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