, meteorological situational awareness, and forecasting.

changed “(d) Prioritization—The Prioritization—In acquiring commercial data and services, the Under Secretary shall prioritize obtaining surface-based, airborne-based, space-based, and coastal- and ocean-based data, metadata, and services for operational use that participate in the Commercial Data Pilot Program or other programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Administration that acquire commercial data or observations.

changed “(e) NOAA Observing Systems Counciland Fleet Councils

changed “(1) In general—The Under Secretary shall maintain the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Observing Systems Council and the NOAA Fleet Council (in this subsection referred to as the “Council”) “Councils”) to provide strategic recommendations, guidance, recommendations and consent guidance regarding the prioritization, design, development, acquisition, upgrading, lifecycle, performance monitoring, and retiring of major observing systems portfolio components, including related to the acquisition of commercial weather and environmental data and services.

changed “(2) Line office coordination—All coordination—The Councils shall ensure coordination and adherence to uniform policies by providing guidance to all line offices and programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration engaged in observing systems portfolio design, technology, development, execution, and operation shall seek guidance and consent from the Council to ensure coordination and adherence to uniform policies.operation.

changed “(3) Data governance committee—The Committee—The Under Secretary shall maintain a Data Governance Committee within the Council. The Committee shall Councils to develop and approve procedural directives, guides, or handbooks relevant to management of data and information, including commercial data, and coordinate data governance and management practices across the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to promote consistent processes.

“(f) Authorization of appropriations

“(1) In general—There are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section.

“(2) Sense of Congress—It is the sense of Congress that the Under Secretary should seek to enter into contracts or other appropriate agreements that enable the expenditure, to the maximum extent practicable, of amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available in a fiscal year to carry out this section.

“(g) Data and hosted payloads—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Commerce may enter into agreements relating to the following:

“(1) The purchase of weather and environmental data and services through contracts with commercial data and service providers.

“(2) The placement of weather instruments on co-hosted Federal, international, or private space, airborne, maritime, or ground platforms.

changed “(h) Ombudsman—The Under Secretary shall establish or designate at least one Ombudsman position within the Office of Research, Transition, and Applications Commercial Data Program to implement the recommendations of the Observing System Council under subsection (e) related to commercial weather and environmental data and services acquisitions. Such an Ombudsman shall act as the liaison between commercial data and service providers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with respect to receiving recommendations and resolving issues related to engagement, testing, contracting, or other areas related to the Administration’s efforts to acquire commercial weather and environmental data and services.

“(i) Report—Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report evaluating the activities and needed authorities related to data governance and management practices, including acquisition, collection, documentation, quality control, validation, reprocessing, storage, retrieval, dissemination, and long-term preservation activities across all National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration line, staff, and corporate offices.”

Title III of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, as amended by section 303 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new section:

“305. Data assimilation, management, and sharing practices

“(a) Data standards—The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the weather enterprise, shall seek to establish consistent and open data and metadata standards to support open science, including simple cloud-optimized data formats and application programming interfaces that support findability, accessibility, usability, and preservability.

“(b) Data infrastructure

“(1) In general—The Under Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information Officer and appropriate program heads, shall consolidate and arrange data infrastructure needs to ensure efficient and effective data transfer between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offices by considering the use of commercial cloud technologies, or similar hybrid structures, to host and transmit data and metadata.

“(2) Federal partnerships—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary may partner with the heads of other Federal departments and agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy, the United States Space Force, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Navy, the Federal Aviation Administration, the United States Forest Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and the United States Geological Survey, to collocate data with joint utility and support a transition to cloud architectures, including commercial cloud networks.

“(3) Long term data archive—The Under Secretary shall ensure the long-term management, maintenance, and stewardship of archival data and metadata acquired through the Commercial Data Program under section 302 is conducted within the National Centers for Environmental Information.

“(c) Data sharing with the weather enterprise—To the greatest extent practicable, the Under Secretary shall make accessible to members of the weather enterprise that are United States persons data not subject to redistribution contract permissions and purchased through the Commercial Data Program under section 302 or shared through international government partners. If purchased data must be assimilated into numerical weather prediction models or automated forecast guidance to satisfy redistribution contract permissions, the Under Secretary shall make accessible without delay to members of the weather enterprise that are United States persons the numerical weather prediction model or automated forecast guidance output, as the case may be.

