[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 881 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                 S. 881

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To improve understanding and forecasting of space weather events, and 
                          for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Research and Observations 
of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow Act'' or the 
``PROSWIFT Act''.

SEC. 2. SPACE WEATHER.

    (a) Policy.--It shall be the policy of the United States to prepare 
and protect against the social and economic impacts of space weather 
phenomena by supporting actions to improve space weather forecasts and 
predictions including: sustaining and enhancing critical observations, 
identifying research needs and promoting opportunities for research-to-
operations and operations-to-research collaborations both within and 
outside of the Federal Government, advancing space weather models, 
engaging with all sectors of the space weather community, including 
academia, the commercial sector, and international partners, and 
understanding the needs of space weather end users.
    (b) Amendment to Title 51, United States Code.--Subtitle VI of 
title 51, United States Code, is amended by adding after chapter 605 
the following:

                      ``CHAPTER 606--SPACE WEATHER

``Sec.
``60601. Space weather.
``60602. Integrated strategy.
``60603. Sustaining and advancing critical space weather observations.
``60604. Research activities.
``60605. Space weather data.
``60606. Space weather knowledge transfer and information exchange.
``60607. Pilot program for obtaining commercial sector space weather 
                            data.
``60608. Space weather benchmarks.
``Sec. 60601. Space weather
    ``(a) Findings.--
            ``(1) Space weather.--Congress makes the following findings 
        with respect to space weather:
                    ``(A) Space weather phenomena pose a significant 
                threat to ground-based and space-based critical 
                infrastructure, modern technological systems, and 
                humans working in space.
                    ``(B) The effects of severe space weather on the 
                electric power grid, satellites and satellite 
                communications and information, aviation operations, 
                astronauts living and working in space, and space-based 
                position, navigation, and timing systems could have 
                significant societal, economic, national security, and 
                health impacts.
                    ``(C) Space-based and ground-based observations 
                provide crucial data necessary to understand, forecast, 
                and prepare for space weather phenomena.
                    ``(D) Clear roles and accountability of Federal 
                departments and agencies are critical for efficient and 
                effective response to threats posed by space weather.
                    ``(E) Space weather observation and forecasting are 
                essential for the success of human and robotic space 
                exploration.
                    ``(F) In October 2015, the National Science and 
                Technology Council published a National Space Weather 
                Strategy and a National Space Weather Action Plan 
                seeking to integrate national space weather efforts and 
                add new capabilities to meet increasing demand for 
                space weather information.
                    ``(G) In March 2019, the National Science and 
                Technology Council published an updated National Space 
                Weather Strategy and Action Plan to enhance the 
                preparedness and resilience of the United States to 
                space weather.
            ``(2) Role of federal agencies.--Congress makes the 
        following findings with respect to the role of Federal agencies 
        on space weather:
                    ``(A) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration provides operational space weather 
                monitoring, forecasting, and long-term data archiving 
                and access for civil applications, maintains ground-
                based and space-based assets to provide observations 
                needed for space weather forecasting, prediction, and 
                warnings, provides research to support operational 
                responsibilities, and develops requirements for space 
                weather forecasting technologies and science.
                    ``(B) The Department of Defense provides 
                operational space weather research, monitoring, and 
                forecasting for the Department's unique missions and 
                applications.
                    ``(C) The National Aeronautics and Space 
                Administration provides increased understanding of the 
                fundamental physics of the Sun-Earth system through 
                basic research, space-based observations and modeling, 
                developing new space-based technologies and missions, 
                and monitoring of space weather for the National 
                Aeronautics and Space Administration's space missions.
                    ``(D) The National Science Foundation provides 
                increased understanding of the Sun-Earth system through 
                ground-based measurements, technologies, and modeling.
