[Senate Report 117-160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 211
117th Congress       }                            {           Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session          }                            {           117-160
_______________________________________________________________________


 LEARNING EXCELLENCE AND GOOD EXAMPLES FROM NEW DEVELOPERS ACT OF 2021

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

           COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                                   on

                                S. 1127

		[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


               September 22, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
               
               
               
               		       __________
               		       
               		       
               	    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE       
               	    
29-010			  WASHINGTON : 2022               	    
               
               
   
   
   
   
               
       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                    one hundred seventeenth congress
                             second session

                   MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chair
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 ROY BLUNT, Missouri
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts         TED CRUZ, Texas
GARY PETERS, Michigan                DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             JERRY MORAN, Kansas
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois            DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JON TESTER, Montana                  MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              TODD YOUNG, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MIKE LEE, Utah
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado          SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia

RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia             RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
                       Lila Helms, Staff Director
                  John Keast, Minority Staff Director




                                                       Calendar No. 211
117th Congress       }                            {           Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session          }                            {           117-160

======================================================================



 
 LEARNING EXCELLENCE AND GOOD EXAMPLES FROM NEW DEVELOPERS ACT OF 2021

                                _______
                                

               September 22, 2022.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

      Ms. Cantwell, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1127]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 
which was referred the bill (S. 1127) to require the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make certain 
operational models available to the public, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of S. 1127, the Learning Excellence and Good 
Examples from New Developers Act of 2021, is to require the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to make 
certain operational models available to the public to allow 
collaboration with private sector scientists and academia to 
improve forecasting model innovation.

                          Background and Needs

    The National Weather Service (NWS) leads NOAA's operational 
weather forecasting efforts through its mission to provide 
weather, water, and climate data, forecasts, warnings, and 
impact-based decision support services for the protection of 
life and property and enhancement of the national economy.\1\ 
Enhancing forecasting accuracy not only helps protect life, but 
also property from severe weather conditions. The economic cost 
of weather- and climate-related disasters has an enormous 
negative toll on American communities, and the most costly 
disasters are becoming more frequent.\2\ In 2021, during the 
western drought and heatwave, Portland reached a high of 116 
Fahrenheit degrees while Seattle reached 108 Fahrenheit 
degrees.\3\ This heatwave caused nearly 200 deaths in 
Washington and Oregon\4\ and massive shellfish die-offs.\5\ 
From the agricultural impacts to infrastructure damage, 
businesses and families face substantial financial gain or loss 
depending on annual weather trends and longer term climate 
trends. Experts estimate that between 3 and 6 percent of the 
annual variability in U.S. gross domestic product is 
attributable to weather.\6\
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    \1\National Weather Service, ``About the NWS'' (https://
www.weather.gov/about/).
    \2\National Centers for Environmental Information, ``Billion-Dollar 
Weather and Climate Disasters: Overview'' (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
billions/). See also, Adam B. Smith, ``2018's Billion Dollar Disaster 
in Context,'' February 7, 2019 (https://www.climate.gov/news-features/
blogs/
beyond-data/2018s-billion-dollar-disasters-context).
    \3\National Centers for Environmental Information, ``Billion-Dollar 
Weather and Climate Disasters,'' 2021 (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
billions/events/NWCR/1980-2021).
    \4\Victoria Bekiempis, ``Record-breaking US Pacific North-west 
Heatwave Killed Almost 200 People,'' The Guardian, July 8, 2021 
(https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/08/pacific-northwest-
heatwave-deaths).
    \5\Ronald Brownstein, ``The Unbearable Summer,'' The Atlantic, 
August 26, 2021 (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/08/
summer-2021-climate-change-records/619887/).
    \6\National Weather Service, National Weather Service Enterprise 
Analysis Report, June 8, 2017, p. 7 (https://www.weather.gov/media/
about/Final_NWS%20Enterprise%20Analysis%20
Report_June%202017.pdf).
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    Congress has long supported Federal efforts to provide 
accurate forecasts to strengthen the national economy and 
provide strong decision making support to farmers, ranchers, 
water managers, and small businesses. To move closer to this 
goal, several laws have been enacted over the last few years 
focused on building stronger partnerships between government 
agencies and the private sector to improve the weather 
forecasting skill of the United States.
    On April 18, 2017, the Weather Research and Forecasting 
Innovation Act of 2017 (Weather Act) was signed into law to 
improve NOAA's weather forecasting skill through investment in 
observational, computing, and modeling capabilities.\7\ The 
bill included a requirement for NOAA's Office of Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Research to carry out a Weather Research and 
Forecasting Innovation program, including a technology transfer 
initiative in coordination with NWS, the academic sector, and 
private weather companies. Additionally, the bill further 
allowed for the Secretary of Commerce, and by extension, NOAA, 
to contract with commercial providers to purchase weather data 
or to place weather satellite instruments on cohosted payloads.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\Public Law 115-25.
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    On January 7, 2019, the National Integrated Drought 
Information System (NIDIS) Reauthorization Act of 2018 was 
signed into law to reauthorize the NIDIS program through 
2023.\8\ The bill amended the Weather Research and Forecasting 
Innovation program authorized in 2017 to include authorization 
for the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC). EPIC is 
intended to advance weather modeling and improve the 
translation of forecasting research into operational models by 
leveraging private sector innovations, increasing collaboration 
between governmental and nongovernmental scientists and 
engineers, strengthening and leveraging internal NOAA 
resources, and creating a community-based global research 
modeling system.
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    \8\Public Law 115-256.
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    The EPIC initiative is intended to increase usability by 
the public and networks outside of NOAA, and is hosted by a 
cost-effective technology like cloud computing. These changes 
will make the current operational models more nimble and 
effective, and have the potential to greatly advance NOAA's 
forecasting skill.
    The LEGEND Act intends to clarify and strengthen these 
efforts by requiring that operational weather models be made 
available to the public, while including permissive authority 
for NOAA to make experimental models available. The LEGEND Act 
also would specifically authorize the Administrator to withhold 
from publication any models or data necessary to protect 
national security interests.

