[Senate Report 116-269]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 556
116th Congress} { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 116-269
======================================================================
FLOOD LEVEL OBSERVATION, OPERATIONS, AND DECISION SUPPORT ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
on
S. 4462
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
September 24, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2020
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
one hundred sixteenth congress
second session
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi, Chairman
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
ROY BLUNT, Missouri AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
TED CRUZ, Texas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
JERRY MORAN, Kansas EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska TOM UDALL, New Mexico
CORY GARDNER, Colorado GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
MIKE LEE, Utah JON TESTER, Montana
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
TODD C. YOUNG, Indiana JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
RICK SCOTT, Florida
John Keast, Staff Director
David Strickland, Minority Staff Director
Calendar No. 556
116th Congress} { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 116-269
======================================================================
FLOOD LEVEL OBSERVATION, OPERATIONS, AND DECISION SUPPORT ACT
_______
September 24, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Wicker, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 4462]
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to
which was referred the bill (S. 4462) to establish a national
integrated flood information system within the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, 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 bill would authorize the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a national
integrated flood information system and improve the
coordination and communication of flood events by the National
Weather Service (NWS) through site-specific designation of
warning coordination hydrologists and an assessment of NOAA's
system for issuing flash flood watches and warnings. This bill
would also improve tornado warning and hurricane forecasting
programs in order to reduce loss of life, injury, and damage to
the economy.
Background and Needs
RECENT FLOODING IMPACTS
Flooding is the most common and widespread of all weather-
related natural disasters in the United States.\1\ Flooding can
occur during heavy rains, coastal storm surges, fast snow melt,
and when dams or levees break, making it a coast-to-coast
issue. Over the last 25 years, 99 percent of U.S. counties have
been impacted by a flooding event.\2\ It is currently ranked as
the fourth most costly weather disaster event in the United
States, resulting in expected annual economic losses of over
$25 billion.\3\ If the recent trends of increasing frequency
and severity of severe weather events and sea level rise
continue, flood events will also become more likely.\4\
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\1\Department of Homeland Security, ``Floods'', updated Sep. 9,
2020 (https://www.ready.gov/floods) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\2\Federal Emergency Management Agency, ``Data Visualization:
Historical Flood Risk and Costs'', updated Jul. 24, 2020 (https://
www.fema.gov/data-visualization-floods-data-visualization) (accessed
Sep. 21, 2020).
\3\U.S. Congressional Budget Office, Expected Costs of Damage from
Hurricane Winds and Storm-Related Flooding, April 2019, pp. 1-4.
Available at CBO website (https://www.cbo.gov/
system/files/2019-04/55019-ExpectedCostsFromWindStorm.pdf) (accessed
Sep. 21, 2020).
\4\Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute, ``Climate
Implications--Storms and Flooding'' (https://eri.iu.edu/erit/
implications/storms-flooding.html) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
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In 2019, there were three billion-dollar weather disasters
from flooding.\5\ These three flooding events spanned over 7
months along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas rivers,
impacting approximately 14 million people and more than 17
States.\6\ The Midwest States and some Southern States--
Mississippi and Louisiana--were the most affected by the 2019
flooding events, with over 11 States seeking Federal disaster
funds for more than 400 counties.\7\ The flooding started in
March when an extratropical cyclonic low-pressure area
underwent rapid intensification (commonly referred to as a
``bomb cyclone''\8\) and dropped large amounts of snow and rain
in a short period across the middle section of the United
States.\9\ This resulted in the inundation of millions of acres
of agriculture and widespread damage to roads, bridges, levees,
and dams across South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa, becoming one
of the costliest U.S. inland flooding events on record ($10.8
billion).\10\ \11\ The second flood event occurred from mid-May
through June along the Arkansas River, causing an estimated $3
billion in damages to homes, agriculture, transportation
infrastructure, and levees in eastern Oklahoma and western
Arkansas.\12\ The third flooding event was along the
Mississippi River and spanned from mid-March to late-September,
significantly impacting Midwest and Southern States'
agriculture, transportation infrastructure, levees, and dams
and costing an estimated $6.2 billion.\13\
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\5\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Centers for Environmental Information, ``Billion-Dollar Weather and
Climate Disasters: Events'' (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events/
US/2019) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\6\Ibid.
