S. 558 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two 

An Act 

To establish a national integrated flood information system within the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flood Level 

Observation, Operations, and Decision Support Act’’ or the 

‘‘FLOODS Act’’. 

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for this Act 

is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. National Integrated Flood Information System. 

Sec. 4. Observations and modeling for total water prediction. 

Sec. 5. Service coordination hydrologists at River Forecast Centers of the National 

Weather Service. 

Sec. 6. Improving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration communication of future flood risks and hazardous flash flood events. 

Sec. 7. Freshwater monitoring along the coast. 

Sec. 8. Tornado warning improvement. 

Sec. 9. Hurricane forecast improvement program. 

Sec. 10. Weather and water research and development planning. 

Sec. 11. Forecast communication coordinators. 

Sec. 12. Estimates of precipitation frequency in the United States. 

Sec. 13. Interagency Committee on Water Management and Infrastructure. 

Sec. 14. National Weather Service hydrologic research fellowship program. 

Sec. 15. Identification and support of consistent, Federal set of forward-looking, 

long-term meteorological information. 

Sec. 16. Gap analysis on availability of snow-related data to assess and predict 

flood and flood impacts. 

Sec. 17. Availability to the public of flood-related data. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 

Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration. 

(2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each State of the 

United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth 

of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the 

United States, and any other territory or possession of the 

United States. 

SEC. 3. NATIONAL INTEGRATED FLOOD INFORMATION SYSTEM. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish a system, 

to be known as the ‘‘National Integrated Flood Information System’’, 
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to better inform and provide for more timely decision making to 

reduce flood-related effects and costs. 

(b) SYSTEM FUNCTIONS.—The Administrator, through the 

National Integrated Flood Information System, shall— 

(1) provide an effective flood early warning system that— 

(A) collects and integrates information on the key 

indicators of floods and flood impacts, including streamflow, 

reservoir release and diversion, precipitation, soil moisture, 

snow water equivalent, land cover, and evaporative 

demand; 

(B) makes usable, reliable, and timely forecasts of 

floods; 

(C) assesses the severity of flood conditions and effects; 

(D) provides information described in subparagraph 

(A), forecasts described in subparagraph (B), and assessments described in subparagraph (C) at the national, 

regional, and local levels, as appropriate; and 

(E) communicates flood forecasts, flood conditions, and 

flood impacts to appropriate entities engaged in flood planning, preparedness, and response and post-event flood 

extent, including— 

(i) decision makers at the Federal, State, local, 

and Tribal levels of government; and 

(ii) the public; 

(2) provide timely data, information, and products that 

reflect differences in flood conditions among localities, regions, 

watersheds, and States; 

(3) coordinate and integrate, through interagency agreements as practicable, Federal research and monitoring in support of the flood early warning information system provided 

under paragraph (1); 

(4) use existing forecasting and assessment programs and 

partnerships; 

(5) make improvements in seasonal precipitation and 

temperature, subseasonal precipitation and temperature, and 

flood water prediction; and 

(6) continue ongoing research and monitoring activities 

relating to floods, including research activities relating to— 

(A) the prediction, length, severity, and impacts of 

floods and improvement of the accuracy, timing, and specificity of flash flood warnings; 

(B) the role of extreme weather events and climate 

variability in floods; and 

(C) how water travels over and through surfaces. 

(c) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Administrator, through the National 

Integrated Flood Information System, may— 

(1) engage with the private sector to improve flood monitoring, forecasts, land and topography data, and communication, if the Administrator determines that such engagement 

is appropriate, cost effective, and beneficial to the public and 

decision makers described in subsection (b)(1)(E)(i); 

(2) facilitate the development of 1 or more academic 

cooperative partnerships to assist in carrying out the functions 

of the National Integrated Flood Information System described 

in subsection (b); 
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(3) use and support monitoring by citizen scientists, 

including by developing best practices to facilitate maximum 

data integration, as the Administrator considers appropriate; 

(4) engage with, and leverage the resources of, entities 

within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act, such 

as the National Weather Service with respect to forecast and 

warning functions, the National Integrated Drought Information System, the Regional Climate Center, and the National 

Mesonet Program, to improve coordination of water monitoring, 

forecasting, and management; and 

(5) engage with and support water monitoring by the 

United States Geological Survey— 

(A) to improve the availability and continuity of 

streamflow data at critical locations through the deployment of rapid deployment gages and the flood-hardening 

of at-risk streamflow gauges; and 

(B) to increase storm surge monitoring data through 

the deployment of additional storm surge sensors. 