“(d) Data assimilation

“(1) In general—The Under Secretary, in coordination with the Commercial Data Program under section 302, the National Centers for Environmental Information, and any other offices within the Administration, shall establish a program to test, advance, and implement data assimilation methods, which may include artificial intelligence, machine learning, data pre- and post-processing, efficient input and output, and next-generation algorithms.

“(2) Data assimilation university consortium—Through the program established pursuant to paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall establish a consortium consisting of institutions of higher education (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to address critical research challenges for data assimilation and foster a growing data assimilation workforce. The consortium shall seek to—

“(A) solve critical research issues for data assimilation through innovative research;

“(B) increase significantly the number of students, including graduate level and Ph.D. candidates, in data assimilation;

“(C) utilize modern software and frameworks, such as the Joint Effort for Data Assimilation Integration, to conduct data assimilation research and development and facilitate research to operations efforts;

“(D) identify and prioritize critical research areas in data assimilation and facilitate operations to research efforts;

“(E) establish and enable an effective collaboration infrastructure between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facilities, such as labs, centers, or joint agency institutes, and the research community, including a mechanism for external partners to host Administration employees; and

“(F) establish mechanisms to enable all members of the consortium to archive and access data required to support the work under this subsection.

“(3) Coordination—In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary shall ensure the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its associated activities focus on research to operations and operations to research, including by coordinating and collaborating with the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation.

added “(4) Data assimilation, management, and sharing practices security—The activities authorized under this subsection shall be applied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as division B of Public Law 117–167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.).

“(e) Study on data management

“(1) In general—Not later than 90 days after the data of the enactment of this section, the Under Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement with a non-Federal entity to conduct a study on matters concerning data practices and management needs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In conducting the study, the outside entity shall—

“(A) assess the costs and benefits of current data management needs for observational and operational mission requirements;

“(B) develop recommendations regarding how to make more robust and cost-effective the data portfolio of the Administration;

“(C) identify data infrastructure technologies and needs that are essential to the performance of modeling systems of the Administration;

“(D) assess the sharing needs and practices of the Administration for both internal and external sharing dissemination; and

“(E) develop recommendations for methods of data infrastructure sharing, including data purchased from the commercial sector.

“(2) Authorization of appropriations—From amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Commercial Data Program under section 302, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the study under paragraph (1) $1,000,000, to remain available until expended.”

changed Section 406 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 109), as amended by section 402 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:subsections:

“(d) Hazard communication research and engagement

“(1) In general—The Under Secretary shall maintain, as appropriate, a program to—

“(A) modernize the development and communication of risk-based, statistically reliable, probabilistic hazard information, with the goal of informing appropriate responses to hazardous weather or water events; and

“(B) improve the fundamental social, behavioral, economic, risk, and communication science relating to communications, including by means of collecting voluntary data, regarding hazardous weather or water events.

“(2) Coordination—In carrying out the program under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall coordinate and communicate with States, Tribal governments, localities, and emergency managers regarding research priorities and results.

“(3) Pilot program for tornado hazard communication required—To further research into communications regarding hazardous weather or water events, the Under Secretary, in coordination with the VORTEX program under section 103 and in collaboration with one or more eligible institutions (or a consortia thereof), shall establish a pilot program for tornado hazard communication to test the effectiveness of implementing research into operations with respect to tornadoes.

changed “(4) Eligible institution defined—In this subsection, the term “eligible institution” means any of the following:Pilot study for hurricane hazard communication

added “(A) In general—To further research into communications regarding hazardous weather or water events, the Under Secretary, in coordination with the hurricane forecast improvement program under section 104, shall seek to enter into an agreement with an appropriate entity, as determined by the Under Secretary, to conduct a pilot study using a mixed methods approach, such as surveys, focus groups, and interviews, to gather information from hurricane prone population areas regarding the levels of preparedness of such areas for hurricanes or in response to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s early forecasts and warnings. Such study shall evaluate the following:

added “(i) Possession of disaster supplies.

added “(ii) Evacuation decisions.

added “(iii) Levels of trust of tropical cyclone information and hurricane path prediction from various sources.

added “(iv) Access to tropical cyclone and hurricane warnings in such study participant’s first language.

added “(v) Determination regarding such study participant’s reasoning that may hinder the ability of such a participant to evacuate or willingness to evacuate.

