II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4907 

To improve weather research and forecasting by the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2024 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; 

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

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve weather research and forecasting by 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forecasting Optimiza5 tion for Robust Earth Climate Analysis and Subseasonal6 to-Seasonal Tracking Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘FORECASTS 

7 Tracking Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO WEATHER RESEARCH AND 

2 FORECASTING. 

3 (a) IMPROVEMENTS TO SUBSEASONAL-TO-SEASONAL

4 FORECASTING.—Section 1762 of the Food Security Act 

5 of 1985 (15 U.S.C. 8521) is amended— 

6 (1) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary and 

10 the heads of such other programs of the National 

11 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the 

12 Under Secretary considers appropriate, shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) conduct and support fundamental re14 search to improve understanding of the sources 

15 and limitations of season-to-season predict16 ability for temperature, precipitation, and other 

17 Earth system variables and applications; 

18 ‘‘(B) collect and utilize observational data 

19 across the Earth system and other information 

20 in order to make usable, reliable, and timely 

21 foundational forecasts of subseasonal-to-sea22 sonal temperature and precipitation; 

23 ‘‘(C) prioritize the advancement of multi24 model ensemble forecast systems and forecast 

25 verification and evaluation capacity, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the development of advanced cou2 pled data assimilation methods using ro3 bust Earth system observational data; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the development of improved cou5 pled subseasonal-to-seasonal ensemble pre6 diction systems; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the improvement of exchanges 

8 and interactions between datasets across 

9 different models and Earth system obser10 vations to better understand local relation11 ships between and drivers of ocean, land, 

12 snow, and ice observations; 

13 ‘‘(iv) the provision of additional re14 sources for the research and development 

15 of multi-model ensemble forecasts for pur16 poses of advanced forecast modeling; and 

17 ‘‘(v) the development of data manage18 ment strategies to support operations and 

19 research activities; 

20 ‘‘(D) leverage existing research and models 

21 from the weather and Earth system enterprises 

22 to improve the forecasts under subparagraph 

23 (B); 

24 ‘‘(E) accelerate the operationalization of 

25 emerging modeling technologies developed withVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Aug 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4907.IS S4907

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1 in the research community, including pursuant 

2 to collaborations with other agencies and enti3 ties, as determined appropriate through in4 creased funding for activities under section 

5 102(b)(5) of the Weather Research and Fore6 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

7 8512(b)(5)), to support and assist the cross de8 velopment of fully coupled subseasonal-to- sea9 sonal forecast systems; 

10 ‘‘(F) determine and provide information on 

11 how the subseasonal-to-seasonal temperature 

12 and precipitation, as forecasted under subpara13 graph (B) may relate to— 

14 ‘‘(i) the number and severity of 

15 droughts, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, 

16 floods, heat waves, marine heat waves, 

17 coastal inundation, winter storms, high-im18 pact weather, or other relevant natural dis19 asters; 

20 ‘‘(ii) snowpack; 

21 ‘‘(iii) sea ice conditions; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) permafrost thaw and increased 

23 microbial decomposition; and 

24 ‘‘(G) develop an Internet clearinghouse to 

25 provide the forecasts under subparagraph (B) 


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1 and the information under subparagraphs (B) 

2 and (F) on both national and regional levels. 

3 ‘‘(2) EARTH SYSTEM DEFINED.—In this sub4 section, the term ‘Earth system’ includes atmos5 phere, ocean, terrestrial, ice, and related processes, 

6 and data that influence or drive subseasonal-to-sea7 sonal weather and climate.’’; and 

8 (2) by amending subsection (j) to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

12 appropriated to the Under Secretary, for each of fis13 cal years 2025 and 2026— 

14 ‘‘(A) $50,300,000 to carry out this section; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) for activities under section 102(b)(5) 

17 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Inno18 vation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)(5)) pur19 suant to subsection (c)(5), such sums as may be 

20 necessary to carry out such subsection. 

21 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts appropriated 

22 pursuant to an authorization under paragraph 

23 (1)(B) shall be used for the designated responsibil24 ities of the modeling team of the National Oceanic 

25 and Atmospheric Administration within the Earth 


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1 Prediction Innovation Center, including activities 

2 that fall under the following focus areas: 

3 ‘‘(A) High-performance computing. 

4 ‘‘(B) Scientific innovation. 

5 ‘‘(C) Management and planning. 

6 ‘‘(D) External engagement and commu7 nity.’’. 

8 (b) WEATHER AND EARTH SYSTEM MODELING AND

9 DATA ASSIMILATION WORKFORCE INNOVATION PRO10 GRAM.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Weather Re12 search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 

13 U.S.C. 8541 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 415. WEATHER AND EARTH SYSTEM MODELING AND 

16 DATA ASSIMILATION WORKFORCE INNOVA17 TION PROGRAM. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall es19 tablish a program, to be known as the ‘Weather and Earth 

20 System Modeling and Data Assimilation Workforce Inno21 vation Program’ (in this section referred to as the ‘pro22 gram’). 

23 ‘‘(b) EDUCATION AND RECRUITMENT.—In carrying 

24 out the program, the Under Secretary shall support the 

25 education and recruitment of personnel and establish a set 


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1 of new workforce development programs to develop path2 ways for next-generation researchers, engineers, and prac3 titioners who are skilled in and can operate or develop 

4 weather and Earth system technologies that exploit and 

5 advance emerging computing architectures, artificial intel6 ligence and machine learning, and next-generation data 

7 assimilation and observing systems, including through fi8 nancial assistance for scholarships, fellowships, and re9 search at institutions of higher education in areas relevant 

10 to improvement of data assimilation systems and weather 

11 and Earth system data modeling capabilities. 

12 ‘‘(c) HUMAN CAPITAL PLANNING.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro14 gram, the Under Secretary shall develop and, on an 

15 annual basis, revise a data assimilation and weather 

16 and Earth system modeling workforce human capital 

17 plan that identifies workforce needs to facilitate in18 novation in emerging weather technologies and data 

19 assimilation systems, including by identifying gaps 

20 in funding and expertise, hiring challenges, and poli21 cies to mitigate turnover that will help avoid mid22 project staffing changes. 

23 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—The Under Sec24 retary shall submit the data assimilation and weath25 er and Earth system modeling workforce human 


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1 capital plan required under paragraph (1), and any 

2 revision to that plan, to the Secretary of Commerce 

3 and the Director of the Office of Management and 

4 Budget. 

5 ‘‘(3) USE OF PLANS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary 

7 shall use the data assimilation and weather and 

8 Earth system modeling workforce human cap9 ital plans required under paragraph (1) to carry 

10 out the education and recruitment required 

11 under subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(B) PATHWAYS TO HIRING.—In carrying 

13 out the data assimilation and weather and 

14 Earth system modeling workforce human cap15 ital plan required under paragraph (1), the 

16 Under Secretary may use the pathways pro17 grams established under part 362 of title 5, 

18 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 

19 program), to facilitate the recruitment and hir20 ing of personnel for data assimilation and 

21 weather and Earth system modeling activities. 

22 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE FUNDS.—If the 

23 Under Secretary, in preparing the data assimilation 

24 and weather and Earth system modeling workforce 

25 human capital plan pursuant to paragraph (1), idenVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Aug 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4907.IS S4907

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1 tifies workforce gaps for the data assimilation and 

2 weather and Earth system modeling processes of the 

3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

4 the Under Secretary may— 

5 ‘‘(A) use funds made available to the Ad6 ministration to carry out such plan; and 

7 ‘‘(B) establish agreements and awards with 

8 institutions of higher education or nonprofit en9 tities to facilitate the integration of innovative 

10 data assimilation and weather and Earth sys11 tem modeling technologies and systems into the 

12 larger weather enterprise. 

13 ‘‘(d) UPDATES TO DIRECT HIRING AUTHORITY.— 

14 The Under Secretary, acting through the Director of the 

15 Office of Human Capital Services, shall make necessary 

16 updates to the eligibility requirements for the direct hiring 

17 authority program of the National Oceanic and Atmos18 pheric Administration to include the program, the Weath19 er Program Office Innovation for Next Generation Sci20 entists Dissertation Fellowship, the Consortium for Ad21 vanced Data Assimilation Research and Education, and 

22 any other fellowship or internship programs determined 

23 by the Under Secretary to be relevant to the weather en24 terprise. 


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1 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the ini2 tial date on which the Under Secretary provides funds 

3 under subsection (c)(4) to an institution of higher edu4 cation or a nonprofit entity, the Under Secretary shall, 

5 using information about the program collected from any 

6 such institution or entity in receipt of those funds, submit 

7 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor8 tation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 

9 and Technology of the House of Representatives a report 

10 on the effectiveness and impact of those funds in improv11 ing the quality and preparedness of the weather and Earth 

12 system modeling and data assimilation workforce. 

13 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) EARTH SYSTEM.—The term ‘Earth sys15 tem’ includes atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial, ice, and 

16 related processes, and data that influence or drive 

17 subseasonal-to-seasonal weather and climate. 

18 ‘‘(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

19 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

20 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High21 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

22 ‘‘(3) NONPROFIT ENTITY.—The term ‘nonprofit 

23 entity’ has the meaning given that term in section 

24 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National 


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1 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 

2 U.S.C. 4651). 

3 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the pro5 gram $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 

6 2030.’’. 

7 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con8 tents in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and 

9 Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 

10 115–25; 131 Stat. 91) is amended by inserting after 

11 the item relating to section 414 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 415. Weather and Earth System Modeling and Data Assimilation Workforce Innovation Program.’’. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

13 110(a) of the Weather Research Forecasting and Innova14 tion Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8519(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (4)(C), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

16 and inserting a semicolon; 

17 (2) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking the period 

18 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(6) $263,032,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

21 and 2026, of which— 

22 ‘‘(A) $171,516,000 is authorized for 

23 weather laboratories and cooperative institutes; 


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1 ‘‘(B) $51,516,000 is authorized for weath2 er and air chemistry research programs; and 

3 ‘‘(C) $40,000,000 is authorized for the 

4 joint technology transfer initiative described in 

5 section 102(b)(4).’’. 

Æ 


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