106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1553

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2000

poses.mospheric Administration, and for other purService activities of the National Oceanic and Atvironmental Satellite, Data and InformationService, Atmospheric Research, and National Enand fiscal year 2001 for the National Weather
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1553

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2000 and fiscal

year 2001 for the National Weather Service, Atmospheric

Research, and National Environmental Satellite, Data

and Information Service activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes.
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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 and Related Agencies Authorization Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act, the term—

8 (1) ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator

9 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis10 tration; and

11 (2) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Com12 merce.

13 SEC. 3. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

14 (a) OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES.—

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

16 to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis17 tration to carry out the Operations, Research, and Facili18 ties activities of the National Weather Service

19 $617,897,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $617,897,000 for

20 fiscal year 2001, to remain available until expended. Of

21 such amounts—

22 (1) $449,441,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

23 $450,411,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Local

24 Warnings and Forecasts;
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1 (2) $2,200,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $2,200,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Ad3 vanced Hydrological Prediction System;

4 (3) $619,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $619,000

5 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Susquehanna River

6 Basin Flood Systems;

7 (4) $35,596,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

8 $35,596,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Avia9 tion Forecasts;

10 (5) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

11 $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Weather

12 Forecast Offices (WFO) Facilities Maintenance;

13 (6) $37,081,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

14 $37,081,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Central

15 Forecast Guidance;

16 (7) $3,090,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

17 $3,090,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Atmos18 pheric and Hydrological Research;

19 (8) $39,325,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

20 $39,325,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Next

21 Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD);

22 (9) $7,573,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

23 $7,573,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Auto24 mated Surface Observing System (ASOS);
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1 (10) $38,002,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $38,002,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Ad3 vanced Weather Interactive Processing System

4 (AWIPS); and

5 (11) $970,000 for fiscal year 2000 shall be for

6 two 1,000-watt National Oceanic and Atmospheric

7 Administration Weather Radio transmitters, to be

8 located in Jasper and Marion Counties, Illinois, and

9 nine 300-watt National Oceanic and Atmospheric

10 Administration Weather Radio transmitters, to be

11 installed in appropriate locations throughout the

12 State of Illinois, and for maintenance costs related

13 thereto.

14 (b) PROCUREMENT, ACQUISITION, AND CONSTRUC15 TION.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the

16 Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

17 Administration to carry out the Procurement, Acquisition,

18 and Construction activities of the National Weather Serv19 ice $69,632,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $70,120,000 for

20 fiscal year 2001, to remain available until expended. Of

21 such amounts—

22 (1) $9,560,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

23 $9,060,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Next

24 Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD);
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1 (2) $4,180,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $6,125,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Auto3 mated Surface Observing System (ASOS);

4 (3) $22,575,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

5 $21,525,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Ad6 vanced Weather Interactive Processing System

7 (AWIPS);

8 (4) $11,100,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

9 $12,835,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Com10 puter Facilities Upgrades;

11 (5) $8,350,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

12 $8,350,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Radio13 sonde Replacement;

14 (6) $500,000 for fiscal year 2000 shall be for

15 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

16 Operations Center Rehabilitation; and

17 (7) $13,367,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

18 $12,225,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Weath19 er Forecast Office (WFO) Construction.

20 (c) DUTIES OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERV21 ICE.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—To protect life and property

23 (in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the

24 Territories), the Secretary, through the National
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1 Weather Service, except as provided in paragraph

2 (2), shall be responsible for—

3 (A) forecasts and shall serve as the sole of4 ficial source of weather and flood warnings;

5 (B) the issuance of storm warnings;

6 (C) the collection, exchange, and distribu7 tion of meteorological, hydrological, climatic,

8 and oceanographic data and information;

9 (D) the preparation of hydrometeorological

10 guidance and core forecast information; and

11 (E) the issuance of marine and aviation

12 forecasts and warnings.

13 (2) COMPETITION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR.—

14 The National Weather Service shall not provide, or

15 assist other entities to provide, a service if that serv16 ice is currently provided or can be provided by com17 mercial enterprise, unless—

18 (A) the service provides vital weather

19 warnings and forecasts for the protection of life

20 and property of the general public; or

21 (B) the United States Government is obli22 gated to provide such service under inter23 national aviation agreements to provide mete24 orological services and exchange meteorological

25 information.
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1 (3) AMENDMENTS.—The Act of October 1,

2 1890 (26 Stat. 653) is amended—

3 (A) by striking section 3 (15 U.S.C. 313);

4 and

5 (B) in section 9 (15 U.S.C. 317), by strik6 ing ‘‘, and it shall be’’ and all that follows, and

7 inserting a period.