added “(B) Additional criteria—The pilot study described in subparagraph (A) shall define its methodology and be made publicly available on a website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

added “(5) Eligible institution defined—In this subsection, the term “eligible institution” means any of the following:

“(A) An institution of higher education, nonprofit organization, or other institution located in a jurisdiction eligible to participate in the program under section 113 of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1862g).

added “(B) An institution of higher education, nonprofit organization, or other institution located in proximity to a Weather Forecast Office of the National Weather Service.

added “(e) Hurricane social, behavioral, and economic sciences—As part of the program carried out under subsection (d), the Under Secretary shall carry out research and development activities to improve how the public receives, interprets, responds to, and values hurricane forecasts and warnings. In conducting such activities, the Under Secretary shall—

added “(1) conduct a comprehensive review of what is known about how the public receives, interprets, responds to, and makes decisions regarding hurricane forecasts and warnings, including—

added “(A) how the connections between weather observations, downstream models, and processes affect the decision tools or products derived from such hurricane forecasts and warnings;

added “(B) how such hurricane forecasts and warnings generated by decision tools and products are used by emergency managers, governments, and other users to benefit the public and stakeholder groups;

added “(C) how past experiences with hurricanes impacts decision making;

added “(D) how the source of such hurricane forecasts and warnings affects interpretation;

added “(E) how tropical cyclone warnings and watches are received and interpreted;

added “(F) how understanding of and response to such hurricane forecasts and warnings vary across demographic groups, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations;

added “(G) language barriers; and

added “(H) how understanding and response to such hurricane forecasts and warnings varies across geographic areas, including rural, urban, and suburban areas;

added “(2) identify communication data gaps based on the review conducted pursuant to paragraph (1);

added “(3) carry out research, including data collection and baseline assessments, in coordination with the hurricane forecast improvement program under section 104 to evaluate and quantify the economic value of extending lead times of tropical cyclone and hurricane warnings and watches, including identifying the most effected or vulnerable populations and potential impacts to those populations;

added “(4) as part of post-storm surveys and assessments conducted under section 406 of the Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2023, conduct retrospective or ex ante assessments of previous hurricane forecasts and warnings with improvements to better understand the key components, including expected actions or behavior changes, of the value of the forecasts and warnings provided;

added “(5) conduct cost benefit analysis of forecasts and warnings improvement alternatives developed through the hurricane forecast improvement program under section 104; and

added “(6) conduct risk assessments for pre-, during, and post-storm periods in regions and communities with significant elderly populations, including retirement communities.”

removed “(B) An institution of higher education, nonprofit organization, or other institution located in proximity to a Weather Forecast Office of the National Weather Service.”

“(C) incorporates flash drought research and tools to enhance timely response;”

“(7) advance and deploy next generation technologies related to drought and related publicly available data, such as monitoring, preparedness, and forecasting capabilities utilizing artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud technologies; and

changed “(8) utilize observational networks, including the National Weather Service cooperative observer program, program and State or regional hydrological monitoring projects, and refine drought indicators across a variety of spatial and temporal scales for decision-support products by optimizing data and resources from across the Federal Government, including snowpack, soil moisture, groundwater, and rapid intensification data.”

“(4) in partnership with the National Mesonet Program, establish memoranda of understanding to provide coordinated, high-quality, nationwide drought information for the public good, including integrated soil moisture information in accordance with the 2021 report, “A Strategy for the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network”.”

“(f) Modeling update—The Under Secretary, in partnership with National Integrated Drought Information System and the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service, shall undertake an effort to transition existing drought products to probabilistic forecasts and incorporate new and improved dynamical and statistical forecast modeling tools.”

changed “(d) “4. Authorization of appropriations—From amounts made available to Operations, Research, and Facilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section the following:appropriations

added “From amounts made available to Operations, Research, and Facilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section the following:

“(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2024.

“(2) $15,500,000 for fiscal year 2025.

“(3) $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.

“(4) $16,500,000 for fiscal year 2027.

“(5) $17,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.”

Section 301 of the Coordinated Ocean Observations and Research Act of 2020 (42 U.S.C. 10371) is amended—

“(iii) to provide service backup capabilities and additional mission support services for River Forecast Centers.”

“(F) Serving as the primary Center for collaboration and coordination of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s water research and operational activities with existing Federal centers and networks, including the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Geological Survey, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”

“(c) Authorization of appropriations—There is authorized to be appropriated $46,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section.”