II 

Calendar No. 268 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1573 

[Report No. 114–154] 

To establish regional weather forecast offices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2015 

Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

OCTOBER 19, 2015 

Reported by Mr. THUNE, with an amendment and an amendment to the title 

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

A BILL 

To establish regional weather forecast offices, 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 Weather 

5 Service Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. 

2 (a) ORGANIZATION.—The Administrator of the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through 

4 the National Weather Service, shall develop a plan for es5 tablishing 6 regional weather forecast offices. 

6 (b) PLAN CONTENTS.—The plan under subsection 

7 (a) shall— 

8 (1) whenever possible, prioritize locating a re9 gional weather forecast office together with— 

10 (A) an institution of higher education (as 

11 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

12 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) with an active 

13 meteorology department; or 

14 (B) a State or Federal department or 

15 agency; 

16 (2) incorporate risk communication and deci17 sion support experts in the staffing model; 

18 (3) ensure that local forecast quality will not be 

19 degraded; 

20 (4) to the extent practicable, incorporate the 

21 best available science when determining schedules 

22 for employees on shift work in order to minimize 

23 stress on those employees, while providing sufficient 

24 flexibility to temporarily increase staffing during se25 vere weather events; 


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1 (5) provide sufficient training to minimize em2 ployee displacement as a consequence of the plan; 

3 and 

4 (6) ensure that each regional weather forecast 

5 office has on staff the expertise necessary to forecast 

6 the severe weather events typical for the region. 

7 (c) NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL PLAN REVIEW.— 

8 The Secretary of Commerce shall contract with the Na9 tional Research Council of the National Academy of 

10 Sciences— 

11 (1) to conduct a review of the scientific and 

12 technical soundness of the plan developed under sub13 section (a), including— 

14 (A) an evaluation of the proposed staffing 

15 model; 

16 (B) an assessment of the statistical and 

17 analytical measures that should be made for a 

18 service area to form an adequate basis for de19 termining that there will be no degradation of 

20 service; and 

21 (C) such recommendations as the National 

22 Research Council considers necessary for public 

23 safety purposes; and 


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1 (2) to submit the review under paragraph (1) to 

2 the Secretary not later than 1 year after the date of 

3 enactment of this Act. 

4 (d) PLAN IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 1 year 

5 after the date of submission of the review under subsection 

6 (c)(2), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At7 mospheric Administration, through the National Weather 

8 Service, shall implement the plan under subsection (a), 

9 taking into consideration the recommendations of the Na10 tional Research Council under subsection (c)(1)(C). 

11 (e) REGIONAL WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

13 (A) FIRST REGIONAL WEATHER FORECAST

14 OFFICE.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act, the first regional 

16 weather forecast office shall be established. 

17 (B) REMAINING REGIONAL WEATHER

18 FORECAST OFFICES.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (A), each regional weather fore20 cast office shall be established not later than 5 

21 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (2) FORECAST CENTRALIZATION.—Not later 

23 than 6 months after the date that each regional 

24 weather forecast office is established under para25 graph (1), the Secretary of Commerce shall transfer 


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1 the weather forecast functions, along with necessary 

2 staff, from each applicable weather forecast office to 

3 adequately staff the regional weather forecast office. 

4 (f) WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGISTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Weather Serv6 ice shall hire or retain at least 1 warning coordina7 tion meteorologist at each weather forecast office. 

8 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—A warning coordina9 tion meteorologist shall— 

10 (A) be responsible for providing service to 

11 the geographic area of responsibility that was 

12 previously covered by a weather forecast office 

13 before the date of enactment of this Act; 

14 (B) interface with users of National 

15 Weather Service products and services, such as 

16 the public, media outlets, users in the aviation, 

17 marine, and agricultural communities, and for18 estry, land, and water management interests, to 

19 evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the 

20 products and services; 

21 (C) collaborate with the appropriate re22 gional weather forecast office and State, local, 

23 and tribal government agencies, as applicable, 

24 in developing, proposing, and implementing 

25 plans to develop, modify, or tailor National 


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1 Weather Service products and services to im2 prove their usefulness; 

3 (D) ensure the maintenance and accuracy 

4 of severe weather call lists, appropriate office 

5 severe weather policy or procedures, and other 

6 severe weather or dissemination methodologies 

7 or strategies; 

8 (E) work closely with State, local, and trib9 al emergency management agencies, and other 

10 agencies related to disaster management, to en11 sure a planned, coordinated, and effective pre12 paredness effort; and 

13 (F) whenever possible, be located together 

14 with State or local emergency managers. 

