116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4462 

AN ACT 

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. 

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 

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

2 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

3 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 

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

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall estab7 lish a system, to be known as the ‘‘National Integrated 

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

9 for more timely decision making to reduce flood-related 

10 effects and costs. 

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

12 through the National Integrated Flood Information Sys13 tem, 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 

2 when 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 

9 conditions, and flood impacts to public and pri10 vate entities engaged in flood planning, pre11 paredness, 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 

19 among 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 precipita2 tion and temperature, subseasonal precipitation and 

3 temperature, 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 

8 impacts of floods and improvement of the accu9 racy, timing, and specificity of flash flood warn10 ings; 

11 (B) the role of extreme weather events and 

12 climate variability in floods; and 

13 (C) how water travels over and through 

14 surfaces. 

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

16 the National Integrated Flood Information System, may— 

17 (1) engage with the private sector to improve 

18 flood monitoring, forecasts, land and topography 

19 data, and communication, if the Under Secretary de20 termines that such engagement is appropriate, cost 

21 effective, and beneficial to the public and decision 

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

23 (2) facilitate the development of 1 or more aca24 demic cooperative partnerships to assist in carrying 
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1 out the functions of the National Integrated Flood 

2 Information System described in subsection (b); 

3 (3) use and support monitoring by citizen sci4 entists, including by developing best practices to fa5 cilitate maximum data integration, as the Under 

6 Secretary considers appropriate; and 

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

8 entities within the National Oceanic and Atmos9 pheric Administration in existence as of the date of 

10 the enactment of this Act, such as the National In11 tegrated Drought Information System, the Regional 

12 Climate Center, and the National Mesonet Program, 

13 to improve coordination of water monitoring, fore14 casting, and management. 

15 (d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and maintaining 

16 the National Integrated Flood Information System, the 

17 Under Secretary shall consult with relevant Federal, 

18 State, local, and Tribal government agencies, research in19 stitutions, and the private sector. 

20 (e) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGEN21 CIES.—Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appro22 priate with the Under Secretary in carrying out this sec23 tion. 
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1 SEC. 4. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FOR TOTAL WATER 

2 PREDICTION. 

3 (a) PARTNERSHIPS.— 

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

5 establish partnerships with 1 or more institutions of 

6 higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 

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

8 evaluate observations that would improve total water 

9 prediction. 

10 (2) PRIORITY OBSERVATIONS.—In establishing 

11 partnerships under paragraph (1), the Under Sec12 retary shall prioritize partnerships to evaluate obser13 vations from unmanned aerial systems. 

14 (b) MAINTAINED OBSERVATIONS.—If the Under Sec15 retary determines that incorporating additional observa16 tions improves total water prediction, the Under Secretary 

17 shall, to the extent practicable, continue incorporating 

18 those observations. 

19 (c) MODELING IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Sec20 retary shall advance geographic coverage, resolution, skill, 

21 and efficiency of coastal oceanographic modeling, includ22 ing efforts that improve the coupling of and interoper23 ability between hydrological models and coastal ocean 

24 models. 

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

26 advance the development of models to vertically transform 
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1 geospatial data into a common system for use as the Fed2 eral standard for surveys and mapping. 

3 SEC. 5. SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS AT RIVER 

4 FORECAST CENTERS OF THE NATIONAL 

5 WEATHER SERVICE. 

6 (a) DESIGNATION OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY7 DROLOGISTS.— 

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

9 Weather Service (in this section referred to as the 

10 ‘‘Director’’) shall designate at least 1 service coordi11 nation hydrologist at each River Forecast Center of 

12 the National Weather Service. 

13 (2) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.— 

14 Performance of the responsibilities outlined in this 

15 section is not limited to the service coordination hy16 drologist position. 

17 (b) PRIMARY ROLE OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY18 DROLOGISTS.—The primary role of the service coordina19 tion hydrologist shall be to carry out the responsibilities 

20 required by this section. 