\7\Sarah Almukhtar et al, ``The Great Flood of 2019: A Complete
Picture of a Slow-Motion Disaster'', The New York Times, Sep. 11, 2019
(https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/11/us/midwest-
flooding.html?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\8\National Public Radio, ```Bomb Cyclone' Paralyzes Central U.S.,
Bringing Snow, Floods and Dangerous Winds,'' Mar. 14, 2019 (https://
www.npr.org/2019/03/14/703352564/bomb-cyclone-paralyzes-central-u-s-
bringing-snow-floods-and-dangerous-winds) (accessed Sep. 23, 2020).
\9\Center for Disaster Philanthropy, ``2019 Catastrophic River
Flooding'', Mar. 14, 2019 (https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/
2019-u-s-spring-floods/) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\10\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ``Billion-
Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Events'' (https://
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events/US/2019) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\11\Sarah Almukhtar et al, ``The Great Flood of 2019: A Complete
Picture of a Slow-Motion Disaster'', The New York Times, Sep. 11, 2019
(https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/11/us/midwest-
flooding.html?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\12\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Centers for Environmental Information, ``Billion-Dollar Weather and
Climate Disasters: Events'' (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events/
US/2019) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\13\Ibid.
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Agriculture was one of the industries most affected by the
2019 flood events. In August 2019, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency reported that farmers
were unable to plant 19.3 million acres in crops that year,
with six States unable to plant on over 1 million acres,\14\
making 2019 the year with the most unplanted acres since the
USDA began reporting those figures in 2007. As of November
2019, the USDA has paid out a record $4.24 billion to farmers
for acres they were unable to plant.\15\
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\14\U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, ``Report:
Farmers Prevented From Planting Crops on More Than 19 Million Acres'',
press release, Aug. 12, 2019 (https://www.fsa.usda.gov/news-room/news-
releases/2019/report-farmers-prevented-from-planting-crops-on-more-
than-19-million-acres) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020). The six States with
more than 1 million acres unplanted were: South Dakota, Illinois, Ohio,
Missouri, Arkansas, and Minnesota.
\15\High Plains Public Radio, ``Farmers Receive Record Payments for
the Crops They Couldn't Plant'', Nov. 27, 2019 (https://www.hppr.org/
post/farmers-receive-record-payments-crops-they-couldnt-plant)
(accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
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Transportation infrastructure was another area
significantly impacted by the floodwaters, which submerged
roads and washed pavement away. For example, Nebraska went days
without passable routes, with over 27 bridges damaged and over
3,300 miles of road closures, costing more than $200 million in
damages.\16\ These impacts to transportation infrastructure
were also felt across Midwest and Southern States, crippling
relief efforts and stopping the flow of other goods and
services.
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\16\Nebraska Department of Transportation, ``Nebraska DOT Flood
Recovery Updates'' (https://dot.nebraska.gov/news-media/nebraska-flood-
2019/) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
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The historic high flooding also led the Army Corps of
Engineers to open spillways to prevent damage to dams and to
protect life and property, which resulted in unintended
consequences to the Gulf Coast States' marine fisheries.
Floodwaters from the Mississippi River Basin flowed downstream,
where the Army Corps of Engineers opened the gates of the
Bonnet Carre spillway twice in the same year for the first time
since the spillway was constructed in 1928.\17\ The freshwater
influx into the Mississippi Sound resulted in the deaths of
almost all oysters in several areas.\18\ Additionally, the
influx of water carried excess nutrient runoff and bacteria,
promoting the formation of harmful algal blooms (HABs). HABs
release biotoxins that can harm people, fish, shellfish, marine
mammals, and birds.\19\ After algal blooms, such as HABs, die
and decompose, the decomposition process uses up the available
oxygen in the water, leading to the formation of a hypoxic dead
zone.\20\ The influx of freshwater and formation of HABs and
dead zones resulted in over $500 million in damages for marine
fisheries for three Gulf Coast States: Alabama, Louisiana, and
Mississippi.\21\
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\17\U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ``Bonnet Carre Spillway
Overview'' (https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Mississippi-River-
Flood-Control/Bonnet-Carre-Spillway-Overview/Spillway-Operation-
Information/) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).).
