II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 881 

To improve understanding and forecasting of space weather events, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2019 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. GARDNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve understanding and forecasting of space weather 

events, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Space Weather Re5 search and Forecasting Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SPACE WEATHER. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle VI of title 51, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding after chapter 605 the 

9 following: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 607—SPACE WEATHER 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘60701. Space weather. 

‘‘60702. Observations and forecasting. 

‘‘60703. Research and technology. 

‘‘60704. Space weather data. 

2 ‘‘§ 60701. Space weather 

3 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find4 ings: 

5 ‘‘(1) Space weather events pose a significant 

6 threat to ground-based and space-based critical in7 frastructure, modern technological systems, and hu8 mans working in space. 

9 ‘‘(2) The effects of severe space weather events 

10 on the electric power grid, satellites and satellite 

11 communications and information, aviation oper12 ations, astronauts living and working in space, and 

13 space-based position, navigation, and timing systems 

14 could have significant societal, economic, national se15 curity, and health impacts. 

16 ‘‘(3) Earth and space observations provide cru17 cial data necessary to predict and warn about space 

18 weather events. 

19 ‘‘(4) Clear roles and accountability of Federal 

20 departments and agencies are critical for an efficient 

21 and effective response to threats posed by space 

22 weather. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Space weather observation and forecasting 

2 are essential for the success of space exploration. 

3 ‘‘(6) In October 2015, the National Science and 

4 Technology Council published a National Space 

5 Weather Strategy and a National Space Weather 

6 Action Plan seeking to integrate national space 

7 weather efforts and add new capabilities to meet in8 creasing demand for space weather information. 

9 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL AGENCY ROLES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following 

11 findings: 

12 ‘‘(A) The National Oceanic and Atmos13 pheric Administration— 

14 ‘‘(i) provides operational space weath15 er forecasting and monitoring for civil ap16 plications; 

17 ‘‘(ii) maintains ground and space18 based assets to provide observations need19 ed for forecasting, prediction, and warn20 ings; 

21 ‘‘(iii) provides research to support op22 eration responsibilities; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) develops requirements for space 

24 weather forecasting technologies and 

25 science. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The Department of Defense provides 

2 operational space weather forecasting, moni3 toring, and research for the department’s 

4 unique missions and applications. 

5 ‘‘(C) The National Aeronautics and Space 

6 Administration provides increased under7 standing of the fundamental physics of the 

8 Sun-Earth system through space-based observa9 tions and modeling, develops new space-based 

10 technologies and missions, and monitors space 

11 weather for NASA’s space missions. 

12 ‘‘(D) The National Science Foundation 

13 provides increased understanding of the Sun14 Earth system through ground-based measure15 ments, technologies, and modeling. 

16 ‘‘(E) The Department of the Interior col17 lects, distributes, and archives operational 

18 ground-based magnetometer data in the United 

19 States and its territories, works with the inter20 national community to improve global geo21 physical monitoring, and develops crustal con22 ductivity models to assess and mitigate risk 

23 from space weather induced electric ground cur24 rents. 


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1 ‘‘(F) The Federal Aviation Administration 

2 provides operational requirements for space 

3 weather services in support of aviation and for 

4 coordination of these requirements with the 

5 International Civil Aviation Organization, inte6 grates space weather data and products into the 

7 Next Generation Air Transportation System. 

8 ‘‘(2) OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

9 POLICY.—The Director of the Office of Science and 

10 Technology Policy shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) coordinate the development and im12 plementation of Federal Government activities 

13 to improve the ability of the United States to 

14 prepare, avoid, mitigate, respond to, and re15 cover from potentially devastating impacts of 

16 space weather events; and 

17 ‘‘(B) coordinate the activities of the space 

18 weather interagency working group established 

19 under subsection (c). 

20 ‘‘(c) SPACE WEATHER INTERAGENCY WORKING

21 GROUP.—The National Science and Technology Council 

22 shall establish an interagency working group on space 

23 weather (referred to in this section as the ‘interagency 

24 working group’) to continue coordination of executive 


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1 branch efforts to understand, prepare, coordinate, and 

2 plan for space weather. 

3 ‘‘(d) MEMBERSHIP.—In order to understand and re4 spond to the adverse effects of space weather, the inter5 agency working group shall leverage capabilities across 

6 participating Federal agencies, including— 

7 ‘‘(1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad8 ministration; 

9 ‘‘(2) the National Aeronautics and Space Ad10 ministration; 

11 ‘‘(3) the National Science Foundation; 

12 ‘‘(4) the Department of Defense; 

13 ‘‘(5) the Department of the Interior; 

14 ‘‘(6) the Department of Homeland Security; 

15 ‘‘(7) the Department of Energy; 

16 ‘‘(8) the Department of Transportation, includ17 ing the Federal Aviation Administration; and 

18 ‘‘(9) the Department of State. 