                         Summary of Provisions

    If enacted, S. 1127 would do the following:
   Require NOAA to develop and implement a plan to make 
        public the code and other data used in operational 
        Earth system's models.
   Provide the NOAA Administrator authority to enter 
        into agreements and contracts with other Federal 
        agencies and private vendors, and secure necessary 
        infrastructure to support public access to the data and 
        models.
   Amend the Weather Act\9\ with a technical 
        correction.
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    \9\Public Law 115-25.
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   Require a report to Congress not later than 2 years 
        after the date of enactment on the implementation of 
        how operational models have been made publicly 
        available.
   Authorize $2 million annually for each of fiscal 
        years 2022 through 2026.

                          Legislative History

    S. 1127, the LEGEND Act of 2021, was introduced on April 
14, 2021, by Senator Thune (for himself and Senator Schatz) and 
was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate. On November 17, 2021, the 
Committee met in open Executive Session and, by voice vote, 
ordered S. 1127 reported favorably without amendment. On 
December 17, 2021, the bill was reported without amendment and 
placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar.
    In the 116th Congress, an earlier version of this bill, S. 
2597, the LEGEND Act of 2020, was introduced on October 15, 
2019, by Senator Thune (for himself and Senator Schatz) and was 
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate. On November 13, 2019, the 
Committee met in open Executive Session and, by voice vote, 
ordered S. 2597 reported favorably with an amendment. On 
December 14, 2020, S. 2597 passed the Senate with an amendment 
(in the nature of a substitute) by unanimous consent.