\18\University of Southern Mississippi, ``2019 Bonnet Carre
Spillway Monitoring Update'', Jun. 21, 2019 (https://gcrl.usm.edu/
bonny.carre.spillway/2019%20Bonnet%20Carre%20Spillway%20
Overview%20-%20June%2021%202019%20-%20Final%20Version%20v2.pdf)
(accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\19\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ``Joining
Forces to Understand the Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms on
Aquaculture'', press release, Sep. 29, 2017 (https://
www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press--release/pr2017/features/harmful-algal-blooms-
aquaculture/) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\20\Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ``Harmful Algal
Bloom (HAB)-Associated Illness'', last reviewed Dec. 14, 2017 (https://
www.cdc.gov/habs/illness-symptoms-freshwater.html) (accessed Sep. 21,
2020).
\21\Jessica Hathaway, ``Long Road to Relief: Mississippi Oystermen
Slated for $1 Million in Disaster Checks'', National Fishermen, Feb.
20, 2020 (https://www.nationalfisherman.com/gulf-south-atlantic/long-
road-to-relief-mississippi-oystermen-slated-for-1-million-in-disaster-
checks/) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
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This year, significant flooding has continued to impact
Midwest and Southern States. In February, heavy rain resulted
in flooding across Southern States and near-record flooding in
Mississippi and Tennessee, impacting hundreds of people's
homes.\22\ In April, numerous severe storms and flooding swept
through 10 Midwest and Southern States, killing at least 30
people and knocking out electricity for approximately 750,000
people.\23\ In May, historic flooding in Michigan destroyed two
dams, damaging homes and property and forcing more than 10,000
people to evacuate.\24\ While flooding has not been as severe
or prolonged this year as flooding in 2019, the effects have
been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, creating
significant social and economic hardships.
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\22\Doyle Rice et al., ```Historic, Unprecedented' Flooding Swamps
Southern USA; Mississippi and Tennessee Hardest Hit'', USA Today, Feb.
17, 2020 (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/17/
mississippi-flooding-swamps-southern-us/4784911002/) (accessed Sep. 21,
2020).
\23\Associated Press, ``Storms Tear Through US South, Leaving At
Least 30 People Dead'', The Guardian, Apr. 13, 2020 (https://
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/13/us-storms-latest-flooding-
deaths-south-states) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\24\N'dea Yancey-Bragg and Frank Wisil, ``Mid-Michigan Flooding
Crests at 35 Feet, Whitmer Requests FEMA Help: What We Know'', USA
Today, May 21, 2020 (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/
05/21/michigan-flooding-floodwater-crests-whitmer-requests-fema-help/
5234695002/) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
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Flood events have also impacted other regions. For example,
in Washington, the costs of flooding are the greatest as
compared to all other natural disasters.\25\ The sources of
flooding differ regionally: in western Washington, it's
generally significant rain events, while in eastern Washington
and the Cascades, spring snowmelt is the primary cause.\26\ For
this reason, the FLOODS Act contains provisions for a broad
national integrated system that also accounts for regional
variation in the kinds of flood events that are most prevalent.
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\25\State of Washington, Department of Ecology, ``Floods &
Floodplain Planning'' (https://ecology.wa.gov/Water-Shorelines/
Shoreline-coastal-management/Hazards/Floods-floodplain-planning)
(accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\26\Id.
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IMPORTANCE OF MONITORING AND FORECASTING FLOODING
In 2015, NOAA established the National Water Center to
better understand and predict flooding events and inform water
management decisions. Central to the National Water Center's
tools is the National Water Model (NWM). The NWM simulates and
forecasts how water moves throughout the Nation's rivers and
streams. The model generates hourly forecasts for the entire
river network, including high-resolution forecasts of soil
moisture, surface runoff, snow water equivalent, and other
parameters. The NWM is a cornerstone of the new NOAA Water
Initiative and the National Water Center, providing more
closely integrated water predictive capabilities to promote
resilience to water risks.\27\
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\27\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ``National
Water Center'' (https://water.noaa.gov/about/nwc) (accessed Sep. 21,
2020).
