1 | 1 | | II |
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2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 613 |
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5 | 5 | | To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere |
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6 | 6 | | to maintain the National Mesonet Program, and for other purposes. |
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7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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8 | 8 | | FEBRUARY18, 2025 |
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9 | 9 | | Mr. S |
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10 | 10 | | CHATZ(for himself and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following bill; |
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11 | 11 | | which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, |
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12 | 12 | | Science, and Transportation |
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13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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14 | 14 | | To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans |
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15 | 15 | | and Atmosphere to maintain the National Mesonet Pro- |
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16 | 16 | | gram, and for other purposes. |
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17 | 17 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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18 | 18 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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19 | 19 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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20 | 20 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Flood and 4 |
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21 | 21 | | Agricultural Forecasts Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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22 | 22 | | SEC. 2. NATIONAL MESONET PROGRAM. 6 |
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23 | 23 | | (a) P |
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24 | 24 | | ROGRAM.—The Under Secretary shall maintain 7 |
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25 | 25 | | the National Mesonet Program (referred to in this section 8 |
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26 | 26 | | as the ‘‘Program’’), which shall— 9 |
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28 | 28 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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29 | 29 | | •S 613 IS |
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30 | 30 | | (1) obtain observations to improve under-1 |
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31 | 31 | | standing of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric, 2 |
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32 | 32 | | drought, fire, and water events, with a prioritization 3 |
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33 | 33 | | on leveraging available commercial, academic, and 4 |
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34 | 34 | | other non-Federal Government environmental data 5 |
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35 | 35 | | to enhance coordination across the private, public, 6 |
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36 | 36 | | and academic sectors of the weather enterprise in 7 |
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37 | 37 | | the United States; 8 |
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38 | 38 | | (2) establish means to integrate greater density 9 |
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39 | 39 | | and more types of environmental observations into 10 |
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40 | 40 | | the Program on an annual basis, including by en-11 |
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41 | 41 | | couraging local and regional networks of environ-12 |
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42 | 42 | | mental monitoring stations and in situ sensor net-13 |
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43 | 43 | | works, including soil moisture and ground-based 14 |
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44 | 44 | | profilers, to participate in the Program; 15 |
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45 | 45 | | (3) establish memoranda of understanding with 16 |
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46 | 46 | | networks outside of the scope of the Program in fur-17 |
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47 | 47 | | therance of this section; and 18 |
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48 | 48 | | (4) coordinate with satellite data and services 19 |
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49 | 49 | | acquired under section 302 of the Weather Research 20 |
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50 | 50 | | and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 21 |
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51 | 51 | | 8532). 22 |
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52 | 52 | | (b) P |
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53 | 53 | | ROGRAMELEMENTS.—In carrying out the Pro-23 |
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54 | 54 | | gram, the Under Secretary shall— 24 |
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55 | 55 | | (1) increase data density by— 25 |
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57 | 57 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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58 | 58 | | •S 613 IS |
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59 | 59 | | (A) improving and increasing the quantity 1 |
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60 | 60 | | and density of environmental observations used 2 |
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61 | 61 | | by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-3 |
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62 | 62 | | ministration (referred to in this section as the 4 |
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63 | 63 | | ‘‘Administration’’) and the National Weather 5 |
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64 | 64 | | Service to support baseline forecasts, including 6 |
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65 | 65 | | nowcasts, warnings, and hyper local forecasts 7 |
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66 | 66 | | that protect individuals, businesses, agricultural 8 |
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67 | 67 | | production, food security, the military, and gov-9 |
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68 | 68 | | ernment agencies in the United States, and en-10 |
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69 | 69 | | abling such individuals and entities to operate 11 |
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70 | 70 | | in a safe, efficient, and orderly manner; 12 |
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71 | 71 | | (B) yielding increased quantities of bound-13 |
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72 | 72 | | ary-layer data to improve numerical weather 14 |
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73 | 73 | | prediction performance, including in subsea-15 |
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74 | 74 | | sonal to seasonal timescales; 16 |
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75 | 75 | | (C) identifying available terrestrial or ma-17 |
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76 | 76 | | rine environmental data, or quantifiable gaps in 18 |
