Radar Next Program Act of 2026

The Under Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the National Weather Service, shall establish a program to be known as the Radar Next Program (in this section referred to as the program).

In carrying out the program, the Under Secretary shall—

(1) develop performance and coverage requirements for the weather radar network of the United States, including for the territories of the United States;

(2) collaborate with the weather enterprise to determine potential solutions to update the weather radar network of the United States that meet the requirements developed under paragraph (1); and

(3) develop a plan in accordance with subsection (c).

The Under Secretary shall develop a plan to replace the Next Generation Weather Radar system of the National Weather Service in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act (in this subsection referred to as the NEXRAD system).

The plan developed under this subsection shall seek to continue and improve weather radar coverage in the United States and its territories and include the following:

(A) Estimates of quantifiable improvements in performance, coverage, and accuracy to be made from potential options for replacement of the NEXRAD system.

(B) Development of a phased array radar to test and determine the specifications and requirements for such replacement.

(C) Expected actions needed to implement the recommendations of the report published by the Environmental Information Services Working Group of the Science Advisory Board of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on November 15, 2023, and entitled A NESDIS Observing System Backbone Framework to assist in defining a radar backbone architecture that will best serve the United States.

(D) Establishment of a weather surveillance radar testbed for the following:

(i) Evaluation of commercial radars with the potential to replace or supplement the NEXRAD system.

(ii) Providing technical assistance for the use of small, gap-filling radars with private and local partners in regions where geographical topography prevents the full use of large systems or in locations where such systems may not be commercially viable.

(E) Consultation and input solicited from academia, meteorologists, emergency managers, and public safety or utility officials regarding the specifications and requirements for replacement of the NEXRAD system.

(F) Prioritized locations for initial deployment of the system that will replace the NEXRAD system.

(G) Expected locations of the system that will replace the NEXRAD system, including sites located more than 75 miles away from an existing NEXRAD system station and additional appropriate locations.

(H) Expected or planned improvements to data available for weather and water-related forecasts and warnings from the system that will replace the NEXRAD system.

The Under Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure the plan developed under this subsection is fully implemented and executed by not later than September 30, 2040.

The Under Secretary may partner or contract with entities outside of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fill data gaps in weather radar coverage using weather radars and data assimilation technologies in order to—

(A) supplement data gaps in weather radar coverage, including at low levels and in wide areas, in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act;

(B) ensure the continued performance of the weather radar network of the United States; and

(C) better detect significant precipitation and severe weather over a greater area across a population.

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary may consider—

(A) partnering or contracting with entities that have participated in the testbed described in subsection (c)(2)(D), the National Mesonet Program, or cooperative research and development agreements; and

(B) weather camera systems and services, including in consultation with the Federal Aviation Administration, as viable technologies to supplement weather forecasting and prediction needs.

The Under Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives periodic updates on the implementation of this section.

In this Act, the terms Under Secretary and weather enterprise have the meanings given such terms in section 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501).