(d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and maintaining the 

National Integrated Flood Information System, the Administrator 

shall consult with relevant Federal, State, local, and Tribal government agencies, research institutions, and the private sector. 

(e) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appropriate with the Administrator 

in carrying out this section. 

SEC. 4. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FOR TOTAL WATER PREDICTION. 

(a) PARTNERSHIPS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish partnerships with 1 or more institutions of higher education (as 

defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

(20 U.S.C. 1001)) to evaluate observations that would improve 

total water prediction. 

(2) PRIORITY OBSERVATIONS.—In establishing partnerships 

under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall prioritize partnerships to evaluate observations from uncrewed aerial systems. 

(b) MAINTAINED OBSERVATIONS.—If the Administrator determines that incorporating additional observations improves total 

water prediction, the Administrator shall, to the extent practicable, 

continue incorporating those observations. 

(c) MODELING IMPROVEMENTS.—The Administrator shall 

advance geographic coverage, resolution, skill, and efficiency of 

coastal oceanographic modeling, including efforts that improve the 

coupling of and interoperability between hydrological models and 

coastal ocean models. 

SEC. 5. SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS AT RIVER FORECAST 

CENTERS OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. 

(a) DESIGNATION OF SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National Weather 

Service (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall 

designate at least 1 service coordination hydrologist at each 

River Forecast Center of the National Weather Service. 

(2) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.—Performance of 

the responsibilities outlined in this section is not limited to 

the service coordination hydrologist position. 
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(b) PRIMARY ROLE OF SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS.— 

The primary role of the service coordination hydrologist shall be 

to carry out the responsibilities required by this section. 

(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), consistent with 

the analysis described in section 409 of the Weather Research 

and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 

131 Stat. 112), and in order to increase impact-based decision 

support services, each service coordination hydrologist designated under subsection (a) shall, with respect to hydrology— 

(A) be responsible for providing service to the 

geographic area of responsibility covered by the River Forecast Center at which the service coordination hydrologist 

is employed to help ensure that users of products and 

services of the National Weather Service can respond effectively to improve outcomes from flood events; 

(B) liaise with users of products and services of the 

National Weather Service, such as the public, academia, 

media outlets, users in the hydropower, transportation, 

recreation, and agricultural communities, and forestry, 

land, fisheries, and water management interests, to 

evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the products and 

services of the National Weather Service; 

(C) collaborate with such River Forecast Centers and 

Weather Forecast Offices and Federal, State, local, and 

Tribal government agencies as the Director considers 

appropriate in developing, proposing, and implementing 

plans to develop, modify, or tailor products and services 

of the National Weather Service to improve the usefulness 

of such products and services; 

(D) engage in interagency partnerships with Federal, 

State, local, and Tribal government agencies to explore 

the use of forecast-informed reservoir operations to reduce 

flood risk; 

(E) ensure the maintenance and accuracy of flooding 

call lists, appropriate office flooding policy or procedures, 

and other flooding information or dissemination methodologies or strategies; and 

(F) work closely with Federal, State, local, and Tribal 

emergency and floodplain management agencies, and other 

agencies relating to disaster management, to ensure a 

planned, coordinated, and effective preparedness and 

response effort. 

(2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a responsibility 

set forth in paragraph (1) to such other staff as the Director 

considers appropriate to carry out such responsibility. 

(d) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a service 

coordination hydrologist designated under subsection (a) may, 

with respect to hydrology— 

(A) work with a State agency to develop plans for 

promoting more effective use of products and services of 

the National Weather Service throughout the State; 

(B) identify priority community preparedness objectives; 

(C) develop plans to meet the objectives identified 

under subparagraph (B); and 
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(D) conduct flooding event preparedness planning and 

citizen education efforts with and through various State, 

local, and Tribal government agencies and other disaster 

management-related organizations. 

(2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a responsibility 

set forth in paragraph (1) to such other staff as the Director 

considers appropriate to carry out such responsibility. 

