National Weather Service and Related Agencies Authorization Act of 1999

Summary: National Weather Service and Related Agencies Authorization Act of 1999 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 to the Secretary of Commerce to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to carry out: (1) Operations, Research, and Facilities activities of the National Weather Service (NWS); (2) Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction activities of NWS; (3) Atmospheric Research Operations, Research, and Facilities environmental research and development activities of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OOAR); (4) Atmospheric Research Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction environmental research and development activities of OOAR; (5) Operations, Research, and Facilities environmental research and development and related activities of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS); (6) Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction environmental research and development and related activities of NESDIS; and (7) Operations, Research, and Facilities environmental research and development and related activities required to meet recurring facilities operations costs associated with the David Skaggs Research Center in Boulder, Colorado. 
Revises requirements for the Secretary of Commerce's duties with respect to the NWS to include responsibilities for: (1) serving as the sole official source of weather and flood warnings; (2) issuing storm warnings; (3) collecting, exchanging, and distributing meteorological, hydrological, climatic, and oceanographic data and information;(4) preparing hydrometeorological guidance and core forecast information; and (5) issuing marine and aviation forecasts and warnings.  Bars the NWS from providing or assisting other entities to provide a service that is currently provided or can be provided by commercial enterprise, unless: (1) the service provides vital weather warnings and forecasts for the protection of life and property of the general public; or (2) the U.S. Government is obligated to provide such service under international aviation agreements to provide meteorological services and exchange meteorological information. 
Directs the Secretary to report to the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate detailing all NWS activities which do not conform to requirements of this Act and outlining a timetable for their termination. 
Expresses the sense of the Congress that NWS must fully take into account the dangerous and life threatening nature of weather patterns in Wind Zone IV, otherwise known as tornado alley, before making any determination to close any of its local weather service offices. 
Requires the NOAA Administrator to exclude from consideration for grant agreements made after FY 1999 under the activities for which funds are authorized under this Act, any person who received funds (other than due to membership in a class specified by law for which assistance is awarded to class members according to a formula) appropriated for a fiscal year after FY 1999 under a grant agreement from any Federal funding source for a project that was not subjected to a competitive, merit-based award process.  Makes such an exclusion effective for a period of five years after receipt of such Federal funds. 
Directs the Administrator to make available through NOAA's Internet home page the abstracts relating to all research grants and awards made with funds authorized by this Act. 
Prohibits any funds authorized pursuant to this Act from being expended by an entity unless such entity agrees, in expending such assistance, to comply with the Act of March 3, 1933, known as the Buy American Act. 
Expresses the sense of the Congress that entities receiving any equipment or products that may be authorized to be purchased with financial assistance provided under this Act should, in expending such assistance, purchase only American-made equipment and products. Requires the Secretary to provide to each recipient of such assistance a notice describing such statement. 
Prohibits any person who has been finally determined by a court or Federal agency to have intentionally affixed a label bearing a "Made in America" inscription or any inscription with the same meaning to any product sold in or shipped to the United States that is not made in the United States, from receiving any contract or subcontract made with funds provided pursuant to this Act pursuant to debarment, suspension, and ineligibility procedures.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Weather Service and Related 
Agencies Authorization Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the term--
            (1) ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
            (2) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Commerce.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

