I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9498 

To direct the use of artificial intelligence by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to adapt to extreme weather, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 

Mr. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida (for himself and Mr. MULLIN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology 

A BILL 

To direct the use of artificial intelligence by National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration to adapt to extreme 

weather, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Transformational Artificial intelligence to Modernize the 

6 Economy against Extreme Weather Act’’ or the ‘‘TAME 

7 Extreme Weather Act’’. 

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

9 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Earth system forecasting and information delivery. 

Sec. 4. Advanced artificial intelligence applications for weather and information 

delivery. 

Sec. 5. Technical assistance on use of artificial intelligence weather models. 

Sec. 6. Fire environment modeling program. 

Sec. 7. Emissions monitoring and analysis program. 

Sec. 8. Partnerships for transformational innovation. 

Sec. 9. Federal Government workforce expertise. 

Sec. 10. Data access. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

5 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

6 (2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘artificial in8 telligence’’ means a machine-based system that 

9 can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, 

10 make predictions, recommendations, or deci11 sions influencing real or virtual environments, 

12 including by using machine-based and human13 based inputs— 

14 (i) to abstract such objectives into 

15 models through analysis in an automated 

16 manner; and 

17 (ii) to use model inferences to gen18 erate information or formulate options for 

19 action. 


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1 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘artificial in2 telligence’’ includes machine learning, neural 

3 networks, and natural language processing. 

4 (3) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WEATHER

5 MODEL.—The term ‘‘artificial intelligence weather 

6 model’’ means a weather model based primarily on 

7 artificial intelligence to project future Earth system 

8 conditions based on machine learning from an Earth 

9 system reanalysis dataset. 

10 (4) CURATE.—The term ‘‘curate’’ means to col11 lect, maintain, and update periodically a dataset— 

12 (A) to ensure and document its quality; 

13 and 

14 (B) to provide metadata on its provenance. 

15 (5) NUMERICAL WEATHER MODEL.—The term 

16 ‘‘numerical weather model’’ means a weather model 

17 based primarily on coupled Earth system processes 

18 and that uses numerical computation to forecast fu19 ture Earth system conditions. 

20 (6) OBSERVATIONAL DATA.—The term ‘‘obser21 vational data’’ means data from actual observations 

22 of environmental conditions, including remote sens23 ing and in situ platforms. 


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1 (7) OPEN LICENSE.—The term ‘‘open license’’ 

2 has the meaning given that term in section 3502(21) 

3 of title 44, United States Code. 

4 (8) REFORECAST ANALYSIS.—The term ‘‘refore5 cast analysis’’ means the assessment of a numerical 

6 weather model or artificial intelligence weather 

7 model by comparing model output and observational 

8 data over a period of time in the past. 

9 (9) SYNTHETIC DATA.—The term ‘‘synthetic 

10 data’’ means data produced from a model or statis11 tical method in order to fill gaps in observational 

12 data. 

13 (10) TRAINING DATASET.—The term ‘‘training 

14 dataset’’ means a dataset used to train an artificial 

15 intelligence model. 

16 (11) WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The term 

17 ‘‘weather enterprise’’ has the meaning given such 

18 term in section 2 of the Weather Research and 

19 Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

20 8501). 

21 (12) WEATHER FORECASTING TRAINING

22 DATASET.—The term ‘‘weather forecasting training 

23 dataset’’ means a dataset that contains continuous 

24 global observational data and synthetic data for 

25 Earth system variables relevant to weather foreVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9498.IH H9498

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1 casting, aviation weather, marine weather, and hy2 drology or water management, including data from 

3 model reanalysis and forecasts initialized through a 

4 data assimilation system. 

5 SEC. 3. EARTH SYSTEM FORECASTING AND INFORMATION 

6 DELIVERY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 

9 consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Adminis10 trator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra11 tion, the Director of the National Science Foundation, any 

12 appropriate Federal Advisory Committee, and such other 

13 technical experts as the Administrator considers appro14 priate, shall develop and curate comprehensive weather 

15 forecasting training datasets with relevant Earth system 

16 data, quality information, and metadata necessary for 

17 weather forecasting dataset that develops a long-term 

18 record of past weather in support of the following: 

19 (1) Furthering the understanding of weather, 

20 water, climate, and space weather modeling and 

21 data. 

