(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Observing System Simulation 
Experiments shall quantitatively— 
(1) determine the potential impact of proposed 
space-based, suborbital, and in situ observing sys-
tems on analyses and forecasts, including potential 
impacts on extreme weather events across all parts 
of the Nation; 
(2) evaluate and compare observing system de-
sign options; and 
(3) assess the relative capabilities and costs of 
various observing systems and combinations of ob-
serving systems in providing data necessary to pro-
tect life and property. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Observing System Simula-
tion Experiments— 
(1) shall be conducted prior to the acquisition 
of major Government-owned or Government-leased 
operational observing systems, including polar-orbit-
ing and geostationary satellite systems, with a 
lifecycle cost of more than $500,000,000; and 
(2) shall be conducted prior to the purchase of 
any major new commercially provided data with a 
lifecycle cost of more than $500,000,000. 
(d) PRIORITY OBSERVING SYSTEM SIMULATION EX-
PERIMENTS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
(1) GLOBAL
NAVIGATION
SATELLITE
SYSTEM 
RADIO OCCULTATION.—Not later than 30 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant 
Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Re-
search shall complete an Observing System Simula-
tion Experiment to assess the value of data from 
Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occulta-
tion. 
(2) GEOSTATIONARY HYPERSPECTRAL SOUND-
ER GLOBAL CONSTELLATION.—Not later than 120 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Research shall complete an Observing System 
Simulation Experiment to assess the value of data 
from a geostationary hyperspectral sounder global 
constellation. 
(e) RESULTS.—Upon completion of all Observing 
System Simulation Experiments, the Assistant Adminis-
trator shall make available to the public the results an 
assessment of related private and public sector weather 
data sourcing options, including their availability, afford-
ability, and cost-effectiveness. Such assessments shall be 
developed in accordance with section 50503 of title 51, 
United States Code. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
SEC. 108. ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPUTING RESOURCES 
PRIORITIZATION. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act and not less frequently than once each year 
thereafter, the Under Secretary, acting through the Chief 
Information Officer of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration and in coordination with the Assist-
ant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 
and the Director of the National Weather Service, shall 
produce and make publicly available a report that explains 
how the Under Secretary intends— 
(1) to continually support upgrades to pursue 
the fastest, most powerful, and cost-effective high 
performance computing technologies in support of 
its weather prediction mission; 
(2) to ensure a balance between the research to 
operations requirements to develop the next genera-
tion of regional and global models as well as highly 
reliable operational models; 
(3) to take advantage of advanced development 
concepts to, as appropriate, make next generation 
weather prediction models available in beta-test 
mode to operational forecasters, the United States 
weather industry, and partners in academic and 
Government research; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
(4) to use existing computing resources to im-
prove advanced research and operational weather 
prediction. 
SEC. 109. UNITED STATES WEATHER RESEARCH PROGRAM. 
Section 108 of the Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration Authorization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567; 
15 U.S.C. 313 note) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 
following: 
‘‘(5) submit to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
House of Representatives, not less frequently than 
once each year, a report, including— 
‘‘(A) a list of ongoing research projects; 
‘‘(B) project goals and a point of contact 
for each project; 
‘‘(C) the 5 projects related to weather ob-
servations, short-term weather, or subseasonal 
forecasts within Office of Oceanic and Atmos-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
pheric Research that are closest to operationali-
zation; 
‘‘(D) for each project referred to in sub-
paragraph (C)— 
‘‘(i) the potential benefit; 
‘‘(ii) any barrier to operationalization; 
and 
‘‘(iii) the plan for operationalization, 
including which line office will financially 
support the project and how much the line 
office intends to spend; 
‘‘(6) establish teams with staff from the Office 
of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the Na-
tional Weather Service to oversee the operationaliza-
tion of research products developed by the Office of 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; 
‘‘(7) develop mechanisms for research priorities 
of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 
to be informed by the relevant line offices within the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
the relevant user community, and the weather enter-
prise; 
‘‘(8) develop an internal mechanism to track 
the progress of each research project within the Of-
fice of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
mechanisms to terminate a project that is not ade-
quately progressing; 
‘‘(9) develop and implement a system to track 
whether extramural research grant goals were ac-
complished; 
‘‘(10) provide facilities for products developed 
by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 
to be tested in operational simulations, such as test 
beds; and 
‘‘(11) encourage academic collaboration with 
the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and 
the National Weather Service by facilitating visiting 
scholars.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Not later than 90 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the’’ and in-
serting ‘‘The’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(c) SUBSEASONAL DEFINED.—In this section, the 
term ‘subseasonal’ means the time range between 2 weeks 
and 3 months.’’. 