8 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

10 shall submit to the Committee on Science of the

11 House of Representatives and the Committee on

12 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen13 ate a report detailing all National Weather Service

14 activities which do not conform to the requirements

15 of this subsection and outlining a timetable for their

16 termination.

17 (d) CLOSING OF LOCAL WEATHER SERVICE OF18 FICES.—It is the sense of the Congress that the National

19 Weather Service must fully take into account the dan20 gerous and life threatening nature of weather patterns in

21 Wind Zone IV, otherwise known as tornado alley, before

22 making any determination on the closure of any of its local

23 weather service offices.

24 SEC. 4. ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH.

25 (a) OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

2 appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National

3 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry

4 out the Atmospheric Research Operations, Research,

5 and Facilities environmental research and develop6 ment activities of the Office of Oceanic and Atmos7 pheric Research $173,250,000 for fiscal year 2000

8 and $173,250,000 for fiscal year 2001, to remain

9 available until expended.

10 (2) CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY RESEARCH.—Of

11 the amounts authorized under paragraph (1),

12 $126,200,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

13 $126,200,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Cli14 mate and Air Quality Research, of which—

15 (A) $16,900,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

16 $16,900,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

17 Interannual and Seasonal Climate Research;

18 (B) $34,600,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

19 $34,600,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

20 Long-Term Climate and Air Quality Research;

21 (C) $69,700,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

22 $69,700,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

23 Climate and Global Change; and

24 (D) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

25 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for
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1 Global Learning and Observations to Benefit

2 the Environment (GLOBE).

3 (3) ATMOSPHERIC PROGRAMS.—Of the amounts

4 authorized under paragraph (1), $47,050,000 for

5 fiscal year 2000 and $47,050,000 for fiscal year

6 2001 shall be for Atmospheric Programs, of which—

7 (A) $36,600,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

8 $36,600,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

9 Weather Research;

10 (B) $4,350,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

11 $4,350,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

12 Wind Profiler; and

13 (C) $6,100,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

14 $6,100,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

15 Solar-Terrestrial Services and Research.

16 (b) PROCUREMENT, ACQUISITION, AND CONSTRUC17 TION.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the

18 Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

19 Administration to carry out the Atmospheric Research

20 Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction environ21 mental research and development activities of the Office

22 of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research $10,040,000 for fis23 cal year 2000 and $14,160,000 for fiscal year 2001, to

24 remain available until expended. Of such amounts—
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1 (1) $5,700,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the Geo3 physical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Supercomputer;

4 and

5 (2) $4,340,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

6 $6,160,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the Ad7 vanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Follow-On Sat8 ellite/GEOSTORM.

9 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA AND

10 INFORMATION SERVICE.

11 (a) OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

13 appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National

14 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry

15 out the Operations, Research, and Facilities environ16 mental research and development and related activi17 ties of the National Environmental Satellite, Data

18 and Information Service $103,092,000 for fiscal

19 year 2000 and $103,092,000 for fiscal year 2001, to

20 remain available until expended.

21 (2) SATELLITE OBSERVING SYSTEMS.—Of the

22 amounts authorized under paragraph (1),

23 $59,236,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $59,236,000

24 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Satellite Observing

25 Systems, of which—
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1 (A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

3 Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN);

4 (B) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

5 $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

6 Ocean Remote Sensing; and

7 (C) $53,236,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

8 $53,236,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

9 Environmental Observing Services.

10 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL DATA MANAGEMENT SYS11 TEMS.—Of the amounts authorized under paragraph

12 (1), $43,856,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

13 $43,856,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Envi14 ronmental Data Management Systems, of which—

15 (A) $31,521,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

16 $31,521,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

17 Data and Information Services; and

18 (B) $12,335,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

19 $12,335,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

20 Environmental Data Systems Modernization.

21 (b) PROCUREMENT, ACQUISITION, AND CONSTRUC22 TION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

24 appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National

25 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry
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1 out the Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction

2 environmental research and development and related

3 activities of the National Environmental Satellite,

4 Data and Information Service $413,657,000 for fis5 cal year 2000 and $476,183,000 for fiscal year

6 2001, to remain available until expended.