22 (2) Advancing the science of weather fore23 casting, including seasonal and subseasonal fore24 casting. 


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1 (3) Developing artificial intelligence weather 

2 forecasting applications. 

3 (b) USE OF EXISTING DATASETS.—In order to speed 

4 the development of the weather forecasting training 

5 dataset required under subsection (a), the Administrator 

6 shall assess, and to the greatest extent practicable build 

7 on, existing weather forecasting training datasets of the 

8 Federal Government. 

9 (c) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WEATHER MODEL.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 

11 the Administrator, in consultation with any appro12 priate Federal Advisory Committees, may develop 

13 and test a global weather model based on artificial 

14 intelligence, to be referred to as an ‘‘artificial intel15 ligence weather model’’. 

16 (2) WEATHER READY NATION.—In coordination 

17 with the activities carried out under paragraph (1), 

18 the Administrator may explore using artificial intel19 ligence to enhance the dissemination of information 

20 and evaluation of effectiveness for improved public 

21 understanding, preparedness, and resilience. 

22 (3) REPORTS.—Not later than two years after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act and not less 

24 frequently than annually thereafter, the Adminis25 trator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 


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1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

2 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

3 House of Representatives a report on the activities 

4 conducted under paragraph (1). 

5 (d) COOPERATIVE INSTITUTES AND CONTRACTING

6 AUTHORITY.—In carrying out this section, subject to the 

7 availability of appropriations, the Administrator may com8 petitively award contracts and funding opportunities, in9 crease the scope of existing cooperative institutes of the 

10 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or 

11 competitively award a new cooperative institute. 

12 (e) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.—The Administrator 

13 shall develop and disseminate best practices to minimize 

14 environmental impacts from the use of artificial intel15 ligence to carry out this section. 

16 (f) CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR OBSERVATIONS, BASIC

17 RESEARCH, AND NUMERICAL WEATHER MODELS.—Not18 withstanding the requirements of this section, the Admin19 istrator shall continue to support and advance the activi20 ties of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra21 tion carry out the following: 

22 (1) Collect and acquire traditional and novel ob23 servational data relevant for artificial intelligence 

24 and numerical weather models. 


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1 (2) Advance research on the Earth system and 

2 numerical weather models. 

3 (3) Develop and advance numerical Earth sys4 tem modeling for predictions. 

5 (4) Develop weather model data post-processing 

6 techniques. 

7 (5) Improve data assimilation techniques. 

8 SEC. 4. ADVANCED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPLICA9 TIONS FOR WEATHER AND INFORMATION DE10 LIVERY. 

11 The Administrator shall explore advanced applica12 tions of artificial intelligence to improve weather forecasts 

13 and information delivery, such as by carrying out the fol14 lowing: 

15 (1) Improving data assimilation techniques. 

16 (2) Using artificial intelligence weather models 

17 to quickly emulate running numerical weather mod18 els to assess and improve the confidence in and reli19 ability of weather forecasts and information delivery. 

20 (3) Improving impact-based decision support to 

21 diverse users and communities for greater societal 

22 benefits based on weather forecasts. 


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1 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON USE OF ARTIFICIAL IN2 TELLIGENCE WEATHER MODELS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall regularly 

4 inventory and assess major non-Federal Government arti5 ficial intelligence weather models in order to provide the 

6 following: 

7 (1) Technical evaluation and assistance on 

8 using such models. 

9 (2) Best practices on providing forecasts based 

10 on outputs from both artificial intelligence weather 

11 models and numerical weather models, or a combina12 tion thereof. 

13 (3) Support for forecasters and social scientists 

14 to test and evaluate the use and effectiveness of arti15 ficial intelligence models, including within National 

16 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration testbeds. 