SEC. 6. IMPROVING NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION COMMUNICATION OF FUTURE FLOOD RISKS AND 

HAZARDOUS FLASH FLOOD EVENTS. 

(a) ASSESSMENT OF FLASH FLOOD WATCHES AND WARNINGS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall— 

(A) conduct an assessment of— 

(i) the flash flood watches and warnings of the 

National Weather Service; and 

(ii) the information delivery to support preparation 

and responses to floods; and 

(B) submit to Congress a report on the findings of 

the Administrator with respect to the assessment required 

by subparagraph (A). 

(2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by paragraph 

(1)(A) shall include the following: 

(A) An evaluation of whether the watches, warnings, 

and information described in paragraph (1)(A) effectively— 

(i) communicate risk to the general public; 

(ii) inform action to prevent loss of life and property; 

(iii) inform action to support flood preparation and 

response; and 

(iv) deliver information in a manner designed to 

lead to appropriate action. 

(B) Subject to subsection (b)(2), such recommendations 

as the Administrator may have for— 

(i) legislative and administrative action to improve 

the watches and warnings described in paragraph 

(1)(A)(i); and 

(ii) such research as the Administrator considers 

necessary to address the focus areas described in paragraph (3). 

(3) FOCUS AREAS.—The assessment required by paragraph 

(1)(A) shall focus on the following areas: 

(A) Ways to communicate the risks posed by hazardous 

flash flood events to the public that are most likely to 

result in informed decision making regarding the mitigation 

of those risks. 

(B) Ways to provide actionable geographic information 

to the recipient of a watch or warning for a flash flood, 

including partnering with emergency response agencies, 

as appropriate. 

(C) Evaluation of information delivery to support the 

preparation for and response to floods. 

(4) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the assessment required 

by paragraph (1)(A), the Administrator shall consult with— 

(A) individuals in the academic sector, including 

individuals in the field of social and behavioral sciences; 
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(B) other weather services; 

(C) media outlets and other entities that distribute 

the watches and warnings described in paragraph (1)(A)(i); 

(D) floodplain managers and emergency planners and 

responders, including State, local, and Tribal emergency 

management agencies; 

(E) other government users of the watches and 

warnings described in paragraph (1)(A)(i), including the 

Federal Highway Administration; and 

(F) such other Federal agencies as the Administrator 

determines rely on watches and warnings regarding flash 

floods for operational decisions. 

(5) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—The Administrator 

shall engage with the National Academy of Sciences, as the 

Administrator considers necessary and practicable, including 

by contracting with the National Research Council to review 

the scientific and technical soundness of the assessment 

required by paragraph (1)(A), including the recommendations 

under paragraph (2)(B). 

(6) METHODOLOGIES.—In conducting the assessment 

required by paragraph (1)(A), the Administrator shall use such 

methodologies as the Administrator considers are generally 

accepted by the weather enterprise, including social and behavioral sciences. 

(b) IMPROVEMENTS TO FLASH FLOOD WATCHES AND

WARNINGS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the assessment required by 

subsection (a)(1)(A), the Administrator shall make such 

improvements to the watches and warnings described in that 

subsection as the Administrator considers necessary— 

(A) to improve the communication of the risks posed 

by hazardous flash flood events; and 

(B) to provide actionable geographic information to the 

recipient of a watch or warning for a flash flood. 

(2) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING RECOMMENDATIONS.—In conducting the assessment required by subsection (a)(1)(A), the 

Administrator shall ensure that any recommendation under 

subsection (a)(2)(B) that the Administrator considers a major 

change— 

(A) is validated by social and behavioral science using 

a generalizable sample; 

(B) accounts for the needs of various demographics, 

vulnerable populations, and geographic regions; 

(C) responds to the needs of Federal, State, local, and 

Tribal government partners and media partners; and 

(D) accounts for necessary changes to federally operated watch and warning propagation and dissemination 

infrastructure and protocols. 

(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) WATCH; WARNING.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph 

(B), the terms ‘‘watch’’ and ‘‘warning’’, with respect to a 

hazardous flash flood event, mean products issued by the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

intended for use by the general public— 

(i) to alert the general public to the potential for 

or presence of the event; and 
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(ii) to inform action to prevent loss of life and 

property. 

