To authorize appropriations for the United States Weather Research Program, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``United States Weather Research 
Program Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOCUS.

     The focus of the United States Weather Research Program, an 
interagency program established under section 108 of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 
U.S.C. 313 note), shall be on--
            (1) hurricanes, floods, and heavy precipitation, including 
        both snow and rain;
            (2) building on existing investments, including those of 
        the National Weather Service modernization effort, to 
        dramatically accelerate improvement in weather forecasts;
            (3) providing attention and resources in areas where 
        progress can be made quickly and where the impact will be 
        greatest;
            (4) establishing goals that can be attained by leveraging 
        the resources of several agencies and through the collaborative 
        scientific efforts of the operational and research communities 
        in academia and government; and
            (5) making research grants to universities and other 
        research institutions.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM RESEARCH PRIORITIES.

     The research priorities of the United States Weather Research 
Program shall be in the areas of--
            (1) hurricanes, to improve--
                    (A) landfall location forecasts; and
                    (B) forecasts of hurricane strength;
            (2) heavy precipitation, to improve forecasts of both 
        winter storms and rain storms through better prediction of 
        timing, location, and intensity;
            (3) floods, to improve--
                    (A) flood forecasting by coupling precipitation 
                forecasts with hydrologic prediction; and
                    (B) forecasting and warning systems for inland 
                flooding related to tropical cyclones;
            (4) two-to-fourteen day forecasting, to--
                    (A) improve short and medium range numerical 
                weather predictions and warnings of high-impact weather 
                events;
                    (B) conduct the Hemispheric Observing System 
                Research and Predictability Experiment (THORpex) to 
                fill observational gaps in the Northern Hemisphere; and
                    (C) test and evaluate advanced data assimilation 
                techniques in global models;
            (5) societal and economic impacts, to--
                    (A) identify methods of delivering weather 
                information effectively and recommend ways to improve 
                weather communications;
                    (B) assess social and economic impacts of adverse 
                weather ranging from disastrous to routine;
                    (C) evaluate what weather information is most 
                useful to public and private decision makers; and
                    (D) perform research on societal and economic 
                impact to ensure a connection between weather research 
                and improvement of the human condition; and
            (6) testing research concepts at United States Weather 
        Research Program-sponsored test bed centers in an environment 
        identical to those used by operational meteorologists, to 
        enable technology transfer to those operational meteorologists.

SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY PLANNING AND PROCESS.

     The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as the lead 
agency of the United States Weather Research Program, shall coordinate 
and consult with the National Science Foundation, the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, other appropriate Federal 
agencies, and other appropriate entities to develop, and annually 
update, a five-year plan--
            (1) describing how Federal agencies can best team with 
        universities and other research institutions;
            (2) identifying social, economic, and military needs and 
        requirements for weather information, as well as defining the 
        research required to meet these needs;
            (3) outlining methods for dissemination of weather 
        information to user communities; and
            (4) describing best practices for transferring United 
        States Weather Research Program research results to forecasting 
        operations.

SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

     Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration shall transmit to the Committee on 
Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report which shall 
include--
            (1) the most recent five-year plan developed or updated 
        under section 4, including the roles and funding to be provided 
        by various Federal agencies in achieving the objectives of the 
        plan;
            (2) a justification of any changes to the plan since the 
        last transmittal under this section; and
            (3) a detailed assessment of the extent to which the 
        objectives of the plan have been achieved.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Office of 
Atmospheric Research of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration for carrying out this Act--
            (1) for fiscal year 2004, $15,000,000, of which at least 50 
        percent shall be for competitive, merit-reviewed grants to, or 
        contracts or cooperative agreements with, institutions of 
        higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001));
            (2) for fiscal year 2005, $15,500,000, of which at least 50 
        percent shall be for competitive, merit-reviewed grants to, or 
        contracts or cooperative agreements with, institutions of 
        higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)); and
            (3) for fiscal year 2006, $16,000,000, of which at least 50 
        percent shall be for competitive, merit-reviewed grants to, or 
        contracts or cooperative agreements with, institutions of 
        higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)).

Summary: United States Weather Research Program Act of 2003 - States that the United States Weather Research Program's priorities shall be in the areas of: (1) hurricanes, to improve landfall location and hurricane strength forecasts, (2) heavy precipitation, to improve winter and rain storm forecasts. (3) floods, to improve flood forecasting and forecasting and warning systems for inland flooding related to tropical cyclones. (4) two-to-fourteen day forecasting, to improve weather predictions and warnings of high-impact weather events, to conduct the Hemispheric Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORpex) to fill observational gaps in the Northern Hemisphere, and to test and evaluate advanced data assimilation techniques in global models. (5) societal and economic impacts, to identify methods of delivering weather information effectively, to recommend ways to improve weather communications, to assess impacts of adverse weather, to evaluate what weather information is most useful, and to perform research on such impacts. And (6) testing research concepts at Program-sponsored test bed centers, to enable technology transfer to operational meteorologists. Directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop and annually update, and NOAA's Administrator to report to Congress on, a five-year plan: (1) describing how Federal agencies can best team with universities and other research institutions. (2) identifying social, economic, and military needs and requirements for weather information, (3) outlining methods for disseminating information to user communities. And (4) describing best practices for transferring Program research results to forecasting operations.