Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026

This Act may be cited as the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026.

The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

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

Section 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501) is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and

(2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:

The term weather data means information used to track and predict weather conditions and patterns, including forecasts, observations, and derivative products from such information.

(2) .

Section 101 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8511) is amended to read as follows:

The Under Secretary shall ensure that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration focuses on providing accurate and timely weather forecasts that protect lives and property and enhance the national economy, including by—

(1) coordinating and modernizing observational infrastructure, weather forecasting systems, communications, and impact-based decision support services; and

(2) improving operational weather forecasts, products, and services.

In conducting research, the Under Secretary shall prioritize improving weather data, modeling, computing, forecasting, and warnings and support transition of advancements into operational forecasting and services, for the protection of life and property and for the enhancement of the national economy.

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Section 110 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8519) is amended to read as follows:

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research to carry out this title the following:

(1) $166,736,000 for fiscal year 2026, of which—

(A) $94,000,000 is authorized for weather laboratories and cooperative institutes;

(B) $39,491,000 is authorized for the United States Weather Research Program;

(C) $21,125,000 is authorized for tornado, severe storm, and next generation radar research; and

(D) $12,120,000 is authorized for the joint technology transfer initiative described in section 102(b)(4) of this title.

(2) $168,403,000 for fiscal year 2027, of which—

(A) $94,940,000 is authorized for weather laboratories and cooperative institutes;

(B) $39,886,000 is authorized for the United States Weather Research Program;

(C) $21,336,000 is authorized for tornado, severe storm, and next generation radar research; and

(D) $12,241,000 is authorized for the joint technology transfer initiative described in section 102(b)(4) of this title.

(3) $170,089,000 for fiscal year 2028, of which—

(A) $95,890,000 is authorized for weather laboratories and cooperative institutes;

(B) $40,285,000 is authorized for the United States Weather Research Program;

(C) $21,550,000 is authorized for tornado, severe storm, and next generation radar research; and

(D) $12,364,000 is authorized for the joint technology transfer initiative described in section 102(b)(4) of this title.

(4) $171,789,000 for fiscal year 2029, of which—

(A) $96,849,000 is authorized for weather laboratories and cooperative institutes;

(B) $40,688,000 is authorized for the United States Weather Research Program;

(C) $21,765,000 is authorized for tornado, severe storm, and next generation radar research; and

(D) $12,487,000 is authorized for the joint technology transfer initiative described in section 102(b)(4) of this title.

(5) $173,506,000 for fiscal year 2030, of which—

(A) $97,817,000 is authorized for weather laboratories and cooperative institutes;

(B) $41,094,000 is authorized for the United States Weather Research Program;

(C) $21,983,000 is authorized for tornado, severe storm, and next generation radar research; and

(D) $12,612,000 is authorized for the joint technology transfer initiative described in section 102(b)(4) of this title.

No additional funds are authorized to carry out this title or the amendments made by this title.

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Section 103 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8513) is amended to read as follows:

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the United States weather industry and academic partners, shall maintain a program for rapidly improving tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings, including forecaster training in radar interpretation and information integration from new sources.

The goal of the program under subsection (a) shall be to develop and extend accurate tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings in order to reduce the loss of life or property related to tornadoes, with a focus on the following:

(1) Improving the effectiveness and timeliness of tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings.

(2) Optimizing lead time and providing actionable information beyond one hour in advance.

(3) Transitioning from warn-on-detection to warn-on-forecast.

The Under Secretary shall ensure the program under subsection (a) periodically examines, tests, and evaluates the value of incorporating innovative observations, such as novel sensor technologies, observation tools or networks, crewed or uncrewed systems, and hosted instruments on commercial aircrafts, vessels, and satellites, with respect to the improvement of tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings.

In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall award grants for research, including relating to the following:

(1) Implementing key goals and achieving program milestones to the maximum extent practicable, as outlined by the 2019 report of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration entitled, Tornado Warning Improvement and Extension Program Plan.

(2) In coordination with the Social and Behavioral Sciences Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council, improving the social, behavioral and economic sciences regarding risk communication, and delivery of information critical for reducing the loss of life or property related to tornadoes.

(3) Improving the physical sciences, computer modeling, and tools related to tornado formation, the impacts of tornadoes on the built and natural environment, and the interaction of tornadoes and hurricanes.

In awarding grants under subsection (d), the Under Secretary shall give priority to eligible institutions selected through a competitive, merit-based process.

In this subsection, the term eligible institution means any of the following:

(A) An institution that is frequently subjected to severe weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, or floods.

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

In carrying out subsection (a), the Under Secretary, in coordination with the program established under section 403(a) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026, shall—

(1) conduct and transition to operations the research necessary to develop and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guidance technology for tornadoes and related weather phenomena;

(2) incorporate into tornado modeling and forecasting, as appropriate, social, behavioral, risk, communication, and economic sciences;

(3) enhance workforce training on radar interpretation and use of tornado warning systems; and

(4) expand computational resources, including cloud computing, to support higher-resolution modeling to advance the capability for warn-on-forecast.

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with local communities and emergency managers, shall—

(1) evaluate the system used as of the date of the enactment of this section to rate the severity of tornadoes;

(2) determine whether updates to such system are required to ensure such ratings accurately reflect the severity of tornados; and

(3) if determined necessary, update such system.

The Under Secretary shall submit to Congress, with the budget of the President submitted under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for a fiscal year, a proposed budget for activities to carry out this section in that fiscal year.

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary to carry out this section $11,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030, of which not less than $2,000,000 each fiscal year shall be used for grants awarded to institutions under subsection (e).

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The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by amending the item relating to section 103 to read as follows:

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Section 104 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514) is amended to read as follows:

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the United States weather industry and academic partners, shall maintain a program to improve hurricane forecasting, predictions, and warnings.

The goal of the program under subsection (a) shall be to develop and extend accurate hurricane forecasts, predictions, and warnings in order to reduce the loss of life or property related to hurricanes, with a focus on the following:

(1) Improving the understanding, prediction, and communication of rapid intensity change and projected path of hurricanes, including probabilistic methods for hurricane hazard mapping.

(2) Improving the forecast and impact-based communication of inland flooding, compound flooding, and storm surges from hurricanes, in coordination with the program established under section 205 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026.

(3) Incorporating social, behavioral, risk, communication, and economic sciences to clearly inform response to prevent the loss of life or property.

(4) Evaluating and incorporating, as appropriate, innovative observations, including acoustic or infrasonic measurements, novel sensor technologies, observation tools or networks, crewed or uncrewed systems, and hosted instruments on commercial aircrafts, vessels, and satellites.

In carrying out subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall award grants for research, including relating to the following:

(1) Implementing key strategies and following priorities and objectives outlined by the 2019 report of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration entitled, Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program.

(2) In coordination with the Social and Behavioral Sciences Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council and other relevant interagency committees, improving the social, behavioral, and economic sciences related to risk communication, and delivery of information critical for reducing the loss of life or property related to hurricanes.

(3) Improving the physical sciences, operational modeling, and tools related to hurricane formation, the impacts of wind and water-based hurricane hazards on the built and natural environment, and the interaction of hurricanes and tornadoes.

In carrying out subsection (a), the Under Secretary, in coordination with the program established under section 403(a) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026, shall—

(1) conduct and transition to operations the research necessary to develop and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guidance technology relating to hurricanes and related weather phenomena;

(2) incorporate into hurricane modeling and forecasting, as appropriate, social, behavioral, and economic sciences research; and

(3) expand computational resources, including cloud computing, to support and improve higher resolution operational modeling of hurricanes and related weather phenomena.

Not later than June 1 of each year until 2029, the Under Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report that includes the following:

(1) The number and causes of missed mission requirements for the National Hurricane Operations Plan and the National Winter Season Operations Plan, including those related to equipment malfunction, aircraft availability, aircraft maintenance, flight hour limits, and availability of pilots or other air and maintenance crew members.

(2) Requirements related to the plans described in paragraph (1) that were requested by forecasters but not tasked, and the reasons why those were not tasked.

(3) A workforce management plan addressing any shortfalls in human capital resources that are necessary for hurricane observational data collection aboard aircraft or uncrewed systems.

(4) A summary of—

(A) hurricane technology that is under research and development to improve confidence in hurricane track and intensity predictions;

(B) hurricane technology that is at the prototype demonstration stage or beyond; and

(C) plans for transitioning the hurricane technology described in subparagraph (B) into operations.

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The Tsunami Warning and Education Act (enacted as title VIII of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479)) is amended in the title heading, by inserting, Research, after Warning.

Section 803 of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3202) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting timeliness and before accuracy;

(2) in paragraph (7), by striking and after the semicolon;

(3) in paragraph (8), by striking the period and inserting; and; and

(4) by adding at the end the following:

(9) to ensure data and metadata are managed, archived, and made available for operations, research, education, and mitigation activities in accordance with section 305 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017.

(4) .

Section 804 of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3203) is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)—

(A) in paragraph (4), by inserting, using industry and scientific best practices, after operational condition;

(B) in paragraph (5)—

(i) in subparagraph (C), by striking global seismic network and inserting Global Seismic Network;

(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), (E), (F), and (G), as subparagraphs (E), (F), (G), and (H), respectively; and

(iii) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:

(D) the global navigation satellite system network;

(iii) ;

(C) by amending paragraph (6) to read as follows:

(6) ensure data quality and management systems, support data and metadata access and archiving, and support the requirements of the program pursuant to the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–435) and chapter 31 of title 44, United States Code;

(C) ;

(D) in paragraph (7)—

(i) by amending the matter preceding subparagraph (A) to read as follows: include a cooperative effort among the Administration, the United States Geological Survey, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation under which the Director of the United States Geological Survey, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall—;

(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking and at the end; and

(iii) by adding at the end the following:

(C) provide reliable and real-time support for the global navigation satellite system network data streams from networks maintained by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the United States Geological Survey, and supplement instrumentation coverage for rapid earthquake assessment;

(D) assess the data and information relating to warning systems of collaborating agencies for potential utilization in the warning system of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taking into consideration advancement in research and technology;

(E) incorporate, as practicable, tsunami notifications and warnings in the Earthquake Early Warning System of the United States Geological Survey; and

(F) incorporate, as practicable, preliminary analysis or data from the National Earthquake Information Center regarding the source and magnitude of an offshore earthquake within 5 minutes of detection;

(iii) ;

(E) in paragraph (8)—

(i) by inserting and decision support aides after graphical warning products,; and

(ii) by inserting -prone after tsunami;

(F) in paragraph (9), by striking and after the semicolon;

(G) in paragraph (10), by striking the period and inserting; and; and

(H) by adding at the end the following:

(11) update tsunami inundation maps, models, or other geographic products, in order to best support, as appropriate, relevant agencies with tsunami mitigation and recovery activities.

(H) ;

(2) in subsection (c)—

(A) by striking paragraph (1) and redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and

(B) in paragraph (1), as so redesignated—

(i) by striking the Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, that are determined— and inserting the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic Oceans, including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, that are determined to pose significant risks of tsunami for States and United States territories along the coastal areas of such regions; and; and

(ii) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B);

(3) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) as subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h), respectively;

(4) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:

The Administrator, in collaboration with social scientists, emergency personnel, and high-risk communities, shall—

(1) evaluate tsunami alert levels terminology, timing, and effectiveness;

(2) determine if such alerts produce the desired response and understanding from possible tsunami-prone communities; and

(3) if necessary, update the alert level system for increased effectiveness.

(4) ;

(5) in subsection (e), as so redesignated—

(A) in paragraph (1)—

(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting responsible for Alaska, the continental United States, Hawaii, United States territories, and international entities the Administrator determines appropriate before the period;

(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking, which is primarily responsible for Alaska and the continental United States; and

(iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking, which is primarily responsible for Hawaii, the Caribbean, and other areas of the Pacific not covered by the National Center;

(B) in paragraph (2)—

(i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting current, after sea level,;

(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking and volcanic eruptions and inserting volcanic eruptions, or other sources;

(iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking buoy data and tidal and inserting and coastal;

(iv) in subparagraph (E), by striking Integrated Ocean Observing System of the Administration and inserting United States and global ocean and coastal observing system;

(v) in subparagraph (H), by inserting monitoring needs, after response,; and

(vi) by amending subparagraph (I) to read as follows:

(I) Providing a Tsunami Warning Coordinator to coordinate with partners and stakeholders products and services of the centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1).

(vi) ;

(C) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:

The Administrator shall support and maintain fail-safe warning capability for the tsunami warning centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1), and such centers shall conduct at least one service backup drill biannually.

(C) ;

(D) in paragraph (4)—

(i) by amending the matter preceding subparagraph (A) to read as follows: The Administrator shall coordinate with the weather forecast offices of the National Weather Service, the centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1), and such national and regional program offices of the Administration as the Administrator or the coordinating committee, as established in section 805(b), consider appropriate to ensure that regional and local weather forecast offices—;

(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking and after the semicolon;

(iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period and inserting; and; and

(iv) by adding at the end the following:

(D) conduct education and outreach efforts to help prepare coastal communities for tsunami hazards.

(iv) ;

(E) in paragraph (5)—

(i) in the paragraph heading, by striking Uniform and inserting Standardized;

(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking uniform and inserting standardized;

(iii) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking uniform and inserting standardized;

(iv) in subparagraph (D), by striking and after the semicolon;

(v) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period and inserting; and; and

(vi) by adding at the end the following:

(F) align the analytic techniques and methodologies of the existing tsunami warning centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1) to ensure seamless continuity of operations and mitigate risk of operational failure by prioritizing investments that include—

(i) replacing end of life equipment;

(ii) ensuring product consistency;

(iii) enabling consistent operational process for backup capabilities;

(iv) mitigating existing operational security risks; and

(v) meeting information security requirements specified in chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code.

(vi) ; and

(F) by adding at the end the following:

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this paragraph and annually thereafter until such time as all relevant requirements have been satisfied, the Administrator 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 an update briefing on the progress of the following:

(A) Standardizing products and procedures under paragraph (5), including tsunami assessments, forecast guidance, and related products.

(B) Migrating the message generation systems of the centers supported or maintained under paragraph (1) to the Advanced Weather Information Processing System, or successor systems.

(C) The structural reorganization effort, if necessary, to align the organizational charts of those centers.

(D) The expected timeline for the full completion of standardizing the products and procedures of those centers.

(F) ;

(6) in subsection (f), as so redesignated—

(A) in paragraph (1)—

(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting detect, measure, and after used to;

(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking and after the semicolon;

(iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking and the Advanced National Seismic System; and inserting the Advanced National Seismic System, and the global navigation satellite system; and; and

(iv) by adding at the end the following:

(D) by ensuring research is coordinated with tsunami warning operations;

(iv) ; and

(B) in paragraph (3), by inserting according to industry best practices before the period; and

(7) in subsection (h)(2)(A), as so redesignated, by striking accuracy of the tsunami model used and inserting timeliness and accuracy of the forecast used to issue the warning.

The Tsunami Warning and Education Act (enacted as title VIII of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479)) is amended by inserting after section 804 (33 U.S.C. 3203) the following:

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Under Secretary shall—

(A) conduct an assessment of—

(i) the tsunami watches and warnings of the National Weather Service; and

(ii) the information delivery to support preparation and responses to tsunamis; and

(B) submit to Congress a report on the findings of the Under Secretary with respect to the assessment required by subparagraph (A).

The assessment required by paragraph (1)(A) shall include the following:

(A) An evaluation of whether the watches, warnings, and information described in paragraph (1)(A) effectively—

(i) communicate risk to the general public;

(ii) inform action to prevent loss of life and property;

(iii) inform action to support tsunami preparation and response; and

(iv) deliver information in a manner designed to lead to appropriate action.

(B) Subject to subsection (b)(2), such recommendations as the Under Secretary may have for—

(i) legislative and administrative action to improve the watches and warnings described in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and

(ii) such research as the Under Secretary considers necessary to address the focus areas described in paragraph (3).

The assessment required by paragraph (1)(A) shall focus on the following areas:

(A) Ways to communicate the risks posed by hazardous tsunami events to the public that are most likely to result in informed decision making regarding the mitigation of those risks.

(B) Ways to provide actionable geographic information to the recipient of a watch or warning for tsunami, including partnering with emergency response agencies, as appropriate.

(C) Evaluation of information delivery to support the preparation for and response to tsunamis.

In conducting the assessment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Secretary shall consult with—

(A) individuals in the academic sector, including individuals in the fields of social and behavioral sciences;

(B) other weather services;

(C) media outlets and other entities that distribute the watches and warnings described in paragraph (1)(A)(i);

(D) emergency planners and responders, including State, local, and Tribal emergency management agencies;

(E) other government users of the watches and warnings described in paragraph (1)(A)(i), including the Federal Highway Administration; and

(F) such other Federal agencies as the Under Secretary determines rely on watches and warnings regarding tsunamis for operational decisions.

In conducting the assessment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Secretary shall use such methodologies as the Under Secretary considers are generally accepted by the weather enterprise, including methodologies of the fields of social and behavioral sciences.

Based on the assessment required by subsection (a)(1)(A), the Under Secretary shall make such improvements to the watches and warnings described in that subsection as the Under Secretary considers necessary—

(A) to improve the communication of the risks posed by tsunami events; and

(B) to provide actionable geographic information to the recipient of a watch or warning for a tsunami.

In conducting the assessment required by subsection (a)(1)(A), the Under Secretary shall ensure that any recommendation under subsection (a)(2)(B) that the Under Secretary considers a major change—

(A) is validated by social and behavioral science using a generalizable sample;

(B) accounts for the needs of various demographics, vulnerable populations, and geographic regions;

(C) responds to the needs of Federal, State, local, and Tribal government partners and media partners; and

(D) accounts for necessary changes to federally operated watch and warning propagation and dissemination infrastructure and protocols.

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The table of contents for the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (enacted as title VIII of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479)) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 804 the following:

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Section 805(c) of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3204(c)) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (5)—

(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), and (G) as subparagraphs (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), and (H), respectively;

(B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:

(B) Coastal digital elevation models to support the development of inundation maps.

(B) ; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

(I) Evaluation of the variation of inundation impact resulting from tsunami-driven sediment transport.

(J) Evaluation of tsunami debris impact on critical infrastructure (as defined in subsection (e) of the Critical Infrastructures Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c)) and lifelines.

(K) High-resolution and high-quality digital elevation models needed for at-risk coastlines, ports, and harbors, particularly for regions not covered by existing inundation maps.

(C) ; and

(2) in paragraph (7)(C), by inserting and behavioral after social.

Section 806 of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3205) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)—

(A) by striking section 805(d) and inserting section 805(b); and

(B) by inserting and management after data collection;

(2) in subsection (b)—

(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting deployment and after may include;

(B) in paragraph (3), by striking social science research and inserting social and behavioral science research, including data collection,;

(C) in paragraph (4), by striking and after the semicolon;

(D) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (7); and

(E) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:

(5) develop decision support tools;

(6) leverage and prioritize research opportunities; and

(E) ; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and not less frequently than every 3 years thereafter, the Administrator, in consultation with the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services, shall develop a research and development and research to operations plan to improve tsunami detection and forecasting capabilities that—

(1) identifies and prioritizes research and development priorities to satisfy section 804;

(2) identifies key research needs for better detecting tsunamis that may occur in open ocean and along the coastlines of the United States and the territories of the United States, improve forecasting of tsunamis that are not seismically driven, and other opportunities determined appropriate;

(3) develops plans for transitioning research to operations; and

(4) identifies collaboration opportunities that may advance and align tsunami research, development, warnings, and operations between the centers supported or maintained under section 804, the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Tsunami Research, the National Science Foundation, the United States Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, institutions of higher education, private entities and other appropriate stakeholders.