                    ``(E) The Department of the Interior collects, 
                distributes, and archives operational ground-based 
                magnetometer data in the United States and its 
                territories, works with the international community to 
                improve global geophysical monitoring, and develops 
                crustal conductivity models to assess and mitigate 
                risks from space weather-induced electric ground 
                currents.
                    ``(F) The Federal Aviation Administration provides 
                operational requirements for space weather services in 
                support of aviation and for coordination of these 
                requirements with the International Civil Aviation 
                Organization, and integrates space weather data and 
                products into the Next Generation Air Transportation 
                System.
    ``(b) Coordination by Office of Science and Technology Policy.--The 
Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall--
            ``(1) coordinate the development and implementation of 
        Federal Government activities conducted with respect to space 
        weather to improve the ability of the United States to prepare 
        for, avoid, mitigate, respond to, and recover from potentially 
        devastating impacts of space weather; and
            ``(2) coordinate the activities of the interagency working 
        group on space weather established under subsection (c).
    ``(c) Space Weather Interagency Working Group.--Not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the National 
Science and Technology Council shall establish an interagency working 
group on space weather (in this chapter referred to as the `interagency 
working group') to coordinate executive branch actions that improve the 
understanding and prediction of and preparation for space weather 
phenomena, and coordinate Federal space weather activities.
            ``(1) Membership.--The following entities shall be members 
        of the interagency working group:
                    ``(A) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration.
                    ``(B) The National Aeronautics and Space 
                Administration.
                    ``(C) The National Science Foundation.
                    ``(D) The Department of Defense.
                    ``(E) The Department of the Interior.
                    ``(F) Such other Federal agencies as the Director 
                of the Office of Science and Technology Policy deems 
                appropriate.
            ``(2) Interagency agreements.--
                    ``(A) The members of the interagency working group 
                may enter into one or more interagency agreements 
                providing for cooperation and collaboration in the 
                development of space weather spacecraft, instruments, 
                technologies, and research to operations and operations 
                to research in accordance with this chapter.
                    ``(B) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics 
                and Space Administration and the Administrator of the 
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 
                enter into one or more interagency agreements providing 
                for cooperation and collaboration in the development of 
                space weather spacecraft, instruments, and technologies 
                in accordance with this chapter.
            ``(3) International, academic community, and commercial 
        sector collaboration.--Each Federal agency participating in the 
        space weather interagency working group established under this 
        subsection shall, to the extent practicable, increase 
        engagement and cooperation with the international community, 
        academic community, and commercial space weather sector on the 
        observational infrastructure, data, and scientific research 
        necessary to advance the monitoring, forecasting, and 
        prediction of, preparation for, and protection from, space 
        weather phenomena.
    ``(d) Space Weather Advisory Group.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after 
                the date of the enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the 
                Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration, in consultation with other relevant 
                Federal agencies, shall establish a space weather 
                advisory group (in this chapter referred to as the 
                `advisory group') for the purposes of receiving advice 
                from the academic community, the commercial space 
                weather sector, and space weather end users that 
                informs the interests and work of the interagency 
                working group.
                    ``(B) Composition.--The advisory group shall be 
                composed of not more than 15 members appointed by the 
                interagency working group, of whom--
                            ``(i) 5 members shall be representatives of 
                        the academic community;
                            ``(ii) 5 members shall be representatives 
                        of the commercial space weather sector; and
                            ``(iii) 5 members shall be nongovernmental 
                        representatives of the space weather end user 
                        community.
                    ``(C) Chair.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
                on which the last member of the advisory group is 
                appointed under subparagraph (B), the Administrator of 
                the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
                shall appoint 1 member as the Chair of the advisory 
                group.
                    ``(D) Terms.--The length of the term of each member 
                of the advisory group shall be 3 years beginning on the 
                date on which the member is appointed.
                    ``(E) Term limits.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A member of the advisory 
                        group may not serve on the advisory group for 
                        more than 2 consecutive terms.
