II 

Calendar No. 556 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4462 

[Report No. 116–269] 

To establish a national integrated flood information system within the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

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

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

Science, and Transportation 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Reported by Mr. WICKER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish a national integrated flood information system 

within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Sup4 port Act’’ or the ‘‘FLOODS Act’’. 

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

6 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 Coordinating Committee on Water Management. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 

10 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

11 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 

12 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

13 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 

14 States, and any other territory or possession of the 

15 United States. 

16 (2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

17 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

18 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL INTEGRATED FLOOD INFORMATION SYS2 TEM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall estab4 lish a system, to be known as the ‘‘National Integrated 

5 Flood Information System’’, to better inform and provide 

6 for more timely decision making to reduce flood-related 

7 effects and costs. 

8 (b) SYSTEM FUNCTIONS.—The Under Secretary, 

9 through the National Integrated Flood Information Sys10 tem, shall— 

11 (1) provide an effective flood early warning sys12 tem that— 

13 (A) collects and integrates information on 

14 the key indicators of floods and flood impacts, 

15 including streamflow, reservoir release and di16 version, precipitation, soil moisture, snow water 

17 equivalent, land cover, and evaporative demand; 

18 (B) makes usable, reliable, and timely fore19 casts of floods; 

20 (C) assesses the severity of flood conditions 

21 and effects; 

22 (D) issues flood watches and warnings 

23 when necessary; 

24 (E) provides information described in sub25 paragraph (A), forecasts described in subpara26 graph (B), and assessments described in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4462.RS S4462

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1 paragraph (C) at the national, regional, and 

2 local levels, as appropriate; and 

3 (F) communicates flood forecasts, flood 

4 conditions, and flood impacts to public and pri5 vate entities engaged in flood planning, pre6 paredness, and response, including— 

7 (i) decision makers at the Federal, 

8 State, local, and Tribal levels of govern9 ment; 

10 (ii) the private sector; and 

11 (iii) the public; 

12 (2) provide timely data, information, and prod13 ucts that reflect differences in flood conditions 

14 among localities, regions, watersheds, and States; 

15 (3) coordinate and integrate, through inter16 agency agreements as practicable, Federal research 

17 and monitoring in support of the flood early warning 

18 information system provided under paragraph (1); 

19 (4) use existing forecasting and assessment pro20 grams and partnerships; 

21 (5) make improvements in seasonal precipita22 tion and temperature, subseasonal precipitation and 

23 temperature, and flood water prediction; and 


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1 (6) continue ongoing research and monitoring 

2 activities relating to floods, including research activi3 ties relating to— 

4 (A) the prediction, length, severity, and 

5 impacts of floods and improvement of the accu6 racy, timing, and specificity of flash flood warn7 ings; 

8 (B) the role of extreme weather events and 

9 climate variability in floods; and 

10 (C) how water travels over and through 

11 surfaces. 

12 (c) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Under Secretary, through 

13 the National Integrated Flood Information System, may— 

14 (1) engage with the private sector to improve 

15 flood monitoring, forecasts, land and topography 

16 data, and communication, if the Under Secretary de17 termines that such engagement is appropriate, cost 

18 effective, and beneficial to the public and decision 

19 makers described in subsection (b)(1)(F)(i); 

20 (2) facilitate the development of 1 or more aca21 demic cooperative partnerships to assist in carrying 

22 out the functions of the National Integrated Flood 

23 Information System described in subsection (b); and 

24 (3) use and support monitoring by citizen sci25 entists, including by developing best practices to faVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4462.RS S4462

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1 cilitate maximum data integration, as the Under 

2 Secretary considers appropriate. 

3 (d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and maintaining 

4 the National Integrated Flood Information System, the 

5 Under Secretary shall consult with relevant Federal, 

6 State, local, and Tribal government agencies, research in7 stitutions, and the private sector. 

8 (e) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGEN9 CIES.—Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appro10 priate with the Under Secretary in carrying out this sec11 tion. 

12 SEC. 4. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FOR TOTAL WATER 

13 PREDICTION. 

14 (a) PARTNERSHIPS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

16 establish partnerships with 1 or more institutions of 

17 higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to 

19 evaluate observations that would improve total water 

20 prediction. 

21 (2) PRIORITY OBSERVATIONS.—In establishing 

22 partnerships under paragraph (1), the Under Sec23 retary shall prioritize partnerships to evaluate obser24 vations from unmanned aerial systems. 


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1 (b) MAINTAINED OBSERVATIONS.—If the Under Sec2 retary determines that incorporating additional observa3 tions improves total water prediction, the Under Secretary 

4 shall, to the extent practicable, continue incorporating 

5 those observations. 

6 (c) MODELING IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Sec7 retary shall advance geographic coverage, resolution, skill, 

8 and efficiency of coastal oceanographic modeling, includ9 ing efforts that improve the coupling of and interoper10 ability between hydrological models and coastal ocean 

11 models. 

12 (d) GEOSPATIAL DATA.—The Under Secretary shall 

13 advance the development of models to vertically transform 

14 geospatial data into a common system for use as the Fed15 eral standard for surveys and mapping. 

16 SEC. 5. SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS AT RIVER 

17 FORECAST CENTERS OF THE NATIONAL 

18 WEATHER SERVICE. 

19 (a) DESIGNATION OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY20 DROLOGISTS.— 

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

22 Weather Service (in this section referred to as the 

23 ‘‘Director’’) shall designate at least 1 service coordi24 nation hydrologist at each River Forecast Center of 

25 the National Weather Service. 


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1 (2) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.— 

2 Performance of the responsibilities outlined in this 

3 section is not limited to the service coordination hy4 drologist position. 

5 (b) PRIMARY ROLE OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY6 DROLOGISTS.—The primary role of the service coordina7 tion hydrologist shall be to carry out the responsibilities 

8 required by this section. 