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77 | 77 | | such data, to improve the understanding of air- 19 |
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78 | 78 | | sea interactions; and 20 |
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79 | 79 | | (D) supporting the National Weather Serv-21 |
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80 | 80 | | ice in reaching its target of a 30-minute warn-22 |
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81 | 81 | | ing time for severe weather through better pre-23 |
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82 | 82 | | dictive model algorithms driven by increasingly 24 |
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83 | 83 | | effective observations; 25 |
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85 | 85 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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86 | 86 | | •S 613 IS |
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87 | 87 | | (2) monitor local meteorological conditions by— 1 |
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88 | 88 | | (A) acquiring soil and moisture data to 2 |
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89 | 89 | | monitor soil moisture, vegetation water content, 3 |
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90 | 90 | | and moisture loss from evaporation, in support 4 |
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91 | 91 | | of operational forecasting, the National Inte-5 |
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92 | 92 | | grated Drought Information System, and local 6 |
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93 | 93 | | commercial, agricultural, and emergency man-7 |
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94 | 94 | | agement needs; 8 |
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95 | 95 | | (B) supporting the National Coordinated 9 |
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96 | 96 | | Soil Moisture Monitoring Network in acquiring 10 |
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97 | 97 | | soil moisture and related data to support the 11 |
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98 | 98 | | development of decision-support products and 12 |
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99 | 99 | | other information services; and 13 |
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100 | 100 | | (C) expanding and enhancing environ-14 |
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101 | 101 | | mental observational networks in the roadway 15 |
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102 | 102 | | environment to provide real-time road weather 16 |
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103 | 103 | | and surface conditions for surface transpor-17 |
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104 | 104 | | tation and related economic sectors; and 18 |
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105 | 105 | | (3) administer the Program by— 19 |
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106 | 106 | | (A) obtaining data in furtherance of this 20 |
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107 | 107 | | section only when demonstrably cost effective 21 |
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108 | 108 | | and meeting or exceeding data quality stand-22 |
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109 | 109 | | ards available to the Administration; 23 |
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110 | 110 | | (B) subject to the requirement in subpara-24 |
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111 | 111 | | graph (A), leveraging existing networks of envi-25 |
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113 | 113 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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114 | 114 | | •S 613 IS |
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115 | 115 | | ronmental monitoring stations, including sup-1 |
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116 | 116 | | plemental radar systems, to increase the quan-2 |
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117 | 117 | | tity and density of environmental observations 3 |
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118 | 118 | | and data available to the Administration; 4 |
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119 | 119 | | (C) providing the critical technical and ad-5 |
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120 | 120 | | ministrative infrastructure needed to facilitate 6 |
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121 | 121 | | rapid integration and sustained use of new and 7 |
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122 | 122 | | emerging networks of environmental monitoring 8 |
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123 | 123 | | stations anticipated in coming years from non- 9 |
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124 | 124 | | Federal Government sources; 10 |
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125 | 125 | | (D) coordinating with existing data devel-11 |
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126 | 126 | | oped by the Administration and used for fore-12 |
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127 | 127 | | casts, including data from the National Envi-13 |
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128 | 128 | | ronmental Satellite, Data, and Information 14 |
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129 | 129 | | Service, the Integrated Ocean Observing Sys-15 |
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130 | 130 | | tem, the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observ-16 |
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131 | 131 | | ing Program, the National Data Buoy Center, 17 |
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132 | 132 | | and the National Ocean Service; and 18 |
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133 | 133 | | (E) identifying and communicating to the 19 |
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134 | 134 | | Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 20 |
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135 | 135 | | and other partners priorities of research and 21 |
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136 | 136 | | development needed to advance observations in 22 |
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137 | 137 | | the Program. 23 |
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138 | 138 | | (c) F |
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139 | 139 | | INANCIAL ANDTECHNICALASSISTANCE.— 24 |
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141 | 141 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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142 | 142 | | •S 613 IS |
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143 | 143 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the Pro-1 |
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144 | 144 | | gram, in a fiscal year, the Under Secretary may 2 |
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145 | 145 | | award not less than 15 percent of the amount appro-3 |
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146 | 146 | | priated for the Program for that fiscal year for fi-4 |
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147 | 147 | | nancial assistance to State, Tribal, private, and aca-5 |
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148 | 148 | | demic entities seeking to build, expand, or upgrade 6 |
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149 | 149 | | equipment and capacity of mesonet systems. 7 |
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150 | 150 | | (2) O |
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151 | 151 | | THER FEDERAL AWARDS .—Financial as-8 |