(3) .

Section 807(d) of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3206(d)) is amended by inserting and management after data sharing.

Section 808 of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3206a) is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting and behavioral after social; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

The Panel shall terminate not later than 6 years after the date of the enactment of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026.

(2) .

Section 809 of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (33 U.S.C. 3207) is amended to read as follows:

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this title $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030, of which—

(1) not less than 27 percent of the amount appropriated for each fiscal year shall be for activities conducted at the State level under the national tsunami hazard mitigation program under section 805; and

(2) not less than 8 percent of the amount appropriated shall be for the tsunami research program under section 806.

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Section 106 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8516) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (3)—

(A) by inserting Federal before observing capabilities; and

(B) by striking and after the semicolon;

(2) in paragraph (4)—

(A) by inserting, including private sector partnerships or commercial acquisition, after options; and

(B) by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

(5) compare costs and schedule, including cost-benefit analyses, of Federal and private sector supplemental options to fill the observation data requirements under paragraph (1) and gaps identified pursuant to paragraph (3); and

(6) not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026, submit to Congress a report that provides an analysis of the technical, schedule, cost, and cost-benefit analyses relating to placing an operational polar-orbiting environmental satellite capability in the early morning orbit to support the weather enterprise and the mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(3) .

Section 107 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8517) is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)(3), by striking providing data and inserting comparison to current or experimental commercial system capabilities that provide data;

(2) in subsection (c)(1), by striking, including polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite systems,;

(3) by striking subsection (d); and

(4) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (d).

Section 108 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8518) is amended by striking subsection (a)(3)(C) and all that follows through subsection (b)(7) and inserting the following:

The Under Secretary shall leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to facilitate, optimize, and further leverage advanced computing to accomplish critical missions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Under Secretary shall include computing requirements needed to support technologies specified in paragraph (1) as part of major acquisitions of high-performance computing systems or cloud computing services for research, testing and evaluation, and operations.

The Under Secretary may expand, and where applicable establish, centers of excellence to aid the adoption of next-generation artificial intelligence and machine learning-enabled advanced computing capabilities.

Each center expanded or established under paragraph (1) may carry out activities that include the following:

(A) Leveraging public-private partnerships for infrastructure development training, and workforce development.

(B) Developing and optimizing tools, libraries, algorithms, data structures, and other supporting software necessary for specific applications on high-performance computing systems.

(C) Applying modern artificial intelligence, deep machine learning, and advanced data analysis technologies to address current and emerging challenges.

(D) To the maximum extent practicable, exploring quantum computing and related partnerships with public, private, and academic entities to improve the accuracy and resolution of weather predictions.

The Under Secretary may enter into multiyear contracts in accordance with section 3903 of title 41, United States Code, and shall ensure compliance with all contract clauses provided in such section.

The limitation on the duration of such contracts provided under subsection (a) of such section of title 41, United States Code, shall not apply to contracts for operations, research, and development related to high-performance and cloud computing infrastructure or systems, including any associated services or support, provided that such contracts comply with applicable law and include appropriate safeguards for any with an unfunded contingent liability in the event of cancellation.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026, the Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Energy, shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report evaluating the following:

(1) A best estimate of the overall value of high-resolution probabilistic forecast guidance for hazardous weather or water events (as defined in section 401 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026) using a next-generation weather forecast and warning framework.

(2) The need for cloud computing, quantum computing, or high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination collaboration between the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(3) A timeline and guidance for implementation of the following:

(A) High-resolution numerical weather prediction models.

(B) Methods for meeting the cloud computing, quantum computing, or high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination needs identified under paragraph (2).

.

The Under Secretary shall make publicly available not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and update every 5 years thereafter until 2035, a 10-year strategic plan that outlines the high-performance computing and data management requirements and needs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and actions and strategies to address those requirements and needs.

At a minimum, the strategic plan required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A) A 10-year prospective outlook of computing resources and upgrades needed to meet the mission needs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for fisheries management, oceanographic forecasting, and ecological forecasting.

(B) A discussion of—

(i) computing and processing resources of the Administration and a 10-year projected need for such resources, disaggregated by line office of the Administration;

(ii) facilities, commercial contracts, and partnerships (with other Federal agencies or other institutions or entities) of the Administration that are providing computing and data management support or capacity as of the date of the plan;

(iii) the use by the Administration of cloud computing and other emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning;

(iv) additional technologies that have the potential to increase effectiveness and efficiency for data storage and processing power, including challenges to access and use of those technologies;

(v) the distribution of computing resources among the operations and research functions of the Administration;

(vi) products and services of the Administration that have not become available to the public because of a lack of computing resources;

(vii) current and future workforce development needs of the Administration, such as information technology and software engineering needs; and

(viii) the high-performance computing requirements of the Administration, with a special focus on requirements that are common across line offices of the Administration.

(C) Timelines, and performance measures for assessing progress toward attaining goals for—

(i) computing infrastructure and architecture of the Administration (including facilities, hardware, and software); and

(ii) use by the Administration of technologies that will increase effectiveness and efficiency for data storage and processing power, including challenges to access and use of such technologies.

(D) A 10-year life cycle analysis of the management of facilities, hardware, and engineering involved in the strategic plan that includes—

(i) program formulation for project conception, implementation, and closure; and

(ii) technical infrastructure, products, processes, data, and personnel resources required to achieve defined cost, schedule, and performance objectives.

(E) If appropriate, a description of actions taken to implement the previous plan.

In developing the strategic plan required by paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall invite comments and other feedback from the public to inform the strategic plan.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until 2029, the Under Secretary shall brief Congress on the progress made toward the objectives of the strategic plan required by paragraph (1).

Each briefing required by subparagraph (A) shall include the following:

(i) An evaluation of the progress made in implementing the strategic plan.

(ii) Such updates to the strategic plan as the Under Secretary considers appropriate.

Section 102(b)(5) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)(5)) is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking and after the semicolon; and

(2) by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting the following:

(E) developing community weather research modeling systems that—

(i) are accessible by the public in accordance with section 10601 of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (15 U.S.C. 8512a) and available for archive and long-term study;

(ii) meet basic end-user requirements for running on public computers and networks located outside of secure National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration information and technology systems;

(iii) utilize, whenever appropriate and cost effective, innovative strategies and methods, including cloud-based computing capabilities, for hosting and management of part or all of the systems described in this subparagraph;

(iv) utilize modeling systems that allow for interoperability with new model components, modules, and next-generation software and coding languages;

(v) allow for open testing and integration of promising operational model improvements from the broader community;

(vi) access on as close to a real-time basis as possible operational data and metadata, including commercially purchased data for use in the model testing conducted by the Earth Prediction Innovation Center pursuant to redistribution restrictions, licensing agreements, and applicable laws (including regulations); and

(vii) provide supported and portable versions of the unified forecast system, including applications for fire weather, subseasonal to seasonal forecasting, hurricane, space weather, ocean, cryosphere, air quality, and coastal models, that can reproduce current operational global and regional model prediction; and

(F) establishing a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Data Lake, to be maintained by the Administration, a commercial partner, or non-profit entity, that consolidates and maintains a publicly available and continuously updated collection of data and metadata used in numerical weather prediction for use in the Earth Prediction Innovation Center’s model testing, pursuant to redistribution restrictions, licensing agreements, and applicable laws (including regulations).

(2) .

Section 301 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8531) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (1) and redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively;

(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

The Under Secretary shall maintain a fleet of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration space-based observation platforms that provide critical operations-focused data and information to support the mission of the Administration in order to protect lives and property from extreme weather and other natural phenomena.

The Under Secretary shall implement recommendations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Observing Systems Council to ensure an appropriate mix of government, academic, commercial sector, and international partnerships in the provision of data and information, including a broadened effort on data acquisition through the Commercial Data Program under section 302 when cost effective and beneficial to the Administration.

The Under Secretary shall ensure that platforms maintained under paragraph (1) prioritize the development of products and services that are tailored to meet the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s mission and have sufficient Federal personnel to manage and operate the platforms and associated infrastructure.

The Under Secretary shall maintain the National Centers for Environmental Information to provide a long-term archive and access to the national and global data and metadata of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(2) ;

(3) in subsection (c) by adding at the end the following:

The Under Secretary shall, subject to available appropriations, develop and maintain geostationary extended observations, known as GeoXO, that—

(i) retain continuity of data in geostationary orbit, with data quality standards meeting or exceeding those of the GOES–R program or successor program;

(ii) modernize core weather-monitoring capabilities, while ensuring imaging and sounding remain core instruments on all satellites; and

(iii) launch not later than 2032.

Before terminating any program elements relating to geostationary extended observations under subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a revised mission architecture and implementation plan, including component costs, costs associated with terminating or altering current mission architecture, and a planned launch schedule.

In this subparagraph, the term appropriate committees of Congress means—

(I) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(II) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(3) ; and

(4) in subsection (f)(1), by striking 2023 and inserting 2030.

Section 102(b)(3) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)(3)) is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking aerial and inserting crewed and uncrewed aerial and surface; and

(2) in subparagraph (G), by striking, including commercial observing systems and inserting, including stationary and mobile commercial observing systems, such as uncrewed aircraft and marine systems, to provide observations of the atmosphere and ocean, and other observations, in cooperation with the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

Section 102 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512) is further amended—

(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:

In carrying out the program under this section, the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, whenever practical, shall use uncrewed aerial systems to assess damage and assist recovery after an extreme weather or water event.

In carrying out the program under this section, the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations may acquire uncrewed aerial systems and training resources for the regional offices and partners of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the use and deployment of those systems in storm assessments and response.

(2) .

Section 402 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8542) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)—

(A) by striking Interagency Committee for Advancing Weather Services and inserting Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services (in this section referred to as the Interagency Council); and

(B) by striking Committee each place it appears and inserting Council;

(2) by amending subsections (b) and (c) to read as follows:

The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Under Secretary shall serve as co-chairs of the Interagency Council. The Under Secretary shall serve as the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology.

The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall take such steps as are necessary to coordinate the activities of the Federal Government with stakeholders in the United States weather industry, academic partners, State governments, and emergency managers.

(2) ; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

The Interagency Council shall be the formal mechanism by which all relevant Federal agencies coordinate implementation of policy and practices to ensure United States global leadership in meteorological services. In doing so, the Interagency Council shall review programs and support relevant weather research and forecast innovation activities, and other related implementation activities, related to Federal meteorological services, including by carrying out the following:

(1) Identifying and helping prioritize meteorological research and service delivery needs, including relating to observations, operational systems, communications, and infrastructure.

(2) Providing recommendations to streamline or consolidate activities and develop greater efficiencies in cross-agency activities.

(3) Leveraging Earth system science research outcomes of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other relevant Federal agencies, including research outcomes related to the relevant recommended key science and applications questions and priorities in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2018 report Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation from Space, to understand and predict high-impact weather phenomena.

(4) Facilitating the expansion and strengthening of partnerships with private sector entities to advance meteorological research, communications, and computing.

(5) Sharing information regarding meteorological research improvement needs and science opportunities across relevant Federal agencies.

(6) Providing advice to all relevant Federal agencies regarding potential collaborations and expected levels of resources needed to maintain and operate the Interagency Council.

(7) Enhancing communication and coordination and promoting sharing within relevant Federal agencies and across the Interagency Council.

(8) Developing, recruiting, and sustaining a professional workforce for meteorological research and services.

The Interagency Council, in coordination with, and avoiding duplication with the efforts of, the United States Group on Earth Observations, shall promote data and metadata access and archive activities to increase accessibility, interoperability, and reusability by maintaining a data inventory of meteorological observations. Not less frequently than once every 2 years for a period of 10 years beginning on the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Interagency Council shall solicit updated information from private sector entities identifying current and near future sources of such data. Such data shall be made available to participating agencies of the Interagency Council specified under subsection (a).

The Interagency Meteorological Coordination Office shall provide to the Interagency Council such administrative and logistical support as the Interagency Council may require, as determined by the co-chairs.

Participating agencies of the Interagency Council specified under subsection (a) may provide reimbursable financial support to the Interagency Meteorological Coordinating Office to enhance cost sharing and collaboration related to weather research and forecast innovation activities.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter until 2030, the Interagency Council shall publish a report that identifies among participating agencies of the Interagency Council specified under subsection (a) the following:

(1) Federal programs that use meteorological observations, data sources, and capabilities.

(2) Federal programs that acquire such observations, data, and capabilities from private sector entities.

(3) Advancements in meteorological data collection, assimilation, and forecasting that could improve Federal programmatic operational capabilities.

(4) Barriers to acquiring meteorological observations, data sources, and capabilities that could be used to better meet Federal programmatic needs.

(3) .

Any reference to the Interagency Committee for Advancing Weather Services in any law, rule, regulation, paper, document, map, or other record of the United States shall be deemed to be a reference to the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services.

Section 12304(b) of the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3603(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

The Administrator, in coordination with the heads of relevant Federal agencies, shall, subject to relevant regulations and certifications, maintain pilot programs or projects to contract with research or commercial ship operators for data collection and assess the potential costs, benefits, and viability of a network of ocean and atmospheric observing instruments operating on research or commercial ocean vessels, including in the Arctic, in order to supplement the Integrated Coastal, Great Lakes, and Ocean Observation System in improving understanding of coastal and ocean systems and their relationships to human activities.

The Administrator shall ensure that data acquired through the pilot programs or projects established pursuant to subparagraph (A) meets the most recent standards and specifications required for observation services and data as published pursuant to section 302(d) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017.

Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall submit to Congress a report on the requirements for a global network of ocean and atmospheric instruments operating on research or commercial ocean vessels for measurement and data transmission.

This paragraph shall terminate on the earlier of—

(i) September 30, 2030; or

(ii) 1 year after the date on which the report required under subparagraph (B) is submitted by the Administrator.

.

The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended—

(A) in section 102 (15 U.S.C. 8512), as amended by section 111(b)(1) of this Act, by striking subsection (e);

(B) by amending section 105 (15 U.S.C. 8515) to read as follows:

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this section, and not less frequently than once every 2 years thereafter, the Under Secretary, acting through the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and in coordination with the Director of the National Weather Service and the Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services, shall issue a research and development and research to operations plan to maintain United States leadership in numerical weather prediction and forecasting that—

(1) describes the forecasting skill and technology goals, technology transfer plan, and progress of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in carrying out the program conducted under section 102;

(2) identifies and prioritizes specific research and development activities, data collection and analysis, predictive modeling, demonstration of potential operational forecast application, education, training, and performance metrics, weighted to meet the operational weather and flood-event mission of the National Weather Service to achieve a weather-ready Nation;

(3) describes how the program conducted under section 102 will collaborate with Federal agencies, international partners, and stakeholders, including the United States weather industry and academic partners, and the role of each in advancing weather forecasting and communications;

(4) identifies, through consultation with the National Science Foundation, the United States weather industry, and academic partners, research necessary to advance the scientific understanding of weather processes and improve weather warning and forecast systems in the United States most effectively;

(5) describes the ongoing research projects of the United States Weather Research Program, the goals of those projects, and those projects related to weather observations, short-term weather, or subseasonal forecasts within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research that are closest to operationalization; and

(6) describes how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is advancing community weather modeling.

(B) ;

(C) in section 403 (15 U.S.C. 8543)—

(i) in subsection (a), by inserting the after Director of; and

(ii) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

Not less frequently than once each year, the Under Secretary shall—

(1) brief the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives on participation in the program under subsection (a); and

(2) highlight any innovations that come from the interaction described in subsection (b).

(ii) ; and

(D) by striking sections 408 through 411 and section 414 and redesignating sections 412 and 413 as sections 408 and 409, respectively.

The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by striking the items relating to sections 408 through 414 and inserting the following:

.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567) is amended—

(1) in section 106, by striking subsection (c) (15 U.S.C. 1537); and

(2) in section 108 (15 U.S.C. 8520)—

(A) in subsection (a)—

(i) by striking paragraph (5); and

(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (12) as paragraphs (5) through (11), respectively;

(B) by striking subsection (b); and

(C) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (b).

Title VI of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8561 et seq.) is amended—

(1) by redesignating section 603 as section 604; and

(2) by inserting after section 602 the following:

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the United States weather industry, other Federal agencies, and academic partners, shall maintain a program to improve precipitation forecasting across timescales.

The goal of the program under subsection (a) shall be to provide more accurate, reliable, and timely precipitation forecasts across timescales through the development and application of a fully coupled Earth system prediction model in order to reduce the loss of life or property related to precipitation extremes, with a focus on the following:

(1) Improving the understanding and prediction of precipitation extremes from a variety of weather systems, including atmospheric rivers.

(2) Evaluating and incorporating, as appropriate, innovative observations into operational monitoring and forecast systems to improve precipitation forecasts.

(3) Improving Earth system model predictions of precipitation extremes from atmospheric rivers, tropical cyclones, summertime thunderstorms, winter storms, and other phenomena, in coordination with relevant programs.

(4) Enhancing research-to-operations transition through testbeds, including the evaluation of physical and social science, technology, and other research to develop products and services for implementation and use by relevant stakeholders.

(5) Incorporating best practices from the social, behavioral, and economic sciences into operations for more effective and actionable watch and warning products that support public safety and damage mitigation decisions in coordination with the programs established in accordance with this Act.

(6) Ensuring data and metadata management processes are in place to support data access and archive for long-term research and operations among multiple partners.

In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall support research-to-operations work, including the following:

(1) Implementing key strategies and following priorities and objectives outlined in the Precipitation Prediction Grand Challenge Strategy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(2) Improving the physical science, operational modeling and tools, and technology related to better forecasting precipitation extremes across timescales.

(3) Improving the social, behavioral, and economic sciences related to risk communication, and delivery of information critical for reducing the loss of life or property related to extreme precipitation.

(4) Conducting the research necessary to develop and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guidance technology relating to precipitation extremes in operational practice.

(5) Enhancing the operational capacity of the National Weather Service to deliver decision support for extreme precipitation.

(6) Expanding computational resources to improve precipitation modeling.

The Under Secretary shall submit to Congress, with the budget of the President submitted under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for a fiscal year, a proposed budget for activities to carry out this section in that fiscal year.

It is the sense of Congress that improved precipitation forecasts should support improved water resource management and resilience to extreme water related events, such as floods and drought, which may include the use of enhanced streamflow prediction.

(2) .

The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by striking the item relating to section 603 and inserting the following:

.

The Under Secretary may establish a long-term, agency-wide initiative to focus and align numerical weather prediction activities around a shared strategic vision for the future to further protect lives and property, enhance the national economy, and promote international leadership.

An initiative under subsection (a) shall encourage physics-based and data-driven modeling approaches, the use of ensemble systems, continuous and collaborative model development, and the modernization of modeling infrastructure and software practices.

In carrying out an initiative under subsection (a), the Under Secretary should seek to—

(1) enhance forecast accuracy, efficiency, and interpretability;

(2) leverage innovation from the broader weather enterprise;

(3) use advanced computing technologies and observational data;

(4) periodically evaluate existing modeling systems to ensure resources are focused on the most capable and impactful forecast solutions while maintaining operational continuity; and

(5) explore artificial intelligence-based modeling capabilities and related training data needs.

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.

The Under Secretary shall carry out activities to ensure comprehensive weather observation coverage, impact-based decision support services, and emergency information sharing in the United States, including the following:

(1) Identifying regions in the United States and the territories of the United States that are under observed, and as a result, have data gaps or experience disproportionate impacts from hazardous weather that threatens human life, health, and property.

(2) Identifying any challenges that contribute to the lack of weather observations under paragraph (1).