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Products like these, hosted at the National Water Center,
help communities and industries make better-informed decisions
about water management and how to prepare and respond to
extreme water events.\28\ The NWM is providing impact-based
decision support services nationwide by providing ``street
level'' water information and guidance, as well as serving as
the foundation for additional private sector water services.
The NWM also improves NOAA's ability to meet the needs of its
stakeholders (e.g., emergency managers, reservoir operators,
floodplain managers, farmers, etc.) with more accurate,
detailed, frequent and expanded water information.\29\
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\28\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ``2019
National Hydrologic Assessment'', Mar. 21, 2019 (https://
www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/2019NHA.html) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\29\Ibid.
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Additionally, NOAA produces precipitation frequency
estimates that are used by Federal, State, and local agencies
to produce flood maps and develop regulations related to
infrastructure design and planning activities to minimize flood
risks.\30\ These values are reported in a Precipitation-
Frequency Atlas, commonly referred to as Atlas 14, and help
define point-based rainfall amounts for 1-, 5-, 10-, and 100-
year rainfall events. The Atlas is made up of 12 volumes,
representing different geographic regions across the United
States and affiliated territories.\31\ In NOAA's most recent
volume update (volume 11), it showed that values previously
classified as 100-year events in Houston were now 25-year
events.\32\ Currently, funding for NOAA Atlas 14 work comes
entirely from external sources, requiring NOAA to solicit
funding from partner and customer Federal and State agencies
for each volume.\33\ This has resulted in irregular volume
updates, and caused a lapse of over 50 years in updates for
five Northwestern States (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington,
and Wyoming).\34\ In 2018, the Subcommittee of Hydrology listed
Atlas 14 as one of three extreme storm products needed to help
the United States prepare for extreme weather events,
recommending that the program receive a secure funding source,
improve methodology to evaluate precipitation frequency, and be
updated every 10 years.\35\
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\30\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
``Precipitation Frequency Data Server'' (https://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/
hdsc/pfds/index.html) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\31\Ibid.
\32\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ``NOAA Updates
Texas Rainfall Frequency Values'', press release (https://www.noaa.gov/
media-release/noaa-updates-texas-rainfall-frequency-values) (accessed
Sep. 21, 2020).
\33\Subcommittee on Hydrology, Extreme Rainfall Product Needs, Oct.
10, 2018 (https://acwi.gov/hydrology/extreme-storm/
product_needs_proposal_20181010.pdf) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\34\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
``Precipitation Frequency Data Server'' (https://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/
hdsc/pfds/index.html) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\35\Subcommittee on Hydrology, Extreme Rainfall Product Needs, Oct.
10, 2018 (https://acwi.gov/hydrology/extreme-storm/
product_needs_proposal_20181010.pdf) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
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NEED TO IMPROVE TORNADO WARNING AND HURRICANE COMMUNICATION
Windstorms are the largest loss-producing natural hazards
in the United States, causing over $1 trillion in economic
losses and over 8,000 fatalities from 1980 to 2018.\36\ The
majority of losses related to life and property by windstorms
can be attributed to tornadoes and hurricanes. Between 2017 and
2019, there were 23 billion-dollar tornado and hurricane
disaster events reported by the NWS, resulting in 3,338 deaths
and over $360 billion in damages.\37\
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\36\Interagency Coordinating Committee, National windstorm Impact
Reduction Program: Biennial Progress Report to Congress for Fiscal
Years 2017 and 2018 (https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2020/
03/04/NWIRP%20FY17-18%20Progress%20Report%202-24-2020.pdf) (accessed
Sep. 21, 2020).
