[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4601 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4601

  To prohibit the closure of certain National Weather Service weather 
 stations until concerns of the Comptroller General about the National 
          Weather Service modernization effort are addressed.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 1998

   Mr. Paul introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                          Committee on Science

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit the closure of certain National Weather Service weather 
 stations until concerns of the Comptroller General about the National 
          Weather Service modernization effort are addressed.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Comptroller General has designated the 
        modernization effort of the National Weather Service under the 
        Weather Service Modernization Act as a high-risk program;
            (2) the Comptroller General has reported that savings 
        proposed by the National Weather Service at the start of the 
        modernization effort described in paragraph (1) are no longer 
        achievable; and
            (3) in spite of repeated requests by the Comptroller 
        General, the concerns of the Comptroller General about the 
        Automated Surface Observing System systems architecture have 
        not been addressed.

SEC. 2. WEATHER STATION CLOSURES.

    (a) Prohibition.--No National Weather Service weather station 
certified for closure under the Weather Service Modernization Act after 
July 1, 1998, shall be closed unless the Comptroller General has 
removed the modernization effort described in section 1(1) from the 
high-risk program category.
    (b) Reopening.--A weather station certified for closure under the 
Weather Service Modernization Act after July 1, 1998, which has been 
closed before the date of the enactment of this Act shall, if possible, 
be reopened and staffed at levels in existence before closure, unless 
the Comptroller General has removed the modernization effort described 
in section 1(1) from the high-risk program category.
    (c) Recertification.--If the Comptroller General has removed the 
modernization effort described in section 1(1) from the high-risk 
program category, a weather station described in subsection (a) or (b) 
may not be closed unless a new certification is made under the Weather 
Service Modernization Act after such removal.
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