9 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

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

11 consistent with the analysis described in section 409 

12 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 

13 Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 112), 

14 and in order to increase impact-based decision sup15 port services, each service coordination hydrologist 

16 designated under subsection (a) shall, with respect 

17 to hydrology— 

18 (A) be responsible for providing service to 

19 the geographic area of responsibility covered by 

20 the River Forecast Center at which the service 

21 coordination hydrologist is employed to help en22 sure that users of products and services of the 

23 National Weather Service can respond effec24 tively to improve outcomes from flood events; 


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1 (B) liaise with users of products and serv2 ices of the National Weather Service, such as 

3 the public, academia, media outlets, users in the 

4 hydropower, transportation, recreation, and ag5 ricultural communities, and forestry, land, fish6 eries, and water management interests, to 

7 evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the 

8 products and services of the National Weather 

9 Service; 

10 (C) collaborate with such River Forecast 

11 Centers and Weather Forecast Offices and Fed12 eral, State, local, and Tribal government agen13 cies as the Director considers appropriate in de14 veloping, proposing, and implementing plans to 

15 develop, modify, or tailor products and services 

16 of the National Weather Service to improve the 

17 usefulness of such products and services; 

18 (D) engage in interagency partnerships 

19 with Federal, State, local, and Tribal govern20 ment agencies to explore the use of forecast-in21 formed reservoir operations to reduce flood risk; 

22 (E) ensure the maintenance and accuracy 

23 of flooding call lists, appropriate office flooding 

24 policy or procedures, and other flooding inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4462.RS S4462

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1 mation or dissemination methodologies or strat2 egies; and 

3 (F) work closely with Federal, State, local, 

4 and Tribal emergency management agencies, 

5 and other agencies relating to disaster manage6 ment, to ensure a planned, coordinated, and ef7 fective preparedness and response effort. 

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

9 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 

10 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 

11 carry out such responsibility. 

12 (d) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

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

14 service coordination hydrologist designated under 

15 subsection (a) may, with respect to hydrology— 

16 (A) work with a State agency to develop 

17 plans for promoting more effective use of prod18 ucts and services of the National Weather Serv19 ice throughout the State; 

20 (B) identify priority community prepared21 ness objectives; 

22 (C) develop plans to meet the objectives 

23 identified under subparagraph (B); and 

24 (D) conduct flooding event preparedness 

25 planning and citizen education efforts with and 


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1 through various State, local, and Tribal govern2 ment agencies and other disaster management3 related organizations. 

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

5 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 

6 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 

7 carry out such responsibility. 

8 (e) PLACEMENT WITH STATE AND LOCAL EMER9 GENCY MANAGERS.— 

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

11 the Director may place a service coordination hy12 drologist designated under subsection (a) with a 

13 State or local emergency manager, if the Director 

14 determines that such placement is necessary or con15 venient to carry out this section. 

16 (2) TREATMENT.—If the Director determines 

17 that the placement of a service coordination hydrolo18 gist with a State or local emergency manager under 

19 paragraph (1) is near a River Forecast Center of the 

20 National Weather Service, such placement shall be 

21 treated as designation of the service coordination hy22 drologist at such River Forecast Center for purposes 

23 of subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 6. IMPROVING NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOS2 PHERIC ADMINISTRATION COMMUNICATION 

3 OF FUTURE FLOOD RISKS AND HAZARDOUS 

4 FLASH FLOOD EVENTS. 

5 (a) ASSESSMENT OF FLASH FLOOD WATCHES AND

6 WARNINGS.— 

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

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 

9 Secretary shall— 

10 (A) conduct an assessment of— 

11 (i) the flash flood watches and warn12 ings of the National Weather Service; and 

13 (ii) the information delivery to sup14 port preparation and responses to floods; 

15 and 

16 (B) submit to Congress a report on the 

17 findings of the Under Secretary with respect to 

18 the assessment required by subparagraph (A). 

19 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

20 paragraph (1)(A) shall include the following: 

21 (A) An evaluation of whether the watches, 

22 warnings, and information described in para23 graph (1)(A)— 

24 (i) communicate risk to the general 

25 public; 


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1 (ii) inform action to prevent loss of 

2 life and property; 

3 (iii) inform action to support flood 

4 preparation and response; and 

5 (iv) deliver information in a manner 

6 designed to lead to appropriate action. 

7 (B) Subject to subsection (b)(2), such rec8 ommendations as the Under Secretary may 

9 have for— 

10 (i) legislative and administrative ac11 tion to improve the watches and warnings 

12 described in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and 

13 (ii) such research as the Under Sec14 retary considers necessary to address the 

15 focus areas described in paragraph (3). 

16 (3) FOCUS AREAS.—The assessment required 

17 by paragraph (1)(A) shall focus on the following 

18 areas: 

19 (A) Ways to communicate the risks posed 

20 by hazardous flash flood events to the public 

21 that are most likely to result in informed deci22 sion making regarding the mitigation of those 

23 risks. 

24 (B) Ways to provide actionable geographic 

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1 ing for a flash flood, including partnering with 

2 emergency response agencies, as appropriate. 

3 (C) Evaluation of information delivery to 

4 support the preparation for and response to 

5 floods. 

6 (4) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the assess7 ment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Sec8 retary shall consult with— 

9 (A) such line offices of the National Oce10 anic and Atmospheric Administration as the 

11 Under Secretary considers relevant, including— 

12 (i) the National Ocean Service; 

13 (ii) the National Weather Service; and 

14 (iii) the Office of Oceanic and Atmos15 pheric Research; 

16 (B) individuals in the academic sector, in17 cluding individuals in the field of social and be18 havioral sciences; 

19 (C) other weather services; 

20 (D) media outlets and other entities that 

21 distribute the watches and warnings described 

22 in paragraph (1)(A)(i); 

23 (E) emergency planners and responders, 

24 including State, local, and Tribal emergency 

25 management agencies; 


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1 (F) other government users of the watches 

2 and warnings described in paragraph (1)(A)(i), 

3 including the Federal Highway Administration; 

4 and 

5 (G) such other Federal agencies as the 

6 Under Secretary determines rely on watches 

7 and warnings regarding flash floods for oper8 ational decisions. 

9 (5) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—The 

10 Under Secretary shall engage with the National 

11 Academy of Sciences, as the Under Secretary con12 siders necessary and practicable, including by con13 tracting with the National Research Council to re14 view the scientific and technical soundness of the as15 sessment required by paragraph (1)(A), including 

16 the recommendations under paragraph (2)(B). 

17 (6) METHODOLOGIES.—In conducting the as18 sessment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under 

19 Secretary shall use such methodologies as the Under 

20 Secretary considers are generally accepted by the 

21 weather enterprise, including social and behavioral 

22 sciences. 