\37\National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ``Billion-
Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Events'' (https://
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events/US/2019) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
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Tornadoes remain one of the most challenging extreme-
weather events to predict and warn against, with first-person
observations being the primary tool for confirming tornado
presence.\38\ On March 2, 2020, Nashville, Tennessee, had a
tornado touch down in the middle of the night without warning,
killing 24 people. Residents of downtown Nashville had about 6
minutes of warning before the tornado was directly overhead,
while the Nashville International Airport and locations to the
west were hit without warning.\39\ This event further
demonstrates the need to improve tornado forecasting. Since the
1970s, scientists have known that tornadoes emit acoustic
radiation at audio and infrasonic (sound inaudible to humans)
frequencies.\40\ Scientists at the University of Mississippi's
National Center for Physical Acoustics have begun using
infrasound produced by tornadoes to detect, locate, and
characterize tornadoes in real time.\41\ Recent work has shown
that detection of infrasound through low-frequency audio
acoustic sensors can help identify directional movement,
bearing, and the intensity of tornadoes as well as expand the
distance of detection to over 50 miles. Additional work is
needed to determine if tornado signals are distinctive from
other sources of infrasound, ensuring that forecasts can
accurately predict tornado presence from other storm
systems.\42\
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\38\Maddie Stone, ``Scientists are Using Nuclear Weapons
Surveillance Tech to `Hear' Tornadoes'', The Washington Post, Feb. 23,
2020, at https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/02/23/scientists-
are-using-nuclear-weapons-surveillance-tech-hear-tornadoes/) (accessed
Sep. 21, 2020).
\39\Matthew Cappucci, ``Tennessee Tornadoes' Death Toll Was Tied to
a Lack of Warning, Awareness and Readiness'', The Washington Post, Mar.
6, 2020 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/03/06/tennessee-
tornado-tragedy-was-tied-lack-warning-awareness-readiness/) (accessed
Sep. 21, 2020).
\40\T.M. Georges , ``Infrasound From Convective Storms: Examining
the Evidence'', Reviews of Geophysics, vol. 11 (August 1973), p. 571-
594 (doi:10.1029/RG011i003p00571) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\41\William Garth Frazier et al., ``Acoustic Detection, Tracking,
and Characterization of Three Tornadoes'', The Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America, vol. 135, no. 4 (April 2014), p. 1742-
1751 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4867365) (accessed Sep. 21, 2020).
\42\Maddie Stone, ``Scientists Are Using Nuclear Weapons
Surveillance Tech to `Hear' Tornadoes'', The Washington Post, Feb. 23,
2020 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/02/23/scientists-are-
using-nuclear-weapons-surveillance-tech-hear-tornadoes/) (accessed Sep.
21, 2020).
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Hurricane forecasting has improved substantially in the
last century, largely due to weather satellites and computer
models. Less than 100 years ago, hurricane landfall was often a
surprise--leaving no time for preparedness or evacuation.
Today, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is improving
forecasting between 24 hours and 5 days before landfall, which
can save lives, property, and billions of dollars.
Understanding how people interpret forecasts and how that
interpretation can influence behavior and motivation is
valuable in advancing the impact the weather enterprise can
have on saving lives. Weather forecasting is inherently
uncertain. Therefore, it is particularly important to address
the communication of uncertainty to users, as well as the need
to discuss not only predictions of weather variables, but also
predictions of weather impacts.\43\ Because of these gaps, many
experts believe that social science should be incorporated as a
primary element of the solution and not just considered in
hindsight.
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\43\Jack Williams, ``When Storms Were a Surprise: A History Of
Hurricane Warnings,'' The Washington Post, Aug. 16, 2013 (https://
www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/08/16/when-
storms-were-a-surprise-a-history-of-hurricane-warnings/) (accessed Sep.
21, 2020).
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Summary of Provisions
If enacted, S. 4462, the Flood Level Observation,
Operations, and Decision Support Act, would do the following:
Establish a national integrated flood information
system to reduce flood-related effects and costs.
Establish partnerships with institutions of higher
education and Federal agencies to improve total water
predictions.
Designate a service coordination hydrologist at each
NWS River Forecast Center to increase impact-based
decision support services at the State and local level.
Evaluate and improve flood watches and warnings and
communication of information to support coordinated
flood management.
Authorize the NOAA Precipitation Frequency Atlas of
the United States program to estimate and communicate
precipitation frequency in the United States.
Establish a committee to ensure coordination of
Federal departments with joint or overlapping
responsibilities in water management.
Establish a hydrologic research fellowship program.
Identify, and support research that enables a
consistent, Federal set of forward-looking, long-term
meteorological information.
Assess gaps in the availability of snow-related data
to assess and predict floods and flood impacts.
Make flood-related data more readily available to
the public.