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152 | 152 | | sistance under this subsection may be made in co-9 |
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153 | 153 | | ordination with and in addition to awards from 10 |
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154 | 154 | | other Federal agencies. 11 |
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155 | 155 | | (3) A |
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156 | 156 | | GREEMENTS.—Before receiving financial 12 |
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157 | 157 | | assistance under paragraph (1), the State, Tribal, 13 |
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158 | 158 | | private, or academic entity seeking financial assist-14 |
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159 | 159 | | ance under this subsection shall enter into an agree-15 |
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160 | 160 | | ment with the Under Secretary to provide data to 16 |
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161 | 161 | | the Program, subject to verification by the Program 17 |
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162 | 162 | | of the relative operational value and evaluation of 18 |
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163 | 163 | | the cost of such data, for use in weather prediction, 19 |
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164 | 164 | | severe weather warnings, and emergency response. 20 |
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165 | 165 | | (4) A |
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166 | 166 | | SSISTANCE AND OTHER SUPPORT .—The 21 |
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167 | 167 | | Under Secretary may provide— 22 |
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168 | 168 | | (A) technical assistance, project implemen-23 |
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169 | 169 | | tation support, and guidance to State, Tribal, 24 |
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171 | 171 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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172 | 172 | | •S 613 IS |
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173 | 173 | | private, and academic entities seeking financial 1 |
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174 | 174 | | assistance under this subsection; and 2 |
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175 | 175 | | (B) technical and financial assistance for 3 |
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176 | 176 | | maintenance of monitoring stations in under-4 |
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177 | 177 | | represented or remote areas of the country 5 |
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178 | 178 | | where it is financially unfeasible for one entity 6 |
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179 | 179 | | to operate such stations without such assist-7 |
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180 | 180 | | ance. 8 |
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181 | 181 | | (5) T |
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182 | 182 | | ERMS.—In providing financial assistance 9 |
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183 | 183 | | under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall es-10 |
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184 | 184 | | tablish terms to ensure that each State, Tribal, pri-11 |
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185 | 185 | | vate, or academic entity that receives financial as-12 |
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186 | 186 | | sistance under this subsection receives a level of sup-13 |
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187 | 187 | | port commensurate with the quality and other char-14 |
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188 | 188 | | acteristics of the data to be provided. 15 |
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189 | 189 | | (6) D |
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190 | 190 | | ETERMINATION.—A State, Tribal, private, 16 |
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191 | 191 | | or academic entity may only receive financial assist-17 |
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192 | 192 | | ance under this subsection if the Under Secretary 18 |
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193 | 193 | | determines such entity will provide sufficient finan-19 |
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194 | 194 | | cial support from non-Federal Government sources 20 |
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195 | 195 | | and fully maintain the quality of the mesonet system 21 |
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196 | 196 | | and associated data standards required by the Pro-22 |
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197 | 197 | | gram for a period of not less than 5 years. 23 |
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198 | 198 | | (7) P |
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199 | 199 | | RIORITY.—The Under Secretary shall 24 |
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200 | 200 | | prioritize providing assistance under paragraph (1) 25 |
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202 | 202 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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203 | 203 | | •S 613 IS |
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204 | 204 | | to not fewer than one entity in a remote area or an 1 |
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205 | 205 | | area that has a lack of environmental monitoring 2 |
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206 | 206 | | stations described in subsection (a)(2). 3 |
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207 | 207 | | (d) A |
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208 | 208 | | DVISORYCOMMITTEE.— 4 |
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209 | 209 | | (1) I |
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210 | 210 | | N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 5 |
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211 | 211 | | ensure the Program has an active advisory com-6 |
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212 | 212 | | mittee of subject matter experts to make rec-7 |
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213 | 213 | | ommendations to the Administration on— 8 |
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214 | 214 | | (A) the identification, implementation, pro-9 |
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215 | 215 | | curement, and tracking of data needed to sup-10 |
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216 | 216 | | plement the Program; and 11 |
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217 | 217 | | (B) improvements, expansions, and acqui-12 |
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218 | 218 | | sitions of available data. 13 |
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219 | 219 | | (2) D |
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220 | 220 | | ESIGNATION OF EXISTING COMMITTEE .— 14 |
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221 | 221 | | The Under Secretary may designate an existing ad-15 |
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222 | 222 | | visory committee, subcommittee, or working group of 16 |
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223 | 223 | | the Federal Government, including the Science Advi-17 |
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224 | 224 | | sory Board of the Administration, to carry out the 18 |
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225 | 225 | | requirement under paragraph (1). 19 |
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226 | 226 | | (3) A |
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227 | 227 | | CADEMIC EXPERTISE.—The advisory com-20 |
