S. 258 — what changed

In general— The Under Secretary shall maintain and improve the system of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by which the risks of hazardous weather and water events are communicated to the general public, with the goal of informing action and encouraging response to prevent loss of life and property.

In general— The Under Secretary shall maintain a hazard risk communication office (in this subsection referred to as the “Office”), for the purposes of simplifying and improving the communication of hazardous weather and water event risks.

Terminology— The Office shall identify, eliminate, or modify unnecessary, redundant, or confusing terms for hazardous weather and water event communications and add new terminology, as appropriate.

Communications improvement— The Office shall improve the form, content, and methods of hazardous weather and water event communications to more clearly inform action and increase the likelihood that the public takes such action to prevent the loss of life or property.

Evaluations— The Office shall, in coordination with the performance branch of the National Weather Service, develop metrics for that branch to track and evaluate the degree to which hazardous weather and water event communications inform action and encourage response.

In general— The Office shall develop a plan for the purpose of supporting the activities described in paragraph (3).

Periodic update and elements— The plan developed under subparagraph (A) shall be periodically updated and informed by internal and extramural research and the results of the evaluation of hazardous weather and water event communications conducted under paragraph (4).

Methods— In carrying out this subsection, the Office shall develop and implement recommendations that—

are based on the best and most recent understanding from social, behavioral, risk, and communication science research;

are validated by social, behavioral, risk, and communication science, taking into account the importance of methods that support reproduction and replication of scientific studies, use of rigorous statistical analyses, and, as applicable, data analysis supported by artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies;

account for the needs of various demographics, vulnerable populations, and geographic regions;

account for the differences between various types of weather and water hazards;

respond to the needs of Federal, State, and local government partners and media partners; and

Coordination— In implementing this subsection, the Office shall coordinate with—

Federal partners, including National Laboratories, Cooperative Institutes, and regional integrated sciences and assessments programs;

State and local government partners;

Indian Tribes;

institutions of higher education; and

media partners.

Timeliness and consistency— The Office shall develop best practices and guidance for ensuring timely and consistent communication across public facing platforms that disseminate hazardous weather and water event information.

In general— The Under Secretary shall establish or maintain a research program—

to modernize the creation and communication of risk-based, statistically reliable, probabilistic hazard information, with the goal of informing effective actions and encouraging responses to hazardous weather and water events; and

to improve the fundamental social, behavioral, risk, and communication science regarding hazardous weather and water event communication.

Coordination— In carrying out the research program required by paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall coordinate and communicate with States, Indian Tribes, localities, and emergency managers on research priorities and results.

In general— To further research into hazard communication, the Under Secretary, in collaboration with one or more eligible institutions, shall establish a pilot program for tornado hazard communication to test the effectiveness of implementing the research conducted under this subsection with respect to tornadoes.

Eligible institution defined— In this paragraph, the term eligible institution means any of the following:

A historically Black college or university located in an area of persistent poverty that is subjected to frequent severe weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods.

An institution of higher education in close proximity to a Weather Forecast Office of the National Weather Service.

Data management— The Under Secretary shall establish, maintain, and improve a central repository system for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for social, behavioral, risk, and economic data related to the communication of hazardous weather and water events, including data developed or received pursuant to paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (b).

Digital watermarking— The Under Secretary shall develop methods to reduce the likelihood of unauthorized tampering with online hazardous weather and water event risk communication, such as developing digital watermarks.

In general— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan for developing and prioritizing the implementation of high-resolution probabilistic forecast guidance for hazardous weather and water events using a next-generation weather forecast and warning framework.

Plan elements— The strategic plan required by subsection (a) shall include the following:

A discussion of—

the priorities and needs of vulnerable populations and National Weather Service partners; and

high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination needs.

A timeline and guidance for implementation of—

high-resolution numerical weather prediction models;

methods for meeting the high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination needs discussed under paragraph (1)(B);

real-time high-resolution probabilistic forecasts;

improved observations, including through radars, satellites, and uncrewed aerial systems;

a flexible framework to communicate clear and simple hazardous weather and water event information to the public; and