23 (b) IMPROVEMENTS TO FLASH FLOOD WATCHES

24 AND WARNINGS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the assessment re2 quired by subsection (a)(1)(A), the Under Secretary 

3 shall make such improvements to the watches and 

4 warnings described in that subsection as the Under 

5 Secretary considers necessary— 

6 (A) to improve the communication of the 

7 risks posed by hazardous flash flood events; and 

8 (B) to provide actionable geographic infor9 mation to the recipient of a watch or warning 

10 for a flash flood. 

11 (2) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING RECOMMENDA12 TIONS.—In conducting the assessment required by 

13 subsection (a)(1)(A), the Under Secretary shall en14 sure that any recommendation under subsection 

15 (a)(2)(B) that the Under Secretary considers a 

16 major change— 

17 (A) is validated by social and behavioral 

18 science using a generalizable sample; 

19 (B) accounts for the needs of various de20 mographics, vulnerable populations, and geo21 graphic regions; 

22 (C) responds to the needs of Federal, 

23 State, local, and Tribal government partners 

24 and media partners; and 


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1 (D) accounts for necessary changes to fed2 erally operated watch and warning propagation 

3 and dissemination infrastructure and protocols. 

4 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) WATCH; WARNING.— 

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

7 subparagraph (B), the terms ‘‘watch’’ and 

8 ‘‘warning’’, with respect to a hazardous flash 

9 flood event, mean products issued by the Na10 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

11 intended for use by the general public— 

12 (i) to alert the general public to the 

13 potential for or presence of the event; and 

14 (ii) to inform action to prevent loss of 

15 life and property. 

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

17 ‘‘warning’’ do not include technical or special18 ized meteorological and hydrological forecasts, 

19 outlooks, or model guidance products. 

20 (2) WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The term 

21 ‘‘weather enterprise’’ has the meaning given that 

22 term in section 2 of the Weather Research and 

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

24 8501). 


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1 SEC. 7. FRESHWATER MONITORING ALONG THE COAST. 

2 (a) DATA AVAILABILITY ASSESSMENT.—The Under 

3 Secretary shall assess the availability of short- and long4 term data on large-scale freshwater flooding into oceans, 

5 bays, and estuaries, including data on— 

6 (1) flow rate, including discharge; 

7 (2) conductivity; 

8 (3) oxygen concentration; 

9 (4) nutrient load; 

10 (5) water temperature; and 

11 (6) sediment load. 

12 (b) DATA NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—The Under Sec13 retary shall assess the need for additional data to assess 

14 and predict the effect of the flooding and freshwater dis15 charge described in subsection (a). 

16 (c) INVENTORY OF DATA NEEDS.—Based on the as17 sessments required by subsections (a) and (b), the Under 

18 Secretary shall create an inventory of data needs with re19 spect to the flooding and freshwater discharge described 

20 in subsections (a) and (b). 

21 (d) PLANNING.—In planning for the collection of ad22 ditional data necessary for ecosystem-based modeling of 

23 the effect of the flooding and freshwater discharge de24 scribed in subsections (a) and (b), the Under Secretary 

25 shall use the inventory created under subsection (c). 


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1 SEC. 8. TORNADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT. 

2 Section 103 of the Weather Research and Fore3 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8513) is 

4 amended— 

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

6 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(c) INNOVATIVE OBSERVATIONS.—The Under Sec10 retary shall ensure that the program periodically examines 

11 the value of incorporating innovative observations, such as 

12 acoustic or infrasonic measurements, observations from 

13 phased array radars, and observations from mesonets, 

14 with respect to the improvement of tornado forecasts, pre15 dictions, and warnings.’’. 

16 SEC. 9. HURRICANE FORECAST IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 

17 Section 104(b) of the Weather Research and Fore18 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514(b)) is 

19 amended— 

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

21 inserting a semicolon; 

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

23 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(4) evaluating and incorporating, as appro2 priate, innovative observations, including acoustic or 

3 infrasonic measurements.’’. 

4 SEC. 10. WEATHER AND WATER RESEARCH AND DEVELOP5 MENT PLANNING. 

6 Section 105(2) of the Weather Research and Fore7 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8515(2)) is 

8 amended by inserting ‘‘and flood-event’’ after ‘‘operational 

9 weather’’. 

10 SEC. 11. FORECAST COMMUNICATION COORDINATORS. 

11 Section 1762(f)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

12 (15 U.S.C. 8521(f)(1)) is amended, in the second sen13 tence, by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

14 SEC. 12. ESTIMATES OF PRECIPITATION FREQUENCY IN 

15 THE UNITED STATES. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 

18 ‘‘Freely Associated States’’ means the Republic of 

19 Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 

20 Federated States of Micronesia, which have each en21 tered into a Compact of Free Association with the 

22 United States. 

23 (2) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

24 States’’ means the 50 States of the United States, 

25 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 


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1 Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 

2 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

3 Northern Mariana Islands, and the Freely Associ4 ated States. 

5 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na6 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall es7 tablish a program, to be known as the ‘‘NOAA Precipita8 tion Frequency Atlas of the United States’’, to estimate 

9 and communicate the frequency of precipitation in the 

10 United States. 

11 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The NOAA Precipitation Fre12 quency Atlas of the United States— 

13 (1) shall better inform the public and provide 

14 information on— 

15 (A) temporal and spatial distribution of 

16 heavy precipitation; 

17 (B) analyses of seasonality in precipitation; 

18 and 

19 (C) trends in annual maximum series data; 

20 and 

21 (2) may serve as the official source of the Fed22 eral Government on estimates of precipitation fre23 quency and associated information with respect to 

24 the United States. 

25 (d) REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) COVERAGE.—The NOAA Precipitation Fre2 quency Atlas of the United States shall include such 

3 estimates of the frequency of precipitation in the 

4 United States as the Administrator determines ap5 propriate. 

6 (2) FREQUENCY.—Such estimates— 

7 (A) shall be conducted not less frequently 

8 than once every 10 years; and 

9 (B) may be conducted more frequently if 

10 determined appropriate by the Administrator. 

11 (3) PUBLICATION.—Such estimates and meth12 odologies used to conduct such estimates shall be— 

13 (A) subject to an appropriate, scientific 

14 process, as determined by the Administrator; 

15 and 

16 (B) published on a publicly accessible 

17 website of the National Oceanic and Atmos18 pheric Administration. 

