[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3795 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3795
To establish the Radar Next Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 5, 2026
Ms. Cantwell (for herself and Mr. Budd) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Radar Next Program, 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 ``Radar Next Program Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. RADAR NEXT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Under Secretary, in consultation with the
Director of the National Weather Service, shall establish a program to
be known as the ``Radar Next Program'' (in this section referred to as
the ``program'').
(b) Requirements.--In carrying out the program, the Under Secretary
shall--
(1) develop performance and coverage requirements for the
weather radar network of the United States, including for the
territories of the United States;
(2) collaborate with the weather enterprise to determine
potential solutions to update the weather radar network of the
United States that meet the requirements developed under
paragraph (1); and
(3) develop a plan in accordance with subsection (c).
(c) Plan.--
(1) In general.--The Under Secretary shall develop a plan
to replace the Next Generation Weather Radar system of the
National Weather Service in existence as of the date of the
enactment of this Act (in this subsection referred to as the
``NEXRAD system'').
(2) Elements.--The plan developed under this subsection
shall seek to continue and improve weather radar coverage in
the United States and its territories and include the
following:
(A) Estimates of quantifiable improvements in
performance, coverage, and accuracy to be made from
potential options for replacement of the NEXRAD system.
(B) Development of a phased array radar to test and
determine the specifications and requirements for such
replacement.
(C) Expected actions needed to implement the
recommendations of the report published by the
Environmental Information Services Working Group of the
Science Advisory Board of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration on November 15, 2023, and
entitled ``A NESDIS Observing System Backbone
Framework'' to assist in defining a radar backbone
architecture that will best serve the United States.
(D) Establishment of a weather surveillance radar
testbed for the following:
(i) Evaluation of commercial radars with
the potential to replace or supplement the
NEXRAD system.
(ii) Providing technical assistance for the
use of small, gap-filling radars with private
and local partners in regions where
geographical topography prevents the full use
of large systems or in locations where such
systems may not be commercially viable.
(E) Consultation and input solicited from academia,
meteorologists, emergency managers, and public safety
or utility officials regarding the specifications and
requirements for replacement of the NEXRAD system.
(F) Prioritized locations for initial deployment of
the system that will replace the NEXRAD system.
(G) Expected locations of the system that will
replace the NEXRAD system, including sites located more
than 75 miles away from an existing NEXRAD system
station and additional appropriate locations.
(H) Expected or planned improvements to data
available for weather and water-related forecasts and
warnings from the system that will replace the NEXRAD
system.
(3) Procurement deadline.--The Under Secretary shall take
such actions as may be necessary to ensure the plan developed
under this subsection is fully implemented and executed by not
later than September 30, 2040.
(d) Radar-As-A-Service.--
(1) In general.--The Under Secretary may partner or
contract with entities outside of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to fill data gaps in weather radar
coverage using weather radars and data assimilation
technologies in order to--
(A) supplement data gaps in weather radar coverage,
including at low levels and in wide areas, in existence
as of the date of the enactment of this Act;
(B) ensure the continued performance of the weather
radar network of the United States; and
(C) better detect significant precipitation and
severe weather over a greater area across a population.
(2) Considerations.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the
Under Secretary may consider--
(A) partnering or contracting with entities that
have participated in the testbed described in
subsection (c)(2)(D), the National Mesonet Program, or
cooperative research and development agreements; and
(B) weather camera systems and services, including
in consultation with the Federal Aviation
Administration, as viable technologies to supplement
weather forecasting and prediction needs.
(e) Updates to Congress.--The Under Secretary shall provide to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives periodic updates on the implementation of this section.
(f) Definitions.--In this Act, the terms ``Under Secretary'' and
``weather enterprise'' have the meanings given such terms in section 2
of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15
U.S.C. 8501).
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