SEC. 110. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) FISCAL YEARS 2017 AND 2018.—For each of fis-
cal years 2017 and 2018, there are authorized to be ap-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
propriated to Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Re-
search— 
(1) $111,516,000 to carry out this title, of 
which— 
(A) $85,758,000 is authorized for weather 
laboratories and cooperative institutes; and 
(B) $25,758,000 is authorized for weather 
and air chemistry research programs; and 
(2) an additional amount of $20,000,000 for 
the joint technology transfer initiative described in 
section 102(b)(4). 
(b) LIMITATION.—No additional funds are authorized 
to carry out this title and the amendments made by this 
title. 
TITLE 
II—SUBSEASONAL 
AND 
SEASONAL FORECASTING IN-
NOVATION 
SEC. 201. IMPROVING SUBSEASONAL AND SEASONAL FORE-
CASTS. 
Section 1762 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (Pub-
lic Law 99–198; 15 U.S.C. 313 note) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(b) POLICY.—’’; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00020
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The Under Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the National Weather Service and 
the heads of such other programs of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration as the Under Secretary 
considers appropriate, shall— 
‘‘(1) collect and utilize information in order to 
make usable, reliable, and timely foundational fore-
casts of subseasonal and seasonal temperature and 
precipitation; 
‘‘(2) leverage existing research and models from 
the weather enterprise to improve the forecasts 
under paragraph (1); 
‘‘(3) determine and provide information on how 
the forecasted conditions under paragraph (1) may 
impact— 
‘‘(A) the number and severity of droughts, 
fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, heat waves, 
coastal inundation, winter storms, high impact 
weather, or other relevant natural disasters; 
‘‘(B) snowpack; and 
‘‘(C) sea ice conditions; and 
‘‘(4) develop an Internet clearinghouse to pro-
vide the forecasts under paragraph (1) and the in-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00021
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
formation under paragraphs (1) and (3) on both na-
tional and regional levels. 
‘‘(d) COMMUNICATION.—The Director of the Na-
tional Weather Service shall provide the forecasts under 
paragraph (1) of subsection (c) and the information on 
their impacts under paragraph (3) of such subsection to 
the public, including public and private entities engaged 
in planning and preparedness, such as National Weather 
Service Core partners at the Federal, regional, State, trib-
al, and local levels of government. 
‘‘(e) COOPERATION.—The Under Secretary shall 
build upon existing forecasting and assessment programs 
and partnerships, including— 
‘‘(1) by designating research and monitoring ac-
tivities related to subseasonal and seasonal forecasts 
as a priority in one or more solicitations of the Co-
operative Institutes of the Office of Oceanic and At-
mospheric Research; 
‘‘(2) by contributing to the interagency Earth 
System Prediction Capability; and 
‘‘(3) by consulting with the Secretary of De-
fense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to de-
termine the highest priority subseasonal and sea-
sonal forecast needs to enhance national security. 
‘‘(f) FORECAST COMMUNICATION COORDINATORS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00022
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 
foster effective communication, understanding, and 
use of the forecasts by the intended users of the in-
formation described in subsection (d). This may in-
clude assistance to States for forecast communica-
tion coordinators to enable local interpretation and 
planning based on the information. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—For each State that re-
quests assistance under this subsection, the Under 
Secretary may— 
‘‘(A) provide funds to support an indi-
vidual in that State— 
‘‘(i) to serve as a liaison among the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration, other Federal departments and 
agencies, the weather enterprise, the State, 
and relevant interests within that State; 
and 
‘‘(ii) to receive the forecasts and infor-
mation under subsection (c) and dissemi-
nate 
the 
forecasts 
and 
information 
throughout the State, including to county 
and tribal governments; and 
‘‘(B) require matching funds of at least 50 
percent, from the State, a university, a non-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00023
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS
governmental organization, a trade association, 
or the private sector. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Assistance to an individual 
State under this subsection shall not exceed 
$100,000 in a fiscal year. 
‘‘(g) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGEN-
CIES.—Each Federal department and agency shall cooper-
ate as appropriate with the Under Secretary in carrying 
out this section. 
‘‘(h) REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of the Weather Re-
search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, the 
Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen-
ate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
nology of the House of Representatives a report, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(A) an analysis of the how information 
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration on subseasonal and seasonal 
forecasts, as provided under subsection (c), is 
utilized in public planning and preparedness; 
‘‘(B) specific plans and goals for the con-
tinued development of the subseasonal and sea-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:31 Jan 06, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
ebenthall on DSK30MX082PROD with BILLS