(3) Increasing weather observations and developing new weather observational capabilities with respect to the regions identified under paragraph (1).

(4) Establishing or supporting testbeds and deployments of decision support services to Federal, State, and local emergency operations centers to develop and integrate new weather, water, and climate observation or emergency information sharing tools, with respect to the regions identified under paragraph (1).

(5) To the maximum extent practicable, advancing weather and water forecasting and subseasonal to seasonal modeling capabilities for the regions identified under paragraph (1).

(6) Undertaking workforce development efforts for emergency management officials and meteorologists in the regions identified under paragraph (1).

(7) Using observations to fill voids in data and better understand extreme rainfall in complex topography.

(8) Contributing to a national integrated heat health information system.

The Under Secretary shall carry out activities under subsection (a)—

(1) in coordination with the Director of the National Weather Service and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency;

(2) in consultation with the United States weather industry and academic partners; and

(3) in accordance with activities implemented through existing regional atmospheric, coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes observing systems.

In carrying out this section, the Under Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Weather Service and in collaboration with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall establish an interagency partnership to support pilot projects that accelerate coordination and use of localized weather, water, and subseasonal to seasonal data and impact-based decision support services in infrastructure and emergency management decisions by Federal, State, and local officials.

At least one pilot project under paragraph (1) shall address key science challenges to using mesonet data in local decision making and development of new tools and training for owners and operators of critical infrastructure (as defined in subsection (e) of the Critical Infrastructures Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c)), such as dams, energy generation and distribution facilities, nuclear power plants, and transportation networks.

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the United States weather industry and academic partners and in coordination with the precipitation forecast improvement program under section 603 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, as added by section 115 of this Act, shall establish an atmospheric river forecast improvement program (in this section referred to as the program).

The goal of the program shall be to reduce the loss of life and property and economic losses from atmospheric rivers through the research, development, and extension of accurate, effective, and actionable forecasts and warnings, including by—

(1) establishing skill metrics for atmospheric river forecasts that include assessing the benefits of dynamical modeling, data assimilation, and machine learning improvements in the probabilistic forecasts of landfall location, extreme wind and precipitation, and cascading impacts;

(2) developing an atmospheric river forecast system within a unified forecast system, and advancing next-generation coupled modeling systems, with the capability of providing seasonal to short-range atmospheric river forecasts that include forecasts of snow accumulation and other hydrologic components;

(3) advancing scientific understanding of the roles of atmospheric rivers in subseasonal to seasonal precipitation and probabilistic predictions at subseasonal to seasonal scales;

(4) developing tools and improved forecast products to predict periods of active or inactive atmospheric river landfalls and inland penetration over the United States with a focus on addressing stakeholder and public needs related to perceiving, comprehending, and responding to atmospheric river forecast improvements;

(5) enhancing the transition of research to operations through testbeds of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the evaluation of physical and social science, technology, and other research to develop products and services for implementation and use by relevant stakeholders; and

(6) incorporating social, behavioral, and economic sciences into atmospheric river modeling and forecasting, as appropriate.

The Under Secretary shall ensure the program periodically examines, tests, and evaluates the value of incorporating innovative observations, data, and measurements with respect to the improvement of atmospheric river analysis, modeling, forecasts, predictions, and warnings.

Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Air Force or the Commander of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the Air Force Reserve Command, shall develop a plan that details the specific activities relating to research, development, data acquisition, partnerships with the weather industry and academic partners, and technology transfer, and corresponding resources and timelines, necessary to achieve the goal of the program under subsection (b). Such plan shall be made available to the public on release.

After the development of the plan pursuant to subsection (d), the Under Secretary shall submit to Congress, with the budget of the President submitted under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for a fiscal year, a proposed budget for the activities identified in such plan for that fiscal year.

In carrying out the program, the Under Secretary may—

(1) develop, test, and operationalize prototype high-resolution Atmospheric River Analysis and Forecasting System models through research and operations partnerships with institutions of higher education and other partners outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

(2) enhance data assimilation of current and new satellite and ocean observations that is useful for atmospheric river analysis and forecasting predictions;

(3) improve data processing techniques related to atmospheric river analysis and forecasting predictions;

(4) use artificial intelligence and machine learning methods as applicable to atmospheric river analysis and forecasting predictions;

(5) ensure the surface and subsurface observations of the ocean meet the needs of atmospheric river analysis and forecasting predictions on different timescales; and

(6) to the maximum extent practicable, improve or establish baseline weather monitoring services in areas that have historically experienced, or are predicted to experience, atmospheric rivers.

The Under Secretary shall acquire and sustain adequate aircraft, scientific equipment, and personnel—

(1) to meet mission requirements of the National Hurricane Operations Plan and the National Winter Season Operations plan;

(2) to ensure atmospheric river air reconnaissance observations are available throughout the expected seasons of tropical cyclones and atmospheric rivers;

(3) to the maximum extent practicable and in accordance with paragraph (5), to ensure data and information collected are made available for research and operations purposes;

(4) to participate in research and operations partnerships that guide flight planning and use research methods to improve and expand the capabilities and effectiveness of atmospheric river reconnaissance over time;

(5) to develop data management strategies to ensure that data and metadata are adequately stewarded, maintained, and archived; and

(6) to undertake such other additional activities as the Under Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Air Force, considers appropriate to improve and grow the hurricane hunter and atmospheric river reconnaissance mission.

The Under Secretary may conduct research and development activities in coordination with the program established under section 403(a)—

(1) to, as appropriate, develop and refine—

(A) methods to categorize the intensity of weather and oceans hazards, including tropical cyclones and atmospheric rivers, on a quantitative scale; and

(B) the effectiveness of such scale in hazard communication;

(2) to develop best practices for communication of atmospheric river events and hazards across regions of the United States;

(3) to gather information from areas prone to hurricanes and atmospheric rivers regarding levels of knowledge and preparedness, including responses to early forecasts and warnings by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and

(4) to explore strategies to communicate, and the effectiveness of communicating, that hurricane and atmospheric river events are beneficial at lower intensities versus hazardous at higher intensity.

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the United States weather industry and academic partners, shall establish a coastal flooding and storm surge forecast improvement program (in this section referred to as the program).

The goal of the program shall be to reduce the loss of life or property from coastal flooding, including high tide flooding, and storm surge events through the development and extension of accurate, effective, actionable, and probable forecasts and warnings.

In implementing the program, the Under Secretary shall prioritize activities that carry out the following:

(1) Improving understanding and capacity for real-time operational prediction of the ocean’s role in coastal flooding, including high tide flooding, and storm surge events.

(2) Improving the capacity to mitigate, adapt to, or prevent the impacts of coastal flooding, including high tide flooding, and storm surge events, including by improving the understanding of coastal communities and the capacity of such communities to perceive, comprehend, and respond to forecast information.

(3) Incorporating data from in situ distributed sensors into predictive models and re-analyses.

(4) Developing probabilistic coastal flooding, including high tide flooding, and storm surge estimates to complement worst-case scenario estimates, including for use in long-term planning and risk management by States, Tribal governments, localities, and emergency managers in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as appropriate.

(5) Establishing skill metrics for coastal inundation forecasting that quantify the benefits of dynamical modeling, data assimilation, and machine learning improvements in the probabilistic forecast of coastal flooding, including high tide flooding, and storm surge risk and impacts.

(6) Improving operational regional storm surge models and, in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey, wave prediction models to enhance probabilistic guidance and messaging.

The Under Secretary shall ensure the program periodically examines, tests, and evaluates the value of incorporating enhanced model physics, hybrid dynamical or machine learning-based prediction systems, and innovative observations, such as novel sensor technologies, observation networks, crewed or uncrewed systems, and hosted instruments on commercial aircrafts, vessels, and satellites, with respect to the improvement of coastal flooding, including high tide flooding, and storm surge forecasts, predictions, and warnings.

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall develop a plan that details the specific research, development, data acquisition, and technology transfer activities, and corresponding resources and timelines, necessary to achieve the goal of the program under subsection (b).

After the development of the plan pursuant to subsection (e), the Under Secretary shall submit to Congress, with the budget of the President submitted under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for a fiscal year, a proposed budget for the activities identified in that plan for that fiscal year.

The Under Secretary shall establish within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a system, to be known as the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (in this section referred to as the System).

The purpose of the System is to reduce heat-related impacts by—

(A) improving the delivery of data, information, forecasts, and warnings related to temperature and extreme heat and related impacts;

(B) developing science-based solutions and tools to improve impact-based decision support services for heat impacts to human life, property, and the United States economy; and

(C) supporting a research program on heat health, in coordination with the agencies represented on the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee.

There is established within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration an interagency committee, to be known as the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee (in this section referred to as the Committee).

The Committee shall coordinate relevant agencies to execute, as appropriate, activities across such agencies to ensure a united Federal approach to reducing health risks from heat.

There is authorized to be appropriated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out this section, including for any administrative costs for the Committee and the System, $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

The Under Secretary shall maintain an airborne observation program (in this subsection referred to as the program) for the acquisition of atmospheric sensor data and the deployment of critical atmospheric sensors, including in partnership with the weather enterprise.

The program shall include activities that carry out the following:

(A) Procurement of weather data available from commercial aircraft, as determined by the Under Secretary.

(B) Acquisition of additional vertical profile observations that provide spatial and temporal density, as determined by the Under Secretary.

(C) Analysis of procured data when incorporated into the unified forecast system of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in order to provide improved forecast information for aircraft.

The Under Secretary shall submit to Congress, with the budget of the President submitted under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for a fiscal year, a proposed budget for the activities described in paragraph (2) for that fiscal year, including and analysis of activities that can be complemented by aircraft of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out the program.

The Director of the National Weather Service shall—

(A) include turbulence events, icing conditions, or other phenomena in the forecasting capabilities of the Aviation Weather Center and the Center Weather Service Units; and

(B) deliver operational forecasts with consistent, timely, and accurate weather and turbulence information for the airspace system and the protection of lives and property.

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Director of the National Weather Service shall—

(A) give consideration to recommendations of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration under section 44720 of title 49, United States Code; and

(B) improve weather and turbulence forecasting capabilities by—

(i) designating or establishing within the Federal Government an interagency working group to determine weather and environmental data or observation requirements, needs, and potential solutions related to aviation weather and turbulence modeling or forecasting;

(ii) identifying current and future potential data gaps related to turbulence events or phenomena that can—

(I) identify or inform route-specific flight planning; and

(II) be supplemented or filled by commercial aviation tools;

(iii) transitioning research initiatives and pilot programs, including a pilot program of instrumentation deployed on commercial aircraft for observing atmospheric composition and other atmospheric factors and support for the evaluation of a sustained observing network using such instrumentation, into operations that improve the forecasting capabilities of the Aviation Weather Center;

(iv) developing and deploying improved probabilistic aviation weather forecast guidance technology; and

(v) updating interagency agreements as appropriate, including to address reimbursable agreements.

Section 102(b)(3) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)(3)), as amended by section 111(a) of this Act, is further amended—

(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as subparagraphs (G) and (H), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:

(F) aviation weather phenomena, including atmospheric composition and turbulence, to improve scientific understanding and forecast capabilities for the airspace system;

(2) .

The Under Secretary shall ensure the Aviation Weather Center is able, to the maximum extent possible, to disseminate in a timely manner full-resolution aviation weather data, forecasts, and information to meet the needs of aviation users.

It is the sense of Congress that the aviation weather services provided to the Federal Aviation Administration by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are critical to the functions of the Federal Aviation Administration and the safety of the flying public.

The Under Secretary and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall enter into or otherwise participate in an interagency agreement for a period of not less than 5 years under which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides weather services to the Federal Aviation Administration.

To inform the interagency agreement under subparagraph (A), the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall, in consultation with the Under Secretary, request proposals from the weather enterprise to evaluate commercial opportunities to supplement, and not replace, weather services or data at central weather service units provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The interagency agreement under subparagraph (A) shall ensure that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration fairly compensates the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in a timely manner, for utilizing services under this agreement.

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter through December 31, 2030, the Under Secretary and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall provide a briefing to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives on the status of—

(A) the provision by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of weather services to the Federal Aviation Administration; and

(B) the interagency agreement under paragraph (2).

The Assistant Administrator of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (in this section referred to as the Assistant Administrator) shall maintain a partnership program to enhance engagement with the private sector, academia, and other Federal agencies (in this subsection referred to as the partnership program).

The Assistant Administrator, in consultation with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall administer broad agency announcements and other transactional authority or contracting mechanisms, on an annual or more frequent basis, to support the partnership program.

To support the development of next-generation technologies, missions, data systems, spacecraft, and instrument design, the Assistant Administrator, in consultation with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall maintain a program to transition selected awards from research and study phases into demonstration (in this subsection referred to as the transition program).

In selecting awardees for demonstrations under the transition program, the Assistant Administrator shall consider technologies, missions, data systems, spacecraft, and instrument design that—

(A) improve upon the satellite architecture of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

(B) have a direct impact on implementing the recommendations of the Satellite Observing System Architecture Study of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration entitled, Building a Plan for NOAA’s 21st Century Satellite Observing System and dated May 31, 2018; and

(C) meet current or future mission requirements.

In carrying out the transition program, the Assistant Administrator shall monitor demonstration phase progress and plan for promising results that meet mission requirements to be transitioned into the operational satellite architecture of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter through 2029, the Assistant Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives an annual plan that outlines the progress made in the partnership program under subsection (a), the transition program under subsection (b), and operational planning under subsection (b)(3).

From amounts authorized to be appropriated to the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, there shall be available $20,000,000 for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out to this section.

Not later than September 30, 2030, the Under Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Weather Service, shall develop a strategy to transition operations of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System to an operational cloud-based environment.

The Under Secretary shall ensure that the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System in an operational cloud-based environment referred to in subsection (a) provides impact-based decision support services to emergency managers at the Federal, State, local, and Tribal levels, and continues to provide the following services:

(1) Integrating and displaying forecast data, including meteorological, hydrological, climate, ocean, satellite, and radar data, for field offices and national centers of the National Weather Service.

(2) Acquiring and processing observational data from sensors and local sources.

(3) Providing an interactive communications system, including any relevant capabilities of the existing satellite broadcast network, to connect relevant employees and sites of the National Weather Service.

(4) Initiating the dissemination of weather, water, marine, ecological, subseasonal to seasonal, aviation, and space warnings and forecasts in a rapid and highly reliable manner.

The transition of operations required under subsection (a) may include the following:

(1) Establishment or support of testbeds, pilot projects, and functional testing activities to facilitate remote evaluation and automated testing.

(2) Coordinated training efforts needed for Federal and non-Federal users and operators of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System in an operational cloud-based environment referred to in subsection (a).

(3) Evaluation of bandwidth requirements to achieve a quality user experience.

(4) Installation of circuits to reduce lapses in network operations and support backup functions.

(5) Establishment of a cloud-based, remotely accessible repository for data referred to in subsection (b)(2).

(6) Development and deployment of virtualized systems to replace physical hardware at operational sites.

(7) Evaluation of commercial cloud providers, including hybrid approaches, to meet mission needs.

(8) Development, testing, demonstration, evaluation, and operationalization of forecast and warning products, consistent with the mission and scientific expertise of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Under Secretary shall submit 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.

Nothing in this section may be construed as prohibiting the development of new forecast capabilities or sub-systems or implementing modeling advancements on the operational computing systems of the Administration.

The Under Secretary may support reanalysis and reforecasting activities within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including through weather testbeds of the Administration—

(1) for improving weather forecasts, extreme weather predictions, and weather and climate datasets; and

(2) to serve as training data for artificial intelligence and machine learning data-driven models.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director of the National Weather Service shall submit to the Under Secretary and Congress an assessment of the milestones, timelines, and service level expectations required for the expeditious hiring and timely onboarding of employees of the National Weather Service.

Each assessment required by paragraph (1) may include the following:

(A) Recommendations to outsource hiring to any entity other than the National Weather Service in order to meet the milestones, timelines, and service level expectations described in paragraph (1).

(B) Determinations of the number of staff and designated positions required at each forecasting office to provide services to protect lives and property in the geographic region of responsibility.

The Director of the National Weather Service shall enter into a contract with, or continue to partner with, an entity other than the National Weather Service to conduct an assessment of medical impacts, including stress and long-term health impacts, on employees of the National Weather Service related to required rotating shift work.

The assessment required by paragraph (1) may include—

(A) options for mitigating the impacts on employees described in that paragraph; and

(B) recommendations for improving benefits related to required rotating shift work.

Notwithstanding the results of the assessment under subsection (a), the Director of the National Weather Service shall establish service level standards based on staffing levels.

The Director of the National Weather Service may designate at least one service hydrologist at each Weather Forecast Office of the National Weather Service.

Notwithstanding paragraphs (3) and (4), the Director of the National Weather Service may assign the performance of the responsibilities described in this subsection to such other staff of the National Weather Service as the Director considers appropriate.

In order to increase impact-based decision support services, each service coordination hydrologist designated under paragraph (1) shall, with respect to hydrology, carry out the following:

(A) Provide service to the geographic area of responsibility covered by the Weather Forecast Office at which the service coordination hydrologist is employed to help ensure that users of products and services of the National Weather Service can respond effectively to improve outcomes from flood events.

(B) Liaise with users of products and services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, such as emergency managers, the public, academia, media outlets, users in the hydropower, transportation, recreation, and agricultural communities, and forestry, land, fisheries, and water management interests, to evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the products and services referred to in subparagraph (A), including extended-range streamflow forecasts, water supply forecasts, drought outlooks, flood inundation mapping, coastal inundation, and flood warnings.

(C) Collaborate with the National Water Center, the River Forecast Centers, other Weather Forecast Offices, the National Integrated Drought Information System, offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Federal, State, local, and Tribal government agencies, as the Director considers appropriate, in developing, proposing, and implementing plans to develop, modify, or tailor such products and services to improve the usefulness of such products and services.

(D) Engage in interagency partnerships with Federal, State, local, and Tribal government agencies to explore the use of forecast-informed reservoir operations to reduce flood risk and inform decisions related to water resources management.

(E) Ensure the maintenance and accuracy of flooding and water resource management partner call lists, appropriate office hydrologic service policy or procedures, and other hydrologic information or dissemination methodologies or strategies.

(F) Work closely with Federal, State, local, and Tribal emergency and floodplain management agencies, and other agencies relating to disaster management, to ensure a planned, coordinated, and effective preparedness and response effort.

A service coordination hydrologist designated under paragraph (1) may, with respect to hydrology—

(A) work with a State agency to develop plans for promoting more effective use of products and services of the National Weather Service throughout the State concerned;

(B) identify priority community preparedness objectives;

(C) develop plans to carry out the responsibilities described in paragraph (3); and

(D) conduct flooding event preparedness planning and citizen education efforts with and through various State, local, and Tribal government agencies and other disaster management-related organizations.

The Director of the National Weather Service shall—

(A) perform pilot projects for—

(i) transformational services related to decision support services and technology;

(ii) transitioning data and services to the cloud;

(iii) provision of on-site decision support for emergency management operations; and

(iv) transitioning to and communication of probabilistic models, forecasts, and hazard information; and

(B) conduct a study to assess the capabilities needed to scale those pilot projects toward a new and more efficient and effective operations model.

The authority under paragraph (1) shall terminate on the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Nothing in this section may be construed to authorize or require a change in the authorized number of full-time equivalent employees of the National Weather Service or otherwise result in the employment of any additional employees.

Title IV of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8541 et seq.), as amended by section 114(a), is further amended by adding at the end the following:

Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall categorize each position in the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration specified under paragraph (2) as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification System.