19 ‘‘(e) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

21 Congress that the interagency collaboration between 

22 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

23 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis24 tration on terrestrial weather observations pro25 vides— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an effective mechanism for improving 

2 weather and climate data collection while avoid3 ing unnecessary duplication of capabilities 

4 across Federal agencies; and 

5 ‘‘(B) an agency collaboration model that 

6 could benefit space weather observations. 

7 ‘‘(2) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.—The Ad8 ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 

9 Administration and the Administrator of the Na10 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

11 enter into one or more interagency agreements pro12 viding for cooperation and collaboration in the devel13 opment of space weather spacecraft, instruments, 

14 and technologies in accordance with this chapter. 

15 ‘‘(f) SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY GROUP.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The interagency work17 ing group shall establish a space weather advisory 

18 group (in this chapter referred to as the ‘advisory 

19 group’) to facilitate communication and knowledge 

20 transfer among Federal Government agencies, the 

21 academic community, the commercial sector, and 

22 space weather end users. 

23 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The advisory group shall 

24 be composed of not more than 15 members apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S881.IS S881

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1 pointed by the interagency working group, of 

2 whom— 

3 ‘‘(A) 5 members shall be representatives of 

4 the academic community; 

5 ‘‘(B) 5 members shall be representatives of 

6 the commercial sector; and 

7 ‘‘(C) 5 members shall be nongovernmental 

8 representatives of the space weather end user 

9 community. 

10 ‘‘(3) CHAIR.—Not later than 30 days after the 

11 date on which the last member of the advisory group 

12 is appointed under paragraph (2), the interagency 

13 working group shall appoint 1 member as the Chair 

14 of the advisory group. 

15 ‘‘(4) TERMS.—The length of the term of each 

16 member of the advisory group shall be 3 years be17 ginning on the date on which the member is ap18 pointed. 

19 ‘‘(5) TERM LIMITS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the advi21 sory group may not serve on the advisory group 

22 for more than 2 consecutive terms. 

23 ‘‘(B) CHAIR.—A member of the advisory 

24 group may not serve as the Chair of the adviVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S881.IS S881

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1 sory group for more than 2 terms, regardless of 

2 whether the terms are consecutive. 

3 ‘‘(6) DUTIES.—The duties of the advisory 

4 group shall be as follows: 

5 ‘‘(A) To facilitate advances in the space 

6 weather enterprise of the United States. 

7 ‘‘(B) To improve the ability of the United 

8 States to prepare for, avoid, mitigate, respond 

9 to, and recover from space weather events. 

10 ‘‘(C) To enable the coordination of re11 search to operations and operations to research, 

12 as described in section 60703(d). 

13 ‘‘(D) To advise the interagency working 

14 group with respect to the development and im15 plementation of the integrated strategy devel16 oped under section 60702(b) and subsequent 

17 updates and reevaluations. 

18 ‘‘§ 60702. Observations and forecasting 

19 ‘‘(a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States 

20 to establish and sustain a baseline capability for space 

21 weather observations. 

22 ‘‘(b) INTEGRATED STRATEGY.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office 

24 of Science and Technology Policy, in coordination 

25 with the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 


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1 Atmospheric Administration, the Administrator of 

2 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

3 the Director of the National Science Foundation, 

4 and the Secretary of Defense, and in consultation 

5 with the academic community, the commercial sec6 tor, and the advisory group shall develop an inte7 grated strategy for solar, solar wind, and geospace 

8 observations beyond the lifetime of current assets 

9 that considers the provision of solar, solar wind, and 

10 geospace measurements and other space weather 

11 measurements— 

12 ‘‘(A) essential to space weather fore13 casting; and 

14 ‘‘(B) important for scientific purposes. 

15 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the 

16 strategy under paragraph (1), the Director of the 

17 Office of Science and Technology Policy shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) consider small satellite options, 

19 hosted payloads, commercial options, inter20 national options, and prize authority; and 

21 ‘‘(B) leverage and build on work conducted 

22 before the date of the enactment of this chapter 

23 by the National Science and Technology Coun24 cil with respect to space weather. 


