II 

Calendar No. 629 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3817 

To improve the forecasting and understanding of tornadoes and other 

hazardous weather, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10 (legislative day, MARCH 7), 2022 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. THUNE, 

Ms. ERNST, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. PETERS) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 12, 2022 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To improve the forecasting and understanding of tornadoes 

and other hazardous weather, 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 ‘‘Tornado Observations 

5 Research and Notification Assessment for Development of 

6 Operations Act’’ or the ‘‘TORNADO Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI4 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 

5 university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 

6 institution’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

7 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

8 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

9 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

10 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

12 (3) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

13 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

14 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 

15 SEC. 3. HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER EVENT RISK 

16 COMMUNICATION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall main18 tain and improve the system of the National Oceanic and 

19 Atmospheric Administration by which the risks of haz20 ardous weather and water events are communicated to the 

21 general public, with the goal of informing action and en22 couraging response to prevent loss of life and property. 

23 (b) HAZARD RISK COMMUNICATION IMPROVEMENT

24 AND SIMPLIFICATION.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

26 establish, or designate an existing office to serve as, 


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1 a hazard risk communication office (in this sub2 section referred to as the ‘‘Office’’), for the purposes 

3 of simplifying and improving the communication of 

4 hazardous weather and water event risks. 

5 (2) TERMINOLOGY.—The Office shall identify, 

6 eliminate, or modify unnecessary, redundant, or con7 fusing terms for hazardous weather and water event 

8 communications and add new terminology, as appro9 priate. 

10 (3) COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVEMENT.—The Of11 fice shall improve the form, content, and methods of 

12 hazardous weather and water event communications 

13 to more clearly inform action and increase the likeli14 hood that the public takes such action to prevent the 

15 loss of life or property. 

16 (4) EVALUATIONS.—The Office shall, in coordi17 nation with the performance branch of the National 

18 Weather Service, develop metrics for that branch to 

19 track and evaluate the degree to which hazardous 

20 weather and water event communications result in 

21 action and response. 

22 (5) SUPPORT PLAN.—The Office shall develop a 

23 plan for the purpose of supporting the activities de24 scribed in paragraph (3). The plan shall be periodi25 cally updated and informed by internal and extraVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 12, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3817.RS S3817

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1 mural research and the results of the evaluation of 

2 hazardous weather and water event communications 

3 conducted under paragraph (4). 

4 (6) METHODS.—In carrying out this subsection, 

5 the Office shall develop and implement recommenda6 tions that— 

7 (A) are based on the best and most recent 

8 understanding from authoritative social, behav9 ioral, risk, and communication science research; 

10 (B) are validated by social, behavioral, 

11 risk, and communication science sound survey 

12 designs, taking into account the importance of 

13 reproducibility and replicability of results, using 

14 rigorous statistical analyses; 

15 (C) account for the needs of various demo16 graphics, vulnerable populations, and geo17 graphic regions; 

18 (D) account for the differences between 

19 various types of weather and water hazards; 

20 (E) respond to the needs of Federal, State, 

21 and local government partners and media part22 ners; and 

23 (F) account for necessary changes in the 

24 infrastructure, technology, and protocols for 


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1 creating and disseminating federally operated 

2 watches and warnings. 

3 (7) COORDINATION.—The Office shall periodi4 cally provide updates on best practices for commu5 nicating hazardous weather and water events to 

6 Federal, State, and local government partners, insti7 tutions of higher education, private entities, and 

8 media partners. 

9 (8) TIMELINESS AND CONSISTENCY.—The Of10 fice shall develop best practices and guidance for en11 suring timely and consistent communication across 

12 public facing platforms that disseminate hazardous 

13 weather and water event information. 

14 (c) HAZARD COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AND EN15 GAGEMENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

17 establish or maintain a research program— 

18 (A) to modernize the creation and commu19 nication of risk-based, statistically reliable, 

20 probabilistic hazard information to inform effec21 tive responses to hazardous weather and water 

22 events; and 

23 (B) to improve the fundamental social, be24 havioral, risk, and communication science reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 12, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3817.RS S3817

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1 garding hazardous weather and water event 

2 communication. 

