National Mesonet Authorization Act

To authorize the National Mesonet Program of the National Weather Service, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the National Mesonet Authorization Act 2. National Mesonet Program (a) In general Title I of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 ( 15 U.S.C. 8501 et seq. 111. National Mesonet Program (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Since the initial establishment of the National Mesonet Program, a public-private partnership program, the Program has leveraged data collected by existing weather observation networks to— (A) provide accurate, real-time observations to support weather forecasters, emergency response, and all-weather sensitive activities across the United States; (B) address persistent impediments, identified in a 2009 National Academy of Sciences Report, From the Ground Up, to fulfill the need for broader and denser environmental observation networks to improve severe weather lead-times; (C) help achieve major improvements for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the broader American Weather Enterprise, as identified in the 2011 National Academy of Sciences Report, The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring; (D) increase the amount of non-Federal weather data available to the Federal Government by orders of magnitude; and (E) improve understanding of the impact, size, and duration of mesoscale weather events. (2) The National Mesonet Program is a critical component of Administration operations and provides reliable, real-time observation capabilities for the physical environment that enhances prediction, preparedness, and response strategies to severe weather events. (3) The National Mesonet Program is a primary input, ingest, and quality-assurance/quality-control for non-Federal weather data that are critical to operations, including situational awareness, forecasting, decision support, research, in-situ verification and validation for emerging satellite technologies, and numerical weather prediction modeling. (b) Program There is in the National Weather Service a program to be known as the National Mesonet Program (in this section referred to as the Program (1) be administered by the Under Secretary; and (2) obtain observations in all geographic environments to improve understanding of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric events, with a prioritization on leveraging available commercial, academic, and other non-Federal weather data to enhance coordination across the private, public, and academic sectors of the United States weather enterprise. (c) Program elements The Program shall carry out the following activities: (1) Improve environmental observations used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service to support baseline forecasts and warnings that protect the Nation’s citizens, businesses, military, and government agencies and enable such individuals and entities to operate in safe, efficient, and orderly manners. (2) When demonstrably cost effective, leverage existing networks of environmental monitoring stations to increase the quantity and density of weather observations and data available to the Administration. (3) Establish means to integrate greater density and type of weather observations into the Program on an annual basis, including by encouraging local and regional networks of environmental monitoring stations and satellite constellations to participate in the Program. (4) Yield increased quantities of boundary-layer data to improve numerical weather prediction performance, including regarding subseasonal to seasonal timescales. (5) Provide the critical technical and administrative infrastructure needed to facilitate rapid integration and sustained use of new and emerging networks of environmental monitoring stations anticipated in coming years from non-Federal sources. (6) Expand and enhance environmental observational networks in the roadway environment to provide real-time road weather and surface conditions for surface transportation and related economic sectors. (7) Identify available terrestrial or marine weather data, or quantifiable gaps in such data, to improve the understanding of air-sea interactions. (8) Support the National Weather Service in reaching its target of a 30-minute warning time for severe weather through better predictive model algorithms driven by increasingly effective observations. (9) Coordinate with existing Administration data used for forecasts, including data from the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, the Integrated Ocean Observing System, the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program, and National Ocean Service water level stations. (10) Identify and communicate to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and other partners priorities of research and development needed to advance observations in the Program. (d) Financial and technical assistance (1) In general In furtherance of the Program, the Under Secretary may, to the extent amounts are made available, award financial assistance to State, Tribal, private, and academic entities seeking to build, expand, or upgrade equipment and capacity of mesonet systems. Financial assistance under this subsection may be made in coordination or addition to awards from other Federal agencies. (2) Agreements Before receiving financial assistance under paragraph (1), the State, Tribal, private, or academic entity seeking financial assistance under this subsection shall enter into an agreement with the Under Secretary to provide data to the Program, subject to verification of the relative operational value and evaluation of the cost of such data, for use in weather prediction, severe weather warnings, and emergency response. (3) Assistance and other support The Under Secretary may provide technical assistance, project implementation support, and guidance to entities seeking financial assistance under this subsection. (4) Terms In providing financial assistance under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall establish terms to ensure that each State, Tribal, private, or academic entity that receives financial assistance under this subsection receives a level of Federal support commensurate with the quality and other characteristics of the data to be provided. (5) Determination A State, Tribal, private, or academic entity may receive financial assistance under this subsection only if the Under Secretary determines such entity shall provide sufficient non-Federal financial support to maintain the quality of the mesonet system and associated data standards required by the Program. (e) Advisory committee (1) In general The Under Secretary shall ensure the Program has an active advisory committee of subject matter experts to identify, implement, procure, and track data needed to supplement the Program, and recommend improvements, expansions, and acquisitions of available data. The Under Secretary may designate an existing Federal advisory committee, subcommittee, or working group, including, if appropriate, the Science Advisory Board of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to carry out this subsection. (2) Partnerships The advisory committee under paragraph (1) shall establish partnerships with one or more institutions of higher education (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001 (f) Regular reporting The Under Secretary shall provide regular briefings, not less than twice annually, to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on all Program activities. Such briefings shall include information relating to the following: (1) Efforts to implement the activities described in subsection (c). (2) Any financial or technical assistance provided pursuant to subsection (d). (3) Efforts to address recommendations received from the advisory committee under subsection (e). (4) The potential need and associated benefits of a coastal and ocean mesonet, or other emerging areas of weather data needs. (5) Progress toward eliminating gaps in weather observation data by States and regions of the United States. (6) Any other topic the Under Secretary determines relevant. (g) Authorization of appropriations From amounts made available to the National Weather Service for Operations, Research, and Facilities, the Director of the National Weather Service, to carry out this section, shall allocate up to the following amounts for each specified fiscal year: (1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. (2) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. (3) $61,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. (4) $68,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. (5) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2028. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents for the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 110 the following new item: Sec. 111. National Mesonet Program. .

Summary: National Mesonet Authorization Act This bill provides statutory authority for the National Mesonet Program of the National Weather Service (NWS). The program shall obtain observations from observing platforms in all geographic environments to improve understanding of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric events, with a prioritization on leveraging available commercial, academic, and other nonfederal weather data to enhance coordination across the private, public, and academic sectors of the U.S. weather enterprise. The program must carry out specified activities, including improving environmental observations used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the NWS to support baseline forecasts and warnings that protect the nation's citizens, businesses, military, and government agencies and enable such individuals and entities to operate in safe, efficient, and orderly manners. NOAA shall ensure the program has an active advisory committee of subject matter experts to identify, implement, procure, and track data needed to supplement the program, and recommend improvements, expansions, and acquisitions of available data. The advisory committee shall establish partnerships with one or more institutions of higher education to identify, evaluate, and recommend potential partnerships, regional or subregional consortia, and collaborative methods that would expand the number of participants and volume of data in the program.