[Senate Report 115-357]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 644
115th Congress     }                                    {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                    {      115-357
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     



                         STRENGTHENING THE COOPERATIVE 
                          OBSERVER PROGRAM ACT OF 2018

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

           COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                                   on

                                S. 2941











[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


















               November 14, 2018.--Ordered to be printed

                                   ______
		 
                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
		 
89-010                    WASHINGTON : 2018                 
















       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                     one hundred fifteenth congress
                             second session

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi         BILL NELSON, Florida
ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma            GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
MIKE LEE, Utah                       TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  MARGARETWOODHASSAN,NewHampshire
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD C. YOUNG, Indiana               JON TESTER, Montana
                       Nick Rossi, Staff Director
                 Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
                    Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
           Christopher Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director


















                                                      Calendar No. 644
115th Congress     }                                    {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                    {      115-357
======================================================================



 
       STRENGTHENING THE COOPERATIVE OBSERVER PROGRAM ACT OF 2018

                                _______
                                

               November 14, 2018.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Thune, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2941]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 
which was referred the bill (S. 2941) to improve the 
Cooperative Observer Program of the National Weather Service, 
and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon with an amendment (in the nature of a 
substitute) and recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of S. 2941 is to improve the Cooperative 
Observer Program (COOP) of the National Weather Service (NWS) 
in order to support State-coordinated programs that provide 
data for the Drought Monitoring Program and other weather-
dependent services. It would direct the NWS to prioritize the 
recruitment of new volunteers, particularly in rural areas. The 
bill would direct the NWS to allow automated reporting where 
possible and maintain integrated reporting options for items 
that automated systems are unable to produce, like snow and 
drought observations.

                          Background and Needs


                   THE UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR

    The United States Drought Monitor (U.S. Drought Monitor), 
established in 1999, is a weekly map of drought conditions 
produced jointly by the National Oceanic Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), the United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA), and the National Drought Mitigation Center 
at the University of Nebraska--Lincoln.\1\ The U.S. Drought 
Monitor compiles data from a wide range of sources and provides 
weekly maps showing the location and severity of drought 
(Figure 1).\2\ The maps are based on measurements of climatic, 
hydrologic, and soil conditions, as well as reported impacts 
and observations from more than 350 contributors around the 
country. Climatologists from the partner organizations take 
turns serving as the lead author each week, examine all the 
data, and use their best judgment to reconcile any differences 
among sources.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\U.S. Drought Monitor, Background (http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
AboutUSDM/Background.aspx) (accessed June 16, 2018).
    \2\U.S. Drought Monitor, Current Map (http://
droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.aspx) (accessed 6.18.18).
    \3\Ibid.

  [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
      
    The U.S. Drought Monitor is currently used to determine 
allocations of drought relief, although it was initially 
developed to operationally assess the spatial extent and 
intensity of dryness across the United States.\4\ The USDA's 
Farm Service Agency uses the U.S. Drought Monitor to distribute 
relief through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, the 
Livestock Assistance Grant Program, and the Non-Fat Dry Milk 
Program.\5\ The Internal Revenue Service also uses the U.S. 
Drought Monitor to determine the replacement period for 
livestock sold because of drought.\6\ As part of its response 
to the drought of 2012, the USDA streamlined the process for 
secretarial disaster declarations, making declarations nearly 
automatic for a county shown in severe drought on the U.S. 
Drought Monitor for 8 consecutive weeks.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\USDA, Drought Products (https://www.usda.gov/oce/weather/
Drought/index.htm) (accessed 6.19.18).
    \5\USDA, ``The U.S. Drought Monitor: A Resource for Farmers, 
Ranchers and Foresters'' (https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2018/04/19/
us-drought-
monitor-resource-farmers-ranchers-and-foresters) (accessed 6.12.18).
    \6\Internal Revenue Service, Notice 2016-60, ``Extension of 
Replacement Period for Livestock Sold on Account of Drought'' (https://
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-16-60.pdf) (accessed 6.12.18).
    \7\U.S. Drought Monitor, Background (http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
AboutUSDM/Background.aspx) (accessed 6.12.18).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Accurate on-site data collection is crucial for accurate 
drought assessments, particularly for those communities 
dependent on drought declarations for financial assistance. In 
many areas, particularly rural locations, these data are 
collected by a dedicated network of volunteers in COOP. This 
bill is complementary to language in S. 2936, the Improved Soil 
Moisture and Precipitation Monitoring Act of 2018, which 
requires the National Integrated Drought Information System 
(NIDIS) to improve the U.S. Drought Monitor by increasing the 
number of soil moisture profile monitoring stations to one 
station per 1,250 square miles in any State that has 
experienced extreme or exceptional drought within any 6 months 
between January 1, 2016, and the date of enactment, and 
supports the integration of citizen science, including COOP. On 
June 18, 2018, S. 2936 was incorporated into the farm bill, 
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, as part of the manager's 
amendment at the markup of S. 2936 in the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. The 
provisions of S. 2936 were included in the Senate-passed H.R. 
2, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, which, as of June 
27, 2018, is currently in conference.