                            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:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 14, 2022.
Hon. Maria Cantwell,
Chair, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Madam Chair: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1127, the LEGEND Act 
of 2021.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Robert Reese.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    		[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    S. 1127 would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA) to publish its weather-forecasting models 
and associated government-owned data in an open-source format 
on the Internet. The bill would authorize NOAA to establish a 
program to plan, procure, and support the necessary 
infrastructure for the publicly accessible models. The bill 
also would require NOAA to periodically review any improvements 
made to those open-source models by people outside the 
government and update its models accordingly. Finally, NOAA 
would need to report to the Congress on the bill's 
implementation.
    Under current law, NOAA provides public access to some of 
its operational and research models. The agency would need 
additional resources to provide access to permanent archives 
and open-source data for all such models, which currently use 
many petabytes of data (a petabyte is one million gigabytes).
    The bill would authorize the appropriation of $2 million a 
year over the 2022-2026 period. Using information from NOAA 
about the number of models and related data that would need to 
be made public under the bill and the cost to convert those 
data into an open-source format, CBO expects that it would cost 
significantly more than $10 million to implement the bill.
    CBO estimates NOAA would require $111 million over the 
2022-2027 period to hire 45 additional employees and acquire 
additional equipment and services, including substantial 
increases in server capacity and other data storage tools. 
Using historical spending patterns for similar activities, CBO 
estimates implementing S. 1127 would cost $102 million over the 
2022-2027 period, assuming appropriation of the authorized and 
estimated amounts. CBO expects that NOAA would be unable to 
fully comply with the requirements of S. 1127 if only the $10 
million authorized to be appropriated in the bill was provided 
to the agency. The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 
1, fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and 
environment).

                TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER S. 1127
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                          ----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             2022      2023      2024      2025      2026      2027    2022-2027
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Authorization..................         2        16        29        31        33         0        111
Estimated Outlays........................         0         6        18        26        31        21        102
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The bill would specifically authorize the appropriation of $2 million annually over the 2022-2026 period for the
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to carry out the bill's requirements. Using information
  from the agency, CBO estimates that an additional $101 million would be required over that same period for
  NOAA to fully implement those requirements. The amounts in this table reflect the levels CBO estimates would
  be necessary to fully implement the requirements of S. 1127.

    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Robert Reese. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of 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. 1127 would not create any new programs or impose any new 
regulatory requirements and would not subject any individuals 
or businesses to new regulations.

                            economic impact

    S. 1127 is not expected to have a negative impact on the 
Nation's economy.

                                privacy

    S. 1127 would not affect the personal privacy of 
individuals.

                               paperwork

    S. 1127 would require a report on implementation from NOAA.

                   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 ``Learning Excellence and Good Examples from New Developers 
Act of 2021'' or the ``LEGEND Act of 2021''.

Section 2. Definitions

    This section would provide definitions for the following 
terms: ``Administration'', ``Administrator'', ``Earth 
Prediction Innovation Center'', ``model'', ``operational 
model'', and ``suitable model''.

Section 3. Purposes

    This section would determine the purposes of this Act are 
to support modeling innovation by providing interested 
stakeholders access to the models and data used by NOAA and to 
encourage NOAA to evaluate and use the resulting innovations as 
appropriate to improve such modeling.

Section 4. Plan and implementation of plan to make certain models and 
        data available to the public

    This section would require NOAA to make any current and 
future operational models developed by the Administration open 
source for use by the relevant stakeholders. It would also 
authorize the agency to determine which, if any, experimental 
models should be made available to the public as open source 
code.
    This section would ensure that models made publicly 
available would not jeopardize national security.
    This section would also allow the Administrator to 
determine whether and how to use government servers or private 
vendor contracts in carrying out efforts to release modeling 
source code. Further, this section would require the NOAA 
Administrator to plan and establish a program to support the 
model sharing infrastructure.

Section 5. Requirement to review models and leverage innovations

    This section would require the Earth Prediction Innovation 
Center (EPIC) to periodically review the private sector's 
innovations and improvements to the operational models, and 
develop and implement a plan to use such innovations to improve 
the models.

Section 6. Report on implementation

    This section would require NOAA to submit a report on the 
implementation of this bill no later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this act to the Senate Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Senate Committee on 
Appropriations, the House Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology, and the House Committee on Appropriations.

Section 7. Protection of national security interests

    This section would give the Administrator the authority to 
withhold data or models used in operational weather forecasting 
if the Administrator determines that doing so would be 
necessary to protect national security interests.

Section 8. Authorization of appropriations

    This section would authorize $2 million to be appropriated 
annually to NOAA to carry out the Act for each of fiscal years 
2022 through 2026.