21 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

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

23 consistent with the analysis described in section 409 

24 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 

25 Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 112), 
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1 and in order to increase impact-based decision sup2 port services, each service coordination hydrologist 

3 designated under subsection (a) shall, with respect 

4 to hydrology— 

5 (A) be responsible for providing service to 

6 the geographic area of responsibility covered by 

7 the River Forecast Center at which the service 

8 coordination hydrologist is employed to help en9 sure that users of products and services of the 

10 National Weather Service can respond effec11 tively to improve outcomes from flood events; 

12 (B) liaise with users of products and serv13 ices of the National Weather Service, such as 

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

15 hydropower, transportation, recreation, and ag16 ricultural communities, and forestry, land, fish17 eries, and water management interests, to 

18 evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the 

19 products and services of the National Weather 

20 Service; 

21 (C) collaborate with such River Forecast 

22 Centers and Weather Forecast Offices and Fed23 eral, State, local, and Tribal government agen24 cies as the Director considers appropriate in de25 veloping, proposing, and implementing plans to 
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1 develop, modify, or tailor products and services 

2 of the National Weather Service to improve the 

3 usefulness of such products and services; 

4 (D) engage in interagency partnerships 

5 with Federal, State, local, and Tribal govern6 ment agencies to explore the use of forecast-in7 formed reservoir operations to reduce flood risk; 

8 (E) ensure the maintenance and accuracy 

9 of flooding call lists, appropriate office flooding 

10 policy or procedures, and other flooding infor11 mation or dissemination methodologies or strat12 egies; and 

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

14 and Tribal emergency and floodplain manage15 ment agencies, and other agencies relating to 

16 disaster management, to ensure a planned, co17 ordinated, and effective preparedness and re18 sponse effort. 

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

20 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 

21 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 

22 carry out such responsibility. 

23 (d) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

2 service coordination hydrologist designated under 

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

4 (A) work with a State agency to develop 

5 plans for promoting more effective use of prod6 ucts and services of the National Weather Serv7 ice throughout the State; 

8 (B) identify priority community prepared9 ness objectives; 

10 (C) develop plans to meet the objectives 

11 identified under subparagraph (B); and 

12 (D) conduct flooding event preparedness 

13 planning and citizen education efforts with and 

14 through various State, local, and Tribal govern15 ment agencies and other disaster management16 related organizations. 

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

18 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 

19 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 

20 carry out such responsibility. 

21 (e) PLACEMENT WITH STATE AND LOCAL EMER22 GENCY AND FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS.— 

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

24 the Director may place a service coordination hy25 drologist designated under subsection (a) with a 
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1 State or local emergency or floodplain manager, if 

2 the Director determines that such placement is nec3 essary or convenient to carry out this section. 

4 (2) TREATMENT.—If the Director determines 

5 that the placement of a service coordination hydrolo6 gist with a State or local emergency or floodplain 

7 manager under paragraph (1) is near a River Fore8 cast Center of the National Weather Service, such 

9 placement shall be treated as designation of the 

10 service coordination hydrologist at such River Fore11 cast Center for purposes of subsection (a). 

12 SEC. 6. IMPROVING NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOS13 PHERIC ADMINISTRATION COMMUNICATION 

14 OF FUTURE FLOOD RISKS AND HAZARDOUS 

15 FLASH FLOOD EVENTS. 

16 (a) ASSESSMENT OF FLASH FLOOD WATCHES AND

17 WARNINGS.— 

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

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

20 Secretary shall— 

21 (A) conduct an assessment of— 

22 (i) the flash flood watches and warn23 ings of the National Weather Service; and 
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1 (ii) the information delivery to sup2 port preparation and responses to floods; 

3 and 

4 (B) submit to Congress a report on the 

5 findings of the Under Secretary with respect to 

6 the assessment required by subparagraph (A). 

7 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

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

9 (A) An evaluation of whether the watches, 

10 warnings, and information described in para11 graph (1)(A)— 

12 (i) communicate risk to the general 

13 public; 

14 (ii) inform action to prevent loss of 

15 life and property; 

16 (iii) inform action to support flood 

17 preparation and response; and 

18 (iv) deliver information in a manner 

19 designed to lead to appropriate action. 

20 (B) Subject to subsection (b)(2), such rec21 ommendations as the Under Secretary may 

22 have for— 

23 (i) legislative and administrative ac24 tion to improve the watches and warnings 

25 described in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and 
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1 (ii) such research as the Under Sec2 retary considers necessary to address the 

3 focus areas described in paragraph (3). 

4 (3) FOCUS AREAS.—The assessment required 

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

6 areas: 

7 (A) Ways to communicate the risks posed 

8 by hazardous flash flood events to the public 

9 that are most likely to result in informed deci10 sion making regarding the mitigation of those 

11 risks. 