The positions that are specified in this paragraph are positions in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that are—

(A) determined by the Under Secretary to be involved in supporting forecasts and warnings to protect human life and property; and

(B) determined by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to be—

(i) a position in the Engineering and Architecture occupational series listed under occupational series 0801, 0802, 0810, 0855, or 0856;

(ii) a position in the Production Controller (Aircraft) occupational series (1152);

(iii) a position in the Physical Sciences occupational series listed under occupational series 1301, 1313, 1315, 1340, 1341, 1360, 1370, or 1372;

(iv) a position in the Equipment Specialist Series (Aircraft) occupational series (1670);

(v) a position in the Information Technology Management occupational series (2210); or

(vi) a position held by a professional mariner (as defined in section 269B of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Act of 2002 (33 U.S.C. 3079b), including a position in occupational series 0865, 9901, 9916, 9920, 9923–24, 9927–28, 9931–34, 9944, 9954, 9960, 9965, 9968, 9971, 9973, and 9984).

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere shall provide a briefing on the implementation of this section to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives.

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Under Secretary shall submit to Congress a 5-year staffing plan for—

(1) the National Weather Service; and

(2) any positions within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that support forecasts and warnings to protect human life and property, including positions that involve—

(A) collection of data for incorporation into watches and warnings;

(B) operation and maintenance of equipment for collection of data described in subparagraph (A);

(C) maintenance of information technology systems;

(D) modeling for forecasts and warnings; and

(E) research to improve forecasts, warnings, and communication of those warnings to better protect human life and property.

.

The table of contents for the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 409 the following:

.

In this section:

The term artificial intelligence —

(A) has the meaning given that term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401); and

(B) includes machine learning, neural networks, and natural language processing.

The term artificial intelligence weather model means a weather model based primarily on artificial intelligence technology to project future Earth system conditions based on machine learning using weather forecasting training datasets.

The term curate, with respect to a dataset, means—

(A) to collect and maintain the dataset—

(i) to ensure and document its quality; and

(ii) to provide metadata on its provenance; and

(B) to update the dataset periodically, as appropriate and practicable.

The term numerical weather model means a weather model based primarily on coupled Earth System processes that uses numerical computation to forecast future Earth system conditions.

The term observational data means data and metadata from actual observations of environmental conditions, including remote sensing and in situ platforms.

The term synthetic data means data produced from a model or statistical method in order to fill gaps in observational data.

The purpose of this section is—

(1) to improve accuracy and timeliness of weather, water, and space weather forecasts and effective dissemination of critical information;

(2) to strengthen analytic capacity to inform resource deployments in response to and to mitigate harm from weather, water, wildfires, and space weather hazards through the mandated exploration and use of artificial intelligence by Federal agencies;

(3) to strengthen public-private partnerships to accelerate adoption and outcomes of the use of artificial intelligence in response to and to mitigate such harm; and

(4) to strengthen public-private partnerships in highly technical, high-risk, and high-reward fields related to weather, water, wildfires, and space weather forecasts.

Not later than 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the Interagency Council on Advancing Meteorological Services, other appropriate Federal advisory committees as determined by the Under Secretary, and such other technical experts as the Under Secretary considers appropriate, shall develop and curate comprehensive weather forecasting training datasets with relevant Earth system data, quality information, and metadata necessary for weather forecasting.

In order to speed the development of the weather forecasting training datasets required under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall assess, and to the greatest extent practicable build on, existing Earth system reanalysis datasets of the Federal Government.

In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary, in consultation with appropriate Federal advisory committees as determined by the Under Secretary, may develop and test a global weather model based on artificial intelligence technologies utilizing data of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the extent possible.

In addition to a global weather model under subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary may experiment with regional and local weather models based on artificial intelligence technologies.

In coordination with an artificial intelligence weather model or models developed under paragraph (3), the Under Secretary may explore the use of artificial intelligence to enhance the dissemination of information with respect to weather and wildfire risks and evaluate the effectiveness of communication for improved public understanding and preparedness.

Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection, the Under Secretary shall continue to support and advance the activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—

(A) to collect and acquire traditional and novel observational data relevant for artificial intelligence and numerical weather, water, and space weather forecasting;

(B) to advance research on the Earth system and numerical weather model forecasting;

(C) to develop and advance numerical Earth system modeling for predictions;

(D) to develop weather model data post-processing techniques; and

(E) to improve data assimilation techniques.

In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary may evaluate the use of cost functions in data-driven machine learning model training to balance inequities in observing system coverage and data poor areas.

In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary may develop uncertainty quantification research for the purpose of accurate environmental risk and hazard communications of probabilistic predictions and forecasts.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than every 2 years thereafter through 2035, the Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report on the activities conducted under this subsection.

The Under Secretary shall explore advanced applications of artificial intelligence to improve weather forecasts and information delivery, such as by—

(1) improving data assimilation;

(2) accounting for coupled Earth system processes;

(3) improving readiness and preparedness to combat wildfires, mitigation of the risk from wildfires, and improving safety for firefighters and communities at risk from wildfires;

(4) using artificial intelligence weather models to generate ensemble forecasts to more accurately assess flow-dependent forecast uncertainties; and

(5) improving impact-based decision support for greater societal benefits based on those forecasts.

The Under Secretary shall provide—

(A) technical assistance, data access, and support for forecasters, scientists, social scientists, and engineers to test and evaluate the use and effectiveness of the artificial intelligence models of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including within the testbeds of the Administration;

(B) best practices on providing forecasts based on outputs from artificial intelligence weather models and numerical weather models, or a combination thereof; and

(C) support for emergency managers to make operational decisions based on outputs from artificial intelligence weather models and numerical weather models, or a combination thereof.

The Under Secretary shall support the development of a common framework for the assessment of numerical weather models and artificial intelligence weather models by comparing model output and observational data over a period of time in the past through the use of such methodologies as the Under Secretary considers appropriate.

In carrying out this paragraph, the Under Secretary may develop and disseminate best practices in collaboration with—

(i) the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy;

(ii) academic and research institutions; and

(iii) the private sector.

In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary may provide technical assistance, best practices, and support required under paragraph (1) through the National Weather Service.

The Under Secretary may enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences or another entity as determined appropriate by the Under Secretary to assess the impacts of artificial intelligence weather models on the weather enterprise and make recommendations to improve the integration of such models in operational forecasting.

The Under Secretary may explore novel structures for partnerships with private, academic, and international entities for research and development of transformative innovation in weather forecasting and other environmental forecasts—

(A) to further the understanding of weather, water, wildfires, and space weather, and their societal impact;

(B) to advance the science of weather and water forecasting, including subseasonal to seasonal forecasting; and

(C) to develop, evaluate, and transition artificial intelligence weather, water, and hazard forecasting applications to operations.

Subject to applicable law, the Under Secretary may consider and adopt novel co-investment strategies with the private academic and international sectors to carry out paragraph (1), including—

(A) non-Federal Government contributions to resource and support high-risk, high-return research and development in environmental forecasting, data science, artificial intelligence, and related fields;

(B) shared rights to intellectual property from research and development activities under this subsection; and

(C) other approaches to sharing resources and results under this subsection.

The Under Secretary shall develop and implement a plan to make available to the public, at no cost and subject to applicable law and policy, the following:

(A) Operational artificial intelligence weather models developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(B) Artificial intelligence weather models that are not operational models, including experimental and developmental models, as the Under Secretary determines appropriate.

(C) Applicable information and documentation for artificial intelligence weather models described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), including a description of intended model outputs.

(D) Subject to subsection (i), all data owned by the Federal Government and data that the Under Secretary has the legal right to redistribute that are associated with artificial intelligence weather models made available to the public pursuant to the plan and used in operational forecasting by the Administration, including—

(i) relevant metadata; and

(ii) data used for operational artificial intelligence weather models used by the Administration.

In developing and implementing the plan under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary may make such accommodations as the Under Secretary considers appropriate to ensure that the public release of any artificial intelligence weather model, information, documentation, or data pursuant to the plan does not jeopardize—

(A) national security;

(B) intellectual property or redistribution rights, including under titles 17 and 35, United States Code;

(C) any trade secret or commercial or financial information subject to section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code;

(D) any models or data that are otherwise restricted by contract or other written agreement; or

(E) the mission of the Administration to protect lives and property.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall submit to Congress a report, in both unclassified and classified form, regarding the risks to the economic and intellectual security of the United States from foreign countries of concern through access by those countries to weather data in the United States.

The report required under subparagraph (A) shall include—

(i) a full analysis of the national, intellectual, and economic security implications for the United States with respect to intellectual property theft or cyber or human espionage through access to weather data; and

(ii) conclusions of the Under Secretary and recommendations for legislative and administrative action, if any.

In this paragraph, the term foreign country of concern has the meaning given that term in section 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651).

Subject to applicable law, the Under Secretary may consider novel methods to recruit, retrain, and retain expert personnel to support activities under this section, including by—

(1) using methods to be competitive with salaries outside the Federal Government;

(2) developing staff exchange programs and training programs; and

(3) leveraging applicable hiring and retention strategies authorized for Federal agencies.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Under Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, as appropriate, may withhold models or data used under this section if the Under Secretary determines doing so to be necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede any other provision of law governing the protection of the national security interests of the United States.

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary to carry out this section—

(1) for fiscal year 2026, $311,000,000; and

(2) for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2030, $76,000,000.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that includes the following:

(1) An identification of Federal observation capabilities and data gaps related to the composition of Earth’s atmosphere, including the troposphere and stratosphere.

(2) An analysis of Federal efforts that advance scientific understanding of the effects on the Earth’s radiation budget of direct or indirect actions that may change the composition of Earth’s atmosphere.

(3) The current and projected use of ground-based, space-based, and maritime-based remote and in situ sensing capabilities, autonomous and manned aerial platforms, and other commercially available technologies and platforms of opportunity to accelerate research and increase observations and monitoring of Earth’s atmosphere.

(4) Recommendations for the adaptation or expansion of technologies and platforms identified under paragraph (3).

(5) An identification and prioritization of additional observation and analysis capabilities needed to ensure comprehensive monitoring that detects future changes in atmospheric composition.

In preparing an assessment required by subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall consider and use, as appropriate, reports and studies conducted by Federal agencies, the National Research Council, or other entities.

The Under Secretary may conduct pilot projects of atmospheric composition observational systems and platforms including—

(A) the use of atmospheric observing instruments on commercial and uncrewed aircraft;

(B) the use of atmospheric and oceanic observing instruments on uncrewed ocean surface platforms or deployed on commercial or other nondedicated ocean vessels; and

(C) in situ observation capability to conduct regular atmospheric observations of the troposphere and stratosphere.

The Under Secretary shall consult and coordinate with relevant Federal agencies to develop processes for the appropriate deployment of systems and platforms pursuant to pilot projects conducted under paragraph (1).

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Under Secretary may enter into agreements, to the extent necessary to carry out this section, with governmental and nongovernmental entities—

(1) for the purchase of atmospheric composition data from commercial providers;

(2) for the hosting of observational instruments on government or private platforms; and

(3) to leverage data from international platforms as appropriate.

In this section, the term appropriate committees of Congress means—

(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and

(2) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives.

The Under Secretary shall conduct a project to improve forecasts of coastal marine fog.

The goal of the project required under subsection (a) is to enhance vessel safety and reduce the economic impact of coastal marine fog events, with a focus on—

(1) increasing the number of marine-based observations through additional Federal platforms and commercially acquired observations in locations where impacts from marine fog and reduced visibility have major safety and economic impacts, including through the use of—

(A) buoys;

(B) meteorological stations measuring visibility, temperature, dewpoint, and wind speed and direction as a stand-alone or co-located with water level sensors, such as those that are part of the physical oceanographic observation system program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

(C) stationary platforms or drifting instruments;

(D) vessels;

(E) unmanned systems;

(F) remote sensing technologies, including rapid refresh hyperspectral satellite imagery; and

(G) advanced algorithms that extract actionable information from observational data, including early detection and regular monitoring of marine fog;

(2) advancing geographic coverage, resolution, skill, and accuracy of marine fog modeling, including, when feasible, additional locations and advancements in marine channel forecast capability;

(3) improving communication of marine fog advisories by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

(4) communicating risks posed by hazardous marine fog events in a way that maximizes informed decision making by the public; and

(5) providing decision support services based on environmental information that is actionable to the recipient of a marine fog advisory.

In implementing the project required under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall meet with public and private stakeholders regarding the planning, development, and implementation of the project.

The Under Secretary shall meet with Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) regarding the planning, development, and implementation of the project required under subsection (a).

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall develop a plan for the project required under subsection (a) that details the specific research, development, and technology transfer activities, as well as corresponding resources and timelines, necessary to achieve the goal set forth under subsection (b).

Section 302 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8532) is amended to read as follows:

The Under Secretary, in coordination with the heads of appropriate offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall maintain a program, to be known as the Commercial Data Program, to coordinate and execute acquisition of weather and environmental data and services from private sector entities for operational use.

The Under Secretary may acquire satellite, ground-based, airborne, or marine-based in situ, remote sensing, or crowd-sourced data and services for operational use relating to weather and environmental forecasting and modeling.

The Under Secretary shall ensure the Commercial Data Program coordinates, collaborates, and ensures access to data across the Administration, including among the following:

(1) The National Mesonet Program.

(2) The Aircraft Based Observation Program.

(3) The National Integrated Drought Information System, including the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network.

(4) The National Integrated Flood Information System.

(5) The Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program.

(6) The National Data Buoy Center.

(7) The Uncrewed Systems Operation Center.

(8) The Ocean Exploration Program.

(9) Any other program or office the Under Secretary determines appropriate.

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section and on a continuous basis thereafter, the Under Secretary shall publish data, metadata, and service standards and specifications required for acquired observation services and data for use, licensing, and attribution to ensure quality, impact, and compatibility of such services and data with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration modeling capabilities, meteorological situational awareness, and forecasting.

In acquiring data and services from private sector entities, the Under Secretary shall prioritize obtaining surface-based, airborne-based, space-based, and coastal- and ocean-based data, metadata, and services for operational use from entities that participate in the Commercial Data Pilot Program under section 303 or other programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that acquire commercial data or observations.

The Under Secretary shall maintain the Observing Systems Council, or successor program, and the Fleet Council of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (in this subsection collectively referred to as the Councils) to provide strategic recommendations and guidance regarding the prioritization, design, development, acquisition, upgrading, lifecycle, performance monitoring, and retiring of major components of observing systems and portfolios, including related to the acquisition of commercial weather and environmental data and services.

The Councils shall ensure coordination and adherence to uniform policies by providing guidance to all line offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration engaged in observing systems portfolio design, technology, development, execution, and operation.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Commerce may enter into agreements relating to the following:

(1) The purchase of weather and environmental data and services through contracts with private sector commercial data and service providers.

(2) The placement of weather instruments on co-hosted Federal, international, or private space, airborne, maritime, or ground platforms.

The Under Secretary shall establish or designate at least one Ombudsman position within the Commercial Data Program to implement the recommendations of the Observing Systems Council under subsection (f) related to commercial weather and environmental data and services acquisitions. Such an Ombudsman shall act as the liaison between private sector data and service providers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with respect to receiving recommendations and resolving issues related to engagement, testing, contracting, or other areas related to the Administration’s efforts to acquire commercial weather and environmental data and services.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report evaluating the activities and needed authorities related to data governance and management practices, including acquisition, collection, documentation, quality control, validation, reprocessing, storage, retrieval, dissemination, and long-term preservation activities across all National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration line, staff, and corporate offices.

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Section 303 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8533) is amended to read as follows:

Within the Commercial Data Program under section 302, there shall be, to the maximum extent practicable, a pilot program, to be known as the Commercial Data Pilot Program, to engage with external partners and providers to test and develop shared standards and methodologies for quality, use, licensing, and attribution of observation services and data, and to ensure quality, impact, and compatibility of such services and data with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration modeling capabilities, meteorological situational awareness, and forecasting.

The Commercial Data Pilot Program is authorized to test and evaluate all sources and types of observation services, imagery, products, and data from private sector entities, including new and innovative surface-based, airborne-based, space-based, and coastal- and ocean-based data, metadata, and model components.

The Under Secretary shall ensure that data acquired through the Commercial Data Pilot Program meet the most recent standards and specifications, as published pursuant to section 302(d), required for observation services and data.

The Under Secretary shall, through an open competition, regularly enter into pilot contracts with private sector entities capable of providing observation services and data referred to in subsection (a) that meet the standards and specifications published pursuant to section 302(d) for providing such services and data in a manner that allows the Under Secretary to calibrate and evaluate such services and data for use in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration activities.

The Under Secretary shall annually assess and submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a summary of the pilot contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (d), an assessment of the extent to which such contracts meet the standards and specifications published pursuant to section 302(d), and any additional information determined necessary related to the following:

(1) The viability of integrating observation services and data from private sector entities into National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts and models.

(2) The expected value added or improvements from such services and data if integrated into National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts and models.

(3) The accuracy, quality, timeliness, validity, reliability, usability, information technology security, and cost-effectiveness of obtaining observation services and data from private sector entities.

(4) If the Under Secretary determines it is viable to integrate such services and data into the forecasts and models of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the steps to integrate, not later than 1 year after the date of the determination, such services and data into operational use by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or any associated challenges in doing so.

If an assessment under subsection (e) demonstrates the ability of services and data from private sector entities to meet the standards and specifications published pursuant to section 302(c), the Under Secretary shall—

(1) when cost effective and feasible, obtain observation services and data from private sector entities through the Commercial Data Program under section 302;

(2) as early as possible in the acquisition process for any future National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite system, determine whether there is a suitable cost effective, commercial capability available or that will be available to meet applicable instrument, spacecraft, or system requirements before completion of the critical design phase of such planned satellite system;

(3) if the Under Secretary determines under paragraph (2) that a suitable cost effective, commercial capability is or will be available, determine whether and how such capability is in the national interest if developed as a solely governmental system; and

(4) submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report detailing any determinations made under paragraphs (2) and (3).

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Title III of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8531 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

Consistent with the authorities of other Federal agencies that contract and partner with private sector entities, including under section 3903 of title 41, United States Code, the Under Secretary is authorized to use contracting mechanisms and enter into agreements that use multiyear contract options. In carrying out sections 302 and 303, the Under Secretary shall, to the greatest extent possible—

(1) enter into year-long or multiyear contracts using contracting mechanisms that foster resiliency of service and data purchased;

(2) partner and contract with multiple observation service and data providers simultaneously to reduce risks of data gaps and improve mission robustness; and

(3) use authorities, such as additional forms of transaction agreements under section 301(d), that allow for innovative partnerships with private sector entities.

Nothing in this title may be construed as infringing on the acquisition authority or strategy of Federal entities authorized under title 10, United States Code.

In meeting the requirements under this title, the Under Secretary shall avoid unnecessary duplication between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, other Federal agencies, and private sector entities, including relating to corresponding expenditures of funds and employment of personnel by—

(1) coordinating existing activities with other civilian Federal agencies that provide, contract, or partner with private sector entities to acquire weather and environmental observations and data; and

(2) coordinating and soliciting weather and environmental observations and data requirements and needs from other civilian Federal agencies to be acquired by the Commercial Data Program under section 302.

The Under Secretary, to the maximum extent practicable, shall ensure that Federal agencies utilizing services and data under sections 302 and 303 fairly compensate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the non-Federal entities providing such services or data, as appropriate, for use.

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Title III of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, as amended by section 303 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the weather enterprise, shall seek to establish consistent and open data and metadata standards to support open science, including simple cloud-optimized data formats and application programming interfaces that support findability, accessibility, usability, and preservability.