                        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 FORECASTING AND INNOVATION ACT OF 2017

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                          [15 U.S.C. 8512(b)]

SEC. 102. WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVATION.

  (a) Program.--The Assistant Administrator for the Office of 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research shall conduct a program to 
develop improved understanding of and forecast capabilities for 
atmospheric events and their impacts, placing priority on 
developing more accurate, timely, and effective warnings and 
forecasts of high impact weather events that endanger life and 
property.
  (b) Program Elements.--The program described in subsection 
(a) shall focus on the following activities:
          (1) Improving the fundamental understanding of 
        weather consistent with section 101, including the 
        boundary layer and other processes affecting high 
        impact weather events.
          (2) Improving the understanding of how the public 
        receives, interprets, and responds to warnings and 
        forecasts of high impact weather events that endanger 
        life and property.
          (3) Research and development, and transfer of 
        knowledge, technologies, and applications to the 
        National Weather Service and other appropriate agencies 
        and entities, including the United States weather 
        industry and academic partners, related to--
                  (A) advanced radar, radar networking 
                technologies, and other ground-based 
                technologies, including those emphasizing 
                rapid, fine-scale sensing of the boundary layer 
                and lower troposphere, and the use of 
                innovative, dual-polarization, phased-array 
                technologies;
                  (B) aerial weather observing systems;
                  (C) high performance computing and 
                information technology and wireless 
                communication networks;
                  (D) advanced numerical weather prediction 
                systems and forecasting tools and techniques 
                that improve the forecasting of timing, track, 
                intensity, and severity of high impact weather, 
                including through--
                          (i) the development of more effective 
                        mesoscale models;
                          (ii) more effective use of existing, 
                        and the development of new, regional 
                        and national cloud-resolving models;
                          (iii) enhanced global weather models; 
                        and
                          (iv) integrated assessment models;
                  (E) quantitative assessment tools for 
                measuring the impact and value of data and 
                observing systems, including Observing System 
                Simulation Experiments (as described in section 
                107), Observing System Experiments, and 
                Analyses of Alternatives;
                  (F) atmospheric chemistry and interactions 
                essential to accurately characterizing 
                atmospheric composition and predicting 
                meteorological processes, including cloud 
                microphysical, precipitation, and atmospheric 
                electrification processes, to more effectively 
                understand their role in severe weather; and
                  (G) additional sources of weather data and 
                information, including commercial observing 
                systems.
          (4) A technology transfer initiative, carried out 
        jointly and in coordination with the Director of the 
        National Weather Service, and in cooperation with the 
        United States weather industry and academic partners, 
        to ensure continuous development and transition of the 
        latest scientific and technological advances into 
        operations of the National Weather Service and to 
        establish a process to sunset outdated and expensive 
        operational methods and tools to enable cost-effective 
        transfer of new methods and tools into operations.
          [(4)] (5) Advancing weather modeling skill, 
        reclaiming and maintaining international leadership in 
        the area of numerical weather prediction, and improving 
        the transition of research into operations by--
                  (A) leveraging the weather enterprise to 
                provide expertise on removing barriers to 
                improving numerical weather prediction;
                  (B) enabling scientists and engineers to 
                effectively collaborate in areas important for 
                improving operational global numerical weather 
                prediction skill, including model development, 
                data assimilation techniques, systems 
                architecture integration, and computational 
                efficiencies;
                  (C) strengthening the National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration's ability to 
                undertake research projects in pursuit of 
                substantial advancements in weather forecast 
                skill;
                  (D) utilizing and leverage existing resources 
                across the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration enterprise; and
                  (E) creating a community global weather 
                research modeling system that--
                          (i) is accessible by the public;
                          (ii) meets basic end-user 
                        requirements for running on public 
                        computers and networks located outside 
                        of secure National Oceanic and 
                        Atmospheric Administration information 
                        and technology systems; and
                          (iii) utilizes, whenever appropriate 
                        and cost-effective, innovative 
                        strategies and methods, including 
                        cloud-based computing capabilities, for 
                        hosting and management of part or all 
                        of the system described in this 
                        subsection.
  (c) * * *

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