12 (B) Ways to provide actionable geographic 

13 information to the recipient of a watch or warn14 ing for a flash flood, including partnering with 

15 emergency response agencies, as appropriate. 

16 (C) Evaluation of information delivery to 

17 support the preparation for and response to 

18 floods. 

19 (4) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the assess20 ment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Sec21 retary shall consult with— 

22 (A) such line offices of the National Oce23 anic and Atmospheric Administration as the 

24 Under Secretary considers relevant, including— 

25 (i) the National Ocean Service; 
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1 (ii) the National Weather Service; and 

2 (iii) the Office of Oceanic and Atmos3 pheric Research; 

4 (B) individuals in the academic sector, in5 cluding individuals in the field of social and be6 havioral sciences; 

7 (C) other weather services; 

8 (D) media outlets and other entities that 

9 distribute the watches and warnings described 

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

11 (E) floodplain managers and emergency 

12 planners and responders, including State, local, 

13 and Tribal emergency management agencies; 

14 (F) other government users of the watches 

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

16 including the Federal Highway Administration; 

17 and 

18 (G) such other Federal agencies as the 

19 Under Secretary determines rely on watches 

20 and warnings regarding flash floods for oper21 ational decisions. 

22 (5) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—The 

23 Under Secretary shall engage with the National 

24 Academy of Sciences, as the Under Secretary con25 siders necessary and practicable, including by con-
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1 tracting with the National Research Council to re2 view the scientific and technical soundness of the as3 sessment required by paragraph (1)(A), including 

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

5 (6) METHODOLOGIES.—In conducting the as6 sessment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under 

7 Secretary shall use such methodologies as the Under 

8 Secretary considers are generally accepted by the 

9 weather enterprise, including social and behavioral 

10 sciences. 

11 (b) IMPROVEMENTS TO FLASH FLOOD WATCHES

12 AND WARNINGS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the assessment re14 quired by subsection (a)(1)(A), the Under Secretary 

15 shall make such improvements to the watches and 

16 warnings described in that subsection as the Under 

17 Secretary considers necessary— 

18 (A) to improve the communication of the 

19 risks posed by hazardous flash flood events; and 

20 (B) to provide actionable geographic infor21 mation to the recipient of a watch or warning 

22 for a flash flood. 

23 (2) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING RECOMMENDA24 TIONS.—In conducting the assessment required by 

25 subsection (a)(1)(A), the Under Secretary shall en-
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1 sure that any recommendation under subsection 

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

3 major change— 

4 (A) is validated by social and behavioral 

5 science using a generalizable sample; 

6 (B) accounts for the needs of various de7 mographics, vulnerable populations, and geo8 graphic regions; 

9 (C) responds to the needs of Federal, 

10 State, local, and Tribal government partners 

11 and media partners; and 

12 (D) accounts for necessary changes to fed13 erally operated watch and warning propagation 

14 and dissemination infrastructure and protocols. 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) WATCH; WARNING.— 

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

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

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

20 flood event, mean products issued by the Na21 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

22 intended for use by the general public— 

23 (i) to alert the general public to the 

24 potential for or presence of the event; and 
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1 (ii) to inform action to prevent loss of 

2 life and property. 

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

4 ‘‘warning’’ do not include technical or special5 ized meteorological and hydrological forecasts, 

6 outlooks, or model guidance products. 

7 (2) WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The term 

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

9 term in section 2 of the Weather Research and 

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

11 8501). 

12 SEC. 7. FRESHWATER MONITORING ALONG THE COAST. 

13 (a) DATA AVAILABILITY ASSESSMENT.—The Under 

14 Secretary shall assess the availability of short- and long15 term data on large-scale freshwater flooding into oceans, 

16 bays, and estuaries, including data on— 

17 (1) flow rate, including discharge; 

18 (2) conductivity; 

19 (3) oxygen concentration; 

20 (4) nutrient load; 

21 (5) water temperature; and 

22 (6) sediment load. 

23 (b) DATA NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—The Under Sec24 retary shall assess the need for additional data to assess 
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1 and predict the effect of the flooding and freshwater dis2 charge described in subsection (a). 

