[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8400 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8400

 To amend title IV of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 
 Act of 2017 to research the impact of obstructions on radar detection 
          and prediction capabilities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 2022

 Mr. Feenstra introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title IV of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 
 Act of 2017 to research the impact of obstructions on radar detection 
          and prediction capabilities, 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 ``Weather Innovation for the Next 
Generation Act of 2022'' or the ``WING Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. RADAR OBSTRUCTION RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Radar Obstruction Research.--Title IV of the Weather Research 
and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 415. RADAR OBSTRUCTION RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND 
              EVALUATION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Director of the National Weather Service, 
in coordination with the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Research, shall establish a Research, Development, Test, 
and Evaluation Program (in this section referred to as the `Program') 
to ensure the continued performance of weather radar detection and 
prediction capabilities with physical obstructions in the line of sight 
of such radar.
    ``(b) Requirements.--In carrying out the Program, the Director, in 
consultation with the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological 
Services, shall--
            ``(1) partner with industry, academia, Federal, State, and 
        local government entities, and any other entity that the 
        Director considers appropriate;
            ``(2) identify and test existing or near-commercial 
        technologies and solutions that mitigate the potential impact 
        of obstructions on a weather radar;
            ``(3) research additional solutions that could mitigate the 
        effects of an obstruction on weather radar, including--
                    ``(A) signal processing algorithms;
                    ``(B) short-term forecasting algorithms to replace 
                contaminated data; and
                    ``(C) the use of dual polarization characteristics 
                in mitigating the effects of wind turbines on weather 
                radar; and
            ``(4) develop commercially viable technical mitigation 
        solutions for obstructions to weather radar capabilities.
    ``(c) Priority.--In carrying out the requirements described in 
subsection (b), the Director shall prioritize consideration of--
            ``(1) multifunction phased array radar;
            ``(2) the replacement of contaminated data with commercial 
        radar data;
            ``(3) the utilization of data from private-sector-
        associated meteorological towers;
            ``(4) providing wind farm boundaries and consolidated wind 
        farm areas to display on local forecasting equipment;
            ``(5) installing and providing access to rain gauges; and
            ``(6) any other technology-based mitigation solution that 
        the Director determines could overcome beam blockage or ghost 
        echoes.
    ``(d) Termination.--The authority of the Director to carry out the 
Program shall terminate on the earlier of--
            ``(1) September 30, 2027; or
            ``(2) 1 year after date on which the final recommendation 
        required by subsection (e)(2) is submitted by the Director.
    ``(e) Report; Recommendation.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than two years after the date 
        of enactment of this section and annually thereafter until the 
        Program terminates pursuant to subsection (d), the Director 
        shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of the 
        Program, including an evaluation of each technology-based 
        mitigation solution identified for priority consideration in 
        subsection (c), and a recommendation regarding additional 
        identification and testing of new technologies based on such 
        consideration.
            ``(2) Final recommendation.--Not later than five years 
        after the date of enactment of this section, the Director shall 
        provide to Congress a recommendation on whether additional 
        research, testing, and development through the Program 
        established by subsection (a) is needed, and a determination of 
        whether a cessation of field research, development, testing, 
        and evaluation is appropriate.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Beam blockage.--The term `beam blockage' means a 
        signal that is partially or fully blocked due to an 
        obstruction.
            ``(2) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of 
        the National Weather Service.
            ``(3) Ghost echo.--The term `ghost echo' means radar signal 
        reflectivity or velocity return errors in radar data due to the 
        close proximity of an obstruction.
            ``(4) Obstruction.--The term obstruction includes--
                    ``(A) a wind turbine that could limit the 
                effectiveness of a weather radar system; and
                    ``(B) any building that disrupts or limits the 
                effectiveness of a weather radar system.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for the Weather 
Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 414 the following new item:

``415. Radar obstruction Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation 
                            Program.''.
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