(B) EXCLUSION.—The terms ‘‘watch’’ and ‘‘warning’’ do 

not include technical or specialized meteorological and 

hydrological forecasts, outlooks, or model guidance products. 

(2) WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The term ‘‘weather enterprise’’ 

has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the Weather 

Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

8501). 

SEC. 7. FRESHWATER MONITORING ALONG THE COAST. 

(a) DATA AVAILABILITY ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall 

assess the availability of short- and long-term data on large-scale 

freshwater flooding into oceans, bays, and estuaries, including data 

on— 

(1) flow rate, including discharge; 

(2) conductivity; 

(3) oxygen concentration; 

(4) nutrient load; 

(5) water temperature; and 

(6) sediment load. 

(b) DATA NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall assess 

the need for additional data to assess and predict the effect of 

the flooding and freshwater discharge described in subsection (a). 

(c) INVENTORY OF DATA NEEDS.—Based on the assessments 

required by subsections (a) and (b), the Administrator shall create 

an inventory of data needs with respect to the flooding and freshwater discharge described in subsections (a) and (b). 

(d) PLANNING.—In planning for the collection of additional data 

necessary for ecosystem-based modeling of the effect of the flooding 

and freshwater discharge described in subsections (a) and (b), the 

Administrator shall use the inventory created under subsection 

(c). 

SEC. 8. TORNADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT. 

Section 103 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8513) is amended— 

(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 

(d) and (e), respectively; and 

(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following: 

‘‘(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.’’. 

SEC. 9. HURRICANE FORECAST IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 

Section 104(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514(b)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 

a semicolon; 

(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end 

and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(4) evaluating and incorporating, as appropriate, innovative observations, including acoustic or infrasonic measurements.’’. 

SEC. 10. WEATHER AND WATER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING. 

Section 105(2) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8515(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 

flood-event’’ after ‘‘operational weather’’. 

SEC. 11. FORECAST COMMUNICATION COORDINATORS. 

Section 1762(f)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (15 U.S.C. 

8521(f)(1)) is amended, in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘may’’ 

and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

SEC. 12. ESTIMATES OF PRECIPITATION FREQUENCY IN THE UNITED 

STATES. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term ‘‘Freely Associated States’’ means the Republic of Palau, the Republic of 

the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, 

which have each entered into a Compact of Free Association 

with the United States. 

(2) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United States’’ means the 

50 States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

Northern Mariana Islands, and the Freely Associated States. 

(b) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish a program, 

to be known as the ‘‘NOAA Precipitation Frequency Atlas of the 

United States’’, to compile, estimate, analyze, and communicate 

the frequency of precipitation in the United States. 

(c) FUNCTIONS.—The NOAA Precipitation Frequency Atlas of 

the United States— 

(1) shall better inform the public and provide information 

on— 

(A) temporal and spatial distribution of heavy 

precipitation; 

(B) analyses of seasonality in precipitation; and 

(C) trends in annual maximum series data; and 

(2) may serve as the official source of the Federal Government on estimates of precipitation frequency and associated 

information with respect to the United States. 

(d) REQUIREMENTS.— (1) COVERAGE.—The NOAA Precipitation Frequency Atlas 

of the United States shall include such estimates of the frequency of precipitation in the United States as the Administrator determines appropriate. 

(2) FREQUENCY.—Such estimates— 

(A) shall be conducted not less frequently than once 

every 10 years; and 

(B) may be conducted more frequently if determined 

appropriate by the Administrator. 

(3) PUBLICATION.—Such estimates and methodologies used 

to conduct such estimates shall be— 

(A) subject to an appropriate, scientific process, as 

determined by the Administrator; and 
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(B) published on a publicly accessible website of the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

(e) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Administrator may partner with other 

Federal agencies, members of the private sector, academic cooperative partnerships, or nongovernment associations to assist in carrying out the functions described in subsection (c). 

(f) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, the Administrator may consult with relevant Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 

Territorial government agencies, research institutions, and the private sector, as the Administrator determines necessary. 

(g) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the Administrator may coordinate with other Federal agencies. 

(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized 

to be appropriated to carry out this section, from amounts otherwise 

authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out 

this Act, $3,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2030. 

SEC. 13. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON WATER MANAGEMENT AND 

INFRASTRUCTURE. 

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a committee, to be 

known as the ‘‘Interagency Committee on Water Management and 

Infrastructure’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Water Policy 

Committee’’). 

(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Water Policy Committee shall be composed of the following members: 

(1) The Administrator. 

(2) The Secretary of the Interior. 

(3) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

(4) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

(5) The Secretary of Commerce. 

(6) The Secretary of Energy. 

(7) The Secretary of the Army. 

(8) The heads of such other agencies as the co-chairs consider appropriate. 

(c) CO-CHAIRS.—The Water Policy Committee shall be cochaired by the Secretary of the Interior and the Administrator 

of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

(d) MEETINGS.—The Water Policy Committee shall meet not 

less frequently than 6 times each year, at the call of the cochairs. 

(e) GENERAL PURPOSE AND DUTIES.—The Water Policy Committee shall ensure that agencies and departments across the Federal Government that engage in water-related matters, including 

water storage and supplies, water quality and restoration activities, 

water infrastructure, transportation on United States rivers and 

inland waterways, and water forecasting, work together where such 

agencies and departments have joint or overlapping responsibilities 

to— 

(1) improve interagency coordination among Federal agencies and departments on water resource management and water 

infrastructure issues; 

(2) coordinate existing water-related Federal task forces, 

working groups, and other formal cross-agency initiatives, as 

appropriate; 
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(3) prioritize managing the water resources of the United 

States and promoting resilience of the water-related infrastructure of the United States, including— 

(A) increasing water storage, water supply reliability, 

and drought resiliency; 

(B) improving water quality, source water protection, 

and nutrient management; 

(C) promoting restoration activities; 

(D) improving water systems, including with respect 

to drinking water, desalination, water reuse, wastewater, 

and flood control; and 

(E) improving water data management, research, modeling, and forecasting; 

(4) improve interagency coordination of data management, 

access, modeling, and visualization with respect to waterrelated matters; 

(5) promote integrated planning for Federal investments 

in water-related infrastructure to enhance coordination and 

protect taxpayer investment; and 

(6) support workforce development and efforts to recruit, 

train, and retain professionals to operate and maintain essential drinking water, wastewater, flood control, hydropower, 

water delivery, and water storage facilities in the United States. 

(f) CROSS-AGENCY PRIORITY RESEARCH NEEDS.—Not later than 

1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Water 

Policy Committee shall develop and submit to Congress a list of 

research needs that includes needs for cross-agency research and 

coordination. 

SEC. 14. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH 

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Assistant 

Administrator’’ means the Assistant Administrator for Weather 

Services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

(2) DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES.—The term ‘‘decision support services’’ means information, including data and refined 

products, that supports water resources-related decisionmaking processes. 

(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the meaning given that term 

in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

1001). 

(4) NOAA LINE OFFICES.—The term ‘‘NOAA line offices’’ 

means the following offices of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration: 

(A) The National Ocean Service. 

(B) The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and 

Information Service. 

(C) The National Marine Fisheries Service. 

(D) The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. 

(E) The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. 

(b) HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.— 

(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall establish a 

hydrologic research fellowship program (in this section referred 

to as the ‘‘program’’) for qualified individuals. 
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(2) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this section, 

a qualified individual is an individual who is— 

(A) a citizen of the United States; and 

(B) enrolled in a research-based graduate program, 

at an institution of higher education, in a field that 

advances the research priorities developed by the Assistant 

Administrator under paragraph (7), such as— 

(i) hydrology; 

(ii) earth sciences; 

(iii) atmospheric sciences; 

(iv) computer sciences; 

(v) engineering; 

(vi) environmental sciences; 

(vii) geosciences; 

(viii) urban planning; or 

(ix) related social sciences. 

(3) AWARD GUIDELINES.—Fellowships under the program 

shall be awarded pursuant to guidelines established by the 

Assistant Administrator. 

(4) SELECTION PREFERENCE.—In selecting qualified individuals for participation in the program, the Assistant Administrator shall give preference to applicants from historically Black 

colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions. 

(5) PLACEMENT.—The program shall support the placement 

of qualified individuals in positions within the executive branch 

of the Federal Government where such individuals can address 

and advance the research priorities developed by the Assistant 

Administrator under paragraph (7). 