3 (c) INVENTORY OF DATA NEEDS.—Based on the as4 sessments required by subsections (a) and (b), the Under 

5 Secretary shall create an inventory of data needs with re6 spect to the flooding and freshwater discharge described 

7 in subsections (a) and (b). 

8 (d) PLANNING.—In planning for the collection of ad9 ditional data necessary for ecosystem-based modeling of 

10 the effect of the flooding and freshwater discharge de11 scribed in subsections (a) and (b), the Under Secretary 

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

13 SEC. 8. TORNADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT. 

14 Section 103 of the Weather Research and Fore15 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8513) is 

16 amended— 

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

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

19 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(c) INNOVATIVE OBSERVATIONS.—The Under Sec22 retary shall ensure that the program periodically examines 

23 the value of incorporating innovative observations, such as 

24 acoustic or infrasonic measurements, observations from 

25 phased array radars, and observations from mesonets, 
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1 with respect to the improvement of tornado forecasts, pre2 dictions, and warnings.’’. 

3 SEC. 9. HURRICANE FORECAST IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 

4 Section 104(b) of the Weather Research and Fore5 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514(b)) is 

6 amended— 

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

8 inserting a semicolon; 

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

10 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘(4) evaluating and incorporating, as appro13 priate, innovative observations, including acoustic or 

14 infrasonic measurements.’’. 

15 SEC. 10. WEATHER AND WATER RESEARCH AND DEVELOP16 MENT PLANNING. 

17 Section 105(2) of the Weather Research and Fore18 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8515(2)) is 

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

20 weather’’. 

21 SEC. 11. FORECAST COMMUNICATION COORDINATORS. 

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

23 (15 U.S.C. 8521(f)(1)) is amended, in the second sen24 tence, by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 
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1 SEC. 12. ESTIMATES OF PRECIPITATION FREQUENCY IN 

2 THE UNITED STATES. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 

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

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

7 Federated States of Micronesia, which have each en8 tered into a Compact of Free Association with the 

9 United States. 

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

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

12 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

13 Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 

14 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

15 Northern Mariana Islands, and the Freely Associ16 ated States. 

17 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na18 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall es19 tablish a program, to be known as the ‘‘NOAA Precipita20 tion Frequency Atlas of the United States’’, to compile, 

21 estimate, analyze, and communicate the frequency of pre22 cipitation in the United States. 

23 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The NOAA Precipitation Fre24 quency Atlas of the United States— 

25 (1) shall better inform the public and provide 

26 information on— 
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1 (A) temporal and spatial distribution of 

2 heavy precipitation; 

3 (B) analyses of seasonality in precipitation; 

4 and 

5 (C) trends in annual maximum series data; 

6 and 

7 (2) may serve as the official source of the Fed8 eral Government on estimates of precipitation fre9 quency and associated information with respect to 

10 the United States. 

11 (d) REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (1) COVERAGE.—The NOAA Precipitation Fre13 quency Atlas of the United States shall include such 

14 estimates of the frequency of precipitation in the 

15 United States as the Administrator determines ap16 propriate. 

17 (2) FREQUENCY.—Such estimates— 

18 (A) shall be conducted not less frequently 

19 than once every 10 years; and 

20 (B) may be conducted more frequently if 

21 determined appropriate by the Administrator. 

22 (3) PUBLICATION.—Such estimates and meth23 odologies used to conduct such estimates shall be— 
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1 (A) subject to an appropriate, scientific 

2 process, as determined by the Administrator; 

3 and 

4 (B) published on a publicly accessible 

5 website of the National Oceanic and Atmos6 pheric Administration. 

7 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Administrator may partner 

8 with other Federal agencies, members of the private sec9 tor, academic cooperative partnerships, or nongovernment 

10 associations to assist in carrying out the functions de11 scribed in subsection (c). 

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

13 Administrator may consult with relevant Federal, State, 

14 local, Tribal, and Territorial government agencies, re15 search institutions, and the private sector, as the Adminis16 trator determines necessary. 

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

18 Administrator may coordinate with other Federal agen19 cies. 

20 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

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

22 from amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated to 

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

24 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030. 
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1 SEC. 13. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 

2 WATER MANAGEMENT. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com4 mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Interagency Coordinating 

5 Committee on Water Management’’ (in this section re6 ferred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). 

7 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be com8 posed of the following members: 

9 (1) The Under Secretary. 

