15 U.S.C. § 8520 — United States Weather Research Program

Page 2432 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 8520 § 8520. United States Weather Research Program (a) Establishment The Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology through the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences, shall establish a United States Weath- er Research Program to— (1) increase benefits to the Nation from the substantial investment in modernizing the public weather warning and forecast system in the United States; (2) improve local and regional weather fore- casts and warnings; (3) address critical weather-related scientific issues; (4) coordinate governmental, university, and private-sector efforts; (5) submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology of the House of Representatives, not less frequently than once each year, a report, including— (A) a list of ongoing research projects; (B) project goals and a point of contact for each project; (C) the five projects related to weather ob- servations, short-term weather, or subsea- sonal forecasts within Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research that are closest to operationalization; (D) for each project referred to in subpara- graph (C)— (i) the potential benefit; (ii) any barrier to operationalization; and (iii) the plan for operationalization, in- cluding which line office will financially support the project and how much the line office intends to spend; (6) establish teams with staff from the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the National Weather Service to oversee the operationalization of research products devel- oped by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; (7) develop mechanisms for research prior- ities of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research to be informed by the relevant line offices within the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration, the relevant user community, and the weather enterprise; (8) develop an internal mechanism to track the progress of each research project within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Re- search and mechanisms to terminate a project that is not adequately progressing; (9) develop and implement a system to track whether extramural research grant goals were accomplished; (10) provide facilities for products developed by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Re- search to be tested in operational simulations, such as test beds; (11) encourage academic collaboration with the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Re- search and the National Weather Service by facilitating visiting scholars; and (12) carry out the activities of the Earth Pre- diction Innovation Center as described in sec- tion 8512(b)(2) of this title. (b) Implementation plan The Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Committee on Earth and Environ- mental Sciences, shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com- mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a plan for implementa- tion of the United States Weather Research Pro- gram which shall— (1) establish, for the 10-year period beginning in the year the plan is submitted, the goals and priorities for Federal weather research which most effectively advance the scientific understanding of weather processes and pro- vide information to improve weather warning and forecast systems in the United States; (2) describe specific activities, including re- search activities, data collection and data analysis requirements, predictive modeling, participation in international research efforts, demonstration of potential operational fore- cast applications, and education and training required to achieve such goals and priorities; and (3) set forth the role of each Federal agency and department to be involved in the United States Weather Research Program, identifying and addressing, as appropriate, relevant pro- grams and activities of the Federal agencies and departments that would contribute to such Program. (c) Subseasonal defined In this section, the term ‘‘subseasonal’’ means the time range between 2 weeks and 3 months. (Pub. L. 102–567, title I, § 108, Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4276; Pub. L. 115–25, title I, § 109, Apr. 18, 2017, 131 Stat. 97; Pub. L. 115–423, § 4(b), Jan. 7, 2019, 132 Stat. 5457.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Pub. L. 115–25, which directed amendment of section 108 of the ‘‘Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992’’, was executed to this sec- tion, which is section 108 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Section was formerly set out as a note under section 313 of this title. Section was enacted as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992, and not as part of the Weather Research and Fore- casting Innovation Act of 2017 which comprises this chapter. AMENDMENTS 2019—Subsec. (a)(12). Pub. L. 115–423 added par. (12). 2017—Subsec. (a)(5) to (11). Pub. L. 115–25, § 109(1), added pars. (5) to (11). See Codification note above. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–25, § 109(2), substituted ‘‘The’’ for ‘‘Not later than 90 days after October 29, 1992, the’’ in introductory provisions. See Codification note above. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–25, § 109(3), added subsec. (c). See Codification note above. § 8521. Weather and climate information in agri- culture (a) Findings Congress finds that—