19 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Administrator may partner 

20 with other Federal agencies, members of the private sec21 tor, academic cooperative partnerships, or nongovernment 

22 associations to assist in carrying out the functions de23 scribed in subsection (c). 

24 (f) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

25 Administrator may consult with relevant Federal, State, 


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1 local, Tribal, and Territorial government agencies, re2 search institutions, and the private sector, as the Adminis3 trator determines necessary. 

4 (g) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

5 Administrator may coordinate with other Federal agen6 cies. 

7 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

9 from amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated to 

10 the Administrator to carry out this Act, $3,500,000 for 

11 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030. 

12 SEC. 13. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 

13 WATER MANAGEMENT. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com15 mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Interagency Coordinating 

16 Committee on Water Management’’ (in this section re17 ferred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). 

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be com19 posed of the following members: 

20 (1) The Under Secretary. 

21 (2) The Assistant Secretary for Water and 

22 Science of the Department of the Interior. 

23 (3) The head of each of the following: 

24 (A) The Federal Emergency Management 

25 Agency. 


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1 (B) The Army Corps of Engineers. 

2 (C) The National Science Foundation. 

3 (D) The Office of Science and Technology 

4 Policy. 

5 (E) The Council on Environmental Qual6 ity. 

7 (F) The Department of Energy. 

8 (G) The Department of Agriculture. 

9 (H) Any other Federal agency, as the co10 chairs consider appropriate. 

11 (c) CO-CHAIRS.—The Committee shall be co-chaired 

12 by the Secretary of the Interior and the Administrator of 

13 the Environmental Protection Agency. 

14 (d) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet not less 

15 frequently than once each year at the call of the co-chairs. 

16 (e) GENERAL PURPOSE AND DUTIES.—The Com17 mittee shall ensure that agencies across the Federal Gov18 ernment that engage in water-related matters, including 

19 water storage and supplies, water quality and restoration 

20 activities, water infrastructure, transportation on United 

21 States rivers and inland waterways, and water forecasting, 

22 work together where such agencies have joint or overlap23 ping responsibilities to— 


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1 (1) improve interagency coordination by Fed2 eral agencies on water resource management and 

3 water-related infrastructure issues; 

4 (2) coordinate and consolidate existing water5 related Federal task forces, working groups, and 

6 other formal cross-agency initiatives, as appropriate; 

7 (3) designate and consolidate repositories re8 sponsible for archiving and managing water-related 

9 matters; 

10 (4) improve interagency coordination of data 

11 management, access, modeling, and visualization 

12 with respect to water-related matters; 

13 (5) conduct integrated planning for Federal in14 vestments in water-related infrastructure; and 

15 (6) support workforce development and efforts 

16 to recruit, train, and retain professionals to operate 

17 and maintain essential water facilities in the United 

18 States. 

19 (f) CROSS-AGENCY PRIORITY RESEARCH NEEDS.— 

20 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

21 this Act, the Committee shall develop and submit to Con22 gress a list of research needs that includes needs for cross23 agency research and coordination. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Sup4 port Act’’ or the ‘‘FLOODS Act’’. 

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

6 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 Coordinating Committee on Water Management. 

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. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each State 

10 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

11 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, 

12 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

13 Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and 

14 any other territory or possession of the United States. 


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1 (2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under Sec2 retary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

3 Oceans and Atmosphere. 

4 SEC. 3. NATIONAL INTEGRATED FLOOD INFORMATION SYS5 TEM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall establish 

7 a system, to be known as the ‘‘National Integrated Flood 

8 Information System’’, to better inform and provide for more 

9 timely decision making to reduce flood-related effects and 

10 costs. 

11 (b) SYSTEM FUNCTIONS.—The Under Secretary, 

12 through the National Integrated Flood Information System, 

13 shall— 

14 (1) provide an effective flood early warning sys15 tem that— 

16 (A) collects and integrates information on 

17 the key indicators of floods and flood impacts, 

18 including streamflow, reservoir release and di19 version, precipitation, soil moisture, snow water 

20 equivalent, land cover, and evaporative demand; 

21 (B) makes usable, reliable, and timely fore22 casts of floods; 

23 (C) assesses the severity of flood conditions 

24 and effects; 


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1 (D) issues flood watches and warnings when 

2 necessary; 

3 (E) provides information described in sub4 paragraph (A), forecasts described in subpara5 graph (B), and assessments described in sub6 paragraph (C) at the national, regional, and 

7 local levels, as appropriate; and 

8 (F) communicates flood forecasts, flood con9 ditions, and flood impacts to public and private 

10 entities engaged in flood planning, preparedness, 

11 and response, including— 

12 (i) decision makers at the Federal, 

13 State, local, and Tribal levels of govern14 ment; 

15 (ii) the private sector; and 

16 (iii) the public; 

17 (2) provide timely data, information, and prod18 ucts that reflect differences in flood conditions among 

19 localities, regions, watersheds, and States; 

20 (3) coordinate and integrate, through inter21 agency agreements as practicable, Federal research 

22 and monitoring in support of the flood early warning 

23 information system provided under paragraph (1); 

24 (4) use existing forecasting and assessment pro25 grams and partnerships; 


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1 (5) make improvements in seasonal precipitation 

2 and temperature, subseasonal precipitation and tem3 perature, and flood water prediction; and 

4 (6) continue ongoing research and monitoring 

5 activities relating to floods, including research activi6 ties relating to— 

7 (A) the prediction, length, severity, and im8 pacts of floods and improvement of the accuracy, 

9 timing, and specificity of flash flood warnings; 

10 (B) the role of extreme weather events and 

11 climate variability in floods; and 

12 (C) how water travels over and through sur13 faces. 

14 (c) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Under Secretary, through 

15 the National Integrated Flood Information System, may— 

16 (1) engage with the private sector to improve 

17 flood monitoring, forecasts, land and topography 

18 data, and communication, if the Under Secretary de19 termines that such engagement is appropriate, cost ef20 fective, and beneficial to the public and decision mak21 ers described in subsection (b)(1)(F)(i); 

22 (2) facilitate the development of 1 or more aca23 demic cooperative partnerships to assist in carrying 

24 out the functions of the National Integrated Flood In25 formation System described in subsection (b); 


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1 (3) use and support monitoring by citizen sci2 entists, including by developing best practices to fa3 cilitate maximum data integration, as the Under Sec4 retary considers appropriate; and 

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

6 entities within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

7 Administration in existence as of the date of the en8 actment of this Act, such as the National Integrated 

9 Drought Information System, the Regional Climate 

10 Center, and the National Mesonet Program, to im11 prove coordination of water monitoring, forecasting, 

12 and management. 