10 (2) The Assistant Secretary for Water and 

11 Science of the Department of the Interior. 

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

13 (A) The Federal Emergency Management 

14 Agency. 

15 (B) The Army Corps of Engineers. 

16 (C) The National Science Foundation. 

17 (D) The Office of Science and Technology 

18 Policy. 

19 (E) The Council on Environmental Qual20 ity. 

21 (F) The Department of Energy. 

22 (G) The Department of Agriculture. 

23 (H) Any other Federal agency, as the co24 chairs consider appropriate. 
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1 (c) CO-CHAIRS.—The Committee shall be co-chaired 

2 by the Secretary of the Interior and the Administrator of 

3 the Environmental Protection Agency. 

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

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

6 (e) GENERAL PURPOSE AND DUTIES.—The Com7 mittee shall ensure that agencies across the Federal Gov8 ernment that engage in water-related matters, including 

9 water storage and supplies, water quality and restoration 

10 activities, water infrastructure, transportation on United 

11 States rivers and inland waterways, and water forecasting, 

12 work together where such agencies have joint or overlap13 ping responsibilities to— 

14 (1) improve interagency coordination by Fed15 eral agencies on water resource management and 

16 water-related infrastructure issues; 

17 (2) coordinate existing water-related Federal 

18 task forces, working groups, and other formal cross19 agency initiatives, as appropriate; 

20 (3) designate and consolidate repositories re21 sponsible for archiving and managing water-related 

22 matters; 

23 (4) improve interagency coordination of data 

24 management, access, modeling, and visualization 

25 with respect to water-related matters; 
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1 (5) conduct integrated planning for Federal in2 vestments in water-related infrastructure; and 

3 (6) support workforce development and efforts 

4 to recruit, train, and retain professionals to operate 

5 and maintain essential water facilities in the United 

6 States. 

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

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

9 this Act, the Committee shall develop and submit to Con10 gress a list of research needs that includes needs for cross11 agency research and coordination. 

12 SEC. 14. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HYDROLOGIC RE13 SEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES.—The term 

16 ‘‘decision support services’’ means information, in17 cluding data and refined products, that supports 

18 water resources-related decision-making processes. 

19 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

20 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

21 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High22 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)). 

23 (b) HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PRO24 GRAM.— 
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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary, 

2 acting through the Director of the National Weather 

3 Service (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Direc4 tor’’) shall establish a hydrologic research fellowship 

5 program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘pro6 gram’’) for qualified individuals. 

7 (2) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of 

8 this section, a qualified individual is an individual 

9 who is— 

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

11 (B) enrolled in a research-based graduate 

12 program, at an institution of higher education, 

13 in a field that advances the research priorities 

14 developed by the Under Secretary under para15 graph (7), such as— 

16 (i) hydrology; 

17 (ii) earth sciences; 

18 (iii) atmospheric sciences; 

19 (iv) computer sciences; 

20 (v) engineering; 

21 (vi) environmental sciences; 

22 (vii) geosciences; 

23 (viii) urban planning; or 

24 (ix) related social sciences. 
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1 (3) AWARD GUIDELINES.—Fellowships under 

2 the program shall be awarded pursuant to guidelines 

3 established by the Under Secretary. 

4 (4) SELECTION PREFERENCE.—In selecting 

5 qualified individuals for participation in the pro6 gram, the Under Secretary, acting through the Di7 rector, shall give preference to applicants from his8 torically Black colleges and universities and minor9 ity-serving institutions. 

10 (5) PLACEMENT.—The program shall support 

11 the placement of qualified individuals in positions 

12 within the executive branch of the Federal Govern13 ment where such individuals can address and ad14 vance the research priorities developed by the Under 

15 Secretary under paragraph (7). 

16 (6) FELLOWSHIP TERM.—A fellowship under 

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

18 (7) FELLOWSHIP RESEARCH PRIORITIES.—The 

19 Under Secretary, acting through the Director, and 

20 in consultation with representatives from the United 

21 States Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency 

22 Management Agency, and the Army Corps of Engi23 neers, as appropriate, shall develop and publish pri24 orities for the conduct of research by fellows, which 

25 may include the following: 
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†S 4462 ES

1 (A) Advance the collaborative development 

2 of a flexible community-based water resources 

3 modeling system. 