The Under Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information Officer and appropriate program heads, shall consolidate and arrange data infrastructure needs to ensure efficient and effective data transfer between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offices by considering the use of commercial cloud technologies, or similar hybrid structures, to host and transmit data and metadata.

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary may partner with the heads of other Federal agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy, the Space Force, the Coast Guard, the Navy, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Forest Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and the United States Geological Survey, to co-locate data with joint utility and support a transition to cloud architectures, including commercial cloud networks.

The Under Secretary shall ensure the long-term management, maintenance, and stewardship of archival data and metadata acquired through the Commercial Data Program under section 302 is conducted within the National Centers for Environmental Information.

To the greatest extent practicable, the Under Secretary shall—

(A) continue to ensure the delivery of data through sound and robust infrastructure, such as data sharing capabilities of the industry proving grounds; and

(B) make accessible to members of the weather enterprise that are United States persons data that is—

(i) not subject to redistribution contract permissions; or

(ii) purchased through the Commercial Data Program under section 302 or shared through international government partners.

If data described in paragraph (1)(B) are required to be assimilated into numerical weather prediction models or automated forecast guidance to satisfy terms of a redistribution contract, the Under Secretary shall make accessible without delay to members of the weather enterprise that are United States persons the numerical weather prediction model or automated forecast guidance output, as the case may be.

The Under Secretary, in coordination with the Commercial Data Program under section 302, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, the National Centers for Environmental Information, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and any other relevant offices within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish a program to test, advance, and implement data assimilation methods, which may include artificial intelligence, machine learning, data pre- and post-processing, efficient input and output, and next-generation algorithms.

Through the program established pursuant to paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall establish a consortium consisting of institutions of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to address critical research challenges for data assimilation and foster a growing data assimilation workforce.

The consortium established under subparagraph (A) shall seek—

(i) to solve critical research issues relating to data assimilation through innovative research;

(ii) to increase significantly the number of students, including Ph.D. candidates and other graduate-level students, in data assimilation;

(iii) to use modern software and frameworks, such as the Joint Effort for Data Assimilation Integration, or emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, to conduct data assimilation research and development and facilitate research-to-operations efforts to improve weather modeling and prediction;

(iv) to identify and prioritize critical research areas in data assimilation and facilitate operations-to-research efforts;

(v) to establish and enable an effective collaboration infrastructure between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facilities, such as laboratories, centers, or joint agency institutes, and the research community, including a mechanism for external partners to host Administration employees; and

(vi) to establish mechanisms to enable all members of the consortium to archive and access data required to support the work under this subsection.

In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary shall ensure the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its associated activities focus on research-to-operations and operations-to-research efforts, including by coordinating and collaborating with the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation.

The activities authorized under this subsection shall be conducted in a manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (division B of Public Law 117–167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.).

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Under Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement with a non-Federal entity to conduct a study on matters concerning data practices and management needs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the outside entity shall—

(A) assess the costs and benefits of current data management needs for observational and operational mission requirements;

(B) develop recommendations regarding how to make the data portfolio of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration more robust and cost effective;

(C) identify data infrastructure technologies and needs that are essential to the performance of modeling systems of the Administration;

(D) assess the sharing needs and practices of the Administration for both internal and external dissemination;

(E) develop recommendations for methods of data infrastructure sharing, including data purchased from the commercial sector; and

(F) develop recommendations for data standards, formats, and protocols to support artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques.

There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to carry out the study under paragraph (1) and shall remain available until expended.

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The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by striking the items relating to sections 302 and 303 and inserting the following:

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In this title:

The term hazardous weather or water events means weather or water events that have a high risk of loss of life or property, including the following:

(A) Severe storms, such as hurricanes and short-fused, small-scale hazardous weather or hydrologic events produced by thunderstorms, including large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes, and flash floods.

(B) Winter storms, such as freezing or frozen precipitation (including freezing rain, sleet, and snow), or combined effects of freezing or frozen precipitation and strong winds.

(C) Other weather hazards, such as extreme heat or cold, wildfire, drought, dense fog, high winds, and river, coastal, or lakeshore flooding.

The term institution of higher education has the meaning given that term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).

The term public cloud means an information technology model in which service providers make computing services, including compute and storage and develop-and-deploy environments and applications, available on-demand to organizations and individuals over the public internet or other means that allows for the widest dissemination of information.

The terms watch and warning, with respect to a hazardous weather or water event, mean products issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, intended for consumption by the general public, to alert the general public to the potential for or presence of such event and to inform action to prevent loss of life or property.

The terms watch and warning do not include technical or specialized meteorological or hydrological forecasts, outlooks, or model guidance products.

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.

The Under Secretary shall maintain a hazard risk communication program (in this subsection referred to as the program), for the purposes of simplifying and improving the communication of hazardous weather and water event risks.

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

The program 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.

The program 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.

The program shall develop a plan for the purpose of supporting the activities described in paragraph (3). The plan 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).

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

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

(B) 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;

(C) account for the needs of various demographics and geographic regions;

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

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

(F) account for necessary changes in the infrastructure, technology, and protocols for creating and disseminating Federally operated watches and warnings;

(G) account for artificial intelligence capabilities, including models specifically trained on weather terminology, that enable efficient and accurate communication to the public; and

(H) account for the need for enhanced or earlier communication of a hazardous weather event to inform action and encourage response when the event occurs in a geographic area where the event is historically abnormal.

The program shall coordinate with—

(A) Federal partners, including National Laboratories, cooperative institutes, and regional integrated sciences and assessments programs;

(B) State and local government partners;

(C) Indian tribes;

(D) institutions of higher education; and

(E) media partners.

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

The Under Secretary may maintain, as appropriate, a program to—

(1) modernize the development and communication of risk-based, statistically reliable, probabilistic hazard information, with the goal of informing appropriate responses to hazardous weather or water events; and

(2) improve the fundamental social, behavioral, and economic science relating to communications, including by means of collecting voluntary data, regarding hazardous weather or water events.

In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall coordinate and communicate with States, Tribal governments, localities, and emergency managers regarding research priorities and results.

The Under Secretary, in coordination with the VORTEX–USA program under section 103 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8513), as amended by section 103 of this Act, and in collaboration with 1 or more eligible institutions (or consortia thereof), shall establish a pilot program for tornado hazard communications to test incorporation of research into operations with respect to tornadoes.

Amounts under the pilot program under paragraph (1) shall be awarded to eligible institutions through a merit-based competitive process.

In this subsection, the term eligible institution means any of the following:

(A) An institution that is frequently subjected to severe weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods.

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

The Under Secretary, in coordination with the hurricane forecast improvement program under section 104 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514), as amended by section 104 of this Act, and in collaboration with 1 or more eligible institutions (or consortia thereof), shall enter into an agreement with an appropriate entity, as determined by the Under Secretary, to conduct a pilot study using a mixed methods approach, including surveys, focus groups, and interviews, to gather information from hurricane-prone population areas regarding the levels of preparedness of such areas for hurricanes or in response to early forecasts and warnings of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The pilot study required under paragraph (1) shall evaluate the following:

(A) Possession of disaster supplies.

(B) Evacuation decisions.

(C) Levels of trust of tropical cyclone information and hurricane path prediction from various sources.

(D) Access to tropical cyclone and hurricane forecasts and warnings in the first language of each individual interviewed as part of the pilot study.

(E) Any reasoning or deliberation by the individuals interviewed as part of the pilot study that may hinder the ability or willingness of the individuals to evacuate.

The Under Secretary shall publish the methodology of the pilot study described in paragraph (1) on a publicly accessible website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In this subsection, the term eligible institution means any of the following:

(A) An institution of higher education, nonprofit organization, or other institution located in a jurisdiction eligible to participate in the program under section 113 of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1862g).

(B) An institution of higher education, nonprofit organization, or other institution located in proximity to a Weather Forecast Office of the National Weather Service.

The Under Secretary shall carry out research and development activities to improve how the public receives, interprets, responds to, and values hurricane forecasts and warnings.

In conducting activities under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall—

(A) conduct a comprehensive review of the manner by which the public receives, interprets, responds to, and makes decisions regarding hurricane forecasts and warnings, including—

(i) how weather observations, downstream models, and processes affect the decision tools or products derived from hurricane forecasts and warnings;

(ii) how hurricane forecasts and warnings generated by decision tools and products are used by emergency managers, governments, and other users to benefit the public and stakeholder groups;

(iii) how past experiences with hurricanes impact the decision making of the general public;

(iv) how the source of such hurricane forecasts and warnings affects interpretation;

(v) how tropical cyclone forecasts and warnings are received and interpreted by the general public;

(vi) how understanding of and response to hurricane forecasts and warnings varies across demographic groups, including the elderly and people with disabilities;

(vii) the effect of language barriers on the accessibility of hurricane forecasts and warnings; and

(viii) how understanding of and response to such hurricane forecasts and warnings varies across geographic areas, including rural, urban, and suburban areas;

(B) identify communication data gaps based on the review conducted pursuant to subparagraph (A);

(C) carry out research, including data collection and baseline assessments, in coordination with the hurricane forecast improvement program under section 104 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514), as amended by section 104 of this Act, to evaluate and quantify the economic value of extending lead times of tropical cyclone and hurricane forecasts and warnings;

(D) using the post-storm surveys and assessments conducted under section 406 of this Act to conduct retrospective or ex ante assessments of previous hurricane forecasts and warnings to better understand the key components of such forecasts and warnings that affected actions or initiated behavior changes;

(E) conduct cost-benefit analyses of forecasts and warnings improvement alternatives developed through the hurricane forecast improvement program under section 104 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514), as amended by section 104 of this Act; and

(F) conduct assessments of the risk to the elderly for pre-, during, and post-storm periods in regions and communities with significant elderly populations, including retirement communities.

The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

The Under Secretary shall establish or maintain a nationwide weather radio network, to be known as NOAA Weather Radio, that—

(1) broadcasts weather information, including emergency weather watches, warnings, information regarding geological hazards, and other hazard information;

(2) operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and

(3) is resilient to emergency hazards, such as loss of power and cellular service.

The Under Secretary shall ensure the reliability of NOAA Weather Radio by—

(1) maintaining support for existing systems before any new technology is implemented, especially those serving areas not covered by or having poor quality cellular service; and

(2) ensuring consistent maintenance and operations monitoring, with timely repairs to broadcast transmitter site equipment and antennas.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Under Secretary shall expand the coverage of and modernize NOAA Weather Radio to ensure it remains valuable to the public, including by—

(A) improving those methods of communicating the risks posed by hazardous weather events to the public that are most likely to result in informed decision making regarding the mitigation of such risks;

(B) improving communication of hazardous weather warnings and the urgency of such warnings to areas that experience a high frequency of such warnings;

(C) enhancing the ability to amplify non-weather emergency messages through NOAA Weather Radio as necessary;

(D) acquiring additional transmitters as determined appropriate by the Under Secretary to expand coverage to—

(i) areas at high risk for rapid onset weather disasters that require short-fuse warnings;

(ii) communities without—

(I) mobile broadband internet access service (as defined in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)) and as depicted by a map created under section 802(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)(C));

(II) State or local emergency warning systems; or

(III) satellite service; and

(iii) Federal lands, such as land in the National Park System or the National Forest System and National Recreation Areas;

(E) adding the capability to disseminate NOAA Weather Radio alerts by satellite through the cloud or by means of any other emerging technology determined by the Under Secretary to satisfy the requirements of this Act; and

(F) modernizing the messaging system to enable more geographically specific warnings.

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

(A) upgrade telecommunications infrastructure of NOAA Weather Radio to accelerate the transition of broadcasts to internet protocol-based communications over non-copper media;

(B) accelerate software upgrades to the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System, or any relevant system successors, in order to implement partial county notifications and alerts;

(C) enhance accessibility and usability of data and feeds of NOAA Weather Radio with feedback from relevant stakeholders, including the private sector;

(D) develop options, including satellite backup capability and commercial provider partnerships, for continuity of service of NOAA Weather Radio in the event of an outage at a weather forecast office;

(E) research and develop alternative options to transmit NOAA Weather Radio signals to transmitters that are remote or do not have internet protocol capability;

(F) transition critical applications, including artificial intelligence applications that support weather communications, to the Integrated Dissemination Program, or any relevant program successors; and

(G) work with the General Services Administration, and other relevant agencies, to develop new, alternative, or updated expedited mechanisms to secure priority space capacity, such as leased land and tower space, for NOAA Weather Radio critical infrastructure, including transmitters and antennas that are best suited for the national security and public safety missions of NOAA Weather Radio.

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall prioritize practices, capabilities, and technologies recommended in accordance with the assessment under subsection (d) to maximize the accessibility of NOAA Weather Radio, particularly in areas of the United States described in paragraph (1)(D)(i).

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Under Secretary shall complete an assessment of access to NOAA Weather Radio.

In conducting the assessment required under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall take into consideration and provide recommendations regarding the following:

(A) The need for continuous, adequate, and operational real-time broadcasts of NOAA Weather Radio.

(B) Input from relevant stakeholders that provide access to NOAA Weather Radio, including third-party platforms that provide online services, such as websites and mobile device applications.

(C) The manner by which existing or new management systems may promote consistent, efficient, and compatible access to NOAA Weather Radio.

(D) The ability of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to aggregate real-time broadcast feeds at one or more central locations, as a redundancy to the broadcast feed from the nearest weather forecast office.

(E) Effective coordination between agencies with responsibilities relating to emergencies and natural disasters.

(F) The potential effects of an electromagnetic pulse or geomagnetic disturbance on NOAA Weather Radio.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary—

(1) for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031, $25,000,000 to operate NOAA Weather Radio under subsections (a) and (b); and

(2) for fiscal year 2026, $100,000,000, which shall remain available until expended, to carry out subsections (c) and (d).

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Section 407 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8546) is—

(1) transferred to title VII of that Act, as added by subsection (a);

(2) inserted after section 701 of that Act, as added by subsection (a); and

(3) redesignated as section 702.

The table of contents for the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended—

(1) by striking the item relating to section 407; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

(2) .

The Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, in consultation with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, shall develop standards for flash flood emergency alert systems within the 100-year floodplain (as defined in section 100202(a) of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4004(a))).

The Director shall ensure that standards developed under subsection (a)—

(1) meet the needs of communities without—

(A) mobile broadband internet access service (as defined in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)) and as depicted by a map created under section 802(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)(C));

(B) State or local emergency warning systems; or

(C) satellite service; and

(2) will result in reliable systems, especially during hazardous events.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report that includes a summary of the standards developed under subsection (a).

The Under Secretary shall perform 1 or more post-storm surveys and assessments following every hazardous weather or water event determined by the Under Secretary to be of sufficient societal importance to warrant a post-storm survey and assessment.

The Under Secretary shall coordinate with Federal, State, and local governments, private entities, and relevant institutions of higher education (or a consortia thereof) when conducting post-storm surveys and assessments under this section to optimize data collection, sharing, integration, archiving, and access, as appropriate for research needs.

The Under Secretary shall make the appropriate data obtained from each post-storm survey or assessment conducted under this section available to the public as soon as practicable after conducting each such survey or assessment.

In carrying out this section, the Under Secretary shall—

(1) examine the role of uncrewed aerial and marine systems in data collection during post-storm surveys and assessments conducted under this section;

(2) identify gaps in tactics and procedures and update such tactics and procedures to enhance the efficiency and reliability of data obtained from post-storm surveys and assessments; and

(3) as appropriate, integrate social, behavioral, and economic sciences elements into existing post-storm surveys and assessments, including elements related to the efficacy of forecast and warning information that was shared with the public, barriers that affected the ability of the public to take action, and any challenges with respect to messaging about the hazardous weather or water event.

The Under Secretary shall provide access to training, resources, and professional counseling to support the mental health of employees conducting post-storm surveys and assessments under this section.

Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, shall not apply to the collection of information during a post-storm survey or assessment conducted under this section.

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report that examines the information technology infrastructure of the National Weather Service, specifically regarding the system for timely public notification via alerts and updates regarding hazardous weather or water events.

The report required by subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) An analysis of the information technology infrastructure of the National Weather Service, including software and hardware capabilities and limitations, including an examination of server and data storage methods, broadband, data management, and data sharing.

(2) An identification of secondary and tertiary fail-safes for the timely distribution to the public of notifications via alerts and updates regarding hazardous weather or water events.

(3) A determination of the extent to which public notifications via alerts and updates regarding hazardous weather or water events have been delayed and an identification of possible improvements or corrective measures to address delays in the notification process.

(4) An assessment of whether collaboration with other Federal agencies, States, or private entities could reduce delays in notifications to the public.

(5) A description of actions being undertaken to better identify critical steps in public notification via alerts and updates for hazardous weather or water events that may be vulnerable to disruption or failure in the event of communication, technologic, or computational failure.

(6) The geographical differences in availability and effectiveness of rural systems, including an estimated number of rural areas affected by unreliable or unavailable systems and barriers to obtain or upgrade such systems.

The Under Secretary may collect social, behavioral, and economic data, including data relating to Federal communication of hazardous weather or water events and the public response to such communications. Where appropriate, the Under Secretary shall encourage the collection of secondary data, purchase data, or partner with the private sector to obtain data.

The Under Secretary shall establish and maintain a central repository system for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for data related to the communication of and related public response to hazardous weather or water events, including data developed or received pursuant to this title.

The Under Secretary shall ensure that data is collected, managed, and used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in accordance with legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations, including chapter 31 of title 44, United States Code, and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–435).

The Under Secretary shall develop methods to reduce the likelihood of unauthorized tampering with online public notifications of hazardous weather or water events, such as developing digital watermarks.

The Under Secretary shall establish policies and procedures for the collection, archiving, and managing of data related to community response, including the response of affected populations, to hazardous weather or water events.

Section 1762 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (15 U.S.C. 8521) is amended—

(1) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

The Under Secretary shall—

(1) conduct and support research to improve understanding of subseasonal to seasonal predictability for temperature, precipitation, and other Earth system variables and applications;

(2) collect and use data to make usable, reliable, and timely foundational forecasts of subseasonal to seasonal temperature and precipitation;

(3) support the advancement of multi-model ensemble forecast systems and forecast verification and evaluation capacity, including by—

(A) developing advanced coupled data assimilation methods using robust Earth system observational data;

(B) developing improved coupled subseasonal to seasonal ensemble prediction systems;

(C) improving exchanges and interactions between datasets across different models and Earth system observations to increase model accuracy of local relationships between and drivers of ocean, land, snow, and ice observations; and

(D) developing data management strategies to support operations and research activities;

(4) leverage existing research and models from the weather and Earth system enterprises to improve the forecasts under paragraph (2);

(5) accelerate the operationalization of emerging modeling technologies developed to support and assist the cross development of fully coupled subseasonal to seasonal forecast systems, including during collaborations with other agencies and entities; and

(6) determine and provide information on how subseasonal to seasonal temperature and precipitation may relate to—

(A) droughts;

(B) fires;

(C) tornadoes;

(D) hurricanes;

(E) floods, storm surges, and coastal inundation;

(F) heat waves and marine heat waves;

(G) winter storms, snowpack, and permafrost thaw;

(H) sea ice conditions; and

(I) other high impact weather or relevant weather disasters.

(1) ;

(2) by amending subsection (h) to read as follows:

The Under Secretary shall establish not fewer than 2 pilot projects, in accordance with paragraph (2), within the United States Weather Research Program of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support improved subseasonal to seasonal precipitation forecasts for—

(A) water management in areas of the United States in which there is—

(i) a high level of drought; and

(ii) a reliance on reservoirs for water storage; and

(B) agriculture in the central United States.