17 (4) Support for emergency managers to make 

18 operational decisions based on outputs from both ar19 tificial intelligence weather models and numerical 

20 weather models, or a combination thereof. 

21 (b) REFORECAST ANALYSIS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

23 support the development of a common framework for 

24 the assessment of numerical weather models and ar25 tificial intelligence weather models through reforeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9498.IH H9498

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1 cast analysis and related methodologies as the Ad2 ministrator considers appropriate. 

3 (2) BEST PRACTICES.—In carrying out this 

4 subsection, the Administrator may develop and dis5 seminate best practices in collaboration with the fol6 lowing: 

7 (A) The National Institute for Standards 

8 and Technology. 

9 (B) The National Aeronautics and Space 

10 Administration. 

11 (C) The National Science Foundation. 

12 (D) The Department of Energy. 

13 (E) Academic and research institutions. 

14 (F) The private sector. 

15 (3) REPORT ON USE OF ANALYSIS TO IMPROVE

16 MODELS.—Not later than one year after the date of 

17 the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

18 submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

19 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

20 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

21 Representatives a report on the feasibility of using 

22 reforecast analysis techniques to improve seasonal 

23 and subseasonal models. 

24 (c) WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES.—In carrying out 

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1 sistance, best practices, and support required under sub2 section (a) through weather forecast offices of the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

4 (d) INDEPENDENT STUDY ON THE IMPACTS OF ARTI5 FICIAL INTELLIGENCE WEATHER, WATER, CLIMATE, AND

6 SPACE WEATHER MODELS.—The Administrator may 

7 enter into an agreement with the National Academy of 

8 Sciences or any other entity determined appropriate by the 

9 Administrator to assess the impacts of artificial intel10 ligence weather models on the weather enterprise and 

11 make recommendations to improve the integration of such 

12 models in operational forecasting. 

13 SEC. 6. FIRE ENVIRONMENT MODELING PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 

16 coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, the Sec17 retary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Homeland Se18 curity, and in consultation with the Administrator of the 

19 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Sec20 retary of Energy, the Director of the National Science 

21 Foundation, any appropriate Federal Advisory Commit22 tees, and such other technical experts as the Adminis23 trator considers appropriate, shall develop a program to 

24 use artificial intelligence to analyze available observational 


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1 data and synthetic data on the built and natural environ2 ments in order to carry out the following: 

3 (1) Warn at-risk communities, firefighters, and 

4 other responders, including by integrating social 

5 science informed research and development. 

6 (2) Predict and detect wildfires to the max7 imum extent practicable. 

8 (3) Forecast wildland and built environment 

9 fire propagation and potential impacts based on an 

10 analysis of the elements influencing fire behavior, 

11 weather conditions, terrain, and observations of the 

12 fire environment. 

13 (4) Detect, monitor, and forecast smoke and 

14 other hazards associated with wildfires. 

15 (b) TRAINING DATASET.—In carrying out this sec16 tion, the Administrator may acquire observational data 

17 and synthetic data on the built and natural environments 

18 collected across the United States to develop and curate 

19 a related artificial intelligence-ready training dataset for 

20 purposes of training the artificial intelligence used in fur21 therance of this section. 

22 (c) DATA ACQUISITION.—In carrying out this section, 

23 the Administrator may enter into contracts to acquire rel24 evant data referred to in this section. 


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1 (d) WEATHER INTEGRATION.—In carrying out this 

2 section, the Administrator shall integrate outputs from 

3 weather and other environmental models and observational 

4 data and synthetic data referred to in subsection (a). 

5 (e) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.—The Administrator 

6 shall develop and disseminate best practices to minimize 

7 environmental impacts from the use of artificial intel8 ligence to carry out this section. 

9 SEC. 7. EMISSIONS MONITORING AND ANALYSIS PROGRAM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 

12 consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental 

13 Protection Agency, the Administrator of the National Aer14 onautics and Space Administration, the Secretary of En15 ergy, the Director of the National Science Foundation, 

16 any appropriate Federal Advisory Committees, and such 

17 other technical experts as the Administrator considers ap18 propriate, shall develop a program to use artificial intel19 ligence to analyze global atmospheric observations in order 

20 to carry out the following: 

21 (1) Improve atmospheric transport, dispersion, 

22 and atmospheric chemistry models. 