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1 ‘‘(c) CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS.—In order to sustain 

2 current space-based observational capabilities, the Admin3 istrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis4 tration shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) in cooperation with the European Space 

6 Agency and other international and interagency 

7 partners, maintain operations of the Solar and 

8 Heliospheric Observatory/Large Angle and Spec9 trometric Coronagraph (referred to in this section as 

10 ‘SOHO/LASCO’) for as long as the satellite con11 tinues to deliver quality observations; and 

12 ‘‘(2) prioritize the reception of LASCO data. 

13 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL CAPABILITY FOR SOLAR IMAG14 ING.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

16 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

17 shall secure reliable secondary capability for near 

18 real-time coronal mass ejection imagery. 

19 ‘‘(2) OPTIONS.—The Administrator of the Na20 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in 

21 coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the 

22 Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 

23 Space Administration, shall develop options to build 

24 and deploy one or more instruments for near real25 time coronal mass ejection imagery. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing options 

2 under paragraph (2), the Administrator of the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

4 consider commercial solutions, prize authority, aca5 demic and international partnerships, microsatellites, 

6 ground-based instruments, and opportunities to de7 ploy the instrument or instruments as a secondary 

8 payload on an upcoming planned launch. 

9 ‘‘(4) COSTS.—In implementing paragraph (1), 

10 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At11 mospheric Administration shall prioritize a cost-ef12 fective solution. 

13 ‘‘(5) OPERATIONAL PLANNING.—The Adminis14 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad15 ministration shall develop an operational contingency 

16 plan to provide continuous space weather forecasting 

17 in the event of a SOHO/LASCO failure. 

18 ‘‘(6) BRIEFING.—Not later than 120 days after 

19 the date of enactment of the Space Weather Re20 search and Forecasting Act, the Administrator of 

21 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra22 tion shall provide a briefing to the Committee on 

23 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen24 ate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech25 nology of the House of Representatives on the opVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S881.IS S881

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1 tions for building and deploying the instrument or 

2 instruments described in paragraph (2) and the 

3 operational contingency plan developed under para4 graph (5). 

5 ‘‘(e) FOLLOW-ON SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONS.— 

6 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos7 pheric Administration, in coordination with the Secretary 

8 of Defense, shall develop requirements and a plan for fol9 low-on space-based observations for operational purposes, 

10 in accordance with the integrated strategy developed 

11 under subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

13 date of enactment of the Space Weather Research and 

14 Forecasting Act, the Director of the Office of Science and 

15 Technology Policy shall submit to the Committee on Com16 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

17 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

18 House of Representatives a report on the integrated strat19 egy under subsection (b), including the plans for follow20 on space-based observations under subsection (e). 

21 ‘‘(g) GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS.—The Na22 tional Science Foundation, the United States Geological 

23 Survey, the Air Force, and where practicable in support 

24 of the Air Force, the Navy shall each— 


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1 ‘‘(1) maintain and improve, as necessary and 

2 advisable, ground-based observations of the Sun to 

3 help meet the priorities identified in section 

4 60703(a); and 

5 ‘‘(2) provide space weather data by means of its 

6 set of ground-based facilities, including radars, 

7 lidars, magnetometers, radio receivers, aurora and 

8 airglow imagers, spectrometers, interferometers, and 

9 solar observatories. 

10 ‘‘(h) GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS DATA.—The 

11 National Science Foundation shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) make available to the public key data 

13 streams from the platforms described in subsection 

14 (g) for research and to support space weather model 

15 development; 

16 ‘‘(2) develop experimental models for scientific 

17 purposes; and 

18 ‘‘(3) support the transition of the experimental 

19 models to operations where appropriate. 

20 ‘‘§ 60703. Research and technology 

21 ‘‘(a) USER NEEDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

23 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

24 the Secretary of the Air Force, and where prac25 ticable in support of the Air Force, the Secretary of 


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1 the Navy, in conjunction with the heads of other rel2 evant Federal agencies, shall conduct a comprehen3 sive survey to identify and prioritize the needs of 

4 space weather forecast users, including space weath5 er data and space weather forecast data needed to 

6 improve services and inform research priorities and 

7 technology needs. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—In conducting the com9 prehensive survey under paragraph (1), the Adminis10 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad11 ministration, the Secretary of the Air Force, and 

12 where practicable in support of the Air Force, the 

13 Secretary of the Navy, at a minimum, shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) consider the goals for forecast lead 

15 time, accuracy, coverage, timeliness, data rate, 

16 and data quality for space weather observa17 tions; 