In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary shall ensure the following:

(A) A pilot project under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) addresses key science challenges to improving forecasts and developing related products for water management, including the following:

(i) Improving operational model resolution, both horizontal and vertical, to resolve issues associated with mountainous terrain, such as intensity of precipitation and relative fraction of rain versus snow precipitation.

(ii) Improving modeling of interstate or cross-boundary water movement and storage through rivers, tributaries, and aquifers with relation to water availability.

(iii) Improving fidelity in the operational modeling of the atmospheric boundary layer in mountainous regions.

(iv) Resolving challenges in predicting winter atmospheric circulation and storm tracks, including periods of blocked versus unblocked flow over the eastern North Pacific Ocean and western United States.

(v) Utilizing outcomes from the atmospheric rivers forecast improvement program under section 204 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026 and the precipitation forecast improvement program under section 603 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 to produce operational tools and services.

(vi) Improving the quality and temporal and spatial resolution of observations and accurate operational modeling of air-sea interactions, and the influence of oceans on subseasonal to seasonal forecasting.

(B) A pilot project under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) addresses key science challenges to improving forecasts and developing related products for agriculture in the central United States, including the following:

(i) Improving the quality and temporal and spatial resolution of observations and accurate operational modeling of the land surface and hydrologic cycle, including soil moisture and flash drought processes.

(ii) Improving fidelity in the operational modeling of warm season precipitation processes.

(iii) Understanding and predicting large-scale upper-level dynamical flow anomalies that occur in spring and summer.

(iv) Improving modeling of interstate or cross-boundary water movement and storage through rivers, tributaries, and aquifers with relation to water availability for agriculture.

A pilot project under this subsection shall include activities that—

(A) achieve measurable objectives for operational forecast improvement; and

(B) are carried out in coordination with the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the Director of the National Weather Service.

The authority under this subsection shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this subsection.

(2) ; and

(3) by amending subsection (j) to read as follows:

There are authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out the activities under this section.

(3) .

Section 3 of the National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006 (15 U.S.C. 313d) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a), by striking, through the National Weather Service and other appropriate weather and climate programs in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,;

(2) in subsection (b)—

(A) in paragraph (1)—

(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking and after the semicolon;

(ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting and after the semicolon; and

(iii) by adding at the end the following:

(C) incorporates flash drought research and tools to enhance timely response;

(iii) ;

(B) in paragraph (5), by striking improvements in seasonal precipitation and temperature, subseasonal precipitation and temperature, and low flow water prediction; and and inserting support improvements in subseasonal to seasonal precipitation and temperature, and low flow water prediction;; and

(C) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following:

(6) continue ongoing research and monitoring activities related to drought, including research activities relating to the prediction, length, severity, and impacts of drought and the role of weather events and subseasonal to seasonal variability in drought;

(7) advance and deploy next-generation technologies related to drought, such as monitoring, preparedness, and forecasting capabilities utilizing artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud technologies;

(8) use observational networks, including the National Weather Service cooperative observer program and State or regional hydrological monitoring projects;

(9) refine drought indicators across multiple spatial and temporal scales;

(10) improve decision support products;

(11) optimize data and resources from across the Federal Government;

(12) investigate and address data gaps, including snowpack monitoring, space-based or in-situ soil moisture monitoring, groundwater data, and data related to rapid intensification events; and

(13) engage with, and leverage the resources of, entities within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in existence as of the date of the enactment of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026 to improve coordination of water monitoring, forecasting, and management.

(C) ;

(3) in subsection (c)—

(A) in paragraph (2), by striking and after the semicolon;

(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and inserting; and; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

(4) in partnership with the National Mesonet Program, establish memoranda of understanding to provide coordinated, high-quality data.

(C) ; and

(4) by adding at the end the following:

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026, the Under Secretary, acting through the National Integrated Drought Information System and the National Weather Service, shall develop a plan to incorporate existing drought products of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and improved dynamical and statistical forecast modeling tools into probabilistic forecasts.

(4) .

Section 4 of the National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–430; 15 U.S.C. 313d note) is amended to read as follows:

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act—

(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.

(2) $15,500,000 for fiscal year 2027.

(3) $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.

(4) $16,500,000 for fiscal year 2029.

(5) $17,000,000 for fiscal year 2030.

.

The Under Secretary shall maintain the National Mesonet Program (in this section referred to as the Program), which shall—

(1) obtain observations to improve understanding of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric, drought, fire, and water events, with a prioritization on leveraging available commercial, academic, and other non-Federal Government environmental data to enhance coordination across the private, public, and academic sectors of the weather enterprise in the United States;

(2) establish means to integrate greater density and more types of environmental observations into the Program on an annual basis, including by encouraging local and regional networks of environmental monitoring stations and in situ sensor networks, including soil moisture and ground-based profilers, to participate in the Program;

(3) establish memoranda of understanding with networks outside of the scope of the Program in furtherance of this section; and

(4) coordinate with satellite data and services acquired through the Commercial Data Program under section 302 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, as amended by section 301 of this Act.

In carrying out the Program, the Under Secretary shall—

(1) increase data density by—

(A) improving and increasing the quantity and density of environmental observations used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (in this section referred to as the Administration) and the National Weather Service to support baseline forecasts, including nowcasts, warnings, and hyper-local forecasts that protect individuals, businesses, agricultural production, food security, and the military and government agencies in the United States, and enabling such individuals and entities to operate in a safe, efficient, and orderly manner;

(B) yielding increased quantities of boundary-layer data to improve numerical weather prediction performance, including in subseasonal to seasonal timescales;

(C) identifying available terrestrial or marine environmental data, or quantifiable gaps in such data, to improve the understanding of air-sea interactions; and

(D) supporting the National Weather Service in reaching its target of a 30-minute warning time for severe weather through better predictive model algorithms driven by increasingly effective observations;

(2) monitor local meteorological conditions by—

(A) acquiring soil and moisture data to monitor soil moisture, vegetation water content, and moisture loss from evaporation, in support of operational forecasting, the National Integrated Drought Information System, and local commercial, agricultural, and emergency management needs;

(B) supporting the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network in acquiring soil moisture and related data to support the development of decision support products and other information services; and

(C) expanding and enhancing environmental observational networks in the roadway environment to provide real-time road weather and surface conditions for surface transportation and related economic sectors; and

(3) administer the Program by—

(A) obtaining data in furtherance of this section only when demonstrably cost effective and meeting or exceeding data quality standards available to the Administration;

(B) subject to the requirement in subparagraph (A), leveraging existing networks of environmental monitoring stations, including supplemental radar systems, to increase the quantity and density of environmental observations and data available to the Administration;

(C) providing the critical technical and administrative infrastructure needed to facilitate rapid integration and sustained use of new and emerging networks of environmental monitoring stations anticipated in coming years from non-Federal Government sources;

(D) coordinating with existing data developed by the Administration and used for forecasts, including data from the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, the Integrated Ocean Observing System, the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program, the National Data Buoy Center, and the National Ocean Service; and

(E) identifying and communicating to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and other partners priorities of research and development needed to advance observations in the Program.

In furtherance of the Program, in a fiscal year, the Under Secretary may award not less than 10 percent of the amount appropriated for the Program for that fiscal year for financial assistance to State, Tribal, private, and academic entities seeking to build, expand, or upgrade equipment and capacity of mesonet systems.

Financial assistance under this subsection may be made in coordination with and in addition to awards from other Federal agencies.

Before receiving financial assistance under paragraph (1), the State, Tribal, private, or academic entity seeking financial assistance under this subsection shall enter into an agreement with the Under Secretary to provide data to the Program, subject to verification by the Program of the relative operational value and evaluation of the cost of such data, for use in weather prediction, severe weather warnings, and emergency response.

The Under Secretary may provide—

(A) technical assistance, project implementation support, and guidance to State, Tribal, private, and academic entities seeking financial assistance under this subsection; and

(B) technical and financial assistance for maintenance of monitoring stations in areas of the country where it is financially unfeasible for 1 entity to operate such stations without such assistance.

In providing financial assistance under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall establish terms to ensure that each State, Tribal, private, or academic entity that receives financial assistance under this subsection receives a level of support commensurate with the quality and other characteristics of the data to be provided.

A State, Tribal, private, or academic entity may only receive financial assistance under this subsection if the Under Secretary determines such entity will provide sufficient financial support from non-Federal Government sources and fully maintain the quality of the mesonet system and associated data standards required by the Program for a period of not less than 5 years.

The Under Secretary shall prioritize providing assistance under paragraph (1) to not fewer than 1 entity in a remote area or an area that has a lack of environmental monitoring stations described in subsection (a)(2).

The Under Secretary shall ensure the Program has an active advisory committee of subject matter experts to make recommendations to the Administration on the identification, implementation, procurement, and tracking of data needed to supplement the Program, and recommend improvements, expansions, and acquisitions of available data.

The Under Secretary may designate an existing advisory committee, subcommittee, or working group of the Federal Government, including the Science Advisory Board of the Administration, to carry out the requirement under paragraph (1).

The advisory committee under paragraph (1), in consultation with the Program, shall include expertise from 1 or more institutions of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to assist the advisory committee to identify, evaluate, and recommend potential partnerships, regional or subregional consortia, and collaborative methods that would expand the number of participants and volume of data in the Program.

Not less frequently than annually through 2030, the Under Secretary shall provide regular briefings to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives on all activities under the Program.

Each briefing required under paragraph (1) shall include information relating to the following:

(A) Efforts to implement the activities described in subsection (b).

(B) Any financial or technical assistance provided pursuant to subsection (c).

(C) Efforts to address recommendations received from the advisory committee under subsection (d), if any.

(D) The potential need and associated benefits of a coastal and ocean mesonet, or other emerging areas of weather data needs.

(E) Progress toward eliminating gaps in weather observation data in States and regions of the United States.

(F) Any other topic the Under Secretary determines relevant.

From amounts authorized to be appropriated to the National Weather Service, there shall be available not more than the following amounts to carry out this section:

(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.

(2) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2027.

(3) $61,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.

(4) $68,000,000 for fiscal year 2029.

(5) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2030.

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of the United States Geological Survey, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall support the development, deployment, and maintenance of soil moisture monitoring networks by managing the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network (in this section referred to as the Network) within the National Integrated Drought Information System.

The Under Secretary shall ensure the Network includes activities that carry out the following:

(1) Establishing a visible, user-friendly website.

(2) Developing a set of criteria for high-quality data sources.

(3) Supporting research necessary to develop or improve soil moisture monitoring products at a national scale.

(4) Increasing the number of long-term, high-quality, in situ and remote sensing soil moisture monitoring stations across the United States.

(5) Sharing methodologies and validation protocols with the private sector.

(6) Developing, releasing, and promoting new nationwide point-based and gridded soil moisture data products.

(7) Supporting community, outreach, and data sharing to the network of individuals engaged with soil moisture monitoring, from data collection to end-user decision making.

Section 301 of the Coordinated Ocean Observations and Research Act of 2020 (42 U.S.C. 10371) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)—

(A) in paragraph (1)(A)—

(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by inserting, within the Office of Water Prediction of the National Weather Service, after shall establish;

(ii) in clause (i), by striking and after the semicolon;

(iii) in clause (ii), by striking the period and inserting; and; and

(iv) by adding at the end the following new clause:

(iii) to lead the transition of water research by the Federal Government, including model development, into operations of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service.

(iv) ;

(B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following:

(F) Serving as the primary center within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for research, development, collaboration, and coordination of the water research and forecast activities of the Administration and other centers and networks of the Federal Government, including those of the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Geological Survey, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

(G) Integrating and promoting consistency among national and regional hydrological forecast operations and service delivery.

(B) ; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

The Under Secretary shall use the Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System, or any successor system, to support the development and implementation of advanced water resources modeling capabilities under paragraph (2)(B) and shall incorporate those modeling capabilities into the unified forecast system.

(C) ;

(2) by striking subsection (b);

(3) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsections (b);

(4) by inserting after subsection (b), as redesignated by paragraph (3), the following:

The Under Secretary, acting through the Director of the Office of Water Prediction of the National Weather Service, shall—

(1) supervise and oversee the administration, management, and operations of each River Forecast Center of the National Weather Service and coordinate those operations with the National Water Center; and

(2) administer the duties and activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration related to the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology, or any successor entity, and coordinate the activities of the Institute with the National Water Center.

(4) ; and

(5) in subsection (d)(4), by inserting before the period the following: and each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall brief the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives on the authorities and policies of the Department of Commerce and Federal Government wide policies related to transferring any portion of the weather satellite systems operated by the Department of Commerce to any other Federal agency, including—

(1) a description of the process for decommissioning a Department of Commerce operational weather satellite, any existing agreements related to transfers of weather satellites, whether decommissioned or not, and any reimbursable agreements related to the transfer of physical property or the operation of Department of Commerce weather satellites on behalf of any other Federal agency; and

(2) a summary of any Department of Commerce plans for potential transfer of existing or future weather satellite systems to any other Federal agency.

Section 603 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4001) is amended—

(A) in the section heading, by striking Assessments and inserting Task Force, assessments, and Action Strategy;

(B) in subsection (a)—

(i) by redesignating paragraphs (13) and (14) as paragraphs (14) and (15), respectively; and

(ii) by inserting after paragraph (12) the following:

(13) the Department of Energy;

(ii) ;

(C) by striking subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (g), (h), and (i) and redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (b);

(D) in subsection (b), as so redesignated—

(i) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by striking coastal waters including the Great Lakes and inserting marine, estuarine, and freshwater systems; and

(ii) in paragraph (2)—

(I) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:

(A) examine—

(i) the causes and ecological consequences of hypoxia on marine and aquatic species in their environments; and

(ii) the costs of hypoxia, including impacts on food safety and security;

(I) ;

(II) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) as subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F), respectively;

(III) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:

(B) examine the effect of other environmental stressors on hypoxia;

(C) evaluate alternatives for reducing, mitigating, and controlling hypoxia and its environmental impacts;

(III) ; and

(IV) in subparagraph (E), as redesignated by subclause (II), by striking hypoxia modeling and monitoring data and inserting hypoxia modeling, forecasting, and monitoring and observation data; and

(E) by adding at the end the following:

Not less frequently than once every 5 years, the Task Force shall complete and submit to Congress an action strategy for harmful algal blooms in the United States.

Each Action Strategy shall—

(A) examine, and include a scientific assessment of, marine and freshwater harmful algal blooms, including such blooms—

(i) in the Great Lakes;

(ii) in the upper reaches of estuaries;

(iii) in freshwater lakes and rivers;

(iv) in coastal and marine waters; and

(v) that originate in freshwater lakes or rivers and migrate to coastal waters;

(B) examine the causes, ecological consequences or physiological consequences on wildlife function, and economic or cultural impacts, including food safety and security and subsistence use, of harmful algal blooms;

(C) examine the effect of other environmental stressors on harmful algal blooms;

(D) examine potential methods to prevent, control, and mitigate harmful algal blooms and the potential ecological, subsistence use, and economic costs and benefits of such methods;

(E) identify priorities for research needed to advance techniques and technologies to detect, predict, monitor, respond to, and minimize the occurrence, duration, and severity of harmful algal blooms, including recommendations to eliminate significant gaps in harmful algal bloom forecasting, monitoring, and observation data;

(F) evaluate progress made by, and the needs of, activities and actions of the Task Force to prevent, control, and mitigate harmful algal blooms;

(G) identify ways to improve coordination and prevent unnecessary duplication of effort among Federal agencies with respect to research on harmful algal blooms; and

(H) include regional chapters relating to the requirements described in this paragraph in order to highlight geographically and ecologically diverse locations with significant ecological, subsistence use, cultural, and economic impacts from harmful algal blooms.

In carrying out subsections (b) and (c), the Task Force shall consult with—

(1) States, Indian tribes, and local governments; and

(2) appropriate industries (including fisheries, agriculture, and fertilizer), academic institutions, and nongovernmental organizations with relevant expertise.

(E) .

The table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383; 112 Stat. 3412; 136 Stat. 1268) is amended by striking the item relating to section 603 and inserting the following:

.

Section 102 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004 (33 U.S.C. 4001a) is amended by striking In developing and all that follows through management..

Section 603A of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4002) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)—

(A) in paragraph (1)—

(i) by striking predicting, and inserting monitoring, observing, forecasting,; and

(ii) by striking and after the semicolon; and

(B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

(2) the scientific assessment submitted under section 603(b); and

(3) the Action Strategy.

(B) ;

(2) in subsection (c)—

(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ocean and Great Lakes science and management programs and centers and inserting programs and centers relating to the science and management of marine, estuarine, and freshwater systems; and

(B) in paragraph (5), by inserting while recognizing each agency is acting under its own independent mission and authority before the semicolon;

(3) in subsection (d), by striking Except as provided in subsection (h), the and inserting The;

(4) in subsection (e)—

(A) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

(2) examine the causes, ecological consequences, and costs of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia;

(A) ;

(B) in paragraph (3)—

(i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting, including the annual Gulf of Mexico hypoxia zone mapping cruise after Program;

(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking and after the semicolon; and

(iii) by adding at the end the following:

(E) to identify opportunities to improve monitoring of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia, with a particular focus on waters that may affect fisheries, public health, or subsistence harvest;

(F) to evaluate adaptation and mitigation strategies to address the impacts of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia;

(G) to support the resilience of the seafood industry to harmful algal blooms and to expand access to testing for harmful algal bloom toxins, including for subsistence and recreational harvesters, through innovative methods that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of such testing in rural and remote areas;

(H) to support sustained observations to provide State and local entities, Indian tribes, and other entities access to real-time or near real-time observations data for decision making to protect human and ecological health and local economies; and

(I) to assess the combined effects of harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, and stressors such as runoff and infrastructure changes on marine, freshwater, or estuarine ecosystems and living resources;

(iii) ;

(C) in paragraph (4), by striking agencies and inserting entities, regional coastal observing systems (as defined in section 12303 of the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3602)),;

(D) in paragraph (6), by inserting and communities after ecosystems;

(E) in paragraph (8), by inserting and Indian tribes after managers;

(F) in paragraph (9)(A), by striking, tribal, and local stakeholders and inserting and local stakeholders and Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations;

(G) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), and (11) as paragraphs (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (12), and (13), respectively;

(H) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

(3) consult with entities that are most dependent on coastal and water resources that may be impacted by marine and freshwater harmful algal blooms and hypoxia, including—

(A) State and local entities;

(B) Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiians organizations;

(C) island communities;

(D) low-population rural communities;

(E) subsistence communities; and

(F) fisheries and recreation industries;

(H) ; and

(I) by inserting after paragraph (10), as redesignated by subparagraph (G), the following:

(11) expand access to testing for harmful algal bloom toxins, including for subsistence and recreational harvesters, through innovative methods that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of such testing in rural and remote areas;

(I) ;

(5) by amending subsections (f) to read as follows:

The Under Secretary shall work cooperatively with and avoid duplication of effort of other agencies on the Task Force and States, Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, and nongovernmental organizations concerned with marine and freshwater issues.

(5) ; and

(6) by striking subsection (g), (h), and (i).

Section 603B of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4003) is amended to read as follows:

The Under Secretary shall—

(1) carry out response activities for marine, coastal, and Great Lakes harmful algal bloom and hypoxia events;

(2) develop and enhance operational harmful algal bloom observing and forecasting programs, including operational observations and forecasting, monitoring, modeling, data management, and information dissemination;

(3) develop forecast modeling that includes the effect of hurricanes and other weather events on the resuspension of bioavailable nutrients in sediments and related interactions with harmful algal blooms;

(4) enhance communication and coordination among Federal agencies carrying out activities and research relating to marine and freshwater harmful algal blooms and hypoxia;

(5) leverage existing resources and expertise available from local research universities and institutions; and

(6) use cost effective methods in carrying out this section.

