Union Calendar No. 161

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2811

[Report No. 103–248, Parts I and II]

A BILL

To authorize certain atmospheric, weather, and satfor other purposes. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and ellite programs and functions of the National

OCTOBER 22, 1993

Reported from the Committee on Merchant Marine and

ordered to be printedtee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, andFisheries with amendments, committed to the Commit-
IB

Union Calendar No. 161

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2811

[Report No. 103–248, Parts I and II]

To authorize certain atmospheric, weather, and satellite programs and functions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 30, 1993

Mr. HALL of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

SEPTEMBER 21, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

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

SEPTEMBER 21, 1993

Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union discharged; referred

to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries for a period ending

not later than October 22, 1993, for consideration of such provisions of

the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee

pursuant to clause 1(m) of rule X

OCTOBER 22, 1993

Reported from the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of

the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Omit the part in italic in black brackets and insert the part in boldface roman]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 30, 1993]
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A BILL

To authorize certain atmospheric, weather, and satellite programs and functions 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 Oceanic and

5 Atmospheric Administration Atmospheric and Satellite

6 Program Authorization Act of 1993’’.

7 TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF

8 APPROPRIATIONS

9 SEC. 101. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

10 (a) OPERATIONS AND RESEARCH.—There are author11 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce (in

12 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) to enable the Na13 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry

14 out the operations and research duties of the National

15 Weather Service, $473,256,000 for fiscal year 1994 and

16 $492,185,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties include mete17 orological, hydrological, and oceanographic public

18 warnings and forecasts, as well as applied research in sup19 port of such warnings and forecasts.

20 (b) SYSTEMS ACQUISITION.—There are authorized to

21 be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National Oce-
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1 anic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out the pub2 lic warning and forecast systems duties of the National

3 Weather Service, $76,299,000 for fiscal year 1994 and

4 $71,115,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties include the

5 development, acquisition, and implementation of major

6 public warning and forecast systems. None of the funds au7 thorized under this subsection shall be used for the purposes

8 for which funds are authorized under section 102(b) of the

9 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Author10 ization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567). No funds may

11 be expended for Next Generation Doppler Weather Radar

12 (NEXRAD) until the requirements of paragraph (2)(A) or

13 (B) of such section 102(b) have been fulfilled by the Sec14 retary. None of the funds for NEXRAD authorized by such

15 section 102(b)(2)(A) or (B) shall be expended, subject to an16 nual review, for a particular NEXRAD installation site un17 less such site appears on page D–10, D–11, or D–12 of the

18 National Implementation Plan for Modernization of the

19 National Weather Service, required under section 703 of the

20 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Author21 ization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567), for fiscal year

22 1994, or unless such funds are to be used only for spare

23 parts, not installation at a particular site.

24 (c) CONSTRUCTION OF WEATHER FORECAST OF25 FICES.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
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1 retary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad2 ministration to carry out construction, repair, and modi3 fication activities relating to new and existing weather fore4 cast offices, $62,784,000 for fiscal year 1994 and

5 $14,739,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such activities include

6 planning, design, and land acquisition related to such

7 offices.

8 SEC. 102. ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH.

9 (a) CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY RESEARCH.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap11 propriated to the Secretary to enable the National

12 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry

13 out its climate and air quality research duties,

14 $105,922,000 for fiscal year 1994 and $138,737,000

15 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties include interannual

16 and seasonal climate research and long-term climate

17 and air quality research.

18 (2) CLIMATE AND GLOBAL CHANGE.—Of the

19 sums authorized under paragraph (1), $66,902,000

20 for fiscal year 1994 and $84,573,000 for fiscal year

21 1995 are authorized to be appropriated for the pur22 poses of studying climate and global change, includ23 ing global observations, monitoring, and data and in24 formation management relating to the study of

25 changes in the Earth’s climatic system, and fun-
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1 damental research on oceanic and atmospheric proc2 esses critical to climate prediction and diagnostics.

3 (b) ATMOSPHERIC PROGRAMS.—There are authorized

4 to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National

5 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out its

6 atmospheric research duties, $42,103,000 for fiscal year

7 1994 and $52,980,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties in8 clude research for developing improved prediction capabili9 ties for atmospheric processes, as well as solar-terrestrial

10 research and services.

11 SEC. 103. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA,

12 AND INFORMATION SERVICE.

13 (a) SATELLITE OBSERVING SYSTEMS.—There are au14 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the

15 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry

16 out its satellite observing systems duties, $206,383,000 for

17 fiscal year 1994 and $264,890,000 for fiscal year 1995, ex18 cept that no funds may be expended for Geostationary Oper19 ational Environmental Satellite until the requirements of

20 section 105(d)(2) (A) or (B) of the National Oceanic and

21 Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992

22 (Public Law 102–567) have been fulfilled by the Secretary.

23 Such duties include spacecraft procurement, launch, and

24 associated ground station system changes involving polar

25 orbiting and geostationary environmental satellites, as well
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1 as the operation of such satellites. None of the funds author2 ized under this subsection shall be used for the purposes for

3 which funds are authorized under section 105(d) of the Na4 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authoriza5 tion Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567).

6 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL DATA AND INFORMATION SERV7 ICES.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec8 retary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad9 ministration to carry out its environmental data and infor10 mation services duties, $34,068,000 for fiscal year 1994 and

11 $41,227,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties include cli12 mate data services, geophysical data services, and environ13 mental assessment and information services.