4 (B) Apply artificial intelligence and ma5 chine learning capabilities to advance existing 

6 hydrologic modeling capabilities. 

7 (C) Support the evolution and integration 

8 of hydrologic modeling within an Earth Systems 

9 Modeling Framework. 

10 (D) Improve visualizations of hydrologic 

11 model outputs. 

12 (E) Advance the state of coupled fresh13 water and salt water modeling and forecasting 

14 capabilities. 

15 (F) Advance understanding and process 

16 representation of water quality parameters. 

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

18 remotely sensed observations and data. 

19 (H) Support the integration of social 

20 science to advance decision support services. 

21 (I) Develop methods to study groundwater 

22 sustainability and estimate the efficiency of re23 charge management. 

24 (c) DIRECT HIRING.— 
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1 (1) AUTHORITY.—During fiscal year 2021 and 

2 any fiscal year thereafter, the head of any Federal 

3 agency may appoint, without regard to the provi4 sions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of 

6 that title, to a position with the Federal agency a re7 cipient of a fellowship under the program who— 

8 (A) earned a degree from a program de9 scribed in subsection (b)(2)(B); 

10 (B) successfully fulfilled the requirements 

11 of the fellowship within the executive branch of 

12 the Federal Government; and 

13 (C) meets qualification standards estab14 lished by the Office of Personnel Management. 

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

16 authority provided by this subsection shall be exer17 cised with respect to an individual described in para18 graph (1) not later than 2 years after the date on 

19 which the individual completed the fellowship under 

20 the program. 

21 SEC. 15. IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT OF CONSISTENT, 

22 FEDERAL SET OF FORWARD-LOOKING, LONG23 TERM METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION. 

24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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†S 4462 ES

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

2 weather’’ includes observed or anticipated severe and 

3 unseasonable atmospheric conditions, including 

4 drought, heavy precipitation, hurricanes, tornadoes 

5 and other windstorms (including derechos), extreme 

6 heat, extreme cold, flooding, sustained temperatures 

7 or precipitation that deviate substantially from his8 torical averages, and any other weather event that 

9 the Under Secretary determines qualifies as extreme 

10 weather. 

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

12 have such meaning as the Director of the National 

13 Institute of Standards and Technology, in consulta14 tion with the Under Secretary, considers appropriate 

15 for purposes of this section. 

16 (3) OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS.—The 

17 term ‘‘other environmental trends’’ means wildfires, 

18 coastal flooding, inland flooding, land subsidence, 

19 rising sea levels, and any other challenges relating to 

20 changes in environmental systems over time that the 

21 Under Secretary determines qualify as environ22 mental challenges other than extreme weather. 

23 (b) IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT OF CONSISTENT, 

24 FEDERAL SET OF FORWARD-LOOKING, LONG-TERM ME25 TEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION.—The Under Secretary 
32 

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1 shall identify, and support research that enables, a con2 sistent, Federal set of forward-looking, long-term meteoro3 logical information that models future extreme weather 

4 events, other environmental trends, projections, and up5 to-date observations, including mesoscale information as 

6 determined appropriate by the Under Secretary. 

7 SEC. 16. GAP ANALYSIS ON AVAILABILITY OF SNOW-RE8 LATED DATA TO ASSESS AND PREDICT 

9 FLOOD AND FLOOD IMPACTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in consulta11 tion with the Department of Agriculture, the Department 

12 of the Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers, shall 

13 conduct an analysis of gaps in the availability of snow14 related data to assess and predict floods and flood im15 pacts, including data on the following: 

16 (1) Snow water equivalent. 

17 (2) Snow depth. 

18 (3) Snowpack temperature. 

19 (4) Snow precipitation. 

20 (5) Snow melt. 

21 (6) Rain-snow line. 

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

23 of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall 

24 submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

25 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
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1 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep2 resentatives a report on— 

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

4 subsection (a); and 

5 (2) opportunities for additional collaboration 

6 among Federal agencies to collect snow-related data 

7 to better assess and predict floods and flood im8 pacts. 

9 SEC. 17. AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC OF FLOOD-RE10 LATED DATA. 

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

12 flood-related data available to the public on the website 

13 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

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

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

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

Passed the Senate November 16, 2020. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4462 

AN ACT 

To establish a national integrated flood information 

pheric Administration, and for other purposes. system within the National Oceanic and Atmos-