II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2200 

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 and Mr. NELSON) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Transportation 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 

6 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INTEGRATED DROUGHT INFORMATION 

2 SYSTEM PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the National Inte4 grated Drought Information System Act of 2006 (15 

5 U.S.C. 313d) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b)— 

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

8 order to make usable, reliable, and timely fore9 casts of drought, including’’ and inserting ‘‘in10 cluding, precipitation, soil moisture, and evapo11 rative demand, in order to make usable, reli12 able, and timely forecasts of drought and’’; 

13 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘water14 shed,’’ after ‘‘regional,’’; 

15 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

16 (i) by inserting ‘‘, through interagency 

17 agreements’’ after ‘‘integrate’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘warning’’; 

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

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘(5) utilize existing forecasting and assessment 

23 programs and partnerships, including forecast com24 munication coordinators and cooperative institutes, 

25 and improvements in seasonal, subseasonal, and low 

26 flow water prediction; and’’; and 


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

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

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

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

5 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol6 lowing: 

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

8 Drought Information System may— 

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

10 drought forecast and communication if the Under 

11 Secretary determines the partnership is appropriate, 

12 cost-effective, and beneficial to the public and deci13 sionmakers described in subsection (b)(2)(A); and 

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

15 academic cooperative partnerships to assist with Na16 tional Integrated Drought Information System func17 tions.’’; 

18 (4) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by insert19 ing ‘‘and sustainment’’ after ‘‘development’’; and 

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

21 and inserting the following: 

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

23 the date of enactment of the National Integrated Drought 

24 Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018, the 

25 Under Secretary, acting through the National Integrated 


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1 Drought Information System, shall develop a strategy for 

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

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

4 4 of the National Integrated Drought Information System 

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

6 as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

9 this Act— 

10 ‘‘(1) $13,500,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

11 ‘‘(2) $14,500,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

12 ‘‘(3) $15,500,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

13 ‘‘(4) $16,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

14 ‘‘(5) $17,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

15 ‘‘(6) $18,500,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF WEATHER AND CLIMATE IN17 FORMATION IN AGRICULTURE. 

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

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

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

21 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the activi22 ties under this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) $26,500,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

24 ‘‘(2) $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

25 ‘‘(3) $28,500,000 for fiscal year 2020; 


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1 ‘‘(4) $29,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

2 ‘‘(5) $30,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

3 ‘‘(6) $31,500,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

Æ 


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