3 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the re4 search program required by paragraph (1), the 

5 Under Secretary shall coordinate and communicate 

6 with States, Tribes, localities, and emergency man7 agers on research priorities and results. 

8 (3) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—To further research 

10 into hazard communication, the Under Sec11 retary, in collaboration with one or more eligible 

12 institutions, shall establish a pilot program to 

13 test the effectiveness of implementing the re14 search conducted under this subsection. 

15 (B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION DEFINED.—In 

16 this paragraph, the term ‘‘eligible institution’’ 

17 means any of the following: 

18 (i) A historically Black college or uni19 versity located in an area of persistent pov20 erty that is subjected to frequent severe 

21 weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, 

22 and floods. 

23 (ii) An institution of higher education 

24 in close proximity to a National Weather 


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1 Service Weather Forecast Office of the Na2 tional Weather Service. 

3 (d) DATA MANAGEMENT.—The Under Secretary 

4 shall establish, maintain, and improve a central repository 

5 system for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin6 istration for social, behavioral, risk, and economic data re7 lated to the communication of hazardous weather and 

8 water events, including data developed or received pursu9 ant to paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (b). 

10 (e) DIGITAL WATERMARKING.—The Under Secretary 

11 shall develop methods to reduce the likelihood of unauthor12 ized tampering with online hazardous weather and water 

13 event risk communication, such as developing digital wa14 termarks. 

15 SEC. 4. WARN-ON-FORECAST STRATEGIC PLAN. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 

18 shall prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan for 

19 developing and prioritizing the implementation of high20 resolution probabilistic forecast guidance for tornadic con21 ditions using a next-generation weather forecast and 

22 warning framework. 

23 (b) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The strategic plan required 

24 by subsection (a) shall include the following: 

25 (1) A discussion of— 


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1 (A) the priorities and needs of vulnerable 

2 populations and National Weather Service part3 ners; and 

4 (B) high-performance computing, visualiza5 tion, and dissemination needs. 

6 (2) A timeline and guidance for implementation 

7 of— 

8 (A) high-resolution numerical weather pre9 diction models; 

10 (B) methods for meeting the high-perform11 ance computing, visualization, and dissemina12 tion needs discussed under paragraph (1)(B); 

13 (C) real-time high-resolution probabilistic 

14 forecasts; 

15 (D) improved observations, including 

16 through radars, satellites, and uncrewed aerial 

17 systems; 

18 (E) a flexible framework to communicate 

19 clear and simple hazardous weather and water 

20 event information to the public; and 

21 (F) social, behavioral, risk, and commu22 nication research to improve the forecaster 

23 operational environment and societal informa24 tion reception and response. 


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1 SEC. 5. TORNADO RATING SYSTEM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, in col3 laboration with such stakeholders as the Under Secretary 

4 considers appropriate— 

5 (1) evaluate the system used as of the date of 

6 the enactment of this Act to rate the severity of tor7 nadoes; and 

8 (2) determine whether updates to that system 

9 are required to ensure that the ratings accurately re10 flect the severity of tornadoes. 

11 (b) UPDATE REQUIRED.—If the Under Secretary de12 termines under subsection (a) that updates to the tornado 

13 rating system are necessary, the Under Secretary shall up14 date the system. 

15 SEC. 6. POST-STORM SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall per17 form one or more post-storm surveys and assessments fol18 lowing each hazardous weather or water event determined 

19 by the Under Secretary to be of sufficient societal impor20 tance to warrant a post-event survey and assessment. 

21 (b) COORDINATION.—The Under Secretary shall co22 ordinate with Federal, State, and local governments, pri23 vate entities, and relevant institutions of higher education 

24 when conducting post-storm surveys and assessments 

25 under subsection (a) in order to optimize data collection, 

26 sharing, and integration. 


