II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4444 

To require installation of a network of soil moisture and snowpack monitoring 

in the Upper Missouri River Basin and to establish a pilot program 

for the acquisition and use of data generated by that network, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2020 

Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To require installation of a network of soil moisture and 

snowpack monitoring in the Upper Missouri River Basin 

and to establish a pilot program for the acquisition and 

use of data generated by that network, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Missouri River Basin 

5 Drought and Snowpack Monitoring Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SOIL MOISTURE AND SNOWPACK MONITORING. 

7 (a) INSTALLATION OF NETWORK.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the ac2 tivities required under section 4003(a) of the Water 

3 Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 

4 (128 Stat. 1311; 130 Stat. 1677), and to support 

5 the goals of the Weather Research and Forecasting 

6 Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 

7 Stat. 91) and the National Integrated Drought In8 formation System Reauthorization Act of 2018 

9 (Public Law 115–423; 132 Stat. 5454), the Sec10 retary of the Army (referred to in this section as the 

11 ‘‘Secretary’’), in coordination with the Administrator 

12 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis13 tration (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Adminis14 trator’’), the Chief of the Natural Resources Con15 servation Service, the Director of the United States 

16 Geological Survey, and the Commissioner of Rec17 lamation, shall continue installation of a network of 

18 soil moisture and plains snowpack monitoring sta19 tions and modification of existing stations in the 

20 Upper Missouri River Basin. 

21 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out installa22 tion and modification activities under paragraph (1), 

23 the Secretary— 

24 (A) may continue to enter into agreements, 

25 including cooperative agreements, with State 


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1 mesonet programs for purposes of installing 

2 new stations or modifying existing stations; 

3 (B) shall transfer ownership and all re4 sponsibilities for operation and maintenance of 

5 new stations to the respective State mesonet 

6 program for the State in which the monitoring 

7 station is located on completion of installation 

8 of the station; and 

9 (C) shall establish, in consultation with the 

10 Administrator, requirements and standards for 

11 the installation of new stations and modification 

12 of existing stations to ensure seamless data in13 tegration into— 

14 (i) the National Mesonet Program; 

15 (ii) the National Coordinated Soil 

16 Moisture Network; and 

17 (iii) other relevant networks. 

18 (b) SOIL MOISTURE AND SNOWPACK MONITORING

19 PILOT PROGRAM.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad22 ministrator shall establish a pilot program for the 

23 acquisition and use of data generated by the network 

24 described in subsection (a). 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In establishing the pilot 

2 program under paragraph (1), the Administrator 

3 shall— 

4 (A) enter into agreements with State 

5 mesonet programs in the Upper Missouri River 

6 Basin to acquire data generated by the network 

7 described in subsection (a) that— 

8 (i) are similar to the agreements in ef9 fect as of the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act with States under the National Meso11 net Program; and 

12 (ii) allow for sharing of data with 

13 other Federal agencies and with institu14 tions engaged in federally supported re15 search, including the United States 

16 Drought Monitor, as appropriate and fea17 sible; 

18 (B) in coordination with the Secretary, the 

19 Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation 

20 Service, the Director of the United States Geo21 logical Survey, and the Commissioner of Rec22 lamation, gather data from the operation of the 

23 network to inform ongoing efforts of the Na24 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

25 in support of— 


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1 (i) the National Integrated Drought 

2 Information System, including the Na3 tional Coordinated Soil Moisture Moni4 toring Network; 

5 (ii) the United States Drought Mon6 itor; 

7 (iii) the National Water Model and 

8 other relevant national modeling efforts; 

9 (iv) validation, verification, and cali10 bration of satellite-based, in situ, and other 

11 remote sensing activities and output prod12 ucts; 

13 (v) flood risk and water resources 

14 monitoring initiatives by the Secretary and 

15 the Commissioner; and 

16 (vi) any other programs or initiatives 

17 the Administrator considers appropriate; 

18 and 

19 (C) at the request of State mesonet pro20 grams, or as the Administrator considers appro21 priate, provide technical assistance to such pro22 grams under the pilot program under para23 graph (1) to ensure proper data requirements; 

24 and 


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1 (D) ensure an appropriate mechanism for 

2 quality control and quality assurance is em3 ployed for the data acquired under the pilot 

4 program, such as the Meteorological Assimila5 tion Data Ingest System. 