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228 | 228 | | mittee under paragraph (1), in consultation with the 21 |
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229 | 229 | | Program, shall include expertise from one or more 22 |
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230 | 230 | | institutions of higher education (as defined in sec-23 |
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231 | 231 | | tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 24 |
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232 | 232 | | U.S.C. 1001)) to assist the advisory committee to 25 |
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234 | 234 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
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235 | 235 | | •S 613 IS |
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236 | 236 | | identify, evaluate, and recommend potential partner-1 |
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237 | 237 | | ships, regional or subregional consortia, and collabo-2 |
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238 | 238 | | rative methods that would expand the number of 3 |
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239 | 239 | | participants and volume of data in the Program. 4 |
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240 | 240 | | (e) R |
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241 | 241 | | EGULARBRIEFINGS.— 5 |
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242 | 242 | | (1) I |
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243 | 243 | | N GENERAL.—Not less frequently than an-6 |
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244 | 244 | | nually through 2035, and not later than June 30 of 7 |
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245 | 245 | | each year, the Under Secretary shall provide regular 8 |
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246 | 246 | | briefings to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 9 |
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247 | 247 | | and Transportation of the Senate and the Com-10 |
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248 | 248 | | mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 11 |
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249 | 249 | | House of Representatives on all activities under the 12 |
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250 | 250 | | Program. 13 |
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251 | 251 | | (2) B |
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252 | 252 | | RIEFING CONTENT .—Each briefing re-14 |
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253 | 253 | | quired under paragraph (1) shall include informa-15 |
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254 | 254 | | tion relating to the following: 16 |
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255 | 255 | | (A) Efforts to implement the activities de-17 |
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256 | 256 | | scribed in subsection (b). 18 |
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257 | 257 | | (B) Any financial or technical assistance 19 |
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258 | 258 | | provided pursuant to subsection (c). 20 |
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259 | 259 | | (C) Efforts to address recommendations 21 |
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260 | 260 | | received from the advisory committee under 22 |
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261 | 261 | | subsection (d), if any. 23 |
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263 | 263 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 |
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264 | 264 | | •S 613 IS |
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265 | 265 | | (D) The potential need and associated ben-1 |
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266 | 266 | | efits of a coastal and ocean mesonet, or other 2 |
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267 | 267 | | emerging areas of weather data needs. 3 |
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268 | 268 | | (E) Progress toward eliminating gaps in 4 |
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269 | 269 | | weather observation data in States and regions 5 |
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270 | 270 | | of the United States. 6 |
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271 | 271 | | (F) Any other topic the Under Secretary 7 |
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272 | 272 | | determines relevant. 8 |
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273 | 273 | | (f) D |
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274 | 274 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 |
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275 | 275 | | (1) S |
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276 | 276 | | EASONAL, STATE, SUBSEASONAL, UNDER 10 |
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277 | 277 | | SECRETARY, WEATHER ENTERPRISE .—The terms 11 |
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278 | 278 | | ‘‘seasonal’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘subseasonal’’, ‘‘Under Sec-12 |
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279 | 279 | | retary’’, and ‘‘weather enterprise’’ have the mean-13 |
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280 | 280 | | ings given such terms in section 2 of the Weather 14 |
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281 | 281 | | Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 15 |
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282 | 282 | | (15 U.S.C. 8501). 16 |
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283 | 283 | | (2) W |
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284 | 284 | | EATHER DATA .—The term ‘‘weather 17 |
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285 | 285 | | data’’ means information used to track and predict 18 |
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286 | 286 | | weather conditions and patterns, including forecasts, 19 |
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287 | 287 | | observations, and derivative products from such in-20 |
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288 | 288 | | formation. 21 |
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289 | 289 | | (g) A |
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290 | 290 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 22 |
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291 | 291 | | amounts authorized to be appropriated to the National 23 |
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292 | 292 | | Weather Service, there shall be available not more than 24 |
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293 | 293 | | the following amounts to carry out this section: 25 |
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295 | 295 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 |
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296 | 296 | | •S 613 IS |
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297 | 297 | | (1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 1 |
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298 | 298 | | (2) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 2 |
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299 | 299 | | (3) $61,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. 3 |
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300 | 300 | | (4) $68,000,000 for fiscal year 2028. 4 |
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301 | 301 | | (5) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2029. 5 |
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302 | 302 | | Æ |
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