Legislative History
S. 4462, the Flood Level Observation, Operations, and
Decision Support (FLOODS) Act, was introduced on August 6,
2020, by Senator Wicker (for himself and Senator Peters) and
was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate. On September 16, 2020, the
Committee met in open Executive Session and, by voice vote,
ordered S. 4462 reported favorably with an amendment (in the
nature of a substitute).
A related bill, S. 914, was introduced on March 27, 2019,
as the Coordinated Ocean Observations and Research Act of 2019,
by Senator Wicker (for himself and Senator Cantwell) and was
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate. S. 914 would establish the
National Water Center, within the NWS, as the primary facility
for hydrologic decision support services. On July 30, 2020, S.
914, the Coordinated Ocean Observations and Research Act of
2020, passed the Senate with an amendment (in the nature of a
substitute) by unanimous consent.
In the 115th Congress, H.R. 353, the Weather Research and
Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017,\44\ became law on April 18,
2017, prioritizing weather research through improved weather
data, modeling, computing forecasts, and warnings for the
protection of life and property.
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\44\Public Law 115-25.
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H.R. 244, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017,\45\
became law on May 5, 2017, appropriating funds for the National
Water Center.
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\45\Public Law 115-31.
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Estimated Costs
In compliance with subsection (a)(3) of paragraph 11 of
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee
states that, in its opinion, it is necessary to dispense with
the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of that subsection
in order to expedite the business of the Senate.
A formal cost estimate was not timely submitted to the
Committee before the filing of this report, but the Committee
notes that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provided an
informal cost estimate by email as follows:
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. 4462, as reported, would not impose any new significant
regulatory requirements, and, therefore, would not subject any
individuals or businesses to new significant regulations.
economic impact
Enactment of S. 4462 is not expected to have any
significant adverse impacts on the Nation's economy. It will
likely have a positive impact by increasing the efficiency of
Federal flood coordination and prediction and protecting human
lives and property.
privacy
S. 4462, as reported, would not have any adverse impact on
the privacy of individuals.
paperwork
S. 4462, as reported, would not impose substantial
paperwork burden on individuals or businesses.
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; table of contents.
This section would provide that the bill may be cited as
the ``Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Support
Act'' or the ``FLOODS Act'' and would provide a table of
contents.
Section 2. Definitions.
This section would define the terms ``State'' and ``Under
Secretary''.
Section 3. National Integrated Flood Information System.
This section would authorize the Under Secretary to
establish a system, referred to as the ``National Integrated
Flood Information System'' (NIFIS), to reduce flood-related
effects and costs by leveraging existing work within NOAA and
partnerships to better support more timely decision making.
NIFIS would provide a flood early warning system that collects
information necessary to predict floods and flooding impacts,
coordinating and integrating interagency Federal research and
monitoring. NIFIS would translate and communicate predictions
into flood forecasts and watches and warnings to public and
private entities engaged in flood planning and preparedness, at
the national, regional, and local levels. This section would
also allow NIFIS to continue ongoing research and monitoring
activities and collaborations relating to floods, develop
private partnerships and academic cooperative partnerships,
utilize citizen scientists to collect and integrate monitoring
data, and engage with and leverage existing resources within
the Administration.
Section 4. Observations and modeling for total water prediction.
This section would require the Under Secretary to establish
partnerships with one or more institutions of higher education
and Federal agencies to evaluate observations that would
improve total water prediction, prioritizing partnerships that
evaluate enhancing in-situ observations through manned and
unmanned aerial systems. This section would also direct
improvements in coastal oceanographic modeling and the
incorporation of observations that improve total water
prediction.
Section 5. Service coordination hydrologists at River Forecast Centers
of the National Weather Service.
This section would codify the existing position of service
coordination hydrologist at NWS River Forecast Centers. Service
coordination hydrologists would increase impact-based decision
support services.
Section 6. Improving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
communication of future flood risks and hazardous flash flood
events.