    (a) Operations, Research, and Facilities.--There are authorized to 
be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration to carry out the Operations, Research, and 
Facilities activities of the National Weather Service $617,897,000 for 
fiscal year 2000 and $617,897,000 for fiscal year 2001, to remain 
available until expended. Of such amounts--
            (1) $449,441,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $450,411,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Local Warnings and Forecasts;
            (2) $2,200,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $2,200,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Advanced Hydrological Prediction 
        System;
            (3) $619,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $619,000 for fiscal 
        year 2001 shall be for Susquehanna River Basin Flood Systems;
            (4) $35,596,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $35,596,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Aviation Forecasts;
            (5) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $4,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) 
        Facilities Maintenance;
            (6) $37,081,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $37,081,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Central Forecast Guidance;
            (7) $3,090,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $3,090,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Atmospheric and Hydrological 
        Research;
            (8) $39,325,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $39,325,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Next Generation Weather Radar 
        (NEXRAD);
            (9) $7,573,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $7,573,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Automated Surface Observing 
        System (ASOS);
            (10) $38,002,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $38,002,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Advanced Weather Interactive 
        Processing System (AWIPS); and
            (11) $970,000 for fiscal year 2000 shall be for two 1,000-
        watt National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather 
        Radio transmitters, to be located in Jasper and Marion 
        Counties, Illinois, and nine 300-watt National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio transmitters, to be 
        installed in appropriate locations throughout the State of 
        Illinois, and for maintenance costs related thereto.
    (b) Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction.--There are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out the Procurement, 
Acquisition, and Construction activities of the National Weather 
Service $69,632,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $70,120,000 for fiscal 
year 2001, to remain available until expended. Of such amounts--
            (1) $9,560,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $9,060,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Next Generation Weather Radar 
        (NEXRAD);
            (2) $4,180,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $6,125,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Automated Surface Observing 
        System (ASOS);
            (3) $22,575,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $21,525,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Advanced Weather Interactive 
        Processing System (AWIPS);
            (4) $11,100,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $12,835,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Computer Facilities Upgrades;
            (5) $8,350,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $8,350,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Radiosonde Replacement;
            (6) $500,000 for fiscal year 2000 shall be for National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Operations Center 
        Rehabilitation; and
            (7) $13,367,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $12,225,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for Weather Forecast Office (WFO) 
        Construction.
    (c) Duties of the National Weather Service.--
            (1) In general.--To protect life and property (in all 50 
        States, the District of Columbia, and the Territories), the 
        Secretary, through the National Weather Service, except as 
        provided in paragraph (2), shall be responsible for--
                    (A) forecasts and shall serve as the sole official 
                source of weather and flood warnings;
                    (B) the issuance of storm warnings;
                    (C) the collection, exchange, and distribution of 
                meteorological, hydrological, climatic, and 
                oceanographic data and information;
                    (D) the preparation of hydrometeorological guidance 
                and core forecast information; and
                    (E) the issuance of marine and aviation forecasts 
                and warnings.
            (2) Competition with private sector.--The National Weather 
        Service shall not provide, or assist other entities to provide, 
        a service if that service is currently provided or can be 
        provided by commercial enterprise, unless--
                    (A) the service provides vital weather warnings and 
                forecasts for the protection of life and property of 
                the general public; or
                    (B) the United States Government is obligated to 
                provide such service under international aviation 
                agreements to provide meteorological services and 
                exchange meteorological information.
            (3) Amendments.--The Act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653) 
        is amended--
                    (A) by striking section 3 (15 U.S.C. 313); and
                    (B) in section 9 (15 U.S.C. 317), by striking ``, 
                and it shall be'' and all that follows, and inserting a 
                period.
            (4) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
        Senate a report detailing all National Weather Service 
        activities which do not conform to the requirements of this 
        subsection and outlining a timetable for their termination.
    (d) Closing of Local Weather Service Offices.--It is the sense of 
the Congress that the National Weather Service must fully take into 
account the dangerous and life threatening nature of weather patterns 
in Wind Zone IV, otherwise known as tornado alley, before making any 
determination on the closure of any of its local weather service 
offices.

SEC. 4. ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH.

    (a) Operations, Research, and Facilities.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration to carry out the Atmospheric Research 
        Operations, Research, and Facilities environmental research and 
        development activities of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Research $173,250,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $173,250,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001, to remain available until expended.
            (2) Climate and air quality research.--Of the amounts 
        authorized under paragraph (1), $126,200,000 for fiscal year 
        2000 and $126,200,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Climate 
        and Air Quality Research, of which--
                    (A) $16,900,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $16,900,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for 
                Interannual and Seasonal Climate Research;
                    (B) $34,600,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $34,600,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Long-Term 
                Climate and Air Quality Research;
                    (C) $69,700,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $69,700,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Climate 
                and Global Change; and
                    (D) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $5,000,000 
                for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Global Learning and 
                Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE).
            (3) Atmospheric programs.--Of the amounts authorized under 
        paragraph (1), $47,050,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $47,050,000 
        for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Atmospheric Programs, of 
        which--
                    (A) $36,600,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $36,600,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Weather 
                Research;
                    (B) $4,350,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $4,350,000 
                for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Wind Profiler; and
                    (C) $6,100,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $6,100,000 
                for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Solar-Terrestrial 
                Services and Research.
    (b) Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction.--There are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out the Atmospheric 
Research Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction environmental 
research and development activities of the Office of Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Research $10,040,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $14,160,000 
for fiscal year 2001, to remain available until expended. Of such 
amounts--
            (1) $5,700,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $8,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics 
        Laboratory Supercomputer; and
            (2) $4,340,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $6,160,000 for 
        fiscal year 2001 shall be for the Advanced Composition Explorer 
        (ACE) Follow-On Satellite/GEOSTORM.

SEC. 5. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA AND INFORMATION SERVICE.