13 (d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and maintaining 

14 the National Integrated Flood Information System, the 

15 Under Secretary shall consult with relevant Federal, State, 

16 local, and Tribal government agencies, research institu17 tions, and the private sector. 

18 (e) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGEN19 CIES.—Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appropriate 

20 with the Under Secretary in carrying out this section. 

21 SEC. 4. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FOR TOTAL WATER 

22 PREDICTION. 

23 (a) PARTNERSHIPS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall es25 tablish partnerships with 1 or more institutions of 


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1 higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to 

3 evaluate observations that would improve total water 

4 prediction. 

5 (2) PRIORITY OBSERVATIONS.—In establishing 

6 partnerships under paragraph (1), the Under Sec7 retary shall prioritize partnerships to evaluate obser8 vations from unmanned aerial systems. 

9 (b) MAINTAINED OBSERVATIONS.—If the Under Sec10 retary determines that incorporating additional observa11 tions improves total water prediction, the Under Secretary 

12 shall, to the extent practicable, continue incorporating those 

13 observations. 

14 (c) MODELING IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Secretary 

15 shall advance geographic coverage, resolution, skill, and effi16 ciency of coastal oceanographic modeling, including efforts 

17 that improve the coupling of and interoperability between 

18 hydrological models and coastal ocean models. 

19 (d) GEOSPATIAL DATA.—The Under Secretary shall 

20 advance the development of models to vertically transform 

21 geospatial data into a common system for use as the Federal 

22 standard for surveys and mapping. 


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1 SEC. 5. SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS AT RIVER 

2 FORECAST CENTERS OF THE NATIONAL 

3 WEATHER SERVICE. 

4 (a) DESIGNATION OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY5 DROLOGISTS.— 

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

7 Weather Service (in this section referred to as the 

8 ‘‘Director’’) shall designate at least 1 service coordi9 nation hydrologist at each River Forecast Center of 

10 the National Weather Service. 

11 (2) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.—Per12 formance of the responsibilities outlined in this sec13 tion is not limited to the service coordination hydrolo14 gist position. 

15 (b) PRIMARY ROLE OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY16 DROLOGISTS.—The primary role of the service coordination 

17 hydrologist shall be to carry out the responsibilities required 

18 by this section. 

19 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), con21 sistent with the analysis described in section 409 of 

22 the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act 

23 of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 112), and in 

24 order to increase impact-based decision support serv25 ices, each service coordination hydrologist designated 


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1 under subsection (a) shall, with respect to hydrol2 ogy— 

3 (A) be responsible for providing service to 

4 the geographic area of responsibility covered by 

5 the River Forecast Center at which the service 

6 coordination hydrologist is employed to help en7 sure that users of products and services of the 

8 National Weather Service can respond effectively 

9 to improve outcomes from flood events; 

10 (B) liaise with users of products and serv11 ices of the National Weather Service, such as the 

12 public, academia, media outlets, users in the hy13 dropower, transportation, recreation, and agri14 cultural communities, and forestry, land, fish15 eries, and water management interests, to evalu16 ate the adequacy and usefulness of the products 

17 and services of the National Weather Service; 

18 (C) collaborate with such River Forecast 

19 Centers and Weather Forecast Offices and Fed20 eral, State, local, and Tribal government agen21 cies as the Director considers appropriate in de22 veloping, proposing, and implementing plans to 

23 develop, modify, or tailor products and services 

24 of the National Weather Service to improve the 

25 usefulness of such products and services; 


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1 (D) engage in interagency partnerships 

2 with Federal, State, local, and Tribal govern3 ment agencies to explore the use of forecast-in4 formed reservoir operations to reduce flood risk; 

5 (E) ensure the maintenance and accuracy of 

6 flooding call lists, appropriate office flooding 

7 policy or procedures, and other flooding informa8 tion or dissemination methodologies or strategies; 

9 and 

10 (F) work closely with Federal, State, local, 

11 and Tribal emergency and floodplain manage12 ment agencies, and other agencies relating to dis13 aster management, to ensure a planned, coordi14 nated, and effective preparedness and response 

15 effort. 

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

17 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such other 

18 staff as the Director considers appropriate to carry 

19 out such responsibility. 

20 (d) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

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

22 service coordination hydrologist designated under sub23 section (a) may, with respect to hydrology— 

24 (A) work with a State agency to develop 

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1 ucts and services of the National Weather Service 

2 throughout the State; 

3 (B) identify priority community prepared4 ness objectives; 

5 (C) develop plans to meet the objectives 

6 identified under subparagraph (B); and 

7 (D) conduct flooding event preparedness 

8 planning and citizen education efforts with and 

9 through various State, local, and Tribal govern10 ment agencies and other disaster management11 related organizations. 

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

13 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such other 

14 staff as the Director considers appropriate to carry 

15 out such responsibility. 

16 (e) PLACEMENT WITH STATE AND LOCAL EMERGENCY

17 AND FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS.— 

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

19 the Director may place a service coordination hy20 drologist designated under subsection (a) with a State 

21 or local emergency or floodplain manager, if the Di22 rector determines that such placement is necessary or 

23 convenient to carry out this section. 

24 (2) TREATMENT.—If the Director determines 

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1 gist with a State or local emergency or floodplain 

2 manager under paragraph (1) is near a River Fore3 cast Center of the National Weather Service, such 

4 placement shall be treated as designation of the serv5 ice coordination hydrologist at such River Forecast 

6 Center for purposes of subsection (a). 

7 SEC. 6. IMPROVING NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOS8 PHERIC ADMINISTRATION COMMUNICATION 

9 OF FUTURE FLOOD RISKS AND HAZARDOUS 

10 FLASH FLOOD EVENTS. 

11 (a) ASSESSMENT OF FLASH FLOOD WATCHES AND

12 WARNINGS.— 

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

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Sec15 retary shall— 

16 (A) conduct an assessment of— 

17 (i) the flash flood watches and warn18 ings of the National Weather Service; and 

19 (ii) the information delivery to support 

20 preparation and responses to floods; and 

21 (B) submit to Congress a report on the find22 ings of the Under Secretary with respect to the 

23 assessment required by subparagraph (A). 