The collection of monitoring and observing data under this section shall comply with all data standards and protocols developed pursuant to the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). Such data shall be made available through the National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System established under section 12304 of that Act (33 U.S.C. 3603).

.

The table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383; 112 Stat. 3412; 136 Stat. 1268) is amended by striking the item relating to section 603B and inserting the following:

.

The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 is amended by inserting after section 603B (33 U.S.C. 4003) the following:

The Administrator shall—

(1) carry out research on the ecology and human health impacts of freshwater harmful algal blooms and hypoxia events;

(2) develop and enhance operational freshwater harmful algal bloom monitoring, observing, and forecasting programs in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, and coordinate with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on such programs in the Great Lakes and estuaries (including tributaries thereof), including operational observations and forecasting, monitoring, modeling, data management, and information dissemination, to support event response, prioritization, prevention, adaptation, and mitigation activities;

(3) enhance communication and coordination among Federal agencies carrying out freshwater harmful algal bloom and hypoxia activities and research;

(4) to the greatest extent practicable, leverage existing resources and expertise available from Federal and State partners and local research universities and institutions; and

(5) use cost-effective methods in carrying out this section.

The Administrator shall ensure that activities carried out under subsection (a) focus on new approaches to addressing freshwater harmful algal blooms and are not duplicative of existing research and development programs authorized by this title or any other law.

.

The table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383; 112 Stat. 3412; 136 Stat. 1268) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 603B the following:

.

Section 606 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4005) is amended to read as follows:

The Under Secretary, acting through the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Integrated Ocean Observing System of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall integrate Federal, State, regional, and local observing capabilities to establish a national network of observing systems for the monitoring, detection, and forecasting of harmful algal blooms by leveraging the capacity of regional associations of the Integrated Ocean Observing System, including through the incorporation of emerging technologies and new data integration methods.

In carrying out subsection (a), the Program Office of the Integrated Ocean Observing System shall—

(1) coordinate with the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science regarding observations, data integration, and information dissemination;

(2) organize, integrate, disseminate, and provide a central architecture to support ecological forecasting of harmful algal blooms; and

(3) coordinate with the Water Quality Portal to store and serve discrete data related to the monitoring of freshwater, estuarine, and coastal harmful algal blooms.

.

The table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383; 112 Stat. 3412; 136 Stat. 1268) is amended by striking the item relating to section 606 and inserting the following:

.

The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 is amended by inserting after section 606 (33 U.S.C. 4005) the following:

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Administrator and research universities and institutions, shall establish a national-level incubator program (in this section referred to as the program) to increase the number of strategies, technologies, and measures available to prevent, mitigate, and control harmful algal blooms.

The program shall establish a framework for preliminary assessments of novel strategies, technologies, and measures to prevent, mitigate, and control harmful algal blooms in order to determine the potential effectiveness and scalability of such technologies.

The program shall provide merit-based funding, using amounts otherwise available to the Under Secretary for the award of grants, for strategies, technologies, and measures that eliminate or reduce, through biological, chemical, or physical means, the levels of harmful algae and associated toxins resulting from harmful algal blooms.

The program shall include a database for cataloging the licensing and permitting requirements, economic costs, feasibility, effectiveness, and scalability of novel and established strategies, technologies, and measures to prevent, mitigate, and control harmful algal blooms.

In carrying out the program, the Under Secretary shall prioritize proposed strategies, technologies, and measures that would, to the maximum extent practicable—

(1) protect key habitats for fish and wildlife;

(2) maintain biodiversity;

(3) protect public health;

(4) protect coastal resources of national, historical, and cultural significance; or

(5) benefit low-income communities, Indian tribes, and rural communities.

.

The table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383; 112 Stat. 3412; 136 Stat. 1268) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 606 the following:

.

Section 609 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4008) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking means the comprehensive research plan and action strategy established under section 603B and inserting means the action strategy for harmful algal blooms in the United States most recently submitted under section 603(c);

(2) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:

The term harmful algal bloom means a high concentration of marine or freshwater algae (including diatoms), macroalgae (including Sargassum), or cyanobacteria resulting in nuisance conditions or harmful impacts on marine and freshwater ecosystems, subsistence resources, communities, or human health through the production of toxic compounds or other biological, chemical, or physical impacts of the bloom.

(2) ;

(3) by striking paragraph (9);

(4) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) as paragraphs (5), (8), (9), (11), and (13), respectively;

(5) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:

The term harmful algal bloom and hypoxia event means the occurrence of a harmful algal bloom or hypoxia as a result of a natural, anthropogenic, or undetermined cause.

(5) ;

(6) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by paragraph (4)—

(A) by striking aquatic and inserting marine or freshwater; and

(B) by striking resident and inserting marine or freshwater;

(7) by inserting after paragraph (5), as redesignated by paragraph (4), the following:

The term Indian tribe has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).

The term Native Hawaiian organization has the meaning given that term in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517) and includes the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

(7) ;

(8) by inserting after paragraph (9), as redesignated by paragraph (4), the following:

The term subsistence use means the customary and traditional use of fish, wildlife, or other freshwater, coastal, or marine resources by any individual or community to meet personal or family needs, including essential economic, nutritional, or cultural applications.

(8) ; and

(9) by inserting after paragraph (11), as redesignated by paragraph (4), the following:

The term Tribal organization has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).

(9) .

Section 610 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4009) is amended—

(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title, for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030—

(1) $19,500,000 to the Under Secretary; and

(2) $8,000,000 to the Administrator.

(1) ; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

As specifically provided in advance in appropriations Acts, the Under Secretary or the Administrator may transfer funds made available to carry out this title to the head of any Federal department or agency, with the concurrence of such head, to carry out, as appropriate, relevant provisions of this title and section 9(g) of the National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018 (33 U.S.C. 4010).

(2) .

Section 9(g) of the National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018 (33 U.S.C. 4010) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1)—

(A) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end the following new sentence: The appropriate Federal official may waive the non-Federal share requirements of the preceding sentence if such official determines no reasonable means are available through which the recipient of the Federal share can meet the non-Federal share requirement.; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

The appropriate Federal official may enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, and grants with States, Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, local governments, or other entities to pay for or reimburse costs incurred by such entities for the purposes of supporting the determination of, and assessing the environmental, economic, subsistence use, and public health effects of, an event of national significance.

(B) ;

(2) in paragraph (2)—

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting a leadership official of an affected Indian tribe, the executive official of the District of Columbia, or the executive official of an affected territory or possession of the United States, after State,; and

(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking consider and all that follows through boundary. and inserting “consider factors such as—

(i) the risk to public health and the potential severity of the detrimental environmental effects of the hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event, as indicated by—

(I) data on shellfish or water quality obtained through sampling programs, including baseline data, and regulatory or advisory thresholds established to explain management actions related to the event;

(II) toxin levels in fish, marine mammals, seabirds, shellfish, or water during the event;

(III) toxic aerosols produced during the event, including potential human exposures to toxic aerosols;

(IV) reports of human or animal illnesses or mortalities during the event;

(V) any closures of fishing or shellfish harvesting locations or recreational public waters, including beaches, during the event;

(VI) the duration and spatial extent of the event; or

(VII) impacts to habitats or ecosystems associated with the event;

(ii) the potential economic, food safety and security, and subsistence impacts associated with the hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event, including to fisheries and aquaculture, recreation and tourism, monitoring and management, resource use, and event response activities, assessed in comparison with historical data from when a State or region did not experience such an event, as possible, as indicated by—

(I) increases in public health expenditures;

(II) losses to commercial fisheries and aquaculture industries, recreation and tourism, real estate, and other impacted industries or businesses;

(III) increases in monitoring and management expenditures, including costs incurred for event response and clean-up (such as for beach clean-up following an influx of biomass or a fish-kill) by public or private sectors; or

(IV) impacts to subsistence resources, including nutritional, resource use, and economic effects on subsistence communities;

(iii) the relative magnitude of those impacts in relation to past occurrences of hypoxia or harmful algal bloom events that occur on a recurrent or annual basis; and

(iv) the geographic scope of the hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event, including the potential of the event to affect several municipalities, to affect more than 1 State, or to cross an international boundary.

(B) ;

(3) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following:

The term Indian tribe has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).

The term Native Hawaiian organization has the meaning given that term in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517) and includes the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The term subsistence use means the customary and traditional use of fish, wildlife, or other freshwater, coastal, or marine resources by any individual or community to meet personal or family needs, including essential economic, nutritional, or cultural applications.

The term Tribal organization has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).

(3) ; and

(4) by adding at the end the following:

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030, to remain available until expended.

(4) .

In this title:

The term Administration means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The term appropriate committees of Congress means—

(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and

(B) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives.

The term Earth system model means a mathematical model containing all relevant components of the Earth, namely the atmosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere, and biosphere.

The term fire environment means—

(A) the environmental conditions, such as soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, that influence—

(i) fuel and fire behavior; and

(ii) the emission, chemical evolution, and transport of wildfire smoke; and

(B) the associated environmental impacts occurring during and after fire events.

The term fire weather means the weather conditions that influence the start, spread, character, or behavior of wildfires and relevant meteorological and chemical phenomena, including air quality, wildfire smoke, and meteorological parameters such as relative humidity, air temperature, wind speed and direction, and atmospheric composition and chemistry, including emissions and mixing heights.

The term impact-based decision support services means scientific advice and interpretative services the Administration provides to help core partners, such as emergency personnel and public safety officials, make decisions when the information impacts the lives and livelihoods of the people of the United States.

The term Indian tribe has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).

The term Native Hawaiian organization has the meaning given that term in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517), including the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The term State means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau.

The term Tribal organization has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).

The Under Secretary shall establish and maintain a coordinated fire weather services program among the offices of the Administration in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act.

The functions of the program established under subsection (a), consistent with the priorities described in section 101 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8511), shall be—

(1) to support readiness, responsiveness, understanding, and resilience of the United States to wildfires, fire weather, wildfire smoke, post-fire flooding and debris flows, and associated hazards and impacts in built and natural environments;

(2) to collaboratively develop and disseminate accurate, precise, effective, and timely risk communications, forecasts, watches, and warnings relating to wildfires, fire weather, wildfire smoke, post-fire flooding and debris flows, and other associated conditions, hazards, and impacts, as applicable, with Federal land management agencies;

(3) to partner with and support the public, Federal and State government entities, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and academic and local partners through the development of capabilities, impact-based decision support services, and overall service delivery and utility related to fire weather;

(4) to conduct and support research and development of new and innovative models, technologies, techniques, products, systems, processes, and procedures to predict and improve understanding of wildfires, fire weather, related air quality, post-fire flooding and debris flows, and the fire environment;

(5) to develop processes to transition research into operational use and inform additional areas of research to deliver fire weather products, services, and decision support tools to operational users and platforms;

(6) to develop communications networks and strategies to ensure parity of fire forecasts, warning services, and information about current fire location, for remote, isolated, and rural communities, including communities where the public acts as the first responder to wildfire; and

(7) to develop, in coordination with Federal land management agencies, impact-based decision support services that operationalize and integrate the functions described in paragraphs (1) through (6) in order to provide comprehensive impact-based decision support services that encompass the fire environment.

In developing and implementing the program established under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall prioritize—

(1) development of a fire weather-enabled Earth system model and data assimilation systems that—

(A) are capable of prediction and forecasting across relevant spatial and temporal scales;

(B) include variables associated with fire weather and the fire environment;

(C) improve understanding of the connections between fire weather and modes of climate variability;

(D) incorporate emerging techniques such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing; and

(E) use a rapidly deployable network of rain gauges for post-fire hazard monitoring;

(2) advancement of existing and new observational capabilities, including satellite-, airborne-, air-, and ground-based systems and technologies, and social networking and other public information-gathering applications that—

(A) identify—

(i) high-risk pre-ignition conditions;

(ii) conditions that influence fire behavior and spread including those conditions that suppress active fire events; and

(iii) fire weather threat levels;

(B) support real-time notification and monitoring of ignitions;

(C) support observations and data collection of fire weather and fire environment variables, including vegetation state and profiles of wildfire smoke, winds, temperature, and humidity, for development of the model and systems under paragraph (1); and

(D) support forecasts and research that mitigate the impacts of wildfires on human life, health, and the economy;

(3) development and implementation of advanced and user-oriented impact-based decision tools, science, and technologies that—

(A) ensure real-time and retrospective data, products, and services are findable, accessible, interoperable, usable, inform further research, and are analysis- and decision-ready;

(B) provide targeted information throughout the fire lifecycle including pre-ignition, detection, forecasting, post-fire, and monitoring phases; and

(C) support early assessment of post-fire hazards, such as air quality, debris flows, mudslides, and flooding; and

(4) ensuring the parity of access to and support from the tools, science, and technologies developed under this subsection for remote, isolated, and rural communities.

In developing and implementing the program established under subsection (a), the Under Secretary may—

(1) conduct relevant physical and social science research activities in support of the functions described in subsection (b) and the priorities described in subsection (c);

(2) conduct relevant activities, in coordination with Federal land management agencies and Federal science agencies, to assess fuel characteristics, including moisture, loading, and other parameters used to determine fire risk levels and outlooks;

(3) support and conduct research that assesses impacts to marine, riverine, watershed, and other relevant ecosystems, which may include forest and rangeland ecosystems, resulting from activities associated with mitigation of and response to wildfires;

(4) support and conduct attribution science research relating to wildfires, fire weather, fire risk, wildfire smoke, and associated conditions, risks, and impacts;

(5) develop wildfire smoke and air quality forecasts, forecast guidance, and prescribed burn weather forecasts, and conduct research on the impact of such forecasts on response behavior that minimizes health-related impacts from wildfire smoke exposure;

(6) use, in coordination with Federal land management agencies, wildland fuels information and fire resource intelligence to inform fire environment impact-based decision support services and products for safety;

(7) work with Federal agencies to provide data, tools, and services to support the implementation of mitigation measures by such agencies;

(8) provide training and support to ensure effective media utilization of impact-based decision support services and products to the public regarding actions needing to be taken;

(9) provide comprehensive training to ensure staff of the program established under subsection (a) is properly equipped to deliver the impact-based decision support services and products described in paragraphs (1) through (6); and

(10) acquire, through contracted purchase, private sector-produced observational data to fill identified gaps, as needed.

In developing and implementing the program established under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall ensure parity of coverage and programmatic activity for remote, isolated, and rural communities, including communities where the public acts as the first responder to wildfire.

The Under Secretary shall, as the Under Secretary considers appropriate, collaborate with partners in the weather and climate enterprises, academic institutions, States, Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, local partners, and Federal agencies in the development and implementation of the program established under subsection (a).

In carrying out the activities under this title and the amendments made by this title, the Under Secretary may provide support to non-Federal entities by making funds and resources available through—

(1) competitive grants;

(2) contracts under the mobility program under subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program);

(3) cooperative agreements; and

(4) co-location agreements as described in section 502 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Amendments Act of 2020 (33 U.S.C. 851 note prec.).

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a plan that details how the program established under subsection (a) will be administered and governed within the Administration.

The plan required by paragraph (1) should include a description of—

(A) how the functions described in subsection (b), the priorities described in subsection (c), and the activities described in subsection (d) will be distributed among the line offices of the Administration; and

(B) the mechanisms in place to ensure seamless coordination among those offices.

The Under Secretary shall establish a fire weather testbed that enables engagement across the Federal Government, State and local governments, academia, private and federally funded research laboratories, the private sector, and end-users in order to evaluate the accuracy and usability of technology, models, fire weather products and services, and other research to accelerate the implementation, transition to operations, and use of new capabilities by the Administration, Federal and land management agencies, and other relevant stakeholders.

The Under Secretary shall—

(A) establish and carry out a research and development program to support the application of uncrewed systems technologies to improve data collection in support of modeling, observations, predictions, forecasts, and impact-based decision support services, and for other purposes of the Administration;

(B) transition uncrewed systems technologies from research to operations as the Under Secretary considers appropriate; and

(C) coordinate with other Federal agencies that may be developing uncrewed systems and related technologies to meet the challenges of wildland fire management.

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall conduct pilots of uncrewed systems for fire weather and fire environment observations, including—

(A) testing of uncrewed systems in approximations of real-world scenarios;

(B) assessment of the utility of meteorological data collected from fire response and assessment aircraft;

(C) input of the collected data into appropriate models to predict fire behavior, including coupled atmosphere and fire models; and

(D) collection of best management practices for deployment of uncrewed systems and other remote data technology, including for communication and coordination between the stakeholders described in subsection (a).

In carrying out activities under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall ensure that any testing or deployment of uncrewed systems follow procedures, restrictions, and protocols established by the heads of the Federal agencies with statutory or regulatory jurisdiction over any airspace in which wildfire response activities are conducted during an active wildfire event.

The Under Secretary shall consult and coordinate with relevant Federal land management agencies, Federal science agencies, and the Federal Aviation Administration to develop processes for the appropriate deployment of the systems described in subparagraph (A).

The Under Secretary shall establish additional pilot projects relating to the fire weather testbed that may include the following elements:

(1) Advanced products to detect fire from satellites.

(2) Procurement and use of commercial data.

(3) Investigation and evaluation of information needs of users and decision makers.

Section 108(a)(5) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 8520(a)(5)) is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (C), by inserting and after the semicolon; and

(2) in subparagraph (D)—

(A) in clause (ii), by striking and;

(B) in clause (iii), by inserting and after the semicolon; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

(iv) a description of the research that has been transitioned into operations, including research at the fire weather testbed established under section 703(a) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026;

(C) .

Section 301 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8531) is amended—

(1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:

The Under Secretary shall—

(A) make data and metadata generated or collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the Under Secretary has the legal right to redistribute fully and openly available, in accordance with chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 5529) and the amendments made by that Act, and preserve and curate such data and metadata, in accordance with chapter 31 of title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Records Act of 1950), in order to maximize use of such data and metadata; and

(B) manage and steward the access, archival, and retrieval activities for the data and metadata described in subparagraph (A) by—

(i) using—

(I) enterprise-wide infrastructure, emerging technologies, commercial partnerships, and the skilled workforce needed to provide appropriate data management from collection to broad access; and

(II) associated information services; and

(ii) pursuing the maximum interoperability of data and information by—

(I) leveraging data, information, knowledge, and tools from across the Federal Government to support equitable access, cross-sectoral collaboration and innovation, and local planning and decision making; and

(II) developing standards and practices for the adoption and citation of digital object identifiers for datasets, models, and analytical tools.

In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary shall collaborate with such Federal partners and stakeholders as the Under Secretary considers relevant—

(A) to develop standards to pursue maximum interoperability of data, information, knowledge, and tools across the Federal Government, convert historical records into common digital formats, and improve access and usability of data by partners and stakeholders;

(B) to identify and solicit relevant data from Federal and international partners and other relevant stakeholders, as the Under Secretary considers appropriate; and

(C) to develop standards and practices for the adoption and citation of digital object identifiers for datasets, models, and analytical tools.

(2) .

Section 1114 of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (43 U.S.C. 1748b–1) is amended—

(1) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, after Federal Aviation Administration,;

(2) in subsection (e)(2)—

(A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); and

(B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:

In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Secretaries shall consult with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere regarding any development of impact-based decision support services that relate to wildfire-related activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In this subparagraph, the term impact-based decision support services means scientific advice and interpretative services the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides to help core partners, such as emergency personnel and public safety officials, make decisions when the information impacts the lives and livelihoods of the people of the United States.