23 (2) Improve prediction and modeling of green24 house gas emissions from data collected through the 

25 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 


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1 Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network, the En2 vironmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas In3 ventory, and other voluntary reporting datasets. 

4 (3) Detect, monitor, and forecast emissions 

5 from wildfires and other natural disasters. 

6 (4) Identify significant changes in global emis7 sions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. 

8 (5) Improve data assimilation techniques. 

9 (b) TRAINING DATASET.—In carrying out this sec10 tion, the Administrator may acquire observational data 

11 and synthetic data on the atmosphere and its chemical 

12 components to develop, curate, and regularly update a 

13 global atmospheric chemistry training dataset for pur14 poses of training artificial intelligence used in furtherance 

15 of this section. 

16 (d) DATA ACQUISITION.—In carrying out this sec17 tion, the Administrator may enter into contracts to ac18 quire relevant data referred to in this section. 

19 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.—The Administrator 

20 shall develop and disseminate best practices to minimize 

21 environmental impacts from the use of artificial intel22 ligence to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 8. PARTNERSHIPS FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL INNOVA2 TION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall explore 

4 novel structures for partnerships with private entities and 

5 academic entities for transformative innovation in weather 

6 forecasting and other environmental forecasts in order to 

7 carry out the following: 

8 (1) Further the understanding of weather, 

9 water, climate, and space weather, and associated 

10 societal impact. 

11 (2) Advance the science of weather and water 

12 forecasting, including seasonal and subseasonal fore13 casting. 

14 (3) Develop, evaluate, and transition artificial 

15 intelligence weather, water, and hazard forecasting 

16 applications for operations. 

17 (b) CO-INVESTMENT.—In carrying out this section, 

18 subject to applicable law, the Administrator shall consider 

19 and adopt novel co-investment strategies with the private 

20 sector and academic sector, including the following: 

21 (1) Non-Federal Government contributions to 

22 resource and support high-risk, high-return research 

23 and development in environmental forecasting, data 

24 science, artificial intelligence, and related fields. 


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1 (2) Shared rights to intellectual property from 

2 research and development activities under this sec3 tion. 

4 (3) Other approaches to sharing resources and 

5 results under this section. 

6 SEC. 9. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WORKFORCE EXPERTISE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, to the max8 imum extent practicable, shall develop, recruit, and sus9 tain a professional and diverse workforce for weather fore10 casting applications of artificial intelligence. 

11 (b) COLLABORATION.—The Administrator shall le12 verage robust public-private partnership models to collabo13 rate with private sector experts and provide employees 

14 with access to training, experience, and long-term develop15 ment of workforce and infrastructure in order to utilize 

16 artificial intelligence to improve weather forecasts. 

17 SEC. 10. DATA ACCESS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may make 

19 available to the public, as the Administrator determines 

20 appropriate, at no cost and with no restrictions on copy21 ing, publishing, distributing, citing, adapting, or otherwise 

22 using under an open license, any data or code developed 

23 under this Act. 

24 (b) ACCOMMODATIONS.—The Administrator may 

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1 siders appropriate to ensure that the public release of any 

2 model, information, documentation, or data pursuant to 

3 this Act does not jeopardize any of the following: 

4 (1) National security. 

5 (2) Intellectual property or redistribution 

6 rights, including under titles 17 and 35, United 

7 States Code. 

8 (3) Any trade secret or commercial or financial 

9 information subject to section 552(b)(4) of title 5, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (4) Any models or data that are otherwise re12 stricted by contract or other written agreement. 

13 (5) The mission of the National Oceanic and 

14 Atmospheric Administration to protect lives and 

15 property. 

16 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

17 may be construed to supersede any other provision of law 

18 governing the protection of the national security interests 

19 of the United States. 

Æ 


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