II 

Calendar No. 307 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2431 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2014 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize the National Integrated Drought Information 

System. 

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 ‘‘National Integrated 

5 Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 

6 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 2. NIDIS PROGRAM AMENDMENTS. 

8 Section 3 of the National Integrated Drought Infor9 mation System Act of 2006 (15 U.S.C. 313d) is amend10 ed— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting before the pe2 riod at the end the following: ‘‘to better inform and 

3 provide for more timely decisionmaking to reduce 

4 drought related impacts and costs’’; 

5 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(b) SYSTEM FUNCTIONS.—The National Integrated 

8 Drought Information System shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) provide an effective drought early warning 

10 system that— 

11 ‘‘(A) collects and integrates information on 

12 the key indicators of drought and drought im13 pacts in order to make usable, reliable, and 

14 timely forecasts of drought, including assess15 ments of the severity of drought conditions and 

16 impacts; and 

17 ‘‘(B) provides such information, forecasts, 

18 and assessments on both national and regional 

19 levels; 

20 ‘‘(2) communicate drought forecasts, drought 

21 conditions, and drought impacts on an ongoing basis 

22 to public and private entities engaged in drought 

23 planning and preparedness, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) decisionmakers at the Federal, re2 gional, State, tribal, and local levels of govern3 ment; 

4 ‘‘(B) the private sector; and 

5 ‘‘(C) the public; 

6 ‘‘(3) provide timely data, information, and 

7 products that reflect local, regional, and State dif8 ferences in drought conditions; 

9 ‘‘(4) coordinate, and integrate as practicable, 

10 Federal research and monitoring in support of a 

11 drought early warning system; 

12 ‘‘(5) build upon existing forecasting and assess13 ment programs and partnerships, including through 

14 the designation of one or more cooperative institutes 

15 to assist with National Integrated Drought Informa16 tion System functions; and 

17 ‘‘(6) continue ongoing research and monitoring 

18 activities related to drought, including research ac19 tivities relating to length, severity, and impacts of 

20 drought and the role of extreme weather events and 

21 climate variability in drought.’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

25 after the date of enactment of the National InteVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:11 Feb 11, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2431.PCS H2431

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HR 2431 PCS

1 grated Drought Information System Reauthorization 

2 Act of 2014, the Under Secretary shall transmit to 

3 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 

4 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

5 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen6 ate a report that contains— 

7 ‘‘(A) an analysis of the implementation of 

8 the National Integrated Drought Information 

9 System program, including how the informa10 tion, forecasts, and assessments are utilized in 

11 drought policy planning and response activities; 

12 ‘‘(B) specific plans for continued develop13 ment of such program, including future mile14 stones; and 

15 ‘‘(C) an identification of research, moni16 toring, and forecasting needs to enhance the 

17 predictive capability of drought early warnings 

18 that include— 

19 ‘‘(i) the length and severity of 

20 droughts; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the contribution of weather 

22 events to reducing the severity or ending 

23 drought conditions; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) regionally specific drought im25 pacts. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In developing the report 

2 under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall con3 sult with relevant Federal, regional, State, tribal, 

4 and local government agencies, research institutions, 

5 and the private sector.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 Section 4 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 313d note) is 

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this Act $13,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 

12 2018.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 10, 

2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 307 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2431 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize the National Integrated Drought 

Information System. 

FEBRUARY 11, 2014 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS