I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1715 

To direct the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct collaborative research in order to advance numerical weather and climate prediction in the United States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2023 

Mr. MILLER of Ohio (for himself and Ms. ROSS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To direct the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct collaborative research in order to advance numerical weather 

and climate prediction in the United States, 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 ‘‘Advanced Weather 

5 Model Computing Development Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

2 means the Department of Energy. 

3 (2) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na4 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term 

5 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

6 U.S.C. 15801). 

7 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Energy. 

9 (4) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

11 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

12 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND NATIONAL OCEANIC 

13 AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION RE14 SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINA15 TION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and Administrator 

17 shall carry out collaborative research and development ac18 tivities in artificial intelligence and high performance com19 puting focused on the advancement of climate models and 

20 operational numerical weather prediction relevant to agen21 cy missions. 

22 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec23 retary and Administrator shall carry out the activities 

24 under subsection (a) through the establishment of a 

25 memorandum of understanding, or other appropriate 


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1 interagency agreement. Such memorandum or agreement, 

2 as the case may be, shall require the use of a competitive, 

3 merit-reviewed process, which considers applications from 

4 Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of 

5 higher education, nonprofit institutions, and other appro6 priate entities. 

7 (c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the activities under 

8 subsection (a), the Secretary and Administrator may— 

9 (1) conduct collaborative research to develop 

10 new methods and optimization of modeling and sim11 ulation, machine learning, data assimilation, large 

12 scale data analytics, and predictive analysis tech13 niques; 

14 (2) explore options for performance portability 

15 of the optimized weather model codes between the 

16 operational computing systems of the National Oce17 anic and Atmospheric Administration and the De18 partment’s high performance computers; 

19 (3) develop methods to accommodate large data 

20 sets of weather and climate information; 

21 (4) to the maximum extent practicable, and in 

22 compliance with national security policies, promote 

23 collaboration, open community-based development, 

24 and data sharing between Federal agencies, National 

25 Laboratories, institutions of higher education, nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1715.IH H1715

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1 profit institutions, and other appropriate entities by 

2 providing the necessary access and secure data 

3 transfer capabilities; and 

4 (5) support maintenance of and improvements 

5 to scientific computing infrastructure that the Sec6 retary and Administrator determine appropriate. 

7 (d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the activities 

8 under subsection (a), the Secretary and Administrator are 

9 authorized to— 

10 (1) carry out reimbursable agreements between 

11 the Department, the National Oceanic and Atmos12 pheric Administration, and other entities in order to 

13 maximize the effectiveness of research and develop14 ment; and 

15 (2) collaborate with other Federal agencies as 

16 appropriate. 

17 (e) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary and Adminis19 trator shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, 

20 and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the 

21 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

22 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

23 the Senate, a report detailing the following: 


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1 (1) Interagency coordination between each Fed2 eral agency involved in the research and development 

3 activities carried out under this section. 

4 (2) Potential opportunities to expand the tech5 nical capabilities of the Department and the Na6 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

7 (3) Collaborative research achievements. 

8 (4) Areas of future mutually beneficial gains as 

9 a result of the activities described in subsection (c). 

10 (5) Continuation of coordination between the 

11 Department and the National Oceanic and Atmos12 pheric Administration on activities described in sub13 section (c). 

14 SEC. 4. CLIMATE AND WEATHER PREDICTION ON HIGH 

15 PERFORMANCE COMPUTERS INITIATIVE. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in collabora17 tion with the Secretary, shall carry out an initiative, which 

18 may leverage Department high performance computers or 

19 expertise, to run advanced models in order to conduct 

20 proof of concept scenarios in comparison with current 

21 issued forecasts and models. The Secretary and Adminis22 trator shall carry out the initiative through a competitive, 

23 merit-reviewed process, and consider applications from 

24 Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of 


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1 higher education, nonprofit institutions, and other appro2 priate entities. 

3 (b) COMPONENTS.—In carrying out the initiative 

4 under subsection (a), the Administrator shall prevent du5 plication and coordinate research efforts in artificial intel6 ligence, high performance computing, modeling and sim7 ulation, machine learning, data assimilation, large scale 

8 data analytics, and predictive analysis across the Depart9 ment, and may— 

10 (1) run real-time weather forecast scenarios to 

11 conduct comparative research between National 

12 Weather Service issued forecasts to forecasts devel13 oped through the use of operational models run on 

14 high performance computers; 

15 (2) share relevant modeling system and applica16 tions innovations developed through the initiative, 

17 including Unified Forecast System-based applica18 tions, through community-based activities; and 

19 (3) leverage related weather and climate efforts 

20 and data from the National Science and Technology 

21 Council, the Interagency Council for Advancing Me22 teorological Services, and other relevant interagency 

23 entities. 

24 (c) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1715.IH H1715

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1 mit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

2 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

3 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Com4 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

5 a report evaluating the following: 

6 (1) The effectiveness of the initiative under sub7 section (a), including applied research discoveries, 

8 and advanced modeling improvements achieved. 

9 (2) Potential opportunities to expand the high 

10 performance computing capabilities of the Depart11 ment and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

12 Administration. 

13 (d) SUNSET.—The authority under this section shall 

14 terminate five years after the date of the enactment of 

15 this section. 

16 SEC. 5. RESEARCH SECURITY. 

17 The activities authorized under this Act shall be ap18 plied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI 

19 of the Research and Development, Competition, and Inno20 vation Act (enacted as division B of the CHIPS Act of 

21 2022 (Public Law 117–167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.)). 

Æ 


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