18 ‘‘(B) identify opportunities to address the 

19 needs identified under paragraph (1) through 

20 collaborations with academia, the private sector, 

21 and the international community; 

22 ‘‘(C) identify opportunities for new tech23 nologies and instrumentation to address the 

24 needs identified under paragraph (1); and 


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1 ‘‘(D) publish a report on the findings 

2 under subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

3 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 1 year 

4 after the date of the enactment of the Space Weath5 er Research and Forecasting Act, and every 3 years 

6 thereafter, the Administrator of the National Oce7 anic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary 

8 of the Air Force, and where practicable in support 

9 of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) make the results of the comprehen11 sive survey publicly available; and 

12 ‘‘(B) notify the Committee on Commerce, 

13 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

14 the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech15 nology of the House of Representatives of the 

16 publication under subparagraph (A). 

17 ‘‘(b) RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) BASIC RESEARCH.—The Director of the 

19 National Science Foundation, the Administrator of 

20 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

21 and the Secretary of Defense shall continue to carry 

22 out basic research activities on heliophysics, geo23 space science, and space weather and support com24 petitive, merit-based, peer-reviewed proposals for re25 search, modeling, and monitoring of space weather 


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1 and its impacts, including science goals outlined in 

2 Solar and Space Physics Decadal surveys conducted 

3 by the National Academy of Sciences. 

4 ‘‘(2) MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.— 

5 ‘‘(A) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the 

6 multidisciplinary nature of solar and space 

7 physics creates funding challenges that require 

8 coordination across scientific disciplines and 

9 Federal agencies. 

10 ‘‘(B) MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.— 

11 The Director of the National Science Founda12 tion, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 

13 and Atmospheric Administration, and the Ad14 ministrator of the National Aeronautics and 

15 Space Administration shall pursue multidisci16 plinary research in subjects that further our 

17 understanding of solar physics, space physics, 

18 and space weather. 

19 ‘‘(C) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the 

20 sense of Congress that the Administrator of the 

21 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

22 and the Director of the National Science Foun23 dation should support competitively awarded 

24 Heliophysics Science Centers. 


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1 ‘‘(c) SCIENCE MISSIONS.—The Administrator of the 

2 National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall seek 

3 to implement missions that meet the science objectives 

4 identified in Solar and Space Physics Decadal surveys con5 ducted by the National Academy of Sciences. 

6 ‘‘(d) RESEARCH TO OPERATIONS; OPERATIONS TO

7 RESEARCH.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

9 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the 

10 Director of the National Science Foundation, the 

11 Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos12 pheric Administration, the Secretary of the Air 

13 Force, and where practicable in support of the Air 

14 Force, the Secretary of the Navy, shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) develop a formal mechanism to tran16 sition National Aeronautics and Space Adminis17 tration, National Science Foundation, United 

18 States Geological Survey, Air Force, and Navy 

19 research findings, models, and capabilities, as 

20 appropriate, to National Oceanic and Atmos21 pheric Administration and Department of De22 fense space weather operational forecasting cen23 ters; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) enhance coordination between re2 search modeling centers and forecasting cen3 ters. 

4 ‘‘(2) OPERATIONAL NEEDS.—The Adminis5 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad6 ministration and the Secretary of Defense, in coordi7 nation with the Administrator of the National Aero8 nautics and Space Administration and the Director 

9 of the National Science Foundation, shall develop a 

10 formal mechanism to communicate the operational 

11 needs of space weather forecasters to the research 

12 community. 

13 ‘‘(e) TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that observa15 tions and measurements closer to the Sun or at the 

16 Sun-Earth Lagrangian L5 point with advanced in17 strumentation would provide for more advanced 

18 warning of space weather disturbances (as defined in 

19 section 3(a) of the Space Weather Research and 

20 Forecasting Act). 

21 ‘‘(2) TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUMENTATION DE22 VELOPMENT.—The Administrator of the National 

23 Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Di24 rector of the National Science Foundation shall sup25 port the development of technologies and instrumenVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S881.IS S881

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1 tation to improve space weather forecasting lead2 time and accuracy to meet the needs identified by 

3 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At4 mospheric Administration. 

5 ‘‘§ 60704. Space weather data 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na7 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Di8 rector of the National Science Foundation shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) make space weather related data obtained 

10 for scientific research purposes available to space 

11 weather forecasters and operations centers; and 

12 ‘‘(2) support model development and model ap13 plications to space weather forecasting. 