(6) FELLOWSHIP TERM.—A fellowship under the program 

shall be for a period of up to 2 years. 

(7) FELLOWSHIP RESEARCH PRIORITIES.—The Assistant 

Administrator, in consultation with representatives from the 

NOAA line offices, the United States Geological Survey, the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Army Corps 

of Engineers, as appropriate, shall develop and publish priorities for the conduct of research by fellows, which may include 

the following: 

(A) Advance the collaborative development of a flexible 

community-based water resources modeling system. 

(B) Apply artificial intelligence and machine learning 

capabilities to advance existing hydrologic modeling 

capabilities. 

(C) Support the evolution and integration of hydrologic 

modeling within an Earth Systems Modeling Framework. 

(D) Improve visualizations of hydrologic model outputs. 

(E) Advance the state of coupled freshwater and salt 

water modeling and forecasting capabilities. 

(F) Advance understanding and process representation 

of water quality parameters. 

(G) Advance the assimilation of in-situ and remotely 

sensed observations and data. 

(H) Support the integration of social science to advance 

decision support services. 

(I) Develop methods to study groundwater sustainability and estimate the efficiency of recharge management. 

(c) DIRECT HIRING.— 
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(1) AUTHORITY.—During fiscal year 2022 and any fiscal 

year thereafter, the head of any Federal agency may appoint, 

without regard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 

33 of title 5, United States Code, other than sections 3303 

and 3328 of that title, to a position with the Federal agency 

a recipient of a fellowship under the program who— 

(A) earned a degree from a program described in subsection (b)(2)(B); 

(B) successfully fulfilled the requirements of the fellowship within the executive branch of the Federal Government; and 

(C) meets qualification standards established by the 

Office of Personnel Management. 

(2) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY.—The direct hire authority provided by this subsection shall be exercised with respect to 

an individual described in paragraph (1) not later than 2 years 

after the date on which the individual completed the fellowship 

under the program. 

SEC. 15. IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT OF CONSISTENT, FEDERAL 

SET OF FORWARD-LOOKING, LONG-TERM METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme weather’’ 

includes observed or anticipated severe and unseasonable 

atmospheric conditions, including drought, heavy precipitation, 

hurricanes, tornadoes and other windstorms (including 

derechos), large hail, extreme heat, extreme cold, flooding, sustained temperatures or precipitation that deviate substantially 

from historical averages, and any other weather event that 

the Administrator determines qualifies as extreme weather. 

(2) LONG-TERM.—The term ‘‘long-term’’ shall have such 

meaning as the Director of the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, in consultation with the Administrator, considers appropriate for purposes of this section. 

(3) OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS.—The term ‘‘other 

environmental trends’’ means wildfires, coastal flooding, inland 

flooding, land subsidence, rising sea levels, and any other challenges relating to changes in environmental systems over time 

that the Administrator determines qualify as environmental 

challenges other than extreme weather. 

(b) IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT OF CONSISTENT, FEDERAL SET

OF FORWARD-LOOKING, LONG-TERM METEOROLOGICAL INFORMA- TION.—The Administrator shall 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 as determined appropriate by the Administrator. 

SEC. 16. GAP ANALYSIS ON AVAILABILITY OF SNOW-RELATED DATA 

TO ASSESS AND PREDICT FLOOD AND FLOOD IMPACTS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consultation with the 

Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, and 

the Army Corps of Engineers, shall conduct an analysis of gaps 

in the availability of snow-related data to assess and predict floods 

and flood impacts, including data on the following: 

(1) Snow water equivalent. 
S. 558—13 

(2) Snow depth. 

(3) Snowpack temperature. 

(4) Snow and mixed-phase precipitation. 

(5) Snow melt. 

(6) Rain-snow line. 

(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

of Representatives a report on— 

(1) the findings of the gap analysis required by subsection 

(a); and 

(2) opportunities for additional collaboration among Federal 

agencies to collect snow-related data to better assess and predict 

floods and flood impacts. 

SEC. 17. AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC OF FLOOD-RELATED DATA. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall make flood-related 

data available to the public on the website of the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration. 

(b) COST.—The Administrator may make the data under subsection (a) freely accessible or available at a cost that does not 

exceed the cost of preparing the data. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.