I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2760 

To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere 

to identify a consistent, Federal set of best available forward-looking 

meteorological information and to require the Director of the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology to convene an effort to make 

such set available, with advice and technical assistance, to standardsdeveloping organizations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2021 

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

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans 

and Atmosphere to identify a consistent, Federal set 

of best available forward-looking meteorological information and to require the Director of the National Institute 

of Standards and Technology to convene an effort to 

make such set available, with advice and technical assistance, to standards-developing organizations, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Built to Last Act of 

3 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF CON5 SISTENT, FEDERAL SET OF BEST AVAILABLE 

6 FORWARD-LOOKING METEOROLOGICAL IN7 FORMATION. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

10 the Director of the National Institute of Standards 

11 and Technology. 

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

13 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

14 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 

15 (3) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme 

16 weather’’ includes observed or anticipated severe and 

17 unseasonable atmospheric conditions, including 

18 drought, heavy precipitation, hurricanes, tornadoes 

19 and other windstorms (including derechos), extreme 

20 heat, extreme cold, flooding, sustained temperatures 

21 or precipitation that deviate substantially from his22 torical averages, and any other weather event that 

23 the Under Secretary determines qualifies as extreme 

24 weather. 

25 (4) OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS.—The 

26 term ‘‘other environmental trends’’ means wildfires, 


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1 coastal flooding, inland flooding, land subsidence, 

2 rising sea levels, and any other challenges relating to 

3 changes in environmental systems over time that the 

4 Under Secretary determines qualify as environ5 mental challenges other than extreme weather. 

6 (5) MITIGATION FRAMEWORK LEADERSHIP

7 GROUP.—The term ‘‘Mitigation Framework Leader8 ship Group’’ means the Mitigation Framework Lead9 ership Group established pursuant to the Post10 Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 

11 2006 (Public Law 109–295; 6 U.S.C. 701 note), or 

12 successor group. 

13 (6) UNITED STATES GLOBAL CHANGE RE14 SEARCH PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘United States Glob15 al Change Research Program’’ means the United 

16 States Global Change Research Program established 

17 under section 103 of the Global Change Research 

18 Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2933). 

19 (7) LONG-TERM.—The term ‘‘long-term’’ shall 

20 have such meaning as the Director, in consultation 

21 with the Under Secretary, considers appropriate for 

22 purposes of this section. 

23 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF CONSISTENT, FEDERAL SET

24 OF BEST AVAILABLE METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION.— 


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

2 identify and support research that enables, a con3 sistent, Federal set of forward-looking long-term me4 teorological information that— 

5 (A) models future extreme weather events, 

6 other environmental trends, projections, and 

7 up-to-date observations; and 

8 (B) is suitable for use under subsection 

9 (c). 

10 (2) MESOSCALE METEOROLOGICAL INFORMA11 TION.—When the Under Secretary determines ap12 propriate or upon request of the Director, the Under 

13 Secretary shall provide the Director with mesoscale 

14 meteorological information that is suitable for use 

15 under subsection (c). 

16 (c) ADVICE, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND DISSEMI17 NATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall, in con19 sultation with the Under Secretary— 

20 (A) make available to the public informa21 tion identified under subsection (b); 

22 (B) identify Federal and non-Federal ef23 forts to develop and adopt standards, building 

24 codes, and voluntary certifications; and 


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1 (C) using the best available, consistent, 

2 Federal set of forward-looking long-term mete3 orological information identified under sub4 section (b)— 

5 (i) advise and provide technical assist6 ance to organizations that develop stand7 ards, model building codes, or voluntary 

8 certifications in order for such organiza9 tions to appropriately incorporate forward10 looking long-term meteorological informa11 tion into such standards, building codes, 

12 and voluntary certifications; and 

13 (ii) take appropriate steps to make in14 formation identified under subsection (b) 

15 available to the entities described in clause 

16 (i) developing such standards, model build17 ing codes, and voluntary certifications. 

18 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Director shall carry 

19 out paragraph (1) through each of the following: 

20 (A) The Fire Research Center, established 

21 under section 16 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to 

22 establish the National Bureau of Standards’’, 

23 approved March 3, 1901 (15 U.S.C. 278f). 

24 (B) The National Windstorm Impact Re25 duction Program, established under section 204 


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1 of the National Windstorm Impact Reduction 

2 Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 15703). 

3 (C) Such other authorizations as the Di4 rector considers appropriate. 

5 (d) WORKING GROUP.—In order to identify and sup6 port research that enable information as required under 

7 subsection (b), the Director of the Office of Science and 

8 Technology Policy, in coordination with the United States 

9 Global Change Research Program and the Mitigation 

10 Framework Leadership Group, shall designate a working 

11 group consisting of representatives from such Federal 

12 agencies as the Director of the Office of Science and Tech13 nology Policy considers appropriate. 

Æ 


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