24 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

25 paragraph (1)(A) shall include the following: 


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1 (A) An evaluation of whether the watches, 

2 warnings, and information described in para3 graph (1)(A)— 

4 (i) communicate risk to the general 

5 public; 

6 (ii) inform action to prevent loss of life 

7 and property; 

8 (iii) inform action to support flood 

9 preparation and response; and 

10 (iv) deliver information in a manner 

11 designed to lead to appropriate action. 

12 (B) Subject to subsection (b)(2), such rec13 ommendations as the Under Secretary may have 

14 for— 

15 (i) legislative and administrative ac16 tion to improve the watches and warnings 

17 described in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and 

18 (ii) such research as the Under Sec19 retary considers necessary to address the 

20 focus areas described in paragraph (3). 

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

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

23 (A) Ways to communicate the risks posed by 

24 hazardous flash flood events to the public that 


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1 are most likely to result in informed decision 

2 making regarding the mitigation of those risks. 

3 (B) Ways to provide actionable geographic 

4 information to the recipient of a watch or warn5 ing for a flash flood, including partnering with 

6 emergency response agencies, as appropriate. 

7 (C) Evaluation of information delivery to 

8 support the preparation for and response to 

9 floods. 

10 (4) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the assess11 ment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Sec12 retary shall consult with— 

13 (A) such line offices of the National Oceanic 

14 and Atmospheric Administration as the Under 

15 Secretary considers relevant, including— 

16 (i) the National Ocean Service; 

17 (ii) the National Weather Service; and 

18 (iii) the Office of Oceanic and Atmos19 pheric Research; 

20 (B) individuals in the academic sector, in21 cluding individuals in the field of social and be22 havioral sciences; 

23 (C) other weather services; 


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1 (D) media outlets and other entities that 

2 distribute the watches and warnings described in 

3 paragraph (1)(A)(i); 

4 (E) floodplain managers and emergency 

5 planners and responders, including State, local, 

6 and Tribal emergency management agencies; 

7 (F) other government users of the watches 

8 and warnings described in paragraph (1)(A)(i), 

9 including the Federal Highway Administration; 

10 and 

11 (G) such other Federal agencies as the 

12 Under Secretary determines rely on watches and 

13 warnings regarding flash floods for operational 

14 decisions. 

15 (5) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—The 

16 Under Secretary shall engage with the National Acad17 emy of Sciences, as the Under Secretary considers 

18 necessary and practicable, including by contracting 

19 with the National Research Council to review the sci20 entific and technical soundness of the assessment re21 quired by paragraph (1)(A), including the rec22 ommendations under paragraph (2)(B). 

23 (6) METHODOLOGIES.—In conducting the assess24 ment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Sec25 retary shall use such methodologies as the Under SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4462.RS S4462

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1 retary considers are generally accepted by the weather 

2 enterprise, including social and behavioral sciences. 

3 (b) IMPROVEMENTS TO FLASH FLOOD WATCHES AND

4 WARNINGS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the assessment re6 quired by subsection (a)(1)(A), the Under Secretary 

7 shall make such improvements to the watches and 

8 warnings described in that subsection as the Under 

9 Secretary considers necessary— 

10 (A) to improve the communication of the 

11 risks posed by hazardous flash flood events; and 

12 (B) to provide actionable geographic infor13 mation to the recipient of a watch or warning 

14 for a flash flood. 

15 (2) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING RECOMMENDA16 TIONS.—In conducting the assessment required by 

17 subsection (a)(1)(A), the Under Secretary shall ensure 

18 that any recommendation under subsection (a)(2)(B) 

19 that the Under Secretary considers a major change— 

20 (A) is validated by social and behavioral 

21 science using a generalizable sample; 

22 (B) accounts for the needs of various demo23 graphics, vulnerable populations, and geographic 

24 regions; 


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1 (C) responds to the needs of Federal, State, 

2 local, and Tribal government partners and 

3 media partners; and 

4 (D) accounts for necessary changes to feder5 ally operated watch and warning propagation 

6 and dissemination infrastructure and protocols. 

7 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) WATCH; WARNING.— 

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

10 subparagraph (B), the terms ‘‘watch’’ and 

11 ‘‘warning’’, with respect to a hazardous flash 

12 flood event, mean products issued by the Na13 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

14 intended for use by the general public— 

15 (i) to alert the general public to the po16 tential for or presence of the event; and 

17 (ii) to inform action to prevent loss of 

18 life and property. 

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

20 ‘‘warning’’ do not include technical or special21 ized meteorological and hydrological forecasts, 

22 outlooks, or model guidance products. 

23 (2) WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The term ‘‘weather 

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1 tion 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Inno2 vation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501). 

3 SEC. 7. FRESHWATER MONITORING ALONG THE COAST. 

4 (a) DATA AVAILABILITY ASSESSMENT.—The Under 

5 Secretary shall assess the availability of short- and long6 term data on large-scale freshwater flooding into oceans, 

7 bays, and estuaries, including data on— 

8 (1) flow rate, including discharge; 

9 (2) conductivity; 

10 (3) oxygen concentration; 

11 (4) nutrient load; 

12 (5) water temperature; and 

13 (6) sediment load. 

14 (b) DATA NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—The Under Secretary 

15 shall assess the need for additional data to assess and pre16 dict the effect of the flooding and freshwater discharge de17 scribed in subsection (a). 

18 (c) INVENTORY OF DATA NEEDS.—Based on the assess19 ments required by subsections (a) and (b), the Under Sec20 retary shall create an inventory of data needs with respect 

21 to the flooding and freshwater discharge described in sub22 sections (a) and (b). 

23 (d) PLANNING.—In planning for the collection of addi24 tional data necessary for ecosystem-based modeling of the 

25 effect of the flooding and freshwater discharge described in 


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1 subsections (a) and (b), the Under Secretary shall use the 

2 inventory created under subsection (c). 

3 SEC. 8. TORNADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT. 

4 Section 103 of the Weather Research and Forecasting 

5 Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8513) is amended— 

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

7 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(c) INNOVATIVE OBSERVATIONS.—The Under Sec11 retary shall ensure that the program periodically examines 

12 the value of incorporating innovative observations, such as 

13 acoustic or infrasonic measurements, observations from 

14 phased array radars, and observations from mesonets, with 

15 respect to the improvement of tornado forecasts, predictions, 

16 and warnings.’’. 