6 (3) STUDY REQUIRED.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

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

9 Administrator shall initiate a study of the pilot 

10 program required by paragraph (1) to evaluate 

11 the data generated by the network described in 

12 subsection (a) and the applications of that data 

13 to programs and initiatives described in para14 graph (2)(B). 

15 (B) ELEMENTS.—The study required by 

16 subparagraph (A) shall include an assessment 

17 of— 

18 (i) the contribution of the soil mois19 ture, snowpack, and other relevant data 

20 generated by the network described in sub21 section (a) to weather, subseasonal and 

22 seasonal, and climate forecasting products 

23 on the local, regional, and national levels; 

24 (ii) the enhancements made to the 

25 National Integrated Drought Information 


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1 System, the National Water Model, and 

2 the United States Drought Monitor, and 

3 other relevant national modeling efforts, 

4 using data and derived data products gen5 erated by the network; 

6 (iii) the contribution of data gen7 erated by the network to remote sensing 

8 products and approaches; 

9 (iv) the viability of the ownership and 

10 operational structure of the network; and 

11 (v) any other matters the Adminis12 trator considers appropriate, in coordina13 tion with the Secretary, the Chief of the 

14 Natural Resources Conservation Service, 

15 the Director of the United States Geologi16 cal Survey, and the Commissioner of Rec17 lamation. 

18 (4) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 4 

19 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

20 Administrator shall submit to Congress a report— 

21 (A) setting forth the findings of the study 

22 required by paragraph (3); and 

23 (B) making recommendations based on 

24 those findings to improve weather, subseasonal, 

25 seasonal, and climate monitoring nationally. 


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1 (5) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

2 AUDIT.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

4 after the report required by paragraph (4) is 

5 submitted, the Comptroller General of the 

6 United States shall conduct an audit to evalu7 ate that report and determine whether— 

8 (i) the Administrator, in conducting 

9 the pilot program under paragraph (1), 

10 has utilized the relevant data generated by 

11 the network described in subsection (a) in 

12 the manner most beneficial to the pro13 grams and initiatives described in para14 graph (2)(B); 

15 (ii) the acquisition agreements entered 

16 into under paragraph (2)(A) with State 

17 mesonet programs fully comply with the 

18 requirements of that paragraph; and 

19 (iii) the heads of other agencies, in20 cluding the Secretary, the Chief of the 

21 Natural Resources Conservation Service, 

22 the Director of the United States Geologi23 cal Survey, and the Commissioner of Rec24 lamation, are utilizing the data generated 


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1 by the network to better inform and im2 prove the missions of those agencies. 

3 (B) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 

4 270 days after initiating the audit required by 

5 subparagraph (A), the Comptroller General 

6 shall submit to Congress a report setting forth 

7 the findings of the audit. 

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

10 appropriated— 

11 (A) to supplement funds already author12 ized for installation of a network of new moni13 toring stations and modification of existing 

14 monitoring stations in the Upper Missouri 

15 River Basin under subsection (a), $7,000,000 

16 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025; and 

17 (B) to the Administrator to acquire under 

18 subsection (b) data collected by the network de19 scribed in subsection (a)— 

20 (i) $500,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

21 (ii) $2,300,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

22 (iii) $4,100,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

23 (iv) $5,900,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

24 and 

25 (v) $7,900,000 for fiscal year 2025. 


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1 (2) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EX2 PENSES.—Not more than 2 percent of the amounts 

3 authorized to be appropriated under paragraph 

4 (1)(B) may be used by the Administrator for admin5 istrative expenses. 

Æ 


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