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1 (c) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary shall 

2 make the data obtained from each post-storm survey and 

3 assessment conducted under subsection (a) available to the 

4 public as soon as practicable after conducting the survey 

5 and assessment. 

6 (d) IMPROVEMENT.—The Under Secretary shall— 

7 (1) investigate the role of uncrewed aerial sys8 tems in data collection during post-storm surveys 

9 and assessments conducted under subsection (a); 

10 (2) update tactics and procedures to enhance 

11 the efficiency and reliability of data obtained from 

12 post-storm surveys and assessments; and 

13 (3) increase the number of post-storm commu14 nity impact studies, including surveying individual 

15 responses and gathering survivability statistics. 

16 (e) SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYEES.—The Under Sec17 retary shall provide training, resources, and access to pro18 fessional counseling to support the emotional and mental 

19 health and well-being of employees conducting post-storm 

20 surveys and assessments under subsection (a). 

21 SEC. 7. VORTEX-USA PROGRAM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103 of the Weather Re23 search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

24 8513) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TOR2 NADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT AND EXTEN3 SION’’ and inserting ‘‘VORTEX-USA’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘establish a 

5 tornado warning improvement and extension pro6 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘maintain a program for rap7 idly improving tornado forecast and warnings’’; 

8 (3) by striking subsections (c) and (d); and 

9 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(c) INNOVATIVE OBSERVATIONS.—The Under Sec11 retary shall ensure that the program required by sub12 section (a) periodically examines the value of incorporating 

13 innovative observations with respect to the improvement 

14 of tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings, such as 

15 acoustic or infrasonic measurements, observations from 

16 phased array radars, and observations from mesonets. 

17 ‘‘(d) WARNINGS.—The program required by sub18 section (a) shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) continue the research necessary to develop 

20 and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guidance 

21 technology for tornados; and 

22 ‘‘(2) incorporate, as appropriate, hazard com23 munication research. 

24 ‘‘(e) RESEARCH.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, 

2 through the program required by subsection (a), 

3 award grants for research that focuses on improv4 ing— 

5 ‘‘(A) the social, behavioral, risk, commu6 nication, and economic sciences related to 

7 vulnerabilities, risk communication, and delivery 

8 of information critical for saving lives and prop9 erty related to tornadoes; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the physical sciences, engineering, 

11 and technology related to tornado formation, 

12 the interactions of tornadoes with the built and 

13 natural environment, and the interaction of tor14 nadoes and hurricanes. 

15 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY INSTITUTIONS.—In awarding 

16 grants under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary 

17 shall prioritize awarding grants to historically Black 

18 colleges and universities. 

19 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 is authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary 

21 to carry out this section $7,500,000 for each of fiscal 

22 years 2022 through 2030, of which not less than 

23 $2,000,000 each fiscal year shall be used for grants 

24 awarded under subsection (e).’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting 

3 Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 

4 91) is amended by striking the item relating to section 

5 103 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 103. VORTEX-USA program.’’. 

6 SEC. 8. REPORTS. 

7 (a) WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNO8 VATION ACT OF 2017.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of the Weather 

10 Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 

11 (15 U.S.C. 8543) is amended by striking subsection 

12 (d). 

13 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 403(a) 

14 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 8543(a)) is amended by in15 serting ‘‘the’’ after ‘‘Director of’’. 

16 (b) NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN17 ISTRATION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1992.—Section 106 

18 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

19 Authorization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567; 106 

20 Stat. 4274) is amended by striking subsection (c) (15 

21 U.S.C. 1537). 


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1 SEC. 9. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 

2 ON HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER 

3 ALERT DISSEMINATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

6 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

7 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

8 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

9 House of Representatives a report that examines the infor10 mation technology infrastructure of the National Weather 

11 Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis12 tration, specifically regarding the system for timely public 

13 notification of hazardous weather and water alerts and up14 dates. 

15 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

16 (a) shall include the following: 

17 (1) An analysis of the information technology 

18 infrastructure of the National Weather Service, in19 cluding software and hardware capabilities and limi20 tations, including an examination of server and data 

21 storage methods, broadband, data management, and 

22 data sharing. 