17 SEC. 9. HURRICANE FORECAST IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 

18 Section 104(b) of the Weather Research and Fore19 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514(b)) is 

20 amended— 

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

22 inserting a semicolon; 

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

24 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(4) evaluating and incorporating, as appro2 priate, innovative observations, including acoustic or 

3 infrasonic measurements.’’. 

4 SEC. 10. WEATHER AND WATER RESEARCH AND DEVELOP5 MENT PLANNING. 

6 Section 105(2) of the Weather Research and Fore7 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8515(2)) is 

8 amended by inserting ‘‘and flood-event’’ after ‘‘operational 

9 weather’’. 

10 SEC. 11. FORECAST COMMUNICATION COORDINATORS. 

11 Section 1762(f)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

12 (15 U.S.C. 8521(f)(1)) is amended, in the second sentence, 

13 by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

14 SEC. 12. ESTIMATES OF PRECIPITATION FREQUENCY IN 

15 THE UNITED STATES. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 

18 ‘‘Freely Associated States’’ means the Republic of 

19 Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 

20 Federated States of Micronesia, which have each en21 tered into a Compact of Free Association with the 

22 United States. 

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

24 means the 50 States of the United States, the District 

25 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 


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1 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

2 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

3 Islands, and the Freely Associated States. 

4 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the National 

5 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall establish a 

6 program, to be known as the ‘‘NOAA Precipitation Fre7 quency Atlas of the United States’’, to compile, estimate, 

8 analyze, and communicate the frequency of precipitation in 

9 the United States. 

10 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The NOAA Precipitation Frequency 

11 Atlas of the United States— 

12 (1) shall better inform the public and provide in13 formation on— 

14 (A) temporal and spatial distribution of 

15 heavy precipitation; 

16 (B) analyses of seasonality in precipitation; 

17 and 

18 (C) trends in annual maximum series data; 

19 and 

20 (2) may serve as the official source of the Federal 

21 Government on estimates of precipitation frequency 

22 and associated information with respect to the United 

23 States. 

24 (d) REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) COVERAGE.—The NOAA Precipitation Fre2 quency Atlas of the United States shall include such 

3 estimates of the frequency of precipitation in the 

4 United States as the Administrator determines appro5 priate. 

6 (2) FREQUENCY.—Such estimates— 

7 (A) shall be conducted not less frequently 

8 than once every 10 years; and 

9 (B) may be conducted more frequently if de10 termined appropriate by the Administrator. 

11 (3) PUBLICATION.—Such estimates and meth12 odologies used to conduct such estimates shall be— 

13 (A) subject to an appropriate, scientific 

14 process, as determined by the Administrator; and 

15 (B) published on a publicly accessible 

16 website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

17 Administration. 

18 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Administrator may partner 

19 with other Federal agencies, members of the private sector, 

20 academic cooperative partnerships, or nongovernment asso21 ciations to assist in carrying out the functions described 

22 in subsection (c). 

23 (f) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

24 Administrator may consult with relevant Federal, State, 

25 local, Tribal, and Territorial government agencies, research 


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1 institutions, and the private sector, as the Administrator 

2 determines necessary. 

3 (g) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

4 Administrator may coordinate with other Federal agencies. 

5 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

6 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, from 

7 amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated to the Ad8 ministrator to carry out this Act, $3,500,000 for each of 

9 fiscal years 2021 through 2030. 

10 SEC. 13. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 

11 WATER MANAGEMENT. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com13 mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Interagency Coordinating Com14 mittee on Water Management’’ (in this section referred to 

15 as the ‘‘Committee’’). 

16 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be composed 

17 of the following members: 

18 (1) The Under Secretary. 

19 (2) The Assistant Secretary for Water and 

20 Science of the Department of the Interior. 

21 (3) The head of each of the following: 

22 (A) The Federal Emergency Management 

23 Agency. 

24 (B) The Army Corps of Engineers. 

25 (C) The National Science Foundation. 


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1 (D) The Office of Science and Technology 

2 Policy. 

3 (E) The Council on Environmental Quality. 

4 (F) The Department of Energy. 

5 (G) The Department of Agriculture. 

6 (H) Any other Federal agency, as the co7 chairs consider appropriate. 

8 (c) CO-CHAIRS.—The Committee shall be co-chaired by 

9 the Secretary of the Interior and the Administrator of the 

10 Environmental Protection Agency. 

11 (d) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet not less fre12 quently than once each year at the call of the co-chairs. 

13 (e) GENERAL PURPOSE AND DUTIES.—The Committee 

14 shall ensure that agencies across the Federal Government 

15 that engage in water-related matters, including water stor16 age and supplies, water quality and restoration activities, 

17 water infrastructure, transportation on United States riv18 ers and inland waterways, and water forecasting, work to19 gether where such agencies have joint or overlapping respon20 sibilities to— 

21 (1) improve interagency coordination by Federal 

22 agencies on water resource management and water-re23 lated infrastructure issues; 


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1 (2) coordinate existing water-related Federal task 

2 forces, working groups, and other formal cross-agency 

3 initiatives, as appropriate; 

4 (3) designate and consolidate repositories respon5 sible for archiving and managing water-related mat6 ters; 

7 (4) improve interagency coordination of data 

8 management, access, modeling, and visualization with 

9 respect to water-related matters; 

10 (5) conduct integrated planning for Federal in11 vestments in water-related infrastructure; and 

12 (6) support workforce development and efforts to 

13 recruit, train, and retain professionals to operate and 

14 maintain essential water facilities in the United 

15 States. 

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

17 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

18 Act, the Committee shall develop and submit to Congress 

19 a list of research needs that includes needs for cross-agency 

20 research and coordination. 

21 SEC. 14. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HYDROLOGIC RE22 SEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

23 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES.—The term 

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1 cluding data and refined products, that supports 

2 water resources-related decision-making processes. 

3 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the mean5 ing given that term in section 101 of the Higher Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)). 

7 (b) HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PRO8 GRAM.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary, 

10 acting through the Director of the National Weather 

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

12 shall establish a hydrologic research fellowship pro13 gram (in this section referred to as the ‘‘program’’) 

14 for qualified individuals. 