This section would authorize the Under Secretary, within
two years of enactment of this Act, to conduct and submit an
assessment to Congress on the NWS's flash flood watches and
warnings and communication of information to support
coordinated flood management. The assessment would specifically
focus on: (1) ways to communicate hazardous flash flood events
to the public; (2) ways to provide actionable geographic
information to watch and warning recipients; and (3) an
evaluation of information delivery to support coordinated
Federal and non-Federal flood preparation and response. The
assessment would be done in consultation with weather and flood
management related governmental, academic, not-for-profit and
private entities, and reviewed by the National Academy of
Sciences for scientific and technical soundness. Based on the
evaluation, the Under Secretary shall submit recommendations to
improve watches and warnings, including improvement of the
communication of the risks posed by hazardous flood events and
providing actionable geographic information to the recipient of
a watch or warning for a flash flood. This section would also
define the terms watch and warning as products issued by the
NOAA to alert the general public to the potential for or
presence of an event and to inform the action to prevent loss
of life and property, excluding technical or specialized
meteorological and hydrological forecast products.
Section 7. Freshwater monitoring along the coast.
This section would require the Under Secretary to assess
the availability of data for freshwater flooding into oceans,
bays, and estuaries and the need for additional data to assess
and predict the effect of flooding or freshwater discharge. The
Under Secretary would create an inventory of those data needs
and use the inventory when planning for collection of
additional data.
Section 8. Tornado warning improvement.
This section would amend the Weather Research and
Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017,\46\ requiring the Under
Secretary to examine the value of incorporating innovation
observations to improve tornado forecasts, predictions, and
warnings.
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\46\Public Law 115-25.
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Section 9. Hurricane forecast improvement program.
This section would amend the Hurricane Forecast Improvement
Program in the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act
of 2017,\47\ requiring the Under Secretary to examine the value
of incorporating innovation observations to improve hurricane
forecasts.
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\47\Id.
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Section 10. Weather and water research and development planning.
This section would amend NOAA's weather research and
development plan, specifying the consideration of flood-events
when identifying and specifying research and development
activities to meet the operational weather mission of the NWS.
Section 11. Forecast communication coordinators.
This section would require the Under Secretary to provide
assistance to States for forecast communication coordinators to
enable local interpretation and planning based on the
information.
Section 12. Estimates of precipitation frequency in the United States.
This section would direct the NOAA Administrator to
establish a program, referred to as the ``NOAA Precipitation
Frequency Atlas of the United States'', to estimate and
communicate precipitation frequency in the United States. The
program would serve as the official source of the Federal
Government for estimates on precipitation frequency and would
better inform the public and provide information on temporal
and spatial distribution of heavy precipitation, analyses of
seasonality in precipitation, and trends in annual maximum
series data. The program would conduct estimates for the United
States at least once every 10 years, publish those estimates,
and make them available on a publicly accessible NOAA website.
The Administrator may partner, consult, and/or coordinate with
Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial government agencies,
academic, private, and nonprofit organization. The program
would be authorized appropriations of $3.5 million for each
fiscal year from 2021 through 2030.
Section 13. Interagency Coordinating Committee on Water Management.
This section would establish a committee, referred to as
the ``Interagency Coordinating Committee on Water Management'',
to ensure that Federal departments and agencies that engage in
water-related matters work together where they have joint or
overlapping responsibilities to do the following:
Improve interagency coordination on water resource
and data management.
Coordinate and consolidate existing water-related
Federal task forces and groups.
Designate and consolidate repositories responsible
for archiving and managing water-related
infrastructure.
Conduct integrated planning for Federal investments
in water-related infrastructure.
Support water infrastructure workforce development.
The Interagency Coordinating Committee on Water Management
would be co-chaired by the Secretary of Interior and the
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and would submit
a report to Congress listing research and cross-agency research
and coordination needs.
Section 14. National Weather Service hydrologic research fellowship
program.
This section would direct the Director of the NWS to
establish a hydrologic research fellowship program for
individuals who are U.S. citizens and enrolled in a research-
based graduate program that advances hydrologic research
priorities. Selection preference would be given to applicants
from historically Black colleges and universities and minority-
serving institutions. Successful applicants would be placed in
positions within the Executive branch for up to 2 years and
would do research on priorities deemed appropriate by the Under
Secretary and in consultation with the United States Geological
Survey, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Army Corps
of Engineers. Individuals that successfully complete the
program requirements shall be eligible for direct hire for up
to 2 years.
