I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4913 

To establish in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a 

program to improve precipitation forecasts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 26, 2023 

Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To establish in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a program to improve precipitation forecasts, 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. ESTABLISHMENT OF NOAA PRECIPITATION 

4 FORECASTS PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

6 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

7 (NOAA) a program to improve precipitation forecasts (in 

8 this section referred to as the ‘‘program’’). 

9 (b) GOAL.—The goal of the program shall be to im10 prove precipitation forecasts across all timescales through 


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1 the research, development, and operational implementa2 tion of fully coupled Earth System Models. The program 

3 shall carry out the following: 

4 (1) Improve the understanding and prediction 

5 of precipitation extremes from a wide variety of 

6 weather systems and climate patterns. 

7 (2) Improve the development, production, man8 agement, assimilation, integration, availability, and 

9 curation of datasets for precipitation prediction. 

10 (3) Identify and improve observations and anal11 yses necessary for precipitation prediction, including 

12 relating to water vapor, oceans, and boundary lay13 ers. 

14 (4) Utilize high performance computing and 

15 other technologies, as appropriate, to advance Earth 

16 System Models predictions skill of precipitation ex17 treme phenomena, including atmospheric rivers, 

18 tropical cyclones, and winter storms across weather, 

19 subseasonal, and decadal timescales. 

20 (5) Advance understanding and modeling of 

21 precipitation processes key to improving models and 

22 precipitation forecasts from weather to subseasonal23 to-seasonal (S2S) to seasonal-to-decadal (S2D) 

24 timescales. 


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1 (6) Support research and development to im2 prove the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of pre3 cipitation prediction, in collaboration with academic 

4 and private sector partners to test and evaluate 

5 emerging technologies, including the use of machine 

6 learning and artificial intelligence. 

7 (7) Improve weather, subseasonal, seasonal, and 

8 decadal skill for precipitation forecasts through the 

9 use of emerging techniques and technologies. 

10 (8) Support research in social and behavioral 

11 sciences to improve precipitation forecast products 

12 and communication, in collaboration with the Direc13 tor of the National Weather Service. 

14 (9) Lead the ongoing advancement of current 

15 and next-generation precipitation forecasting models. 

16 (10) Identify observational gaps, systematic er17 rors, and model limitations in precipitation pre18 diction systems. 

19 (11) Improve, expand, and sustain operational 

20 precipitation products and applications for decision 

21 support. 

22 (12) Coordinate across NOAA line offices to ad23 dress priorities of the program. 

24 (13) Direct efforts to engage with Federal, 

25 State, local, Tribal, and academic entities and stakeVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Aug 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4913.IH H4913

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1 holders, as appropriate, when conducting program 

2 activities. 

3 (14) Ensure adequate data management, ac4 cess, and archive processes are in place to ensure 

5 data and metadata are findable, accessible, inter6 operable, and usable by the science community and 

7 public. 

8 (c) UPDATES.—The Administrator of NOAA shall re9 vise and update, as necessary, the goals of the program 

10 at least once every two years. Such revisions and updates 

11 shall be incorporated into relevant NOAA strategic imple12 mentation plans as determined appropriate by the Admin13 istrator. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the National Oceanic and 

16 Atmospheric Administration to carry out this section the 

17 following: 

18 (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 

19 (2) $15,040,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

20 (3) $15,080,800 for fiscal year 2026. 

21 (4) $15,122,416 for fiscal year 2027. 

22 (5) $15,200,000 for fiscal year 2028. 

Æ 


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