23 (2) An identification of secondary and tertiary 

24 fail-safes for the timely distribution of hazardous 

25 weather event alerts to the public. 


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1 (3) A determination of the extent to which pub2 lic notifications are delayed and an identification of 

3 corrective measures that do not add additional noti4 fication time. 

5 (4) An assessment of whether collaboration with 

6 other Federal offices, States, or private entities 

7 could reduce delays in notifications to the public. 

8 (5) A description of actions being undertaken to 

9 better identify critical steps in the hazards notifica10 tion process that may be vulnerable to disruption or 

11 failure in the event of communication, technologic, 

12 or computational failure. 

13 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tornado Observations 

15 Research and Notification Assessment for Development of 

16 Operations Act’’ or the ‘‘TORNADO Act’’. 

17 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER

20 EVENTS.—The term ‘‘hazardous weather and water 

21 events’’ means weather and water events that have a 

22 high risk of loss of life or property, including— 

23 (A) severe storms, such as hurricanes and 

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1 cluding large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes, 

2 and flash floods; 

3 (B) winter storms, such as freezing or frozen 

4 precipitation (including freezing rain, sleet, and 

5 snow), or combined effects of freezing or frozen 

6 precipitation and strong winds; and 

7 (C) other weather hazards, such as extreme 

8 heat or cold, wildfire, drought, dense fog, high 

9 winds, river flooding and lakeshore flooding. 

10 (2) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNIVER11 SITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or univer12 sity’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B institu13 tion’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 

14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

15 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

16 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the mean17 ing given the term in section 101(a) of the Higher 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

19 (4) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na20 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term in 

21 section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

22 15801). 

23 (5) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

24 government’’ means the recognized governing body of 

25 any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 


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1 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com2 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 

3 parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 

4 of the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to sec5 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 

6 List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

7 (6) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under Sec8 retary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

9 Oceans and Atmosphere. 

10 SEC. 3. HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER EVENT RISK 

11 COMMUNICATION. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall main13 tain and improve the system of the National Oceanic and 

14 Atmospheric Administration by which the risks of haz15 ardous weather and water events are communicated to the 

16 general public, with the goal of informing action and en17 couraging response to prevent loss of life and property. 

18 (b) HAZARD RISK COMMUNICATION IMPROVEMENT

19 AND SIMPLIFICATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

21 maintain a hazard risk communication office (in this 

22 subsection referred to as the ‘‘Office’’), for the pur23 poses of simplifying and improving the communica24 tion of hazardous weather and water event risks. 


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1 (2) TERMINOLOGY.—The Office shall identify, 

2 eliminate, or modify unnecessary, redundant, or con3 fusing terms for hazardous weather and water event 

4 communications and add new terminology, as appro5 priate. 

6 (3) COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVEMENT.—The Of7 fice shall improve the form, content, and methods of 

8 hazardous weather and water event communications 

9 to more clearly inform action and increase the likeli10 hood that the public takes such action to prevent the 

11 loss of life or property. 

12 (4) EVALUATIONS.—The Office shall, in coordi13 nation with the performance branch of the National 

14 Weather Service, develop metrics for that branch to 

15 track and evaluate the degree to which hazardous 

16 weather and water event communications result in 

17 action and response. 

18 (5) SUPPORT PLAN.—The Office shall develop a 

19 plan for the purpose of supporting the activities de20 scribed in paragraph (3). The plan shall be periodi21 cally updated and informed by internal and extra22 mural research and the results of the evaluation of 

23 hazardous weather and water event communications 

24 conducted under paragraph (4). 