7 (2) SYSTEMS ACQUISITION.—Of the amounts

8 authorized under paragraph (1), $410,612,000 for

9 fiscal year 2000 and $473,803,000 for fiscal year

10 2001 shall be for Systems Acquisition, of which—

11 (A) $140,979,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

12 $114,594,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

13 the procurement and launch of, and supporting

14 ground systems for, Polar Orbiting Environ15 mental Satellites (POES), K, L, M, N, and N′;

16 (B) $80,100,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

17 $113,600,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

18 the procurement and launch of, and supporting

19 ground systems for, the National Polar-Orbiting

20 Operational Environmental Satellite System

21 (NPOESS); and

22 (C) $189,533,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

23 $245,609,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

24 the procurement and launch of, and supporting

25 ground systems for, Geostationary Operational
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1 Environmental NEXT follow-on Satellites

2 (GOES N–Q).

3 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—Of the amounts author4 ized under paragraph (1), $3,045,000 for fiscal year

5 2000 and $2,380,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be

6 for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra7 tion Operations Center Rehabilitation Construction.

8 SEC. 6. FACILITIES.

9 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec10 retary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

11 Administration to carry out the Operations, Research, and

12 Facilities environmental research and development and re13 lated activities required to meet recurring facilities oper14 ations costs associated with the David Skaggs Research

15 Center in Boulder, Colorado, $3,850,000 for fiscal year

16 2000 and $3,850,000 for fiscal year 2001.

17 SEC. 7. ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall exclude

19 from consideration for grant agreements made after fiscal

20 year 1999 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad21 ministration, under the activities for which funds are au22 thorized under this Act, any person who received funds,

23 other than those described in subsection (b), appropriated

24 for a fiscal year after fiscal year 1999, under a grant

25 agreement from any Federal funding source for a project
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1 that was not subjected to a competitive, merit-based award

2 process, except as specifically authorized by this Act. Any

3 exclusion from consideration pursuant to this section shall

4 be effective for a period of 5 years after the person re5 ceives such Federal funds.

6 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to

7 the receipt of Federal funds by a person due to the mem8 bership of that person in a class specified by law for which

9 assistance is awarded to members of the class according

10 to a formula provided by law.

11 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

12 term ‘‘grant agreement’’ means a legal instrument whose

13 principal purpose is to transfer a thing of value to the

14 recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stim15 ulation authorized by a law of the United States, and does

16 not include the acquisition (by purchase, lease, or barter)

17 of property or services for the direct benefit or use of the

18 United States Government. Such term does not include

19 a cooperative agreement (as such term is used in section

20 6305 of title 31, United States Code) or a cooperative re21 search and development agreement (as such term is de22 fined in section 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech23 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(1))).
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1 SEC. 8. INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.

2 The Administrator shall make available through the

3 Internet home page of the National Oceanic and Atmos4 pheric Administration the abstracts relating to all research

5 grants and awards made with funds authorized by this

6 Act. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require

7 or permit the release of any information prohibited by law

8 or regulation from being released to the public.

9 SEC. 9. COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICAN ACT.

10 No funds authorized pursuant to this Act may be ex11 pended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in ex12 pending the assistance the entity will comply with sections

13 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 10a–

14 10c, popularly known as the ‘‘Buy American Act’’).

15 SEC. 10. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS; REQUIREMENT RE16 GARDING NOTICE.

17 (a) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT

18 AND PRODUCTS.—In the case of any equipment or prod19 ucts that may be authorized to be purchased with financial

20 assistance provided under this Act, it is the sense of the

21 Congress that entities receiving such assistance should, in

22 expending the assistance, purchase only American-made

23 equipment and products.

24 (b) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—In

25 providing financial assistance under this Act, the Sec26 retary of Commerce shall provide to each recipient of the
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1 assistance a notice describing the statement made in sub2 section (a) by the Congress.

3 SEC. 11. PROHIBITION OF CONTRACTS.

4 If it has been finally determined by a court or Federal

5 agency that any person intentionally affixed a label bear6 ing a ‘‘Made in America’’ inscription, or any inscription

7 with the same meaning, to any product sold in or shipped

8 to the United States that is not made in the United

9 States, such person shall be ineligible to receive any con10 tract or subcontract made with funds provided pursuant

11 to this Act, pursuant to the debarment, suspension, and

12 ineligibility procedures described in section 9.400 through

13 9.409 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.

Passed the House of Representatives May 19, 1999.

Attest:

Clerk.