II 

Calendar No. 424 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2200 

[Report No. 115–256] 

To reauthorize the National Integrated Drought Information System, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 6, 2017 

Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mr. NELSON, and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

MAY 22, 2018 

Reported by Mr. THUNE, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

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, subseasonal, and low 

5 flow water prediction; and’’; and 

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

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

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

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

10 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol11 lowing: 

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

13 Drought Information System may— 

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

15 drought forecast and communication if the Under 

16 Secretary determines the partnership is appropriate, 

17 cost-effective, and beneficial to the public and deci18 sionmakers described in subsection (b)(2)(A); and 

19 ‘‘(2) facilitate the development of one or more 

20 academic cooperative partnerships to assist with Na21 tional Integrated Drought Information System func22 tions.’’; 

23 (4) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by insert24 ing ‘‘and sustainment’’ after ‘‘development’’; and 


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

2 and inserting the following: 

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

4 the date of enactment of the National Integrated Drought 

5 Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018, the 

6 Under Secretary, acting through the National Integrated 

7 Drought Information System, shall develop a strategy for 

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

9 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

10 4 of the National Integrated Drought Information System 

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

12 as follows: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

15 this Act— 

16 ‘‘(1) $13,500,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

17 ‘‘(2) $14,500,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

18 ‘‘(3) $15,500,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

19 ‘‘(4) $16,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

20 ‘‘(5) $17,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

21 ‘‘(6) $18,500,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF WEATHER AND CLIMATE IN23 FORMATION IN AGRICULTURE. 

24 Section 1762(j) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (15 

25 U.S.C. 8521(j)) is amended to read as follows: 


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

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the activi3 ties under this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) $26,500,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

5 ‘‘(2) $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

6 ‘‘(3) $28,500,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

7 ‘‘(4) $29,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

8 ‘‘(5) $30,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

9 ‘‘(6) $31,500,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

10 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

12 Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018’’. 

13 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INTEGRATED DROUGHT INFORMATION 

14 SYSTEM PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the National Inte16 grated Drought Information System Act of 2006 (15 U.S.C. 

17 313d) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (b)— 

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

20 order to make usable, reliable, and timely fore21 casts of drought, including’’ and inserting ‘‘, in22 cluding precipitation, soil moisture, and evapo23 rative demand, in order to make usable, reliable, 

24 and timely forecasts of drought and’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘water2 shed,’’ after ‘‘regional,’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

4 (i) by inserting ‘‘, through interagency 

5 agreements’’ after ‘‘integrate’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘warning’’; 

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

9 follows: 

10 ‘‘(5) utilize existing forecasting and assessment 

11 programs and partnerships, including forecast com12 munication coordinators and cooperative institutes, 

13 and improvements in seasonal, subseasonal, and low 

14 flow water prediction; and’’; and 

15 (E) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘the pre16 diction,’’ after ‘‘relating to’’; 

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

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

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

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

22 Drought Information System may— 

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

24 drought monitoring, forecast, and communication if 

25 the Under Secretary determines the partnership is apVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 May 22, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2200.RS S2200

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1 propriate, cost-effective, and beneficial to the public 

2 and decisionmakers described in subsection (b)(2)(A); 

3 ‘‘(2) facilitate the development of 1 or more aca4 demic cooperative partnerships to assist with Na5 tional Integrated Drought Information System func6 tions; and 

7 ‘‘(3) utilize and support, as appropriate, moni8 toring by citizen scientists, including by developing 

9 best practices to facilitate maximum data integra10 tion.’’; 

11 (4) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by insert12 ing ‘‘and sustainment’’ after ‘‘development’’; and 

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

14 and inserting the following: 

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

16 date of enactment of the National Integrated Drought Infor17 mation System Reauthorization Act of 2018, the Under Sec18 retary, acting through the National Integrated Drought In19 formation System, shall develop a strategy for a national 

20 coordinated soil moisture monitoring network.’’. 

21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 4 

22 of the National Integrated Drought Information System Act 

23 of 2006 (15 U.S.C. 313d note) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

3 this Act— 

4 ‘‘(1) $13,500,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

5 ‘‘(2) $13,750,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

6 ‘‘(3) $14,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

7 ‘‘(4) $14,250,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

8 ‘‘(5) $14,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

9 ‘‘(6) $15,750,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF WEATHER AND CLIMATE IN11 FORMATION IN AGRICULTURE. 

12 Section 1762 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (15 

13 U.S.C. 8521) is amended— 

14 (1) by amending subsection (j) to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the activities 

17 under this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) $26,500,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

19 ‘‘(2) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

20 ‘‘(3) $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

21 ‘‘(4) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

22 ‘‘(5) $28,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

23 ‘‘(6) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’; and 

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

25 ‘‘(k) DERIVATION OF FUNDS.—Amounts made avail26 able to carry out this section shall be derived from amounts 


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1 appropriated or otherwise made available to the National 

2 Weather Service.’’. 


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Calendar No. 424 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2200 

[Report No. 115–256] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the National Integrated Drought 

Information System, and for other purposes. 

MAY 22, 2018 

Reported with an amendment 


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