119 S1958 IS: Federal Operational Resilience in Emergency Conditions And Storm Tracking Act U.S. Senate 2025-06-04 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II119th CONGRESS1st SessionS. 1958IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESJune 4, 2025Mr. Moran (for himself and Mr. Peters) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransportationA BILLTo exempt certain positions of the National Weather Service that are necessary for public safety from any Federal Government hiring freeze, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Federal Operational Resilience in Emergency Conditions And Storm Tracking Act or the FORECAST Act.

2.

Exemption of certain positions within the National Weather Service from Federal Government hiring freezes

(a)

In general

The Secretary shall exempt covered positions within the National Weather Service from any Executive order or memorandum imposing a hiring freeze for employees of the Federal Government due to the role of those positions as necessary for public safety in issuing weather and flood warnings, maintaining critical observational equipment, and protecting life and property from weather-related hazards.(b)

Implementation

The Secretary shall implement the requirement under subsection (a) by not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.(c)

Report

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on staffing levels at the National Weather Service for covered positions.(d)

Retroactive application

The requirement under subsection (a) shall negate any job offer rescinded on or after January 20, 2025, for a covered position.(e)

Definitions

In this section:(1)

Covered position

The term covered position means a position of the National Weather Service in job series 1340 (meteorology), 1315 (hydrology), or 856 (electronics technician), or any successor job series number.(2)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Commerce.