14 ‘‘(b) RESEARCH.—The Administrator of the National 

15 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall make space 

16 weather related data obtained from operational forecasting 

17 available for scientific research.’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) REPEAL OF SECTION 809.—Section 809 of 

20 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

21 Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18388) and 

22 the item relating to that section in the table of con23 tents under section 1(b) of that Act (124 Stat. 

24 2806) are repealed. 


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1 (2) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap2 ters of title 51, United States Code, is amended by 

3 adding after the item relating to chapter 605 the fol4 lowing: 

‘‘607. Space weather .......................................................................60701’’. 

5 SEC. 3. SPACE WEATHER BENCHMARKS. 

6 (a) DEFINITION OF SPACE WEATHER DISTURB7 ANCE.—In this section, the term ‘‘space weather disturb8 ance’’ includes geo-electric fields, ionizing radiation, iono9 spheric disturbances, solar radio bursts, and upper atmos10 phere expansion. 

11 (b) BENCHMARKS.— 

12 (1) REVIEW.—The Administrator of the Na13 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration shall 

14 offer to enter into a contract with the National 

15 Academy of Sciences to review the report of the Na16 tional Science and Technology Council entitled 

17 ‘‘Space Weather Phase 1 Benchmarks’’ and dated 

18 June 2018. 

19 (2) UPDATES.—The space weather interagency 

20 working group established under section 60701(c) of 

21 title 51, United States Code, shall periodically review 

22 and update the benchmarks described in the report 

23 referred to in paragraph (1), as necessary, based 

24 on— 


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1 (A) the results of the review that para2 graph; 

3 (B) any significant new data or advances 

4 in scientific understanding that become avail5 able; or 

6 (C) the evolving needs of entities impacted 

7 by space weather disturbances. 

8 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 

9 (a) DEFINITION OF SECTOR-SPECIFIC AGENCY.—In 

10 this section, the term ‘‘sector-specific agency’’ has the 

11 meaning given the term in Presidential Policy Directive– 

12 21 of February 12, 2013 (Critical Infrastructure Security 

13 and Resilience), or any successor. 

14 (b) SPACE WEATHER HAZARDS.—For purposes of 

15 this section, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 

16 and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with the 

17 heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall provide in18 formation about space weather hazards to the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security. 

20 (c) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The Secretary of 

21 Homeland Security, in consultation with sector-specific 

22 agencies, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

23 Atmospheric Administration, and the heads of other rel24 evant agencies, shall— 


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1 (1) include, in meeting national critical infra2 structure reporting requirements, an assessment of 

3 the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to space 

4 weather events, as described by the space weather 

5 benchmarks referred to in section 3(b); and 

6 (2) support critical infrastructure providers in 

7 managing the risks and impacts associated with 

8 space weather. 

9 (d) PROHIBITION ON NEW REGULATORY AUTHOR10 ITY.—Nothing in subsection (c) may be construed to grant 

11 the Secretary of Homeland Security any authority to pro12 mulgate regulations that was not in effect on the day be13 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 5. PROTECTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY ASSETS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Security Council, in 

16 consultation with the Office of the Director of National 

17 Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of 

18 other relevant Federal agencies, shall— 

19 (1) assess the vulnerability of the national secu20 rity community to space weather events, as described 

21 by the space weather benchmarks referred to in sec22 tion 3(b); and 

23 (2) develop national security mechanisms to 

24 protect national security assets from space weather 

25 threats. 


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1 (b) COOPERATION.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

2 consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal 

3 agencies, shall provide information about space weather 

4 hazards to the National Security Council, Director of Na5 tional Intelligence, and heads of Defense Agencies for pur6 poses of this section. 

7 SEC. 6. ENSURING THE SAFETY OF CIVIL AVIATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 

9 Aviation Administration, in consultation with the heads of 

10 other relevant Federal agencies, shall— 

11 (1) assess the safety implications and vulner12 ability of the national airspace system by space 

13 weather events, as described by the space weather 

14 benchmarks referred to in section 3(b); 

15 (2) assess methods to mitigate the safety impli16 cations and effects of space weather on aviation 

17 communication and navigation systems, satellite and 

18 ground-based navigation systems, and potential 

19 health effects of radiation exposure; and 

20 (3) assess options for incorporating space 

21 weather into operational training for pilots, cabin 

22 crew, dispatchers, air traffic controllers, meteorolo23 gists, and engineers. 

24 (b) SPACE WEATHER COMMUNICATION.—The Ad25 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, in 


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1 consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal 

2 agencies, shall develop methods to increase the interaction 

3 between the aviation community and the space weather re4 search and service provider community. 

Æ 


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