                    THE COOPERATIVE OBSERVER PROGRAM

    The COOP system is the Nation's largest and oldest weather 
network and entirely run by volunteers, coordinated by the NWS 
within NOAA. COOP's mission is to monitor and maintain the 
Nation's local observational climate and weather data record, 
and to support weather and climate forecasts, warnings, and 
other public service programs of the NWS.\8\ COOP data usually 
consist of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, snowfall, 
and 24-hour precipitation measurements.\9\ These data may 
include additional hydrological or meteorological data such as 
evaporation, soil temperatures, or soil moisture.\10\ There are 
a number of different types of COOP stations, including 
climatological (A Stations), hydrological (B Stations), and 
combined climatological and hydrological (C Stations).\11\ The 
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) 
is an example of hydrological stations, which contributes 
valuable, localized precipitation data widely used by a variety 
of organizations and individuals, including the U.S. Drought 
Monitor.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Cooperative 
Observer Network (COOP) (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/land-
based-station-data/land-based-datasets/cooperative-observer-network-
coop) (accessed 6.12.18).
    \9\Ibid.
    \10\Ibid.
    \11\National Academies Press, Future of the National Weather 
Service Cooperative Observer Network (https://www.nap.edu/read/6197/
chapter/3) (accessed 6.12.18).
    \12\CoCoRaHS, About Us (https://www.cocorahs.org/
Content.aspx?page=aboutus) (accessed 6.18.18).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Currently there are over 11,000 COOP stations (Figure 2), 
each run by volunteers who collect daily data. Volunteers send 
the data to the NWS and National Climatic Data Center by phone, 
computer, or mail. Many stations have been in use for decades, 
with some records predating the establishment of the NWS in 
1890, stretching back over a century.\13\ These data have been 
used in recent years for water management, drought assessment, 
engineering and architectural design, models of energy 
consumption, environmental impact assessments, environmental 
monitoring and prediction, litigation, and many other 
purposes.\14\ The range of users also has expanded beyond 
farmers and government officials to encompass engineers, 
architects, attorneys, insurance companies, scientists, utility 
companies, manufacturers, and business planners. For example, 
more than one-fourth of all requests for COOP data (which are 
legally certifiable in a court of law) now come from 
attorneys.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\GAO Report, ``Climate Monitoring, NOAA Can Improve Management 
of the U.S. Historical Climatology Network'' (https://www.gao.gov/
assets/70/68744.pdf) (accessed 6.12.18).
    \14\National Academies Press, Future of the National Weather 
Service Cooperative Observer Network (https://www.nap.edu/read/6197/
chapter/3) (accessed 6.12.18).
    \15\Ibid.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    NWS headquarters establishes the policies, standards, and 
requirements for managing COOP and weather forecast offices in 
six NWS regions (central, eastern, southern, western, Alaska, 
and Pacific) have responsibility for recruiting and training 
observers and installing and maintaining temperature-measuring 
equipment and rain gauges on observers' properties. NWS applies 
the same standards and requirements to all stations in its COOP 
and has established siting standards for measuring air 
temperature to ensure uniformity in meeting national and 
international requirements for climate observations.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\NOAA Climate.gov (https://www.climate.gov/file/coop-stations-
backgroundjpg) (accessed 6.18.18).
    \17\Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Although COOP is a successful program, there are many 
regions with limited observations, particularly in rural areas. 
Without additional in situ observations, programs like the U.S. 
Drought Monitor may not be able to sufficiently classify local 
areas that are experiencing drought. Another concern is the 
loss of long-running data stations, as volunteers move or pass 
away. There is a need for the NWS to provide support at the 
regional and local level to ensure that these stations are not 
abandoned and that new volunteers are recruited, particularly 
in data-poor areas. The COOP network is one of the most 
comprehensive and complete records of temperature and 
precipitation anywhere in the world, and it is important that 
it continue to provide meteorological and hydrological data to 
support drought preparedness and recovery.

