II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1416 

To provide guidance for and investment in the upgrade and modernization 

of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio 

All Hazards network, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2023 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; 

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

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide guidance for and investment in the upgrade and 

modernization of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration Weather Radio All Hazards network, 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 ‘‘NOAA Weather Radio 

5 Modernization Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘NWR Modernization 

6 Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 (a) NOAA WEATHER RADIO.—The term ‘‘NOAA 

3 Weather Radio’’ means the National Oceanic and Atmos4 pheric Administration Weather Radio All Hazards net5 work. 

6 (b) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under Sec7 retary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

8 Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator of the Na9 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

10 SEC. 3. UPGRADING EXISTING SYSTEMS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, to the 

12 maximum extent practicable, upgrade systems of NOAA 

13 Weather Radio in use as of the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act in order to expand coverage and ensure the reli15 ability of NOAA Weather Radio. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

17 the Under Secretary shall— 

18 (1) maintain support for systems described in 

19 such subsection that serve areas not covered by or 

20 having poor quality cellular service; 

21 (2) ensure consistent maintenance and oper22 ations monitoring, with timely repairs to equipment 

23 and antennas at broadcast transmitter sites; 

24 (3) enhance the ability to amplify non-weather 

25 emergency messages through NOAA Weather Radio 

26 as necessary; and 


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1 (4) acquire additional transmitters as required 

2 to expand coverage to rural and underserved com3 munities, units of the National Park System, and 

4 National Recreation Areas. 

5 SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION INITIATIVE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, to the 

7 maximum extent practicable, modernize NOAA Weather 

8 Radio to ensure the capabilities and coverage of NOAA 

9 Weather Radio remain valuable to the public. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

11 the Under Secretary shall— 

12 (1) upgrade the telecommunications infrastruc13 ture of NOAA Weather Radio to accelerate the tran14 sition of broadcasts to media that provide an in15 crease in reliability and repairability over copper 

16 media; 

17 (2) accelerate software upgrades to the Ad18 vanced Weather Interactive Processing System of 

19 the National Weather Service, or any relevant suc20 cessors of the system, in order to implement partial 

21 county notifications and alerts; 

22 (3) enhance the accessibility and usability of 

23 data and feeds of NOAA Weather Radio, with the 

24 feedback of the public and user groups; 


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1 (4) develop options, including satellite backup 

2 capability and commercial provider partnerships, for 

3 continuity of service provided by NOAA Weather 

4 Radio in the event of outages among Weather Fore5 cast Offices; 

6 (5) research and develop alternative options, in7 cluding microwave capabilities, to transmit signals 

8 from NOAA Weather Radio to transmitters that are 

9 remote or do not have Internet Protocol capability; 

10 and 

11 (6) transition critical applications to the Inte12 grated Dissemination Program of the National 

13 Weather Service, or any relevant successors of the 

14 program. 

15 (c) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out subsections (a) and 

16 (b), the Under Secretary shall prioritize practices, capa17 bilities, and technologies recommended in the assessment 

18 required by subsection (d) in order to maximize the acces19 sibility of NOAA Weather Radio, particularly in remote 

20 areas of the United States and areas that are at risk for 

21 a lack of access to weather information in the event of 

22 an emergency weather event. 

23 (d) ASSESSMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 


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1 Secretary shall complete and submit to the Com2 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

3 the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 

4 and Technology of the House of Representatives an 

5 assessment of access to NOAA Weather Radio. 

6 (2) CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOMMENDA7 TIONS.—In conducting the assessment required by 

8 paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall take into 

9 consideration and provide recommendations on— 

10 (A) the need for continuous, adequate, and 

11 operational real-time broadcasts from NOAA 

12 Weather Radio; 

13 (B) solicited input on the compatibility of 

14 NOAA Weather Radio data with third-party 

15 platforms that provide online services, such as 

16 websites and mobile device applications, or de17 liver access to NOAA Weather Radio; 

18 (C) existing or new management systems, 

19 which promote consistent, efficient, and com20 patible access to NOAA Weather Radio; 

21 (D) the ability of the National Oceanic and 

22 Atmospheric Administration to aggregate real23 time broadcast feeds at one or more central lo24 cations; 


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1 (E) effective coordination between agencies 

2 with responsibilities relating to emergencies and 

3 natural disasters; 

4 (F) the potential effects of an electro5 magnetic pulse or geomagnetic disturbance on 

6 NOAA Weather Radio; and 

7 (G) improvements of hazardous weather 

8 and water event communications to more clear9 ly inform action and increase the likelihood that 

10 the public takes such action to prevent the loss 

11 of life or property. 

Æ 


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