15 (3) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—A warn16 ing coordination meteorologist may— 

17 (A) work with relevant State government 

18 agencies in developing plans for promoting 

19 more effective use of National Weather Service 

20 products and services throughout the State; 

21 (B) identify priority community prepared22 ness objectives; 

23 (C) develop plans to meet the objectives 

24 identified in subparagraph (B); and 


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1 (D) conduct severe weather event pre2 paredness planning and citizen education efforts 

3 with and through various State, local, and trib4 al government agencies, and other disaster 

5 management-related organizations. 

6 (g) FORECAST INVESTMENTS AND IMPROVE7 MENTS.—For at least 10 years after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, any savings realized by the Department of 

9 Commerce by the centralization of weather forecast func10 tions under subsection (e)(2) shall be used to improve the 

11 weather forecasts produced by the National Oceanic and 

12 Atmospheric Administration, including— 

13 (1) by expanding super-computing capacity; 

14 (2) by investing in research to improve weather 

15 forecasts; 

16 (3) by improving the communication of weather 

17 forecasts to the public, particularly with respect to 

18 severe weather; 

19 (4) by obtaining ground-based observations that 

20 would improve weather forecasts; and 

21 (5) by improving radar coverage where nec22 essary, with an emphasis on high density population 

23 centers with no radar coverage. 

24 (h) DEFINITION OF STATE.—In this section, the term 

25 ‘‘State’’ means a State, a territory or possession of the 


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1 United States, including a Commonwealth, or the District 

2 of Columbia. 

3 SEC. 3. SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS COMMUNICATION. 

4 (a) PURPOSE.—For purposes of preparing the rec5 ommendations under subsection (b)(1)(B) and imple6 menting the new system under subsection (c), the purpose 

7 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

8 system for issuing severe weather watches and warnings 

9 shall be to reduce the loss of life due to severe weather 

10 events. 

11 (b) EVALUATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

14 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis15 tration shall— 

16 (A) evaluate whether the National Oceanic 

17 and Atmospheric Administration system for 

18 issuing severe weather watches and warnings 

19 meets the purpose under subsection (a); and 

20 (B) submit to Congress a report on the 

21 evaluation under subparagraph (A) and rec22 ommendations for how the system can be im23 proved and for any research necessary to ad24 dress the areas described in paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—The evaluation shall focus on 

2 the following areas: 

3 (A) Ways to more clearly communicate to 

4 the public the risks presented by a severe 

5 weather event. 

6 (B) Ways to more broadly disseminate a 

7 severe weather watch or warning to the public. 

8 (C) Ways that a severe weather watch or 

9 warning could help to reduce the loss of life due 

10 to an extreme weather event. 

11 (3) CONSULTATION.—In developing the report, 

12 the Administrator shall— 

13 (A) consult with relevant line offices within 

14 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin15 istration, such as the National Ocean Service, 

16 the National Weather Service, and the Office of 

17 Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; 

18 (B) consult with the academic sector, in19 cluding individuals in the field of social 

20 sciences, and other weather services; 

21 (C) consult with media outlets that will be 

22 distributing the watches and warnings; and 

23 (D) utilize the services of the National 

24 Academy of Sciences, as necessary. 


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1 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 4 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, and if no additional 

3 action is taken by Congress regarding the National Oce4 anic and Atmospheric Administration severe weather 

5 watches and warnings system, the Administrator of the 

6 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

7 implement, based on the evaluation and report under sub8 section (a), a new system for issuing severe weather 

9 watches and warnings. 

10 SEC. 4. REPORT ON CONTRACT POSITIONS AT THE NA11 TIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 

14 5 fiscal years, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 

15 and Atmospheric Administration shall submit to Congress 

16 a report on the use of full-time equivalent contractors at 

17 the National Weather Service for the most recently com18 pleted fiscal year. 