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1 (6) METHODS.—In carrying out this subsection, 

2 the Office shall develop and implement recommenda3 tions that— 

4 (A) are based on the best and most recent 

5 understanding from social, behavioral, risk, and 

6 communication science research; 

7 (B) are validated by social, behavioral, risk, 

8 and communication science, taking into account 

9 the importance of methods that support repro10 duction and replication of scientific studies, use 

11 of rigorous statistical analyses, and, as applica12 ble, data analysis supported by artificial intel13 ligence and machine learning technologies; 

14 (C) account for the needs of various demo15 graphics, vulnerable populations, and geographic 

16 regions; 

17 (D) account for the differences between var18 ious types of weather and water hazards; 

19 (E) respond to the needs of Federal, State, 

20 and local government partners and media part21 ners; and 

22 (F) account for necessary changes in the in23 frastructure, technology, and protocols for cre24 ating and disseminating federally operated 

25 watches and warnings. 


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1 (7) COORDINATION.—In implementing this Act, 

2 the Office shall coordinate with— 

3 (A) Federal partners, including National 

4 Laboratories, Cooperative Institutes, and re5 gional integrated sciences and assessments pro6 grams; 

7 (B) State and local government partners; 

8 (C) Tribal governments; 

9 (D) institutions of higher education; and 

10 (E) media partners. 

11 (8) TIMELINESS AND CONSISTENCY.—The Office 

12 shall develop best practices and guidance for ensuring 

13 timely and consistent communication across public 

14 facing platforms that disseminate hazardous weather 

15 and water event information. 

16 (c) HAZARD COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AND EN17 GAGEMENT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall es19 tablish or maintain a research program— 

20 (A) to modernize the creation and commu21 nication of risk-based, statistically reliable, prob22 abilistic hazard information to inform effective 

23 actions and responses to hazardous weather and 

24 water events; and 


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1 (B) to improve the fundamental social, be2 havioral, risk, and communication science re3 garding hazardous weather and water event com4 munication. 

5 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the re6 search program required by paragraph (1), the Under 

7 Secretary shall coordinate and communicate with 

8 States, Tribal governments, localities, and emergency 

9 managers on research priorities and results. 

10 (3) PILOT PROGRAM FOR TORNADO HAZARD COM11 MUNICATION REQUIRED.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—To further research into 

13 hazard communication, the Under Secretary, in 

14 collaboration with one or more eligible institu15 tions, shall establish a pilot program for tornado 

16 hazard communication to test the effectiveness of 

17 implementing the research conducted under this 

18 subsection with respect to tornadoes. 

19 (B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION DEFINED.—In 

20 this paragraph, the term ‘‘eligible institution’’ 

21 means any of the following: 

22 (i) A historically Black college or uni23 versity located in an area of persistent pov24 erty that is subjected to frequent severe 


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1 weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and 

2 floods. 

3 (ii) An institution of higher education 

4 in close proximity to a National Weather 

5 Service Weather Forecast Office of the Na6 tional Weather Service. 

7 (d) DATA MANAGEMENT.—The Under Secretary shall 

8 establish, maintain, and improve a central repository sys9 tem for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra10 tion for social, behavioral, risk, and economic data related 

11 to the communication of hazardous weather and water 

12 events, including data developed or received pursuant to 

13 paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (b). 

14 (e) DIGITAL WATERMARKING.—The Under Secretary 

15 shall develop methods to reduce the likelihood of unauthor16 ized tampering with online hazardous weather and water 

17 event risk communication, such as developing digital water18 marks. 

19 SEC. 4. WARN-ON-FORECAST STRATEGIC PLAN. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall 

22 prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan for devel23 oping and prioritizing the implementation of high-resolu24 tion probabilistic forecast guidance for hazardous weather 


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1 and water events using a next-generation weather forecast 

2 and warning framework. 

3 (b) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The strategic plan required by 

4 subsection (a) shall include the following: 

5 (1) A discussion of— 

6 (A) the priorities and needs of vulnerable 

7 populations and National Weather Service part8 ners; and 

9 (B) high-performance computing, visualiza10 tion, and dissemination needs. 