                         Summary of Provisions

    If enacted, S. 2941, the Strengthening the Cooperative 
Observer Program Act of 2018 would do the following:
     Direct the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans 
            and Atmosphere and the NWS to improve COOP by 
            supporting State-coordinated programs, particularly 
            where observations are scarce.
     Direct the NWS to work with State weather service 
            headquarters to increase COOP participation and to 
            add stations in regions with sparse data 
            collection, and ensure that data streams from 
            stations that have been contributing data for more 
            than 50 years are maintained and continually 
            staffed by volunteers.
     Direct the NWS to ensure that opportunities exist 
            for automated and integrated reporting to lessen 
            the burden on volunteers.
     Direct the NWS to coordinate with State and 
            regional offices every 6 months, and coordinate 
            with other Federal agencies to leverage 
            opportunities to grow the COOP network.

                          Legislative History

    S. 2941, the Strengthening the Cooperative Observer Program 
Act of 2018, was introduced on May 23, 2018, by Senator Thune 
(for himself and Senator Gardner), and was referred to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. On June 27, 
2018, the Committee met in open Executive Session and by voice 
vote ordered S. 2941 reported favorably with an amendment (in 
the nature of a substitute). Senator Fischer offered an 
amendment to add ``drought conditions'' to the list of 
reportable phenomenon. That amendment was accepted by the 
Committee.

                            Estimated Costs

    In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the 
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget 
Office:

S. 2941--Strengthening the Cooperative Observer Program Act of 2018

    Summary: S. 2941 would direct the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve the weather data 
collection efforts of its Cooperative Observer Program by 
broadening participation, expanding the availability of data-
gathering equipment, and adding observation stations throughout 
the country.
    CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $9 
million over the 2019-2023 period, assuming appropriation of 
the necessary amounts.
    Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 2941 would not increase net 
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
    S. 2941 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary effect of S. 2941 is shown in the following table. 
The costs of the legislation fall within budget function 300 
(natural resources and environment).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                      ----------------------------------------------------------
                                                        2018    2019    2020    2021    2022    2023   2023-2019
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
 
Estimated Authorization Level........................       0       2       2       2       2       2        10
Estimated Outlays....................................       0       1       2       2       2       2         9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 
2941 will be enacted near the end of fiscal year 2018 and that 
the necessary amounts will be appropriated for each year 
beginning in 2019.
    S. 2941 would direct NOAA to improve the Cooperative 
Observer Program, which installs and maintains weather-
recording equipment on the private property of volunteers 
throughout the country; those volunteers collect weather data. 
Currently, there are about 8,200 observation sites. In 2018, 
NOAA allocated $15 million to the program.
    The bill would direct NOAA to add observation stations in 
states and regions where observation sites are scarce and 
provide more automated reporting equipment to current sites. 
Using information from NOAA, CBO estimates that implementing 
those requirements would cost $9 million over the 2019-2023 
period. That amount would pay for 1,600 new observation sites 
and for new equipment at about 2,000 current sites.
    Pay-As-You-Go considerations: None.
    Increase in long-term direct spending and deficits: CBO 
estimates that enacting S. 2941 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2029.
    Mandates: S. 2941 contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in UMRA.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Robert Reese Mandates; 
Jon Sperl.
    Estimate reviewed by: Kim P. Cawley, Chief, Natural and 
Physical Resources Cost Estimates Unit; H. Samuel Papenfuss 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Statement

    In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the 
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the 
legislation, as reported:

                       number of persons covered

    S. 2941, as reported, would not create any new programs or 
impose any new regulatory requirements, and therefore would not 
subject any individuals or businesses to new regulations.

                            economic impact

    Enactment of this legislation is not expected to have a 
negative impact on the Nation's economy.

                                privacy

    The reported bill is not expected to impact the personal 
privacy of individuals.

                               paperwork

    S. 2941 would not create increases in paperwork burdens if 
enacted.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no 
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the 
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the 
rule.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1. Short title.
    This section would provide that the bill may be cited as 
the ``Strengthening the Cooperative Observer Program Act of 
2018.''
    Section 2. Improvements to Cooperative Observer Program of 
National Weather Service.
    This section would direct the Under Secretary of Commerce 
for Oceans and Atmosphere to provide support to COOP by 
supporting State and regional observer programs, particularly 
in areas where observations are scarce, and to work with State 
weather service headquarters to increase participation in the 
program and to add stations. This section also would direct the 
Secretary to ensure that data streams from long-contributing 
data stations are maintained and continually staffed by 
volunteers, prioritize the recruitment of new volunteers for 
the program, and lessen the burden on volunteers by ensuring 
that opportunities for automated and integrated reporting 
exist. Additionally, this section would direct the NWS to 
coordinate with State and regional offices every 180 days on 
the status of COOP stations, and to coordinate with other 
Federal agencies in order to leverage opportunities to grow the 
COOP network.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the 
bill as reported would make no change to existing law.

                                  [all]