19 (b) CONTENTS.—The report shall include— 

20 (1) the total number of full-time equivalent em21 ployees at the National Weather Service; 

22 (2) the total number of full-time equivalent con23 tractors at the National Weather Service; 


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1 (3) the 5 most common positions filled by full2 time equivalent contractors at the National Weather 

3 Service; 

4 (4) of the contract positions identified in para5 graph (3), the percentage of full-time equivalent con6 tractors in those positions that have held a prior po7 sition at the National Weather Service or the Na8 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; 

9 (5) the average full-time equivalent salary for 

10 Federal employees at the National Weather Service; 

11 (6) the average full-time equivalent salary for 

12 contractors at the National Weather Service; and 

13 (7) a description of any actions taken by the 

14 Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos15 pheric Administration to respond to the issues raised 

16 by the Department of Commerce Inspector General 

17 regarding the hiring of former National Oceanic and 

18 Atmospheric Administration employees as contrac19 tors at the National Weather Service, such as the 

20 issues raised in the Investigative Report dated June 

21 2015 (OIG–12–0447). 

22 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Weather Alerts for a 

24 Ready Nation Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGISTS AT 

2 WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES OF NATIONAL 

3 WEATHER SERVICE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

5 Weather Service shall employ at least 1 warning coordina6 tion meteorologist at each weather forecast office of the Na7 tional Weather Service. 

8 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each warning coordination 

9 meteorologist employed under subsection (a) shall— 

10 (1) be responsible for providing service to the ge11 ographic area of responsibility covered by the weather 

12 forecast office at which the warning coordination me13 teorologist is employed to help ensure that users of 

14 products of the National Weather Service can respond 

15 effectively to improve outcomes from weather events; 

16 (2) liaise with users of products and services of 

17 the National Weather Service, such as the public, 

18 media outlets, users in the aviation, marine, and ag19 ricultural communities, and forestry, land, and water 

20 management interests, to evaluate the adequacy and 

21 usefulness of the products and services of the National 

22 Weather Service; 

23 (3) collaborate with such weather forecast offices 

24 and State, local, and tribal government agencies as 

25 the Director considers appropriate in developing, pro26 posing, and implementing plans to develop, modify, 


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1 or tailor products and services of the National Weath2 er Service to improve the usefulness of such products 

3 and services; 

4 (4) ensure the maintenance and accuracy of se5 vere weather call lists, appropriate office severe 

6 weather policy or procedures, and other severe weath7 er or dissemination methodologies or strategies; and 

8 (5) work closely with State, local, and tribal 

9 emergency management agencies, and other agencies 

10 related to disaster management, to ensure a planned, 

11 coordinated, and effective preparedness effort. 

12 (c) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—A warning co13 ordination meteorologist employed under subsection (a) 

14 may— 

15 (1) work with a State agency to develop plans 

16 for promoting more effective use of products and serv17 ices of the National Weather Service throughout the 

18 State; 

19 (2) identify priority community preparedness 

20 objectives; 

21 (3) develop plans to meet the objectives identified 

22 in paragraph (2); and 

23 (4) conduct severe weather event preparedness 

24 planning and citizen education efforts with and 

25 through various State, local, and tribal government 


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1 agencies and other disaster management-related orga2 nizations. 

3 (d) PLACEMENT WITH STATE AND LOCAL EMERGENCY

4 MANAGERS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 

6 the Director may place a warning coordination mete7 orologist employed under subsection (a) with a State 

8 or local emergency manager if the Director considers 

9 doing so is necessary or convenient to carry out this 

10 section. 

11 (2) TREATMENT.—If the Director determines 

12 that the placement of a warning coordination mete13 orologist placed with a State or local emergency man14 ager under paragraph (1) is near a weather forecast 

15 office of the National Weather Service, such placement 

16 shall be treated as employment of the warning coordi17 nation meteorologist at such weather forecast office for 

18 purposes of subsection (a). 

