[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3915 Reported in House (RH)]

<DOC>





                                                 Union Calendar No. 171
118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3915

                          [Report No. 118-211]

To improve the National Weather Service's forecasting of turbulence and 
     acquisition of aviation weather data, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2023

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

                           September 21, 2023

                    Additional sponsor: Ms. Stevens

                           September 21, 2023

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 7, 
                                 2023]


_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve the National Weather Service's forecasting of turbulence and 
     acquisition of aviation weather data, 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 ``Aviation Weather Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. AVIATION WEATHER AND DATA INNOVATION.

    (a) Program.--The Director of the National Weather Service shall 
maintain an airborne observation program (in this section referred to 
as the ``program'') for the acquisition of atmospheric sensor data and 
the deployment, in partnership with the weather enterprise, of critical 
atmospheric sensors.
    (b) Activities.--The program shall include activities that carry 
out the following:
            (1) Procurement of weather data available from commercial 
        aircraft, as determined by the Director of the National Weather 
        Service.
            (2) Acquisition of additional vertical profile observations 
        that provide spatial and temporal density, as determined by the 
        Director.
            (3) Analysis of procured data when incorporated into the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's unified 
        forecast system in order to provide improved forecast 
        information for aircraft.
    (c) Budget.--The Director of the National Weather Service shall, 
not less frequently than annually, submit to Congress a proposed budget 
corresponding with the activities described in subsection (b), 
including an analysis of such activities that can be complemented by 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aircraft.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--From amounts made available 
to Operations, Research, and Facilities of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, there is authorized to be appropriated up 
to $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out 
this section.
    (e) Definition.--In this section, the term ``weather enterprise'' 
has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Weather Research 
and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501).

SEC. 3. AVIATION WEATHER AND TURBULENCE FORECASTING COORDINATION.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the National Weather Service shall 
include turbulence events or phenomena, icing conditions, or other 
phenomena in the forecasting capabilities of the National Weather 
Service's Aviation Weather Center, and deliver operational forecasts 
with consistent, timely, and accurate weather and turbulence 
information for the airspace system and the protection of lives and 
property.
    (b) Coordination.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Director of 
the National Weather Service shall--
            (1) give consideration to recommendations from the 
        Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in 
        furtherance of section 44720 of title 49, United States Code; 
        and
            (2) improve weather and turbulence forecasting capabilities 
        by--
                    (A) designating or establishing within the Federal 
                Government an interagency working group to determine 
                weather and environmental data or observation 
                requirements, needs, and potential solutions related to 
                aviation weather and turbulence modeling or 
                forecasting;
                    (B) identifying current and future potential data 
                gaps related to turbulence events or phenomena that 
                can--
                            (i) identify or inform route specific 
                        flight planning; and
                            (ii) be supplemented or filled by 
                        commercial aviation tools;
                    (C) transitioning research initiatives and pilot 
                programs, including a pilot program of instrumentation 
                for observing greenhouse gases and other atmospheric 
                factors deployed on commercial aircraft and supporting 
                the evaluation of a sustained observing network using 
                such platforms, into operations that improve the 
                forecasting missions of the Aviation Weather Center;
                    (D) developing and deploying improved probabilistic 
                aviation weather forecast guidance technology; and
                    (E) updating interagency agreements, as 
                appropriate, including to address reimbursable 
                agreements.

SEC. 4. NEXT GENERATION AVIATION RESEARCH.

    Paragraph (3) of section 102(b) of the Weather Research and 
Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)), is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as 
        subparagraphs (G) and (H), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(F) aviation weather phenomena, including 
                atmospheric composition and turbulence, to improve 
                scientific understanding and forecast capabilities for 
                the airspace system;''.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 171

118th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 3915

                          [Report No. 118-211]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To improve the National Weather Service's forecasting of turbulence and 
     acquisition of aviation weather data, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           September 21, 2023

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed