115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2200 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize the National Integrated Drought Information 

System, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Integrated 

3 Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 

4 2018’’. 

5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INTEGRATED DROUGHT INFORMATION 

6 SYSTEM PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the National Inte8 grated Drought Information System Act of 2006 (15 

9 U.S.C. 313d) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘in 

12 order to make usable, reliable, and timely fore13 casts of drought, including’’ and inserting ‘‘, in14 cluding precipitation, soil moisture, and evapo15 rative demand, in order to make usable, reli16 able, and timely forecasts of drought and’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘water18 shed,’’ after ‘‘regional,’’; 

19 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

20 (i) by inserting ‘‘, through interagency 

21 agreements’’ after ‘‘integrate’’; and 

22 (ii) by inserting ‘‘information’’ after 

23 ‘‘warning’’; 

24 (D) by amending paragraph (5) to read as 

25 follows: 
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1 ‘‘(5) utilize existing forecasting and assessment 

2 programs and partnerships, including forecast com3 munication coordinators and cooperative institutes, 

4 and improvements in seasonal precipitation and tem5 perature, subseasonal precipitation and temperature, 

6 and low flow water prediction; and’’; and 

7 (E) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘the 

8 prediction,’’ after ‘‘relating to’’; 

9 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) 

10 as subsections (d) through (f), respectively; 

11 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(c) PARTNERSHIPS.—The National Integrated 

14 Drought Information System may— 

15 ‘‘(1) engage with the private sector to improve 

16 drought monitoring, forecast, and communication if 

17 the Under Secretary determines the partnership is 

18 appropriate, cost-effective, and beneficial to the pub19 lic and decisionmakers described in subsection 

20 (b)(2)(A); 

21 ‘‘(2) facilitate the development of 1 or more 

22 academic cooperative partnerships to assist with Na23 tional Integrated Drought Information System func24 tions; and 
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1 ‘‘(3) utilize and support, as appropriate, moni2 toring by citizen scientists, including by developing 

3 best practices to facilitate maximum data integra4 tion.’’; 

5 (4) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by insert6 ing ‘‘and sustainment’’ after ‘‘development’’; and 

7 (5) by striking subsection (f), as redesignated, 

8 and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(f) SOIL MOISTURE.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of enactment of the National Integrated Drought 

11 Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018, the 

12 Under Secretary, acting through the National Integrated 

13 Drought Information System, shall develop a strategy for 

14 a national coordinated soil moisture monitoring network.’’. 

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

16 4 of the National Integrated Drought Information System 

17 Act of 2006 (15 U.S.C. 313d note) is amended to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

21 this Act— 

22 ‘‘(1) $13,500,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

23 ‘‘(2) $13,750,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

24 ‘‘(3) $14,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

25 ‘‘(4) $14,250,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 
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1 ‘‘(5) $14,500,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

2 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF TITLE II OF THE WEATHER 

3 RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVATION 

4 ACT OF 2017. 

5 (a) REAUTHORIZATION OF TITLE II OF THE WEATH6 ER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVATION ACT OF

7 2017.—Section 1762 of the Food Security Act of 1985 

8 (15 U.S.C. 8521) is amended— 

9 (1) by amending subsection (j) to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the activi13 ties under this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) $26,500,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

15 ‘‘(2) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

16 ‘‘(3) $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

17 ‘‘(4) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

18 ‘‘(5) $28,500,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(k) DERIVATION OF FUNDS.—Amounts made avail21 able to carry out this section shall be derived from 

22 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to the 

23 National Weather Service.’’. 

24 (b) UNITED STATES WEATHER RESEARCH AND

25 FORECASTING IMPROVEMENT.—Section 110 of the 
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1 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 

2 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8519) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 110. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap5 propriated to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Re6 search to carry out this title— 

7 ‘‘(1) $136,516,000 for fiscal year 2019, of 

8 which— 

9 ‘‘(A) $85,758,000 is authorized for weath10 er laboratories and cooperative institutes; 

11 ‘‘(B) $30,758,000 is authorized for weath12 er and air chemistry research programs; and 

13 ‘‘(C) $20,000,000 is authorized for the 

14 joint technology transfer initiative described in 

15 section 102(b)(4); 

16 ‘‘(2) $148,154,000 for fiscal year 2020, of 

17 which— 

18 ‘‘(A) $87,258,000 is authorized for weath19 er laboratories and cooperative institutes; 

20 ‘‘(B) $40,896,000 is authorized for weath21 er and air chemistry research programs; and 

22 ‘‘(C) $20,000,000 is authorized for the 

23 joint technology transfer initiative described in 

24 section 102(b)(4); 
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1 ‘‘(3) $150,154,000 for fiscal year 2021, of 

2 which— 

3 ‘‘(A) $88,758,000 is authorized for weath4 er laboratories and cooperative institutes; 

5 ‘‘(B) $41,396,000 is authorized for weath6 er and air chemistry research programs; and 

7 ‘‘(C) $20,000,000 is authorized for the 

8 joint technology transfer initiative described in 

9 section 102(b)(4); 

10 ‘‘(4) $152,154,000 for fiscal year 2022, of 

11 which— 

12 ‘‘(A) $90,258,000 is authorized for weath13 er laboratories and cooperative institutes; 

14 ‘‘(B) $41,896,000 is authorized for weath15 er and air chemistry research programs; and 

16 ‘‘(C) $20,000,000 is authorized for the 

17 joint technology transfer initiative described in 

18 section 102(b)(4); and 

19 ‘‘(5) $154,154,000 for fiscal year 2023, of 

20 which— 

21 ‘‘(A) $91,758,000 is authorized for weath22 er laboratories and cooperative institutes; 

23 ‘‘(B) $42,396,000 is authorized for weath24 er and air chemistry research programs; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) $20,000,000 is authorized for the 

2 joint technology transfer initiative described in 

3 section 102(b)(4). 

4 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—No additional funds are author5 ized to carry out this title and the amendments made by 

6 this title.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. EARTH PREDICTION INNOVATION CENTER. 

8 (a) WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNO9 VATION.—Section 102(b) of the Weather Research and 

10 Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)) 

11 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) Advancing weather modeling skill, reclaim13 ing and maintaining international leadership in the 

14 area of numerical weather prediction, and improving 

15 the transition of research into operations by— 

16 ‘‘(A) leveraging the weather enterprise to 

17 provide expertise on removing barriers to im18 proving numerical weather prediction; 

19 ‘‘(B) enabling scientists and engineers to 

20 effectively collaborate in areas important for 

21 improving operational global numerical weather 

22 prediction skill, including model development, 

23 data assimilation techniques, systems architec24 ture integration, and computational efficiencies; 
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1 ‘‘(C) strengthening the National Oceanic 

2 and Atmospheric Administration’s ability to un3 dertake research projects in pursuit of substan4 tial advancements in weather forecast skill; 

5 ‘‘(D) utilizing and leverage existing re6 sources across the National Oceanic and Atmos7 pheric Administration enterprise; and 

8 ‘‘(E) creating a community global weather 

9 research modeling system that— 

10 ‘‘(i) is accessible by the public; 

11 ‘‘(ii) meets basic end-user require12 ments for running on public computers 

13 and networks located outside of secure Na14 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis15 tration information and technology sys16 tems; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) utilizes, whenever appropriate 

18 and cost-effective, innovative strategies and 

19 methods, including cloud-based computing 

20 capabilities, for hosting and management 

21 of part or all of the system described in 

22 this subsection.’’. 

23 (b) UNITED STATES WEATHER RESEARCH PRO24 GRAM.—Section 108(a) of the National Oceanic and At-
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1 mospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 

2 U.S.C. 8520(a)) is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

4 inserting a semi-colon; 

5 (2) in paragraph (11), by striking the period at 

6 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘(12) carry out the activities of the Earth Pre9 diction Innovation Center as described in section 

10 102(b)(2) of the Weather Research and Forecasting 

11 Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)(2)).’’. 

12 SEC. 5. COMPUTING RESOURCES PRIORITIZATION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 108 of the Weather Re14 search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

15 8518) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 108. COMPUTING RESOURCE EFFICIENCY IMPROVE17 MENT AND ANNUAL REPORT. 

18 ‘‘(a) COMPUTING RESOURCES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In acquiring computing ca20 pabilities, including high performance computing 

21 technologies and supercomputing technologies, that 

22 enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad23 ministration to meet its mission requirements, the 

24 Under Secretary shall, when appropriate and cost-ef25 fective, assess and prioritize options for entering into 
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1 multi-year lease agreements for computing capabili2 ties over options for purchasing computing hardware 

3 outright. 

4 ‘‘(2) ACQUISITION.—In carrying out the re5 quirements of paragraph (1), the Under Secretary 

6 shall structure multi-year lease agreements in such 

7 a manner that the expiration of the lease is set for 

8 a date on or around— 

9 ‘‘(A) the expected degradation point of the 

10 computing resources; or 

11 ‘‘(B) the point at which significantly in12 creased computing capabilities are expected to 

13 be available for lease. 

14 ‘‘(3) PILOT PROGRAMS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In order to more effi16 ciently and effectively meet the mission require17 ments of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

18 Administration, the Under Secretary may cre19 ate 1 or more pilot programs for assessing new 

20 or innovative information and technology capa21 bilities and services. 

22 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Any 

23 program created under paragraph (3) shall as24 sess only those capabilities and services that— 
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1 ‘‘(i) meet or exceed the standards and 

2 requirements of the National Oceanic and 

3 Atmospheric Administration, including for 

4 processing speed, cybersecurity, and overall 

5 reliability; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) meet or exceed, or are expected 

7 to meet or exceed, the performance of simi8 lar, in-house information and technology 

9 capabilities and services that are owned 

10 and operated by the National Oceanic and 

11 Atmospheric Administration prior to the 

12 establishment of the pilot program. 

13 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA14 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated, 

15 out of funds appropriated to the National Envi16 ronmental Satellite, Data, and Information 

17 Service, to carry out this paragraph $5,000,000 

18 for fiscal year 2019, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 

19 2020, and $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

20 2021 through 2023, to remain available until 

21 expended. 

22 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

23 of enactment of the National Integrated Drought Informa24 tion System Reauthorization Act of 2018, and triennially 

25 thereafter until the date that is 6 years after the date on 
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1 which the first report is submitted, the Under Secretary, 

2 acting through the Chief Information Officer of the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and in co4 ordination with the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic 

5 and Atmospheric Research and the Director of the Na6 tional Weather Service, shall produce and make publicly 

7 available a report that explains how the Under Secretary 

8 intends— 

9 ‘‘(1) to continually support upgrades to pursue 

10 the fastest, most powerful, and cost-effective high 

11 performance computing technologies in support of 

12 its weather prediction mission; 

13 ‘‘(2) to ensure a balance between the research 

14 to operations requirements to develop the next gen15 eration of regional and global models as well as 

16 highly reliable operational models; 

17 ‘‘(3) to take advantage of advanced develop18 ment concepts to, as appropriate, make next genera19 tion weather prediction models available in beta-test 

20 mode to operational forecasters, the United States 

21 weather industry, and partners in academic and 

22 Government research; 

23 ‘‘(4) to use existing computing resources to im24 prove advanced research and operational weather 

25 prediction; 
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1 ‘‘(5) to utilize non-Federal contracts to obtain 

2 the necessary expertise for advanced weather com3 puting, if appropriate; 

4 ‘‘(6) to utilize cloud computing; and 

5 ‘‘(7) to create a long-term strategy to transition 

6 the programming language of weather model code to 

7 current and broadly-used coding language.’’. 

8 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—Section 1(b) of the 

9 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 

10 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 91) is amended by 

11 striking the item relating to section 108 and inserting the 

12 following: 

‘‘Sec. 108. Computing resource efficiency improvement and annual report.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. SATELLITE ARCHITECTURE PLANNING. 

14 Section 301 of the Weather Research and Fore15 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8531) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(c) NEXT GENERATION SATELLITE ARCHITEC18 TURE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

20 analyze, test, and plan the procurement of future 

21 data sources and satellite architectures, including re22 spective ground system elements, identified in the 

23 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 

24 Satellite Observing System Architecture Study 

25 that— 
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1 ‘‘(A) lower the cost of observations used to 

2 meet the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

3 Administration’s mission requirements; 

4 ‘‘(B) disaggregate current satellite sys5 tems, where appropriate; 

6 ‘‘(C) include new, value-adding techno7 logical advancements; and 

8 ‘‘(D) improve weather forecasting and pre9 dictions. 

10 ‘‘(2) QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENTS AND PART11 NERSHIP AUTHORITY.—In meeting the requirements 

12 described in paragraph (1), the Under Secretary— 

13 ‘‘(A) may partner with the commercial and 

14 academic sectors, non-governmental and not15 for-profit organizations, and other Federal 

16 agencies; and 

17 ‘‘(B) shall, consistent with section 107 of 

18 this Act, undertake quantitative assessments for 

19 objective analyses, as the Under Secretary con20 siders appropriate, to evaluate relative value 

21 and benefits of future data sources and satellite 

22 architectures described in paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL FORMS OF TRANSACTION AUTHOR24 IZED.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

2 in order to enhance the effectiveness of data and 

3 satellite systems used by the National Oceanic and 

4 Atmospheric Administration to meet its missions, 

5 the Under Secretary may enter into and perform 

6 such transaction agreements on such terms as the 

7 Under Secretary considers appropriate to carry out 

8 basic, applied, and advanced research projects to 

9 meet the objectives described in subparagraphs (A) 

10 through (D) subsection (c)(1). 

11 ‘‘(2) METHOD AND SCOPE.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A transaction agree13 ment under paragraph (1) shall be limited to 

14 research and development activities. 

15 ‘‘(B) PERMISSIBLE USES.—A transaction 

16 agreement under paragraph (1) may be used— 

17 ‘‘(i) for the construction, use, oper18 ation, or procurement of new, improved, 

19 innovative, or value-adding satellites, in20 strumentation, ground stations, and data; 

21 ‘‘(ii) to make determinations on how 

22 to best use existing or planned data, sys23 tems, and assets of the National Oceanic 

24 and Atmospheric Administration; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) only when the objectives of the 

2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin3 istration cannot be met using a cooperative 

4 research and development agreement, 

5 grants procurement contract, or coopera6 tive agreement. 

7 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS.—The 

8 authority provided in this subsection terminates ef9 fective September 30, 2023. 

10 ‘‘(e) TRANSPARENCY.—Not later than 60 days after 

11 the date that a transaction agreement is made under sub12 section (d), the Under Secretary shall make publicly avail13 able, in a searchable format, on the website of the Na14 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration all uses 

15 of the authority under subsection (d), including an esti16 mate of committed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad17 ministration resources and the expected benefits to Na18 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration objectives 

19 for the transaction agreement, with appropriate redactions 

20 for proprietary, sensitive, or classified information. 

21 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

23 after September 30 of each fiscal year through Sep24 tember 30, 2023, the Under Secretary shall submit 

25 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
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1 portation of the Senate and the Committee on 

2 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

3 Representatives a report on the use of additional 

4 transaction authority by the National Oceanic and 

5 Atmospheric Administration during the previous fis6 cal year. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report shall include— 

8 ‘‘(A) for each transaction agreement in ef9 fect during the fiscal year covered by the re10 port— 

11 ‘‘(i) an indication of whether the 

12 transaction agreement is a reimbursable, 

13 non-reimbursable, or funded agreement; 

14 ‘‘(ii) a description of— 

15 ‘‘(I) the subject and terms; 

16 ‘‘(II) the parties; 

17 ‘‘(III) the responsible National 

18 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra19 tion line office; 

20 ‘‘(IV) the value; 

21 ‘‘(V) the extent of the cost shar22 ing among Federal Government and 

23 non-Federal sources; 

24 ‘‘(VI) the duration or schedule; 

25 and 
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1 ‘‘(VII) all milestones; 

2 ‘‘(iii) an indication of whether the 

3 transaction agreement was renewed during 

4 the previous fiscal year; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the technology areas in which re6 search projects were conducted under that 

7 agreement; 

8 ‘‘(v) the extent to which the use of 

9 that agreement— 

10 ‘‘(I) has contributed to a broad11 ening of the technology and industrial 

12 base available for meeting National 

13 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra14 tion needs; and 

15 ‘‘(II) has fostered within the 

16 technology and industrial base new re17 lationships and practices that support 

18 the United States; and 

19 ‘‘(vi) the total value received by the 

20 Federal Government under that agreement 

21 for that fiscal year; and 

22 ‘‘(B) a list of all anticipated reimbursable, 

23 non-reimbursable, and funded transaction 

24 agreements for the upcoming fiscal year. 
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1 ‘‘(g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion may be construed as limiting the authority of the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to use co4 operative research and development agreements, grants, 

5 procurement contracts, or cooperative agreements.’’. 

6 SEC. 7. INTEGRATION OF OCEAN AND COASTAL DATA FROM 

7 THE INTEGRATED OCEAN OBSERVING SYS8 TEM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(2) of the Weather 

10 Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 

11 U.S.C. 8531(a)(2)) is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

13 and inserting a semicolon; 

14 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

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

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

17 ‘‘(C) support increasing use of autono18 mous, mobile surface, sub-surface, and sub19 marine vehicle ocean and fresh water sensor 

20 systems and the infrastructure necessary to 

21 share and analyze these data in real-time and 

22 feed them into predictive early warning sys23 tems.’’. 

24 (b) COMMERCIAL WEATHER DATA; AUTHORIZATION

25 OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 302(c)(3) of the Weather 
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1 Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 

2 U.S.C. 8532(c)(3)) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘2017 through 2020’’ and in4 serting ‘‘2019 through 2023’’; and 

5 (2) by inserting ‘‘the’’ before ‘‘National’’. 

6 SEC. 8. IMPROVEMENTS TO COOPERATIVE OBSERVER PRO7 GRAM OF NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of Com9 merce for Oceans and Atmosphere, acting through the Na10 tional Weather Service, shall improve the Cooperative Ob11 server Program by— 

12 (1) providing support to— 

13 (A) State-coordinated programs relating to 

14 the Program; and 

15 (B) States and regions where observations 

16 provided through the Program are scarce; 

17 (2) working with State weather service head18 quarters to increase participation in the Program 

19 and to add stations in States and regions described 

20 in paragraph (1)(B); 

21 (3) where feasible, ensuring that data streams 

22 from stations that have been contributing data to 

23 the Program for more than 50 years are maintained 

24 and continually staffed by volunteers; 
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1 (4) prioritizing the recruitment of new volun2 teers for the Program; 

3 (5) ensuring that opportunities exist for auto4 mated reporting to lessen the burden on volunteers 

5 to collect and report data by hand; and 

6 (6) ensuring that integrated reporting is avail7 able for qualitative observations that cannot be auto8 mated, such as drought conditions, snow observa9 tions, and hazardous weather events, to ensure that 

10 volunteers in the Program can report and upload ob11 servations quickly and easily. 

12 (b) COORDINATION WITH STATES AND REGIONS.— 

13 Not less frequently than every 180 days, the National 

14 Weather Service shall coordinate with State and regional 

15 offices with respect to the status of Cooperative Observer 

16 Program stations. 

17 (c) COORDINATION WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

18 National Weather Service shall coordinate with other Fed19 eral agencies, including the Forest Service, the Depart20 ment of Agriculture, and the United States Geological 

21 Survey, to leverage opportunities to grow the Cooperative 

22 Observer Program network and to more effectively use ex23 isting infrastructure, weather stations, and staff of the 

24 Program. 
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1 SEC. 9. HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM AND HYPOXIA RESEARCH 

2 AND CONTROL. 

3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

4 ‘‘Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control 

5 Amendments Act of 2017’’. 

6 (b) REFERENCES TO THE HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM

7 AND HYPOXIA RESEARCH AND CONTROL ACT OF 1998.— 

8 Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in this 

9 section an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of 

10 an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi11 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

12 section or other provision of the Harmful Algal Bloom and 

13 Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 

14 4001 et seq.). 

15 (c) INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCE.—Section 603(a) 

16 (33 U.S.C. 4001(a)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

18 end; 

19 (2) by redesignating paragraph (13) as para20 graph (14); and 

21 (3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(13) the Army Corps of Engineers; and’’. 

24 (d) SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENTS OF FRESHWATER

25 HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS.—Section 603 (33 U.S.C. 

26 4001) is amended— 
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1 (1) by striking subsection (f); 

2 (2) by redesignating subsections (g), (h), (i), 

3 and (j) as subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i), respec4 tively; and 

5 (3) by amending subsection (g) to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(g) SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENTS OF MARINE AND

8 FRESHWATER HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS.—Not less than 

9 once every 5 years the Task Force shall complete and sub10 mit to Congress a scientific assessment of harmful algal 

11 blooms in United States coastal waters and freshwater 

12 systems. Each assessment shall examine both marine and 

13 freshwater harmful algal blooms, including those in the 

14 Great Lakes and upper reaches of estuaries, those in 

15 freshwater lakes and rivers, and those that originate in 

16 freshwater lakes or rivers and migrate to coastal waters.’’. 

17 (e) NATIONAL HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM AND HY18 POXIA PROGRAM.— 

19 (1) PROGRAM DUTIES.—Section 603A(e) (33 

20 U.S.C. 4002(e)) is amended— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in22 cluding to local and regional stakeholders 

23 through the establishment and maintenance of 

24 a publicly accessible Internet website that pro-
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1 vides information as to Program activities com2 pleted under this section’’ after ‘‘Program’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; 

5 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 

7 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end; and 

8 (iii) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(D) to accelerate the utilization of effec11 tive methods of intervention and mitigation to 

12 reduce the frequency, severity, and impacts of 

13 harmful algal bloom and hypoxia events;’’; 

14 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and 

15 work cooperatively with’’ and inserting ‘‘, and 

16 work cooperatively to provide technical assist17 ance to,’’; and 

18 (D) in paragraph (7)— 

19 (i) by inserting ‘‘and extension’’ after 

20 ‘‘existing education’’; and 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘intervention,’’ after 

22 ‘‘awareness of the causes, impacts,’’. 

23 (2) NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC AD24 MINISTRATION ACTIVITIES.—Section 603A(f) (33 

25 U.S.C. 4002(f)) is amended— 
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1 (A) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, which 

2 shall include unmanned systems,’’ after ‘‘infra3 structure’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

5 the end; 

6 (C) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking the 

7 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

8 and 

9 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(7) use cost effective methods in carrying out 

11 this Act; and 

12 ‘‘(8) develop contingency plans for the long13 term monitoring of hypoxia.’’. 

14 (f) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—Section 102 of the 

15 Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 

16 2004 (33 U.S.C. 4001a) is amended by striking ‘‘the 

17 amendments made by this title’’ and inserting ‘‘the Harm18 ful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act 

19 of 1998’’. 

20 (g) HYPOXIA OR HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM OF NA21 TIONAL SIGNIFICANCE.— 

22 (1) RELIEF.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon a determination 

24 under paragraph (2) that there is an event of 

25 national significance, the appropriate Federal 
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1 official is authorized to make sums available to 

2 the affected State or local government for the 

3 purposes of assessing and mitigating the detri4 mental environmental, economic, subsistence 

5 use, and public health effects of the event of 

6 national significance. 

7 (B) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share 

8 of the cost of any activity carried out under this 

9 paragraph for the purposes described in sub10 paragraph (A) may not exceed 50 percent of 

11 the cost of that activity. 

12 (C) DONATIONS.—Notwithstanding any 

13 other provision of law, an appropriate Federal 

14 official may accept donations of funds, services, 

15 facilities, materials, or equipment that the ap16 propriate Federal official considers necessary 

17 for the purposes described in subparagraph (A). 

18 Any funds donated to an appropriate Federal 

19 official under this paragraph may be expended 

20 without further appropriation and without fiscal 

21 year limitation. 

22 (2) DETERMINATIONS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion of an 

24 appropriate Federal official, or at the request of 

25 the Governor of an affected State, an appro-
28 

†S 2200 ES

1 priate Federal official shall determine whether a 

2 hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event is an 

3 event of national significance. 

4 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a de5 termination under subparagraph (A), the ap6 propriate Federal official shall consider the tox7 icity of the harmful algal bloom, the severity of 

8 the hypoxia, its potential to spread, the eco9 nomic impact, the relative size in relation to the 

10 past 5 occurrences of harmful algal blooms or 

11 hypoxia events that occur on a recurrent or an12 nual basis, and the geographic scope, including 

13 the potential to affect several municipalities, to 

14 affect more than 1 State, or to cross an inter15 national boundary. 

16 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

17 (A) APPROPRIATE FEDERAL OFFICIAL.— 

18 The term ‘‘appropriate Federal official’’ 

19 means— 

20 (i) in the case of a marine or coastal 

21 hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event, the 

22 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans 

23 and Atmosphere; and 

24 (ii) in the case of a freshwater hy25 poxia or harmful algal bloom event, the 
29 

†S 2200 ES

1 Administrator of the Environmental Pro2 tection Agency. 

3 (B) EVENT OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE.— 

4 The term ‘‘event of national significance’’ 

5 means a hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event 

6 that has had or will likely have a significant 

7 detrimental environmental, economic, subsist8 ence use, or public health impact on an affected 

9 State. 

10 (C) HYPOXIA OR HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM

11 EVENT.—The term ‘‘hypoxia or harmful algal 

12 bloom event’’ means the occurrence of hypoxia 

13 or a harmful algal bloom as a result of a nat14 ural, anthropogenic, or undetermined cause. 

15 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

16 609(a) (33 U.S.C. 4009(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, 

17 and $20,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 

18 2023’’ before the period at the end. 

Passed the Senate December 18, 2018. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2200 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize the National Integrated Drought 

Information System, and for other purposes.