Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1278 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1278
5	5	To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere
6	6	to conduct a project to improve forecasts of coastal marine fog, and
7	7	for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	APRIL3, 2025
10	10	Mr. C
11	11	RUZ(for himself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; which
12	12	was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
13	13	Transportation
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans
16	16	and Atmosphere to conduct a project to improve fore-
17	17	casts of coastal marine fog, and for other purposes.
18	18	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
19	19	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
20	20	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
21	21	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fog Observations and 4
22	22	Geographic Forecasting Act’’. 5
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25	25	•S 1278 IS
26	26	SEC. 2. PROJECT TO IMPROVE FORECASTS OF COASTAL 1
27	27	MARINE FOG. 2
28	28	(a) I
29	29	NGENERAL.—The Under Secretary of Com-3
30	30	merce for Oceans and Atmosphere shall conduct a project 4
31	31	to improve forecasts of coastal marine fog. 5
32	32	(b) G
33	33	OAL.—The goal of the project required under 6
34	34	subsection (a) is to enhance vessel safety and reduce the 7
35	35	economic impact of coastal marine fog events, with a focus 8
36	36	on— 9
37	37	(1) increasing the number of marine-based ob-10
38	38	servations through additional Federal platforms and 11
39	39	commercially acquired observations in locations 12
40	40	where impacts from marine fog and reduced visi-13
41	41	bility have major safety and economic impacts, in-14
42	42	cluding through the use of— 15
43	43	(A) buoys; 16
44	44	(B) meteorological stations measuring visi-17
45	45	bility, temperature, dewpoint, and wind speed 18
46	46	and direction as a stand-alone or co-located 19
47	47	with water level sensors, such as those that are 20
48	48	part of the physical oceanographic observation 21
49	49	system program of the National Oceanic and 22
50	50	Atmospheric Administration; 23
51	51	(C) stationary platforms or drifting instru-24
52	52	ments; 25
53	53	(D) vessels; 26
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56	56	•S 1278 IS
57	57	(E) unmanned systems; 1
58	58	(F) remote sensing technologies, including 2
59	59	rapid refresh hyperspectral satellite imagery; 3
60	60	and 4
61	61	(G) advanced algorithms that extract ac-5
62	62	tionable information from observational data, 6
63	63	including early detection and regular moni-7
64	64	toring of marine fog; 8
65	65	(2) advancing geographic coverage, resolution, 9
66	66	skill, and accuracy of marine fog modeling, includ-10
67	67	ing, when feasible, additional locations and advance-11
68	68	ments in marine channel forecast capability; 12
69	69	(3) improving communication of marine fog 13
70	70	advisories by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 14
71	71	Administration; 15
72	72	(4) communicating risks posed by hazardous 16
73	73	marine fog events in a way that maximizes informed 17
74	74	decision making by the public; and 18
75	75	(5) providing decision support services based on 19
76	76	environmental information that is actionable to the 20
77	77	recipient of a marine fog advisory. 21
78	78	(c) S
79	79	TAKEHOLDERENGAGEMENT.—In implementing 22
80	80	the project required under subsection (a), the Under Sec-23
81	81	retary shall meet with public and private stakeholders re-24
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84	84	•S 1278 IS
85	85	garding the planning, development, and implementation of 1
86	86	the project. 2
87	87	(d) T
88	88	RIBALENGAGEMENT.—The Under Secretary 3
89	89	shall meet with Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of 4
90	90	the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 5
91	91	Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) regarding the planning, develop-6
92	92	ment, and implementation of the project required under 7
93	93	subsection (a). 8
94	94	(e) P
95	95	ROJECTPLAN.—Not later than one year after 9
96	96	the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 10
97	97	shall develop a plan for the project required under sub-11
98	98	section (a) that details the specific research, development, 12
99	99	and technology transfer activities, as well as corresponding 13
100	100	resources and timelines, necessary to achieve the goal set 14
101	101	forth under subsection (b). 15
102	102	Æ
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