                            ``(ii) Chair.--A member of the advisory 
                        group may not serve as the Chair of the 
                        advisory group for more than 2 terms, 
                        regardless of whether the terms are 
                        consecutive.
            ``(2) Duties.--The advisory group shall advise the 
        interagency working group on the following:
                    ``(A) Facilitating advances in the space weather 
                enterprise of the United States.
                    ``(B) Improving the ability of the United States to 
                prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from 
                space weather phenomena.
                    ``(C) Enabling the coordination and facilitation of 
                research to operations and operations to research, as 
                described in section 60604(d).
                    ``(D) Developing and implementing the integrated 
                strategy under section 60602 including subsequent 
                updates and reevaluations.
            ``(3) User survey.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after 
                the establishment of the advisory group, the advisory 
                group shall conduct a comprehensive survey of the needs 
                of users of space weather products to identify the 
                space weather research, observations, forecasting, 
                prediction, and modeling advances required to improve 
                space weather products.
                    ``(B) Survey considerations.--The survey conducted 
                under subparagraph (A) shall--
                            ``(i) assess the adequacy of current 
                        Federal Government goals for lead time, 
                        accuracy, coverage, timeliness, data rate, and 
                        data quality for space weather observations and 
                        forecasting;
                            ``(ii) identify options and methods to, in 
                        consultation with the academic community and 
                        the commercial space weather sector, improve 
                        upon the advancement of the goals described in 
                        clause (i);
                            ``(iii) identify opportunities for 
                        collection of new data to address the needs of 
                        the space weather user community;
                            ``(iv) identify methods to increase 
                        coordination of space weather research to 
                        operations and operations to research;
                            ``(v) identify opportunities for new 
                        technologies, research, and instrumentation to 
                        aid in research, understanding, monitoring, 
                        modeling, prediction, forecasting, and warning 
                        of space weather; and
                            ``(vi) identify methods and technologies to 
                        improve preparedness for potential space 
                        weather phenomena.
                    ``(C) Coordination with agencies.--In carrying out 
                the requirements of this subsection, the advisory group 
                shall communicate and coordinate with the interagency 
                working group to ensure the needs of the governmental 
                space weather user community are adequately and 
                appropriately identified by the survey under 
                subparagraph (A).
                    ``(D) Briefing to congress.--Not later than 30 days 
                after the completion of the survey under subparagraph 
                (A), the advisory group shall provide to the Committee 
                on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
                Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
                and Transportation of the Senate a briefing on the 
                results of the survey under subparagraph (A).
                    ``(E) Publication.--Within 30 days of the briefing 
                to Congress, the advisory group shall make the results 
                of the survey under subparagraph (A) publicly 
                available.
                    ``(F) Reevaluation.--The advisory group shall 
                review and assess the survey under subparagraph (A) not 
                less than every 3 years and update, resubmit, and 
                republish the survey in accordance with the 
                requirements of subparagraphs (D) and (E).
            ``(4) Federal advisory committee act.--Section 14 of the 
        Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 
        to the advisory group.
``Sec. 60602. Integrated strategy
    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy, in collaboration with the interagency working group 
and upon the advice of the advisory group, shall develop a strategy for 
coordinated observation of space weather among members of the 
interagency working group (in this chapter, referred to as the 
`integrated strategy'). The integrated strategy shall identify--
            ``(1) observations and measurements that must be sustained 
        beyond the lifetime of current ground-based and space-based 
        assets, as described under section 60603, that are essential 
        for space weather research, models, forecasting, and 
        prediction;
            ``(2) new observations and measurements that may 
        significantly improve space weather forecasting and prediction; 
        and
            ``(3) plans for follow-on space-based observations under 
        section 60603.
    ``(b) Considerations.--In developing the integrated strategy in 
subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy shall consider, as appropriate, the following:
            ``(1) Potential contributions of commercial solutions, 
        prize authority, academic and international partnerships, 
        microsatellites, small satellite options, ground-based 
        instruments, and hosted payloads for observations identified in 
        section 60602(a)(2).
