I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1553

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.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 1999

Mr. CALVERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Science

A BILL

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.

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act, the term—

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

4 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis5 tration; and

6 (2) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Com7 merce.

8 SEC. 3. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

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

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

11 to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis12 tration to carry out the Operations, Research, and Facili13 ties activities of the National Weather Service

14 $617,897,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $617,897,000 for

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

16 such amounts—

17 (1) $450,411,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

18 $450,411,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Local

19 Warnings and Forecasts;

20 (2) $2,200,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

21 $2,200,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Ad22 vanced Hydrological Prediction System;

23 (3) $619,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $619,000

24 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Susquehanna River

25 Basin Flood Systems;
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1 (4) $35,596,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $35,596,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Avia3 tion Forecasts;

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

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

6 Forecast Offices (WFO) Facilities Maintenance;

7 (6) $37,081,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

8 $37,081,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Central

9 Forecast Guidance;

10 (7) $3,090,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

11 $3,090,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Atmos12 pheric and Hydrological Research;

13 (8) $39,325,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

14 $39,325,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Next

15 Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD);

16 (9) $7,573,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

17 $7,573,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Auto18 mated Surface Observing System (ASOS); and

19 (10) $38,002,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

20 $38,002,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Ad21 vanced Weather Interactive Processing System

22 (AWIPS).

23 (b) PROCUREMENT, ACQUISITION, AND CONSTRUC24 TION.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the

25 Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
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1 Administration to carry out the Procurement, Acquisition,

2 and Construction activities of the National Weather Serv3 ice $69,632,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $70,120,000 for

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

5 such amounts—

6 (1) $9,560,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

7 $9,060,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Next

8 Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD);

9 (2) $4,180,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

10 $6,125,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Auto11 mated Surface Observing System (ASOS);

12 (3) $22,575,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

13 $21,525,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Ad14 vanced Weather Interactive Processing System

15 (AWIPS);

16 (4) $11,100,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

17 $12,835,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Com18 puter Facilities Upgrades;

19 (5) $8,350,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

20 $8,350,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Radio21 sonde Replacement;

22 (6) $500,000 for fiscal year 2000 shall be for

23 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

24 Operations Center Rehabilitation; and
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1 (7) $13,367,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $12,225,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Weath3 er Forecast Office (WFO) Construction.

4 (c) DUTIES OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERV5 ICE.—

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

7 the Secretary, through the National Weather Serv8 ice, except as provided in paragraph (2), shall be re9 sponsible for—

10 (A) forecasts and shall serve as the sole of11 ficial source of weather warnings;

12 (B) the issuance of storm warnings;

13 (C) the collection, exchange, and distribu14 tion of meteorological, hydrological, climatic,

15 and oceanographic data and information; and

16 (D) the preparation of hydrometeorological

17 guidance and core forecast information.

18 (2) COMPETITION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR.—

19 The National Weather Service shall not provide, or

20 assist other entities to provide, a service (other than

21 a service described in paragraph (1)(A)) if that serv22 ice is currently provided or can be provided by com23 mercial enterprise, unless—
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1 (A) the Secretary finds that the private

2 sector is unwilling or unable to provide the serv3 ice; or

4 (B) the service provides vital weather

5 warnings and forecasts for the protection of

6 lives and property of the general public.

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

8 1890 (26 Stat. 653) is amended—

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

10 and

11 (B) in section 9 (15 U.S.C. 317), by strik12 ing ‘‘, and it shall be’’ and all that follows, and

13 inserting a period.

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

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

16 shall submit to the Committee on Science of the

17 House of Representatives and the Committee on

18 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen19 ate a report detailing all National Weather Service

20 activities which do not conform to the requirements

21 of this subsection and outlining a timetable for their

22 termination.

23 SEC. 4. ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH.

24 (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 Systems.

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, up to three Geostationary
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1 Operational Environmental NEXT follow-on

2 Satellites (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 programs 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. Any exclusion from consideration pursuant to this

3 section shall be effective for a period of 5 years after the

4 person receives such Federal funds.

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

6 the receipt of Federal funds by a person due to the mem7 bership of that person in a class specified by law for which

8 assistance is awarded to members of the class according

9 to a formula provided by law.

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

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

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

13 recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stim14 ulation authorized by a law of the United States, and does

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

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

17 United States Government. Such term does not include

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

19 6305 of title 31, United States Code) or a cooperative re20 search and development agreement (as such term is de21 fined in section 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech22 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(1))).

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