[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4975 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4975

To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to 
 carry out pilot projects relating to improved subseasonal to seasonal 
    forecasting in agriculture and water management, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2024

 Ms. Rosen (for herself, Mr. Padilla, and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to 
 carry out pilot projects relating to improved subseasonal to seasonal 
    forecasting in agriculture and water management, 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 ``Smarter Weather Forecasting for 
Water Management, Farming, and Ranching Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. WEATHER AND CLIMATE INFORMATION IN AGRICULTURE AND WATER 
              MANAGEMENT.

    Section 1762 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (15 U.S.C. 8521) is 
amended--
            (1) by amending subsection (h) to read as follows:
    ``(h) Subseasonal to Seasonal Forecasting Pilot Projects.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Under Secretary shall establish 
        not fewer than two pilot projects, in accordance with paragraph 
        (2), within the U.S. Weather Research Program of the Oceanic 
        and Atmospheric Research office of the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration to support improved subseasonal to 
        seasonal precipitation forecasts for the following:
                    ``(A) Water management in the western United 
                States.
                    ``(B) Agriculture in the United States.
            ``(2) Objectives.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
        Under Secretary shall ensure the following:
                    ``(A) A pilot project under subparagraph (A) of 
                paragraph (1) addresses key science challenges to 
                improving forecasts and developing related products for 
                water management in the western United States, 
                including the following:
                            ``(i) Improving operational model 
                        resolution, both horizontal and vertical, to 
                        resolve issues associated with mountainous 
                        terrain, such as intensity of precipitation and 
                        relative fraction of rain versus snow 
                        precipitation.
                            ``(ii) Improving fidelity in the 
                        operational modeling of the atmospheric 
                        boundary layer in mountainous regions.
                            ``(iii) Resolving challenges in predicting 
                        winter atmospheric circulation and storm 
                        tracks, including periods of blocked versus 
                        unblocked flow over the eastern North Pacific 
                        Ocean and western United States.
                            ``(iv) Improving the forecast of 
                        atmospheric rivers.
                            ``(v) Improving--
                                    ``(I) the quality and temporal and 
                                spatial resolution of observations of 
                                air-sea interactions;
                                    ``(II) operational modeling of air-
                                sea interactions; and
                                    ``(III) operational modeling of the 
                                influence of oceans on subseasonal and 
                                seasonal forecasting.
                    ``(B) A pilot project under subparagraph (B) of 
                paragraph (1) addresses key science challenges to 
                improving forecasts and developing related products for 
                agriculture in the United States, including the 
                following:
                            ``(i) Improving the quality and temporal 
                        and spatial resolution of observations and 
                        accurate operational modeling of the land 
                        surface and hydrologic cycle, including soil 
                        moisture and flash drought processes.
                            ``(ii) Improving fidelity in the 
                        operational modeling of warm season 
                        precipitation processes.
                            ``(iii) Understanding and predicting large-
                        scale upper-level dynamical flow anomalies that 
                        occur in spring and summer.
            ``(3) Activities.--A pilot project under this subsection 
        shall include activities that--
                    ``(A) best implement recommendations contained in 
                the 2020 report of the National Weather Service, 
                entitled `Subseasonal and Seasonal Forecasting 
                Innovation: Plans for the Twenty-First Century';
                    ``(B) achieve measurable objectives for operational 
                forecast improvement;
                    ``(C) engage with, and leverage the resources of, 
                institutions of higher education (as such term is 
                defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 
                1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), or a consortia thereof, and 
                entities within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration in existence as of the date of the 
                enactment of this subsection, including Regional 
                Climate Centers and the National Centers for 
                Environmental Information; and
                    ``(D) are carried out in coordination with the 
                Assistant Administrator for the Office of Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Research and the Director of the National 
                Weather Service.
            ``(4) Sunset.--The authority under this subsection shall 
        terminate on the date that is five years after the date of the 
        enactment of this subsection.''; and
            (2) by amending subsection (j) to read as follows:
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to 
carry out the activities under this section.''.
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