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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5599 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5599

To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to 
     conduct a project to improve forecasts of coastal marine fog.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            December 18 (legislative day, December 16), 2024

   Mr. Cruz introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to 
     conduct a project to improve forecasts of coastal marine fog.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fog Forecast Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. PROJECT TO IMPROVE FORECASTS OF COASTAL MARINE FOG.

    (a) In General.--The Under Secretary shall conduct a project to 
improve forecasts of coastal marine fog.
    (b) Goal.--The goal of the project required under subsection (a) is 
to enhance vessel safety and reduce the economic impact of coastal 
marine fog events, with a focus on--
            (1) increasing the number of marine-based observations 
        through additional Federal Government platforms and 
        commercially acquired observations in locations where impacts 
        from marine fog and reduced visibility have major safety and 
        economic impacts, including through the use of--
                    (A) buoys;
                    (B) meteorological stations measuring visibility, 
                temperature, dewpoint, and wind speed and direction as 
                a stand-alone or co-located with water level sensors, 
                such as those that are part of the physical 
                oceanographic observation system program of the 
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
                    (C) stationary platforms or drifting instruments;
                    (D) vessels;
                    (E) unmanned systems;
                    (F) remote sensing technologies, including rapid 
                refresh hyperspectral satellite imagery; and
                    (G) advanced algorithms that extract actionable 
                information from observational data, including early 
                detection and regular monitoring of marine fog;
            (2) advancing geographic coverage, resolution, skill, and 
        accuracy of marine fog modeling, including, when feasible, 
        additional locations and advancements in marine channel 
        forecast capability;
            (3) improving communication of marine fog advisories by the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
            (4) communicating risks posed by hazardous marine fog 
        events in a way that maximizes informed decision making by the 
        public; and
            (5) providing decision support services based on 
        environmental information that is actionable to the recipient 
        of a marine fog advisory.
    (c) Stakeholder Engagement.--In implementing the project required 
under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall meet with public and 
private stakeholders regarding the planning, development, and 
implementation of the project.
    (d) Project Plan.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall develop a plan for the 
project required under subsection (a) that details the specific 
research, development, and technology transfer activities, as well as 
corresponding resources and timelines, necessary to achieve the goal 
set forth under subsection (b).
    (e) Under Secretary Defined.--In this section, the term ``Under 
Secretary'' means the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 
Atmosphere.
                                 <all>
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