19 (e) DEFINITION OF STATE.—In this section, the term 

20 ‘‘State’’ means a State, a territory, or possession of the 

21 United States, including a Commonwealth, or the District 

22 of Columbia. 


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1 SEC. 3. IMPROVING NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOS2 PHERIC ADMINISTRATION COMMUNICATION 

3 OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER 

4 EVENTS. 

5 (a) PURPOSE OF SYSTEM.—For purposes of the assess6 ment required by subsection (b)(1)(A), the purpose of the 

7 system of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis8 tration for issuing watches and warnings regarding haz9 ardous weather and water events shall be risk communica10 tion to the general public that informs action to prevent 

11 loss of life and property. 

12 (b) ASSESSMENT OF SYSTEM.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis15 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad16 ministration shall— 

17 (A) assess the system of the National Oce18 anic and Atmospheric Administration for 

19 issuing watches and warnings regarding haz20 ardous weather and water events; and 

21 (B) submit to Congress a report on the find22 ings of the Administrator with respect to the as23 sessment conducted under subparagraph (A). 

24 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

25 paragraph (1)(A) shall include the following: 


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1 (A) An evaluation of whether the system of 

2 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis3 tration for issuing watches and warnings regard4 ing hazardous weather and water events meets 

5 the purpose described in subsection (a). 

6 (B) Development of recommendations for— 

7 (i) legislative and administrative ac8 tion to improve the system described in such 

9 subparagraph; and 

10 (ii) such research as the Administrator 

11 considers necessary to address the focus 

12 areas described in paragraph (3). 

13 (3) FOCUS AREAS.—The assessment required by 

14 paragraph (1)(A) shall focus on the following: 

15 (A) Ways to communicate the risks posed by 

16 hazardous weather or water events to the public 

17 that are most likely to result in action to miti18 gate the risk. 

19 (B) Ways to communicate the risks posed 

20 by hazardous weather or water events to the pub21 lic as broadly and rapidly as practicable. 

22 (C) Ways to preserve the benefits of the ex23 isting watches and warnings system. 


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1 (D) Ways to maintain the utility of the 

2 watches and warnings system for Government 

3 and commercial users of the system. 

4 (4) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the assess5 ment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Adminis6 trator shall— 

7 (A) consult with such line offices within the 

8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra9 tion as the Administrator considers relevant, in10 cluding the National Ocean Service, the National 

11 Weather Service, and the Office of Oceanic and 

12 Atmospheric Research; 

13 (B) consult with individuals in the aca14 demic sector, including individuals in the field 

15 of social and behavioral sciences, and other 

16 weather services; 

17 (C) consult with media outlets that will be 

18 distributing the watches and warnings; 

19 (D) consult with non-Federal forecasters 

20 that produce alternate severe weather risk com21 munication products; 

22 (E) consult with emergency planners and 

23 responders, including State and local emergency 

24 management agencies, and other government 

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1 cluding the Federal Emergency Management 

2 Agency, the Office of Personnel Management, the 

3 Coast Guard, and such other Federal agencies as 

4 the Administrator determines rely on watches 

5 and warnings for operational decisions; and 

6 (F) make use of the services of the National 

7 Academy of Sciences, as the Administrator con8 siders necessary and practicable, including con9 tracting with the National Research Council to 

10 review the scientific and technical soundness of 

11 the assessment required by paragraph (1)(A), in12 cluding the recommendations developed under 

13 paragraph (2)(B). 

14 (5) METHODOLOGIES.—In conducting the assess15 ment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Adminis16 trator shall use such methodologies as the Adminis17 trator considers are generally accepted by the weather 

18 enterprise, including social and behavioral sciences. 

19 (c) IMPROVEMENTS TO SYSTEM.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, 

21 based on the assessment required by subsection 

22 (b)(1)(A), take such actions as the Administrator con23 siders necessary— 

24 (A) subject to paragraph (2), to improve the 

25 system of the Administration for issuing watches 


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1 and warnings regarding hazardous weather and 

2 water events; and 

3 (B) to support efforts to satisfy research 

4 needs to enable future improvements to such sys5 tem. 