            ``(2) Work conducted before the date of enactment of the 
        PROSWIFT Act by the National Science and Technology Council 
        with respect to space weather.
            ``(3) The survey under section 60601(d).
            ``(4) Any relevant recommendations from the most recent 
        National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 
        Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics).
    ``(c) Review of Integrated Strategy.--
            ``(1) Review.--The Administrator of the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Administrator of 
        the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in 
        consultation with Federal agencies participating in the 
        interagency working group, shall enter into an agreement with 
        the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 
        to review the integrated strategy developed in this section.
            ``(2) Considerations.--The review from paragraph (1) shall 
        also consider the current state, capability, and feasibility of 
        the commercial space weather sector to provide new and 
        supplemental observations and measurements that may 
        significantly improve space weather forecasting and prediction.
            ``(3) Transmittal.--The Director of the Office of Science 
        and Technology Policy, the Administrator of the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Administrator of 
        the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 
        transmit the integrated strategy and the results of the review 
        required under paragraph (1) to the Committee on Science, 
        Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
        Senate not later than 1 year after the date of the completion 
        of the survey under section 60601(d)(3). The integrated 
        strategy and its review shall be made publicly available within 
        30 days of submittal to Congress.
    ``(d) Implementation Plan.--Not later than 180 days after delivery 
of the review of the integrated strategy in subsection (c)(3), the 
interagency working group shall develop a plan to implement the 
integrated strategy, including an estimate of the cost and schedule 
required for implementation. Upon completion, the interagency working 
group shall submit the implementation plan to the Committees on 
Science, Space, and Technology and Armed Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation and Armed Services of the Senate. The implementation 
plan shall be made publicly available within 30 days of submittal to 
Congress.
    ``(e) Reevaluation.--The Director, in collaboration with the 
interagency working group, shall update the integrated strategy not 
later than 1 year after the reevaluation of the user survey from 
section 60601(d)(3)(F) in accordance with the requirements of 
subsections (a) through (d).
``Sec. 60603. Sustaining and advancing critical space weather 
              observations
    ``(a) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States to--
            ``(1) establish and sustain a baseline capability for space 
        weather observations and to make such observations and data 
        publicly available; and
            ``(2) obtain enhanced space weather observations, as 
        practicable, to advance forecasting and prediction capability, 
        as informed by the integrated strategy in section 60602.
    ``(b) Sustaining Baseline Space-based Observational Capabilities.--
            ``(1) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 
        Space Administration shall, in cooperation with the European 
        Space Agency and other international and interagency partners, 
        maintain operations of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/
        Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (referred to in this 
        section as `SOHO/LASCO') for as long as the satellite continues 
        to deliver quality observations.
            ``(2) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 
        Space Administration shall prioritize the reception of SOHO/
        LASCO data.
            ``(3) The Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration shall maintain, for as long as is 
        practicable, operations of current space-based observational 
        assets, including but not limited to the Geostationary 
        Operational Environmental Satellites system, and the Deep Space 
        Climate Observatory.
    ``(c) Backup Space-based Observational Capability.--The 
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall work with 
Federal and international partners in order to secure reliable backup 
baseline capability for near real-time coronal mass ejection imagery, 
solar wind, solar imaging, coronal imagery, and other relevant 
observations required to provide space weather forecasts.
    ``(d) SOHO/LASCO Operational Contingency Plan.--The Administrator 
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall develop an 
operational contingency plan to provide continuous space weather 
forecasting in the event of an unexpected SOHO/LASCO failure, and prior 
to the implementation of the backup space-based baseline observational 
capability in section 60603(c).
    ``(e) Briefing.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall provide a briefing to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate on the plan to secure reliable backup 
baseline capability described in subsection (c) and the SOHO/LASCO 
operational contingency plan developed under subsection (d).