    (a) Operations, Research, and Facilities.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration to carry out the Operations, Research, and 
        Facilities environmental research and development and related 
        activities of the National Environmental Satellite, Data and 
        Information Service $103,092,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
        $103,092,000 for fiscal year 2001, to remain available until 
        expended.
            (2) Satellite observing systems.--Of the amounts authorized 
        under paragraph (1), $59,236,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
        $59,236,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Satellite 
        Observing Systems, of which--
                    (A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $2,000,000 
                for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Global Disaster 
                Information Network (GDIN);
                    (B) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $4,000,000 
                for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Ocean Remote Sensing; 
                and
                    (C) $53,236,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $53,236,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for 
                Environmental Observing Services.
            (3) Environmental data management systems.--Of the amounts 
        authorized under paragraph (1), $43,856,000 for fiscal year 
        2000 and $43,856,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for 
        Environmental Data Management Systems, of which--
                    (A) $31,521,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $31,521,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Data and 
                Information Services; and
                    (B) $12,335,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $12,335,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for 
                Environmental Data Systems Modernization.
    (b) Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration to carry out the Procurement, Acquisition, and 
        Construction environmental research and development and related 
        activities of the National Environmental Satellite, Data and 
        Information Service $413,657,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
        $476,183,000 for fiscal year 2001, to remain available until 
        expended.
            (2) Systems acquisition.--Of the amounts authorized under 
        paragraph (1), $410,612,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
        $473,803,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Systems 
        Acquisition, of which--
                    (A) $140,979,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $114,594,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the 
                procurement and launch of, and supporting ground 
                systems for, Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites 
                (POES), K, L, M, N, and N';
                    (B) $80,100,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $113,600,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the 
                procurement and launch of, and supporting ground 
                systems for, the National Polar-Orbiting Operational 
                Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS); and
                    (C) $189,533,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
                $245,609,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the 
                procurement and launch of, and supporting ground 
                systems for, Geostationary Operational Environmental 
                NEXT follow-on Satellites (GOES N-Q).
            (3) Construction.--Of the amounts authorized under 
        paragraph (1), $3,045,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $2,380,000 
        for fiscal year 2001 shall be for National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration Operations Center Rehabilitation 
        Construction.

SEC. 6. FACILITIES.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out the 
Operations, Research, and Facilities environmental research and 
development and related activities required to meet recurring 
facilities operations costs associated with the David Skaggs Research 
Center in Boulder, Colorado, $3,850,000 for fiscal year 2000 and 
$3,850,000 for fiscal year 2001.

SEC. 7. ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator shall exclude from consideration 
for grant agreements made after fiscal year 1999 by the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under the activities for which 
funds are authorized under this Act, any person who received funds, 
other than those described in subsection (b), appropriated for a fiscal 
year after fiscal year 1999, under a grant agreement from any Federal 
funding source for a project that was not subjected to a competitive, 
merit-based award process, except as specifically authorized by this 
Act. Any exclusion from consideration pursuant to this section shall be 
effective for a period of 5 years after the person receives such 
Federal funds.
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to the receipt of 
Federal funds by a person due to the membership of that person in a 
class specified by law for which assistance is awarded to members of 
the class according to a formula provided by law.
    (c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``grant 
agreement'' means a legal instrument whose principal purpose is to 
transfer a thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public 
purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United 
States, and does not include the acquisition (by purchase, lease, or 
barter) of property or services for the direct benefit or use of the 
United States Government. Such term does not include a cooperative 
agreement (as such term is used in section 6305 of title 31, United 
States Code) or a cooperative research and development agreement (as 
such term is defined in section 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler 
Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(1))).

SEC. 8. INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.

    The Administrator shall make available through the Internet home 
page of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the 
abstracts relating to all research grants and awards made with funds 
authorized by this Act. Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
require or permit the release of any information prohibited by law or 
regulation from being released to the public.

SEC. 9. COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICAN ACT.

    No funds authorized pursuant to this Act may be expended by an 
entity unless the entity agrees that in expending the assistance the 
entity will comply with sections 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 
1933 (41 U.S.C. 10a-10c, popularly known as the ``Buy American Act'').

SEC. 10. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS; REQUIREMENT REGARDING NOTICE.

    (a) Purchase of American-Made Equipment and Products.--In the case 
of any equipment or products that may be authorized to be purchased 
with financial assistance provided under this Act, it is the sense of 
the Congress that entities receiving such assistance should, in 
expending the assistance, purchase only American-made equipment and 
products.
    (b) Notice to Recipients of Assistance.--In providing financial 
assistance under this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall provide to 
each recipient of the assistance a notice describing the statement made 
in subsection (a) by the Congress.

SEC. 11. PROHIBITION OF CONTRACTS.

    If it has been finally determined by a court or Federal agency that 
any person intentionally affixed a label bearing a ``Made in America'' 
inscription, or any inscription with the same meaning, to any product 
sold in or shipped to the United States that is not made in the United 
States, such person shall be ineligible to receive any contract or 
subcontract made with funds provided pursuant to this Act, pursuant to 
the debarment, suspension, and ineligibility procedures described in 
section 9.400 through 9.409 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 19, 1999.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.