6 (2) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING MAJOR

7 CHANGES.—In carrying out paragraph (1)(A), the 

8 Administrator shall ensure that any change to the 

9 system described in such paragraph that the Adminis10 trator considers a major change— 

11 (A) is validated by social and behavioral 

12 science using a generalizable sample; 

13 (B) accounts for the needs of various demo14 graphics, vulnerable populations, and geographic 

15 regions; 

16 (C) accounts for the differences between 

17 types of weather and water hazards; 

18 (D) responds to the needs of Federal, State, 

19 and local government partners and media part20 ners; and 

21 (E) accounts for necessary changes to Feder22 ally-operated watch and warning propagation 

23 and dissemination infrastructure and protocols. 

24 (3) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than the date 

25 that is 4 years after the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act and not less frequently than once each year there2 after until the Administrator determines that the ac3 tions required by paragraph (1) have been completed, 

4 the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report 

5 on the actions taken by the Administrator pursuant 

6 to such paragraph. 

7 (4) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the date that 

8 the Administrator determines that the actions re9 quired by paragraph (1) have been completed, the Ad10 ministrator shall submit to Congress a report that 

11 summarizes all of the actions taken by the Adminis12 trator pursuant to paragraph (1). 

13 (d) WATCHES AND WARNINGS DEFINED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), in this section, the term ‘‘watch’’ and 

16 ‘‘warning’’, with respect to a hazardous weather and 

17 water event, means a product issued by the Adminis18 tration, intended for consumption by the general pub19 lic, to alert the general public to the potential for or 

20 presence of the event and to inform action to prevent 

21 loss of life and property. 

22 (2) EXCEPTION.—In this section, the term 

23 ‘‘watch’’ and ‘‘warning’’ do not include technical or 

24 specialized meteorological and hydrological forecasts, 

25 outlooks, or model guidance products. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON CONTRACT POSITIONS AT NATIONAL 

2 WEATHER SERVICE. 

3 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis5 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis6 tration shall submit to Congress a report on the use of con7 tractors at the National Weather Service for the most re8 cently completed fiscal year. 

9 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) 

10 shall include, with respect to the most recently completed 

11 fiscal year, the following: 

12 (1) The total number of full-time equivalent em13 ployees at the National Weather Service, 

14 disaggregated by each equivalent level of the General 

15 Schedule. 

16 (2) The total number of full-time equivalent con17 tractors at the National Weather Service, 

18 disaggregated by each equivalent level of the General 

19 Schedule that most closely approximates their duties. 

20 (3) The total number of vacant positions at the 

21 National Weather Service on the day before the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act, disaggregated by each 

23 equivalent level of the General Schedule. 

24 (4) The 5 most common positions filled by full25 time equivalent contractors at the National Weather 

26 Service and equivalent level of the General Schedule 


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1 that most closely approximates the duties of such po2 sitions. 

3 (5) Of the positions identified in paragraph (4), 

4 the percentage of full-time equivalent contractors in 

5 those positions that have held a prior position at the 

6 National Weather Service or another entity in the 

7 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

8 (6) The average full-time equivalent salary for 

9 Federal employees at the National Weather Service for 

10 each equivalent level of the General Schedule. 

11 (7) The average salary for full-time equivalent 

12 contractors performing at each equivalent level of the 

13 General Schedule at the National Weather Service. 

14 (8) A description of any actions taken by the Ad15 ministrator to respond to the issues raised by the In16 spector General of the Department of Commerce re17 garding the hiring of former National Oceanic and 

18 Atmospheric Administration employees as contractors 

19 at the National Weather Service, such as the issues 

20 raised in the Investigative Report dated June 2015 

21 (OIG–12–0447). 

22 (c) ANNUAL PUBLICATION.—For each fiscal year after 

23 the fiscal year covered by the report required by subsection 

24 (a), the Administrator shall, not later than 180 days after 

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1 cessible Internet website the information described in para2 graphs (1) through (6) of subsection (b) for such fiscal year. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to improve 

communication from the National Weather Service regarding severe weather risks, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Calendar No. 268 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1573 

[Report No. 114–154] 

A BILL 

To establish regional weather forecast offices, and 

for other purposes. 

OCTOBER 19, 2015 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 


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