11 (2) A timeline and guidance for implementation 

12 of— 

13 (A) high-resolution numerical weather pre14 diction models; 

15 (B) methods for meeting the high-perform16 ance computing, visualization, and dissemina17 tion needs discussed under paragraph (1)(B); 

18 (C) real-time high-resolution probabilistic 

19 forecasts; 

20 (D) improved observations, including 

21 through radars, satellites, and uncrewed aerial 

22 systems; 

23 (E) a flexible framework to communicate 

24 clear and simple hazardous weather and water 

25 event information to the public; and 


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1 (F) social, behavioral, risk, and commu2 nication research to improve the forecaster oper3 ational environment and societal information re4 ception and response. 

5 SEC. 5. TORNADO RATING SYSTEM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, in col7 laboration with such stakeholders as the Under Secretary 

8 considers appropriate— 

9 (1) evaluate the system used as of the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act to rate the severity of tornadoes; 

11 and 

12 (2) determine whether updates to that system are 

13 required to ensure that the ratings accurately reflect 

14 the severity of tornadoes. 

15 (b) UPDATE REQUIRED.—If the Under Secretary de16 termines under subsection (a) that updates to the tornado 

17 rating system are necessary, the Under Secretary shall up18 date the system. 

19 SEC. 6. POST-STORM SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall perform 

21 one or more post-storm surveys and assessments following 

22 each hazardous weather or water event determined by the 

23 Under Secretary to be of sufficient societal importance to 

24 warrant a post-event survey and assessment. 


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1 (b) COORDINATION.—The Under Secretary shall co2 ordinate with Federal, State, and local governments, Tribal 

3 governments, private entities, and relevant institutions of 

4 higher education when conducting post-storm surveys and 

5 assessments under subsection (a) in order to optimize data 

6 collection, sharing, and integration. 

7 (c) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary shall 

8 make the data obtained from each post-storm survey and 

9 assessment conducted under subsection (a) available to the 

10 public as soon as practicable after conducting the survey 

11 and assessment. 

12 (d) IMPROVEMENT.—The Under Secretary shall— 

13 (1) investigate the role of uncrewed aerial sys14 tems in data collection during post-storm surveys and 

15 assessments conducted under subsection (a); 

16 (2) identify gaps in and update tactics and pro17 cedures to enhance the efficiency and reliability of 

18 data obtained from post-storm surveys and assess19 ments; and 

20 (3) increase the number of post-storm commu21 nity impact studies, including— 

22 (A) surveying individual responses; 

23 (B) conducting review of the accuracy of 

24 prior risk evaluations; 


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1 (C) evaluating the efficacy of prior mitiga2 tion activity; and 

3 (D) gathering survivability statistics. 

4 (e) SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYEES.—The Under Secretary 

5 shall provide training, resources, and access to professional 

6 counseling to support the emotional and mental health and 

7 well-being of employees conducting post-storm surveys and 

8 assessments under subsection (a). 

9 SEC. 7. VORTEX-USA PROGRAM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103 of the Weather Re11 search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

12 8513) is amended— 

13 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TOR14 NADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT AND EXTEN15 SION’’ and inserting ‘‘VORTEX-USA’’; 

16 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘establish a 

17 tornado warning improvement and extension pro18 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘maintain a program for rap19 idly improving tornado forecast and warnings’’; 

20 (3) by striking subsections (c) and (d); and 

21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(c) INNOVATIVE OBSERVATIONS.—The Under Sec23 retary shall ensure that the program required by subsection 

24 (a) periodically examines the value of incorporating inno25 vative observations with respect to the improvement of torVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 12, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3817.RS S3817

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1 nado forecasts, predictions, and warnings, such as acoustic 

2 or infrasonic measurements, observations from phased 

3 array radars, and observations from mesonets. 

4 ‘‘(d) WARNINGS.—The program required by subsection 

5 (a) shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) continue the research necessary to develop 

7 and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guidance 

8 technology for tornadoes; and 

9 ‘‘(2) incorporate, as appropriate, hazard commu10 nication research. 

