[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1715 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1715

    To direct the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and 
 Atmospheric Administration to conduct collaborative research in order 
   to advance numerical weather and climate prediction in the United 
                    States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 22, 2023

Mr. Miller of Ohio (for himself and Ms. Ross) introduced the following 
   bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
                               Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To direct the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and 
 Atmospheric Administration to conduct collaborative research in order 
   to advance numerical weather and climate prediction in the United 
                    States, 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 ``Advanced Weather Model Computing 
Development Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Energy.
            (2) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Energy 
        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (4) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration.

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC 
              ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary and Administrator shall carry out 
collaborative research and development activities in artificial 
intelligence and high performance computing focused on the advancement 
of climate models and operational numerical weather prediction relevant 
to agency missions.
    (b) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Secretary and Administrator 
shall carry out the activities under subsection (a) through the 
establishment of a memorandum of understanding, or other appropriate 
interagency agreement. Such memorandum or agreement, as the case may 
be, shall require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed process, 
which considers applications from Federal agencies, National 
Laboratories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit institutions, 
and other appropriate entities.
    (c) Activities.--In carrying out the activities under subsection 
(a), the Secretary and Administrator may--
            (1) conduct collaborative research to develop new methods 
        and optimization of modeling and simulation, machine learning, 
        data assimilation, large scale data analytics, and predictive 
        analysis techniques;
            (2) explore options for performance portability of the 
        optimized weather model codes between the operational computing 
        systems of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
        and the Department's high performance computers;
            (3) develop methods to accommodate large data sets of 
        weather and climate information;
            (4) to the maximum extent practicable, and in compliance 
        with national security policies, promote collaboration, open 
        community-based development, and data sharing between Federal 
        agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of higher 
        education, nonprofit institutions, and other appropriate 
        entities by providing the necessary access and secure data 
        transfer capabilities; and
            (5) support maintenance of and improvements to scientific 
        computing infrastructure that the Secretary and Administrator 
        determine appropriate.
    (d) Coordination.--In carrying out the activities under subsection 
(a), the Secretary and Administrator are authorized to--
            (1) carry out reimbursable agreements between the 
        Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration, and other entities in order to maximize the 
        effectiveness of research and development; and
            (2) collaborate with other Federal agencies as appropriate.
    (e) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary and Administrator shall submit to 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate, a report detailing the following:
            (1) Interagency coordination between each Federal agency 
        involved in the research and development activities carried out 
        under this section.
            (2) Potential opportunities to expand the technical 
        capabilities of the Department and the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration.
            (3) Collaborative research achievements.
            (4) Areas of future mutually beneficial gains as a result 
        of the activities described in subsection (c).
            (5) Continuation of coordination between the Department and 
        the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 
        activities described in subsection (c).

SEC. 4. CLIMATE AND WEATHER PREDICTION ON HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTERS 
              INITIATIVE.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator, in collaboration with the 
Secretary, shall carry out an initiative, which may leverage Department 
high performance computers or expertise, to run advanced models in 
order to conduct proof of concept scenarios in comparison with current 
issued forecasts and models. The Secretary and Administrator shall 
carry out the initiative through a competitive, merit-reviewed process, 
and consider applications from Federal agencies, National Laboratories, 
institutions of higher education, nonprofit institutions, and other 
appropriate entities.
    (b) Components.--In carrying out the initiative under subsection 
(a), the Administrator shall prevent duplication and coordinate 
research efforts in artificial intelligence, high performance 
computing, modeling and simulation, machine learning, data 
assimilation, large scale data analytics, and predictive analysis 
across the Department, and may--
            (1) run real-time weather forecast scenarios to conduct 
        comparative research between National Weather Service issued 
        forecasts to forecasts developed through the use of operational 
        models run on high performance computers;
            (2) share relevant modeling system and applications 
        innovations developed through the initiative, including Unified 
        Forecast System-based applications, through community-based 
        activities; and
            (3) leverage related weather and climate efforts and data 
        from the National Science and Technology Council, the 
        Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services, and 
        other relevant interagency entities.
    (c) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report 
evaluating the following:
            (1) The effectiveness of the initiative under subsection 
        (a), including applied research discoveries, and advanced 
        modeling improvements achieved.
            (2) Potential opportunities to expand the high performance 
        computing capabilities of the Department and the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
    (d) Sunset.--The authority under this section shall terminate five 
years after the date of the enactment of this section.

SEC. 5. RESEARCH SECURITY.

    The activities authorized under this Act shall be applied in a 
manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and 
Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as division B of 
the CHIPS Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.)).
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