(B) ; and

(3) in subsection (f)—

(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and moving such subparagraphs, as so redesignated, 2 ems to the right;

(B) by striking The Secretaries and inserting the following:

The Secretaries

(B) ; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretaries shall collaborate with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to improve coordination, utility of systems and assets, and interoperability of data for wildfire smoke prediction, forecasting, and modeling.

(C) .

The Under Secretary shall develop and maintain a comprehensive, centralized, and publicly accessible digital presence designed to promote findability, accessibility, interoperability, usability, and utility of the services, tools, data, and information produced by the program established under section 702(a).

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall seek to ensure the digital platform and tools of the Administration integrate geospatial data, decision support tools, training, and best practices to provide real-time fire weather forecasts and address fire-related issues and needs.

The Under Secretary shall seek to acquire sufficient high-performance computing resources and capacity for research, operations, and data storage in support of the program established under section 702(a).

In acquiring high-performance computing capacity under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall consider requirements needed for—

(A) conducting research, development, and testbed experiments;

(B) the transition of research and testbed developments into operations;

(C) sustaining capabilities in operations;

(D) capabilities existing in other Federal agencies and the commercial sector; and

(E) skilled workforce development.

During the second winter following the date of the enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Under Secretary shall conduct a post-fire-weather-season survey and assessment.

After conducting a post-fire-weather-season survey and assessment under subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary shall—

(i) investigate any gaps in weather data collected during the assessment;

(ii) identify and implement strategies and procedures to improve program services and information dissemination;

(iii) update systems, processes, strategies, and procedures to enhance the efficiency and reliability of weather data obtained from the assessment;

(iv) evaluate the accuracy and efficacy of physical fire weather forecasting information for each incident included in the survey and assessment; and

(v) assess and refine performance measures, as needed.

The Under Secretary may conduct surveys and assessments following individual wildfire events as the Under Secretary determines necessary.

In carrying out activities under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall seek to increase the number of post-wildfire community impact studies, including by surveying individual and collective responses and incorporating other applicable topics of social science research.

Not less frequently than once each year, the Under Secretary shall join other relevant agencies to provide a briefing to the appropriate committees of Congress that provides—

(A) an overview of the fire season;

(B) an outlook for the fire season; and

(C) fire weather forecasts.

In conducting any survey or assessment under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall coordinate with Federal, State, and local partners, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, private entities, and such institutions of higher education as the Under Secretary considers relevant in order to—

(A) improve operations and collaboration; and

(B) optimize data collection, sharing, integration, assimilation, and dissemination.

The Under Secretary shall make the data and findings obtained from each assessment conducted under this subsection available to the public in an accessible digital format as soon as practicable after conducting the assessment.

The Under Secretary shall make best efforts to incorporate the results and recommendations of each assessment conducted under this subsection into the research and development plan and operations of the Administration.

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Secretary of Defense, shall—

(A) conduct an assessment of resources, personnel, procedures, and activities necessary to maximize the functionality and utility of the automated surface observing system of the United States that identifies—

(i) key system upgrades needed to improve observation quality and utility for weather forecasting, aviation safety, and other users;

(ii) improvements needed in observations within the planetary boundary layer, including mixing height;

(iii) improvements needed in public accessibility of observational data;

(iv) improvements needed to reduce latency in reporting of observational data;

(v) relevant data to be collected for the production of forecasts or forecast guidance relating to atmospheric composition, including particulate and air quality data related to wildfires, and aviation safety;

(vi) areas of concern regarding operational continuity and reliability of the system, which may include needs for on-night staff, particularly in remote and rural areas and areas where system failure would have the greatest negative impact to the community;

(vii) stewardship, data handling, data distribution, and product generation needs arising from upgrading and changing the automated surface observation systems;

(viii) possible solutions for areas of concern identified under clause (vi), including with respect to the potential use of backup systems, power and communication system reliability, staffing needs and personnel location, and the acquisition of critical component backups and proper storage location to ensure rapid system repair necessary to ensure system operational continuity; and

(ix) research, development, and transition to operations needed to develop advanced data collection, quality control, and distribution so that the data are provided to models, users, and decision support systems in a timely manner; and

(B) develop and implement a plan that addresses the findings of the assessment conducted under subparagraph (A), including by seeking and allocating resources necessary to ensure that system upgrades are standardized across the Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense to the extent practicable.

Any system standardization implemented under paragraph (1)(B) shall not impede activities to upgrade or improve individual units of the system.

The Under Secretary, in collaboration with relevant Federal agencies and the National Interagency Coordination Center, shall assess and develop cooperative agreements to improve coordination, interoperability standards, operations, and placement of remote automatic weather stations for the purpose of improving utility and coverage of remote automatic weather stations, automated surface observation systems, wildfire smoke monitoring platforms, and other similar stations and systems for weather and climate operations.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that—

(i) details the findings of the assessment required by subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1); and

(ii) the plan required by subparagraph (B) of such paragraph.

The report required by subparagraph (A) shall include a detailed assessment of appropriations required—

(i) to address the findings of the assessment required by subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1); and

(ii) to implement the plan required by subparagraph (B) of such paragraph.

The Under Secretary shall establish and maintain an Incident Meteorologist Service within the National Weather Service (in this section referred to as the Service).

The Service shall include—

(1) the incident meteorologists of the Administration as of the date of the enactment of this Act; and

(2) such incident meteorologists of the Administration as may be appointed after such date.

The Service shall provide—

(1) on-site impact-based decision support services to Federal, State, and local government emergency response agencies, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations preceding, during, and following significant weather-related events, such as wildland fires, that threaten human life, property, or the economy; and

(2) support to Federal, State, and local government decisionmakers, partners, and stakeholders, Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations for seasonal planning and pre-fire mitigation activities.

The Service shall be deployed—

(1) as determined by the Under Secretary; or

(2) at the request of the head of another Federal agency and with the approval of the Under Secretary.

In establishing and maintaining the Service, the Under Secretary shall identify, acquire, and maintain adequate levels of staffing and resources to meet user needs.

The Under Secretary shall provide resources, access to real-time fire weather forecasts, training, administrative and logistical support, and access to professional counseling or other forms of support as the Under Secretary considers appropriate for the betterment of the emotional and mental health and well-being of incident meteorologists and other employees of the Administration so long as the need for such resources, training, access, or support is due to the response of such employees to high-impact and extreme fire weather events.

In this section:

The term basic pay includes any applicable locality-based comparability payment under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, any applicable special rate supplement under section 5305 of such title, or any equivalent payment under a similar provision of law.

The term covered employee means an employee of the Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, or the Department of the Interior.

The term covered services means services that are performed by a covered employee while serving—

(A) as a wildland firefighter or a fire management response official, including a regional fire director, a deputy regional fire director, and a fire management officer;

(B) as an incident meteorologist accompanying a wildland firefighter crew; or

(C) on an incident management team, at the National Interagency Fire Center, at a Geographic Area Coordinating Center, or at an operations center.

The term premium pay means premium pay paid under a provision of law described in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code.

The term relevant congressional committees means—

(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate;

(B) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;

(C) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate;

(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;

(E) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate;

(F) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives;

(G) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives;

(H) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives;

(I) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representative; and

(J) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

The term Secretary concerned means—

(A) the Secretary of Commerce, with respect to an employee of the Department of Commerce;

(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to an employee of the Department of Agriculture; and

(C) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to an employee of the Department of the Interior.

Any premium pay received by a covered employee for covered services shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay for the covered employee for purposes of applying the limitation on premium pay under section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code.

Any pay that is disregarded under paragraph (1) shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate pay of the applicable covered employee for purposes of applying the limitation under section 5307 of title 5, United States Code, during calendar year 2026.

A covered employee may not be paid premium pay under this subsection if, or to the extent that, the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay (including premium pay for covered services) of the covered employee for a calendar year would exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a position at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, as in effect at the end of that calendar year.

If the application of this subsection results in the payment of additional premium pay to a covered employee of a type that is normally creditable as basic pay for retirement or any other purpose, that additional premium pay shall not be—

(A) considered to be basic pay of the covered employee for any purpose; or

(B) used in computing a lump-sum payment to the covered employee for accumulated and accrued annual leave under section 5551 or 5552 of title 5, United States Code.

This subsection shall be in effect during calendar year 2026 and apply to premium pay payable during that year.

Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting, the Department of Commerce, after Interior.

Not later than March 30, 2026, the Secretaries referred to in subsection (a)(6), in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall jointly develop and implement a plan that addresses the needs of the Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of the Interior, as applicable, to hire, appoint, promote, or train additional covered employees who carry out covered services such that sufficient covered employees are available throughout each fiscal year, beginning in fiscal year 2026, without the need for waivers of premium pay limitations.

Not later than 30 days before the date on which the Secretaries implement the plan developed under paragraph (1), the Secretaries shall submit the plan to the relevant congressional committees.

The plan developed under paragraph (1) shall not be contingent on any Secretary receiving amounts appropriated for fiscal years beginning in fiscal year 2026 in amounts greater than amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2024.

The Secretary concerned shall maintain policies and procedures to promote the health, safety, and well-being of covered employees.

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress—

(1) the plan described in subsection (b);

(2) the assessment described in subsection (c); and

(3) the assessment described in subsection (d).

The plan submitted under subsection (a)(1) shall detail—

(A) the observational data, modeling requirements, ongoing computational needs, research, development, and technology transfer activities, data management, skilled-personnel requirements, engagement with relevant Federal emergency and land management agencies and partners, and corresponding research, development, and operational resources and timelines necessary to achieve the functions described in subsection (b) of section 702 and the priorities described in subsection (c) of such section; and

(B) plans and needs for all other activities and requirements under this title and the amendments made by this title.

Following completion of the plan submitted under subsection (a)(1), the Under Secretary shall, not less frequently than once each year concurrent with the submission of the budget by the President to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, submit to Congress a proposed budget corresponding with the elements detailed in the plan.

The Under Secretary shall conduct a workforce needs assessment on the current and future demand for additional incident meteorologists for wildfires and other high-impact fire weather events.

The assessment required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A) A description of staffing levels as of the date on which the assessment is submitted under subsection (a)(2) and projected future staffing levels.

(B) An assessment of the state of the research, development, and operational infrastructure of the National Weather Service as of the date on which the assessment is submitted and future needs of such infrastructure in order to meet current and future demands, including with respect to information technology support and logistical and administrative operations.

In conducting the assessment required by paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall consider user needs and feedback from relevant stakeholders.

The Under Secretary shall conduct a workforce support services assessment with respect to employees of the National Weather Service engaged in emergency response.

The assessment required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A) An assessment of need for further support of employees of the National Weather Service engaged in emergency response through services provided by the Public Health Service.

(B) A detailed assessment of appropriations required to secure the level of support services needed as identified in the assessment described in subparagraph (A).

Following the completion of the assessment required by paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall seek to acquire additional support services to meet the needs identified in the assessment.

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Executive Director of the Interagency Council for Advancing Weather Services established under section 402 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8542) (in this section referred to as the Interagency Council) shall establish a working group, to be known as the Fire Science and Technology Working Group (in this section referred to as the Working Group).

The Working Group shall be chaired by the Under Secretary, or designee.

The Working Group shall seek to build efficiencies among the agencies listed under section 711(c)(1) and coordinate the planning and management of science, research, technology, and operations related to science and support services for wildland fire prediction, detection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, response, management, and assessments.

The Working Group shall solicit input from non-Federal stakeholders.

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Interagency Council shall prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan for interagency coordination, research, and development that will improve the assessment of fire environments and the understanding and prediction of wildland fires, associated wildfire smoke, and the impacts of such fires and smoke, including—

(A) on communities, buildings, and other infrastructure;

(B) on ecosystem services and watersheds;

(C) social and economic impacts;

(D) by developing and encouraging the adoption of science-based and cost-effective measures—

(i) to enhance community resilience to wildland fires;

(ii) to address and mitigate the impacts of wildland fires and associated wildfire smoke; and

(iii) to restore natural fire regimes in fire-dependent ecosystems;

(E) by improving the understanding and mitigation of the effects of weather and long-term drought on wildland fire risk, frequency, and severity;

(F) through integrations of social and behavioral sciences in public safety fire communication;

(G) by improving the forecasting and understanding of prescribed fires and the impacts of such fires, and how those impacts may differ from impacts of wildland fires that originate from an unplanned ignition; and

(H) consideration and adoption of any recommendations included in the report required by section 711(c).

The strategic plan required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A) A description of the priorities and needs of vulnerable populations.

(B) A description of high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination needs.

(C) A timeline and guidance for implementation of—

(i) an interagency data sharing system for data relevant to performing fire assessments and modeling fire risk and fire behavior;

(ii) a system for ensuring that the fire prediction models of relevant agencies can be interconnected; and

(iii) to the maximum extent practicable, any recommendations included in the report required by section 711(c).

(D) A plan for incorporating and coordinating research and operational observations, including from infrared technologies, microwave, radars, satellites, mobile weather stations, and uncrewed aerial systems.

(E) A flexible framework to communicate clear and simple fire event information to the public.

(F) Integration of social, behavioral, risk, and communication research to improve the fire operational environment and societal information reception and response.

The Working Group shall terminate not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

The Under Secretary shall, in collaboration with the Chief of the United States Forest Service, the Director of the United States Geological Survey, the Director of the National Park Service, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and such stakeholders as the Under Secretary considers appropriate—

(1) evaluate the system used as of the date of the enactment of this Act to rate the risk of wildfire; and

(2) determine whether updates to that system are required to ensure that the ratings accurately reflect the severity of fire risk.

If the Under Secretary determines under subsection (a) that updates to the system described in paragraph (1) of such subsection are necessary, the Under Secretary shall update that system.

Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the program established under section 702(a).

The report required by paragraph (1) shall—

(A) evaluate the performance of the program by establishing initial baseline capabilities and tracking progress made toward fully operationalizing the functions described in section 702(b); and

(B) include such other recommendations as the Comptroller General determines are appropriate to improve the program.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that—

(1) identifies all Federal interagency bodies established for the purpose of wildfire forecasting, prevention, planning, and management (such as wildfire councils, commissions, and workgroups), including—

(A) the Wildland Fire Leadership Council;

(B) the White House Wildfire Resilience Interagency Group;

(C) the Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee;

(D) the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission;

(E) the Joint Science Fire Program;

(F) the National Interagency Coordination Center;

(G) the National Predictive Services Oversight Group;

(H) the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services;

(I) the National Wildfire Coordinating Group;

(J) the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group; and

(K) the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group;

(2) evaluates the roles, functionality, and utility of such interagency bodies;

(3) evaluates the progress, performance, and implementation of such interagency bodies;

(4) assesses efficacy and identifies potential overlap and duplication of such interagency bodies in carrying out interagency collaboration with respect to wildfire prevention, planning, and management; and

(5) includes such other recommendations as the Comptroller General determines are appropriate to streamline and improve wildfire forecasting, prevention, planning, and management, including recommendations regarding the interagency bodies for which the addition of the Administration is necessary to improve wildfire forecasting, prevention, planning, and management.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that identifies—

(1) the authorities, roles, and science and support services relating to wildland fire prediction, detection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, response, management, and assessment provided by—

(A) the Department of Commerce, including the Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology;

(B) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;

(C) the Department of the Interior;

(D) the Department of Agriculture;

(E) the National Science Foundation;

(F) the Department of Energy;

(G) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;

(H) the Department of Transportation;

(I) the Environmental Protection Agency; and

(J) the Department of Defense; and

(2) recommended areas in and mechanisms by which the agencies listed under paragraph (1) could support and improve—

(A) coordination between Federal agencies, State and local governments, Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, and other relevant stakeholders, including through examination of possible public-private partnerships;

(B) research and development, including interdisciplinary research, related to fire environments, wildland fires, associated wildfire smoke, and the impacts of such environments, fires, and smoke, in furtherance of a coordinated interagency effort to address wildland fire risk reduction;

(C) data management and stewardship, the development and coordination of data systems and computational tools, and the creation of a centralized, integrated data collaboration environment for agency data, including historical data, relating to weather, fire environments, wildland fires, associated wildfire smoke, and the impacts of such environments, fires, and smoke, and the assessment of wildland fire risk mitigation measures;

(D) interoperability, usability, and accessibility of the scientific data, data systems, and computational and information tools of the agencies listed under paragraph (1);

(E) coordinated public safety communications relating to fire weather events, fire hazards, and wildland fire and smoke risk reduction strategies; and

(F) secure and accurate real-time data, alerts, and advisories to wildland firefighters and other decision support tools for wildland fire incident command posts.

Not later than 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that—

(1) evaluates the functionality, utility, reliability, and operational status of the automated surface observing system across the Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense;

(2) evaluates the progress, performance, and implementation of the plan required by section 705(b)(1)(B);

(3) assesses the efficacy of cross-agency collaboration and stakeholder engagement in carrying out the plan and provides recommendations to improve such activities;

(4) evaluates the operational continuity and reliability of the system, particularly in remote and rural areas and areas where system failure would have the greatest negative impact to the community, and provides recommendations to improve such continuity and reliability;

(5) assesses Federal coordination regarding the remote automatic weather station network, air resource advisors, and other Federal observing assets used for weather and subseasonal to seasonal modeling and response activities, and provides recommendations for improvements; and

(6) includes such other recommendations as the Comptroller General determines are appropriate to improve the system.

Each Federal agency shall cooperate and coordinate with the Under Secretary, as appropriate, in carrying out this title and the amendments made by this title.

In meeting the requirements under this title and the amendments made by this title, the Under Secretary shall coordinate, and as appropriate, establish agreements with Federal and external partners to fully use and leverage existing assets, systems, networks, technologies, and sources of data.

Coordination carried out under paragraph (1) shall include coordination with—

(A) the agencies represented at the National Interagency Fire Center;

(B) the Predictive Services Program of the National Interagency Coordination Center;

(C) the National Wildfire Coordinating Group; and

(D) relevant interagency bodies identified in the report required by section 711(b).

In carrying out this subsection, the Under Secretary shall consult with Federal partners including—

(A) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;

(B) the Department of the Interior;

(C) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;

(D) the National Science Foundation;

(E) the United States Geological Survey;

(F) the Department of Agriculture;

(G) the Environmental Protection Agency;

(H) the Department of Energy;

(I) the Department of Defense;

(J) the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and

(K) such other departments and agencies as the Under Secretary considers relevant.

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall develop and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a process for annual coordination with State and local governments, Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations to assist the development of improved fire weather products and services.

The Under Secretary may develop collaborative relationships and agreements with foreign partners and counterparts to address transboundary issues pertaining to wildfires, fire weather, wildfire smoke, air quality, and associated conditions and hazards or other relevant meteorological phenomena, as appropriate, to facilitate full and open exchange of data and information.

In carrying out activities under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall consult with the Department of State and such other Federal partners as the Under Secretary considers relevant.

The Under Secretary shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that activities carried out under this title and the amendments made by this title are not duplicative of activities supported by other parts of the Administration or other relevant Federal agencies.

In carrying out activities under this title and the amendments made by this title, the Under Secretary shall coordinate with the Administration and heads of other Federal research agencies—

(A) to ensure those activities enhance and complement, but do not constitute unnecessary duplication of, efforts; and

(B) to ensure the responsible stewardship of funds.

Nothing in this title may be construed—

(1) to satisfy any requirement for government-to-government consultation with Indian tribes; or

(2) to affect or modify any treaty or other right of any Indian tribe.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administration to carry out this title and the amendments made by this title—

(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;

(2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2027;

(3) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2028;

(4) $36,000,000 for fiscal year 2029; and

(5) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2030.

None of the amounts authorized to be appropriated by subsection (a) may be used to unnecessarily duplicate activities funded under title VIII of division D of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1094).