14 SEC. 104. PROGRAM SUPPORT.

15 (a) ADMINISTRATION AND SERVICES.—There are au16 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for Administra17 tion and Services, $73,319,000 for fiscal year 1994 and

18 $76,252,000 for fiscal year 1995.

19 (b) AIRCRAFT SERVICES.—There are authorized to be

20 appropriated to the Secretary for Aircraft Services and Air21 craft Critical Safety and Instrumentation, $9,495,000 for

22 fiscal year 1994 and $9,875,000 for fiscal year 1995.

23 ƒSEC. 105. LIMITATION ON APPROPRIATIONS.

24 ƒNotwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no

25 funds are authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year
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1 after fiscal year 1995 for carrying out the programs for

2 which funds are authorized by this Act.≈

3 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS

4 PROVISIONS

5 SEC. 201. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RE6 SEARCH LABORATORIES.

7 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall conduct an as8 sessment of the long-term role and mission of the Environ9 mental Research Laboratories of the National Oceanic and

10 Atmospheric Administration and the relevance of the re11 search conducted therein to issues of global and national

12 importance. In conducting such assessment, the Secretary

13 shall take into consideration—

14 (1) the adequacy of resources provided to support

15 the missions of the Environmental Research Labora16 tories;

17 (2) the ability of the Environmental

18 Research Laboratories to provide re19 search support for the coastal and ocean

20 management and regulatory responsibil21 ities of the National Oceanic and Atmos22 pheric Administration;

23 ƒ(2)≈ (3) the capacity of the Environmental

24 Research Laboratories to process and disseminate

25 environmental data and information collected and
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1 processed, or expected to be collected and processed,

2 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis3 tration and other appropriate Federal departments

4 and agencies;

5 ƒ(3)≈ (4) the mission of the Environmental Re6 search Laboratories to provide solar-terrestrial serv7 ices to the Nation;

8 ƒ(4)≈ (5) the ability of the Environmental Re9 search Laboratories to provide continued support for

10 the modernization of weather services;

11 ƒ(5)≈ (6) the responsibilities of the Environ12 mental Research Laboratories to monitor, assess, and

13 predict changes in the Earth’s climate;

14 ƒ(6)≈ (7) the capability of the Environmental

15 Research Laboratories to integrate and interpret sci16 entific data in order to provide information useful to

17 policy makers for responding to national and global

18 environmental concerns;

19 ƒ(7)≈ (8) the operational efficiency and effec20 tiveness of the Environmental Research Laboratories;

21 ƒand≈

22 (9) the interaction of the Environ23 mental Research Laboratories with the

24 academic community and the ability of

25 Joint and Cooperative Institutes to im-
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1 prove the quality and effectiveness of re2 search;

3 (10) the number, location, and geo4 graphic distribution of the Environ5 mental Research Laboratories; and

6 ƒ(8)≈ (11) any other issues that the Secretary

7 may identify.

8 (b) COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later

9 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall develop and submit to the Committee on Com11 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the

12 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the

13 Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

14 of the House of Representatives a comprehensive strategic

15 plan, based on the assessment conducted under subsection

16 (a), to modernize and improve the role and mission of the

17 Environmental Research Laboratories of the National Oce18 anic and Atmospheric Administration. The assessment con19 ducted under subsection (a) shall be submitted along with

20 such plan.

21 SEC. 202. HYDROLOGICAL RESEARCH AND FLOOD FORE22 CAST MODERNIZATION REPORT.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation

25 with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall
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1 prepare and submit to the Committee on Commerce,

2 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Commit3 tee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep4 resentatives a report identifying the actions required to im5 prove the hydrological research programs and to modernize

6 the Flood Forecasting System of the National Weather

7 Service.

8 (b) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report required under

9 subsection (a) shall include consideration of—

10 (1) current, planned, and potential technological

11 improvements in the collection of observational

12 hydrological data;

13 (2) use of additional satellite remote-sensing

14 data and airborne surveys, including those systems

15 operated by other Federal agencies, for hydrological

16 data collection;

17 (3) improvements in data analysis and computer

18 modeling in support of flood forecasts and pre19 dictions; and

20 (4) full integration of the River Forecast Centers

21 in the National Weather Service Modernization Plan.

22 ƒSEC. 203. NOTICE OF REPROGRAMMING.

23 ƒ(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide notice

24 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor25 tation of the Senate and to the Committee on Science,
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1 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, not

2 less than 15 days before reprogramming funds available for

3 a program, project, or activity of the National Oceanic and

4 Atmospheric Administration in an amount greater than the

5 lesser of $250,000 or 5 percent of the total funding of such

6 program, project, or activity, if the reprogramming—

7 ƒ(1) augments an existing program, project, or

8 activity;

9 ƒ(2) reduces by 5 percent or more (A) the fund10 ing for an existing program, project, or activity, or

11 (B) the numbers of personnel therefor as approved by

12 Congress; or

13 ƒ(3) results from any general savings from a re14 duction in personnel which would result in a change

15 in an existing program, project, or activity.

16 ƒ(b) NOTICE OF REORGANIZATION.—The Secretary

17 shall provide notice to the Committee on Commerce,

18 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Commit19 tee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep20 resentatives not later than 15 days before any major reorga21 nization of any program, project, or activity of the National

22 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.≈

23 SEC. ƒ204.≈ 203. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

24 It is the sense of Congress that any transfers of Na25 tional Weather Service employees from field offices neces-
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1 sitated by the National Implementation Plan for Mod2 ernization of the National Weather Service be carried out

3 in a manner that will not result in the degradation of serv4 ices in the service area of such field office.