    ``(f) Sustaining Ground-based Observational Capability.--The 
Director of the National Science Foundation, the Director of the United 
States Geological Survey, the Secretary of the Air Force, and, as 
practicable in support of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, 
shall each--
            ``(1) maintain and improve ground-based observations of the 
        Sun, as necessary and advisable, to help meet the needs 
        identified in the survey under section 60601(d)(3); and
            ``(2) continue to provide space weather data through 
        ground-based facilities, including radars, lidars, 
        magnetometers, neutron monitors, radio receivers, aurora and 
        airglow imagers, spectrometers, interferometers, and solar 
        observatories.
    ``(g) Considerations.--In implementing subsections (b), (c), and 
(d), the Administrators of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
the Directors of the National Science Foundation and United States 
Geological Survey, and the Secretaries of the Air Force and the Navy 
shall prioritize cost-effective and reliable solutions.
    ``(h) Ground-based Observational Data.--The Director of the 
National Science Foundation shall--
            ``(1) make available to the public key data streams from 
        the platforms and facilities described in subsection (d) for 
        research and to support space weather model development;
            ``(2) develop experimental models for scientific purposes; 
        and
            ``(3) support the transition of the experimental models to 
        operations where appropriate.
    ``(i) Enhanced Space-based Observations.--The Administrator of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in coordination with 
the Secretary of Defense, should develop options to build and deploy 
space-based observational capabilities, beyond the baseline 
capabilities referenced in subsection (b), that may improve space 
weather measurements and observations. These supplemental observational 
capabilities could include commercial solutions, prize authority, 
academic partnerships, microsatellites, ground-based instruments, and 
opportunities to deploy the instrument or instruments as a secondary 
payload on an upcoming planned launch.
``Sec. 60604. Research activities
    ``(a) Basic Research.--The Director of the National Science 
Foundation, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, and the Secretary of Defense, shall--
            ``(1) continue to carry out basic research on heliophysics, 
        geospace science, and space weather; and
            ``(2) support competitive, peer-reviewed proposals for 
        conducting research, advancing modeling, and monitoring of 
        space weather and its impacts, including the science goals 
        outlined in decadal surveys in solar and space physics 
        conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 
        and Medicine.
    ``(b) Multidisciplinary Research.--
            ``(1) Findings.--Congress finds that the multidisciplinary 
        nature of solar and space physics creates funding challenges 
        that require coordination across scientific disciplines and 
        Federal agencies.
            ``(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        science centers could coordinate multidisciplinary solar and 
        space physics research. The Administrator of the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration and Director of the 
        National Science Foundation should support competitively 
        awarded grants for multidisciplinary science centers that 
        advance solar and space physics research, including research-
        to-operations and operations-to-research processes.
            ``(3) Multidisciplinary research.--The Director of the 
        National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Administrator 
        of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall 
        each pursue multidisciplinary research in subjects that further 
        the understanding of solar physics, space physics, and space 
        weather.
    ``(c) Science Missions.--The Administrator of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration should implement missions that 
meet the science objectives identified in solar and space physics 
decadal surveys conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering, and Medicine.
    ``(d) Research to Operations; Operations to Research.--The 
interagency working group shall, upon consideration of the advice of 
the advisory group, develop formal mechanisms to--
            ``(1) transition the space weather research findings, 
        models, and capabilities of the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration, the National Science Foundation, the United 
        States Geological Survey, and other relevant Federal agencies, 
        as appropriate, to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration and the Department of Defense;
            ``(2) enhance coordination between research modeling 
        centers and forecasting centers; and
            ``(3) communicate the operational needs of space weather 
        forecasters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration and Department of Defense, as appropriate, to 
        the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National 
        Science Foundation, and the United States Geological Survey.
``Sec. 60605. Space weather data
    ``(a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration and the Director of the National Science 
Foundation shall continue to--
            ``(1) make space weather-related data obtained for 
        scientific research purposes available to space weather 
        forecasters and operations centers; and
            ``(2) support model development and model applications to 
        space weather forecasting.