Section 15. Identification and support of consistent, Federal set of
forward looking, long-term meteorological information.
This section would direct the Under Secretary to identify,
and support research that enables, a consistent, Federal set of
forward-looking, long-term meteorological information that
models future extreme weather events, other environmental
trends, projections, and up-to-date observations, including
mesoscale information deemed appropriate by the Under
Secretary.
Section 16. Gap analysis on availability of snow-related data to assess
and predict flood and flood impacts.
This section would direct the Under Secretary to conduct a
gap analysis of the availability of snow-related data to assess
and predict floods and flood impacts. Findings from the gap
analysis and opportunities for additional collaboration among
Federal agencies to collect snow-related data to better assess
and predict floods and flood impacts would be submitted in a
report to Congress within 180 days of enactment of this Act.
Section 17. Availability to the public of flood-related data.
This section would direct the Under Secretary to make
flood-related data freely accessible, or available at a cost
that does not exceed the cost of preparing the data, to the
public on a NOAA website.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
material is printed in italic, existing law in which no change
is proposed is shown in roman):
WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVATION ACT OF 2017
* * * * * * *
[15 U.S.C. 8513]
SEC. 103. TORNADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT AND EXTENSION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Under Secretary, in collaboration with
the United States weather industry and academic partners, shall
establish a tornado warning improvement and extension program.
(b) Goal.--The goal of such program shall be to reduce the
loss of life and economic losses from tornadoes through the
development and extension of accurate, effective, and timely
tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings, including the
prediction of tornadoes beyond 1 hour in advance.
(c) Innovative Observations.--The Under Secretary shall
ensure that the program periodically examines the value of
incorporating innovative observations, such as acoustic or
infrasonic measurements, observations from phased array radars,
and observations from mesonets, with respect to the improvement
of tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings.
[(c)] (d) Program Plan.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Administrator
for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, in coordination with the
Director of the National Weather Service, shall develop a
program plan that details the specific research, development,
and technology transfer activities, as well as corresponding
resources and timelines, necessary to achieve the program goal.
[(d)] (e) Annual Budget for Plan Submittal.--Following
completion of the plan, the Under Secretary, acting through the
Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
and in coordination with the Director of the National Weather
Service, shall, not less frequently than once each year, submit
to Congress a proposed budget corresponding with the activities
identified in the plan.
[15 U.S.C. 8514(b)]
SEC. 104. HURRICANE FORECAST IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
(a) * * *
(b) Goal.--The goal of the project maintained under
subsection (a) shall be to develop and extend accurate
hurricane forecasts and warnings in order to reduce loss of
life, injury, and damage to the economy, with a focus on--
(1) improving the prediction of rapid
intensification and track of hurricanes;
(2) improving the forecast and communication of
storm surges from hurricanes[; and];
(3) incorporating risk communication research to
create more effective watch and warning products[.];
and
(4) evaluating and incorporating, as appropriate,
innovative observations, including acoustic or
infrasonic measurements.
(c) * * *
[15 U.S.C. 8515(2)]
SEC. 105. WEATHER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, and not less frequently than once each year
thereafter, the Under Secretary, acting through the Assistant
Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and in
coordination with the Director of the National Weather Service
and the Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information
Services, shall issue a research and development and research
to operations plan to restore and maintain United States
leadership in numerical weather prediction and forecasting
that--
(1) * * *
(2) identifies and prioritizes specific research
and development activities, and performance metrics,
weighted to meet the operational weather and flood-
event mission of the National Weather Service to
achieve a weather-ready Nation;
(3) * * *
(4) * * *
* * * * * * *
FOOD SECURITY ACT OF 1985
* * * * * * *
[15 U.S.C. 8521(f)(1)]
SEC. 1762. WEATHER AND CLIMATE INFORMATION IN AGRICULTURE.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(f) Forecast Communication Coordinators.--
(1) In general.--The Under Secretary shall foster
effective communication, understanding, and use of the
forecasts by the intended users of the information
described in subsection (d). This [may] shall include
assistance to States for forecast communication
coordinators to enable local interpretation and
planning based on the information.
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
* * * * * * *
[all]