11 ‘‘(e) RESEARCH.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, 

13 through the program required by subsection (a), 

14 award grants for research that focuses on improv15 ing— 

16 ‘‘(A) the social, behavioral, risk, commu17 nication, and economic sciences related to 

18 vulnerabilities, risk communication, and delivery 

19 of information critical for saving lives and prop20 erty related to tornadoes; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the physical sciences, engineering, and 

22 technology related to tornado formation, the 

23 interactions of tornadoes with the built and nat24 ural environment, and the interaction of torna25 does and hurricanes. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY INSTITUTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants 

3 under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall 

4 prioritize awarding grants to minority-serving 

5 institutions. 

6 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF MINORITY-SERVING IN7 STITUTION.—In this paragraph, the term ‘mi8 nority-serving institution’ means— 

9 ‘‘(i) a part B institution (as defined in 

10 section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061)); 

12 ‘‘(ii) a Hispanic-serving institution 

13 (as defined in section 502(a) of that Act (20 

14 U.S.C. 1101a(a))); 

15 ‘‘(iii) a Tribal College or University 

16 (as defined in section 316(b) of that Act (20 

17 U.S.C. 1059c(b))); 

18 ‘‘(iv) an Alaska Native-serving institu19 tion (as defined in section 317(b) of that 

20 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b))); 

21 ‘‘(v) a Native Hawaiian-serving insti22 tution (as defined in section 317(b) of that 

23 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b))); 


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1 ‘‘(vi) a Predominantly Black Institu2 tion (as defined in section 318(b) of that 

3 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059e(b))); 

4 ‘‘(vii) an Asian American and Native 

5 American Pacific Islander-serving institu6 tion (as defined in section 320(b) of that 

7 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059g(b))); or 

8 ‘‘(viii) a Native American-serving, 

9 nontribal institution (as defined in section 

10 319(b) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 1059f(b))). 

11 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary to 

13 carry out this section $7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 

14 2023 through 2030, of which not less than $2,000,000 each 

15 fiscal year shall be used for grants awarded under sub16 section (e).’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 

18 section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Inno19 vation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 91) is 

20 amended by striking the item relating to section 103 and 

21 inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 103. VORTEX-USA program.’’. 

22 SEC. 8. REPORTS. 

23 (a) WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVA24 TION ACT OF 2017.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of the Weather 

2 Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 

3 U.S.C. 8543) is amended by striking subsection (d). 

4 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 403(a) of 

5 such Act (15 U.S.C. 8543(a)) is amended by inserting 

6 ‘‘the’’ after ‘‘Director of’’. 

7 (b) NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINIS8 TRATION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1992.—Section 106 of 

9 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Au10 thorization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567; 106 Stat. 

11 4274) is amended by striking subsection (c) (15 U.S.C. 

12 1537). 

13 SEC. 9. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 

14 ON HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER ALERT 

15 DISSEMINATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

18 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Com19 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

21 of Representatives a report that examines the information 

22 technology infrastructure of the National Weather Service 

23 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

24 specifically regarding the system for timely public notificaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 12, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3817.RS S3817

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1 tion of hazardous weather and water event alerts and up2 dates. 

3 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) 

4 shall include the following: 

5 (1) An analysis of the information technology in6 frastructure of the National Weather Service, includ7 ing software and hardware capabilities and limita8 tions, including an examination of server and data 

9 storage methods, broadband, data management, and 

10 data sharing. 

11 (2) An identification of secondary and tertiary 

12 fail-safes for the timely distribution of hazardous 

13 weather and water event alerts to the public. 

14 (3) A determination of the extent to which public 

15 notifications are delayed and an identification of cor16 rective measures that do not add additional notifica17 tion time. 

18 (4) An assessment of whether collaboration with 

19 other Federal offices, States, or private entities could 

20 reduce delays in notifications to the public. 

21 (5) A description of actions being undertaken to 

22 better identify critical steps in the hazards notifica23 tion process that may be vulnerable to disruption or 

24 failure in the event of communication, technologic, or 

25 computational failure. 


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Calendar No. 629 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3817 

A BILL 

To improve the forecasting and understanding of 

other purposes. tornadoes and other hazardous weather, and for 

DECEMBER 12, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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