    ``(b) Research.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration shall make space weather-related data 
obtained from operational forecasting available for research.
``Sec. 60606. Space weather knowledge transfer and information exchange
    ``Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the 
PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, in collaboration with the Administrator of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Director of the National 
Science Foundation, shall enter into an arrangement with the National 
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to establish a Space 
Weather Government-Academic-Commercial Roundtable to facilitate 
communication and knowledge transfer among Government participants in 
the space weather interagency working group established under section 
60601(c), the academic community, and the commercial space weather 
sector to--
            ``(1) facilitate advances in space weather prediction and 
        forecasting;
            ``(2) increase coordination of space weather research to 
        operations and operations to research; and
            ``(3) improve preparedness for potential space weather 
        phenomena.
``Sec. 60607. Pilot program for obtaining commercial sector space 
              weather data
    ``(a) Establishment.--Not later than 12 months after the date of 
enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may establish a pilot program 
under which the Administrator will offer to enter into contracts with 
one or more entities in the commercial space weather sector for the 
provision to the Administrator of space weather data generated by such 
an entity that meets the standards and specifications published under 
subsection (b).
    ``(b) Data Standard and Specifications.--Not later than 18 months 
after the date of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Defense, may publish standards and specifications 
for ground-based, ocean-based, air-based, and space-based commercial 
space weather data and metadata.
    ``(c) Contracts.--
            ``(1) In general.--Within 12 months after the date of 
        transmission of the review of the integrated strategy to 
        Congress under section 60602(c)(3) and taking into account the 
        results of the review, the Administrator of the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may offer to enter, 
        through an open competition, into at least one contract with 
        one or more commercial space weather sector entities capable of 
        providing space weather data that--
                    ``(A) meets the standards and specifications 
                established for providing such data under subsection 
                (b); and
                    ``(B) is provided in a manner that allows the 
                Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration to calibrate and evaluate the data for 
                use in space weather research and forecasting models of 
                the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
                the Department of Defense, or both.
            ``(2) Assessment.--If one or more contract is entered into 
        under paragraph (1), not later than 4 years after the date of 
        enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall assess, 
        and submit to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology 
        and Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Armed 
        Services of the Senate, a report on the extent to which the 
        pilot program has demonstrated data provided under contracts 
        described in paragraph (1) meet the standards and 
        specifications established under subsection (b) and the extent 
        to which the pilot program has demonstrated--
                    ``(A) the viability of assimilating the 
                commercially provided data into National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration space weather research and 
                forecasting models;
                    ``(B) whether, and by how much, the data so 
                provided add value to space weather forecasts of the 
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the 
                Department of Defense; and
                    ``(C) the accuracy, quality, timeliness, validity, 
                reliability, usability, information technology 
                security, and cost-effectiveness of obtaining 
                commercial space weather data from commercial sector 
                providers.
``Sec. 60608. Space weather benchmarks
    ``The interagency working group established under section 60601(c) 
shall periodically review and update the benchmarks described in the 
report of the National Science and Technology Council entitled `Space 
Weather Phase 1 Benchmarks' and dated June 2018, as necessary, based 
on--
            ``(1) any significant new data or advances in scientific 
        understanding that become available; or
            ``(2) the evolving needs of entities impacted by space 
        weather phenomena.''.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) The table of chapters of title 51, United States Code, 
        is amended by adding after the item relating to chapter 605 the 
        following:

``606. Space Weather........................................   60601''.
            (2) Section 809 of the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18388) and 
        the item relating to that section in the table of contents 
        under section 1(b) of that Act (Public Law 111-267; 124 Stat. 
        2806) are repealed.

            Passed the Senate July 27, 2020.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
116th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                 S. 881

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 To improve understanding and forecasting of space weather events, and 
                          for other purposes.