15 (2) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of 

16 this section, a qualified individual is an individual 

17 who is— 

18 (A) a citizen of the United States; and 

19 (B) enrolled in a research-based graduate 

20 program, at an institution of higher education, 

21 in a field that advances the research priorities 

22 developed by the Under Secretary under para23 graph (7), such as— 

24 (i) hydrology; 

25 (ii) earth sciences; 


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1 (iii) atmospheric sciences; 

2 (iv) computer sciences; 

3 (v) engineering; 

4 (vi) environmental sciences; 

5 (vii) geosciences; 

6 (viii) urban planning; or 

7 (ix) related social sciences. 

8 (3) AWARD GUIDELINES.—Fellowships under the 

9 program shall be awarded pursuant to guidelines es10 tablished by the Under Secretary. 

11 (4) SELECTION PREFERENCE.—In selecting 

12 qualified individuals for participation in the pro13 gram, the Under Secretary, acting through the Direc14 tor, shall give preference to applicants from histori15 cally Black colleges and universities and minority16 serving institutions. 

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

18 placement of qualified individuals in positions within 

19 the executive branch of the Federal Government where 

20 such individuals can address and advance the re21 search priorities developed by the Under Secretary 

22 under paragraph (7). 

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

24 program shall be for a period of up to 2 years. 


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1 (7) FELLOWSHIP RESEARCH PRIORITIES.—The 

2 Under Secretary, acting through the Director, and in 

3 consultation with representatives from the United 

4 States Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency 

5 Management Agency, and the Army Corps of Engi6 neers, as appropriate, shall develop and publish pri7 orities for the conduct of research by fellows, which 

8 may include the following: 

9 (A) Advance the collaborative development 

10 of a flexible community-based water resources 

11 modeling system. 

12 (B) Apply artificial intelligence and ma13 chine learning capabilities to advance existing 

14 hydrologic modeling capabilities. 

15 (C) Support the evolution and integration 

16 of hydrologic modeling within an Earth Systems 

17 Modeling Framework. 

18 (D) Improve visualizations of hydrologic 

19 model outputs. 

20 (E) Advance the state of coupled freshwater 

21 and salt water modeling and forecasting capa22 bilities. 

23 (F) Advance understanding and process 

24 representation of water quality parameters. 


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

2 remotely sensed observations and data. 

3 (H) Support the integration of social 

4 science to advance decision support services. 

5 (I) Develop methods to study groundwater 

6 sustainability and estimate the efficiency of re7 charge management. 

8 (c) DIRECT HIRING.— 

9 (1) AUTHORITY.—During fiscal year 2021 and 

10 any fiscal year thereafter, the head of any Federal 

11 agency may appoint, without regard to the provisions 

12 of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 

13 Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title, 

14 to a position with the Federal agency a recipient of 

15 a fellowship under the program who— 

16 (A) earned a degree from a program de17 scribed in subsection (b)(2)(B); 

18 (B) successfully fulfilled the requirements of 

19 the fellowship within the executive branch of the 

20 Federal Government; and 

21 (C) meets qualification standards estab22 lished by the Office of Personnel Management. 

23 (2) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY.—The direct hire 

24 authority provided by this subsection shall be exer25 cised with respect to an individual described in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4462.RS S4462

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1 graph (1) not later than 2 years after the date on 

2 which the individual completed the fellowship under 

3 the program. 

4 SEC. 15. IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT OF CONSISTENT, 

5 FEDERAL SET OF FORWARD-LOOKING, LONG6 TERM METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme 

9 weather’’ includes observed or anticipated severe and 

10 unseasonable atmospheric conditions, including 

11 drought, heavy precipitation, hurricanes, tornadoes 

12 and other windstorms (including derechos), extreme 

13 heat, extreme cold, flooding, sustained temperatures or 

14 precipitation that deviate substantially from histor15 ical averages, and any other weather event that the 

16 Under Secretary determines qualifies as extreme 

17 weather. 

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

19 have such meaning as the Director of the National In20 stitute of Standards and Technology, in consultation 

21 with the Under Secretary, considers appropriate for 

22 purposes of this section. 

23 (3) OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS.—The term 

24 ‘‘other environmental trends’’ means wildfires, coastal 

25 flooding, inland flooding, land subsidence, rising sea 


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1 levels, and any other challenges relating to changes in 

2 environmental systems over time that the Under Sec3 retary determines qualify as environmental challenges 

4 other than extreme weather. 

5 (b) IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT OF CONSISTENT, 

6 FEDERAL SET OF FORWARD-LOOKING, LONG-TERM METE7 OROLOGICAL INFORMATION.—The Under Secretary shall 

8 identify, and support research that enables, a consistent, 

9 Federal set of forward-looking, long-term meteorological in10 formation that models future extreme weather events, other 

11 environmental trends, projections, and up-to-date observa12 tions, including mesoscale information as determined ap13 propriate by the Under Secretary. 

14 SEC. 16. GAP ANALYSIS ON AVAILABILITY OF SNOW-RE15 LATED DATA TO ASSESS AND PREDICT FLOOD 

16 AND FLOOD IMPACTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in consulta18 tion with the Department of Agriculture, the Department 

19 of the Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers, shall con20 duct an analysis of gaps in the availability of snow-related 

21 data to assess and predict floods and flood impacts, includ22 ing data on the following: 

23 (1) Snow water equivalent. 

24 (2) Snow depth. 

25 (3) Snowpack temperature. 


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1 (4) Snow precipitation. 

2 (5) Snow melt. 

3 (6) Rain-snow line. 

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

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall sub6 mit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor7 tation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 

8 and Technology of the House of Representatives a report 

9 on— 

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

11 subsection (a); and 

12 (2) opportunities for additional collaboration 

13 among Federal agencies to collect snow-related data to 

14 better assess and predict floods and flood impacts. 

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

16 DATA. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall make 

18 flood-related data available to the public on the website of 

19 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

20 (b) COST.—The Under Secretary may make the data 

21 under subsection (a) freely accessible or available at a cost 

22 that does not exceed the cost of preparing the data. 


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Calendar No. 556 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4462 

[Report No. 116–269] 

A BILL 

To establish a national integrated flood information 

pheric Administration, and for other purposes. system within the National Oceanic and AtmosSEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Reported with an amendment 


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