182 
al, private, and academic entities seeking finan-
cial assistance under this subsection. 
(B) Technical and financial assistance for 
maintenance of monitoring stations in under-
represented or remote areas of the country 
where it is financially unfeasible for one entity 
to operate such stations without such assist-
ance. 
(5) TERMS.—In providing financial assistance 
under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall es-
tablish terms to ensure that each State, Tribal, pri-
vate, or academic entity that receives financial as-
sistance under this subsection receives a level of sup-
port commensurate with the quality and other char-
acteristics of the data to be provided. 
(6) DETERMINATION.—A State, Tribal, private, 
or academic entity may only receive financial assist-
ance under this subsection if the Under Secretary 
determines such entity will receive sufficient finan-
cial support from non-Federal Government sources 
and fully maintain the quality of the mesonet system 
and associated data standards required by the Pro-
gram for a period of not less than five years. 
(7) PRIORITY.—The Under Secretary shall 
prioritize providing assistance under paragraph (1) 
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183 
to not fewer than one entity in a remote area or an 
area that has a lack of environmental monitoring 
stations described in subsection (a)(2). 
(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 
ensure the Program has an active advisory com-
mittee of subject matter experts to make rec-
ommendations to the Administration on the identi-
fication, implementation, procurement, and tracking 
of data needed to supplement the Program, and rec-
ommend improvements, expansions, and acquisitions 
of available data. 
(2) DESIGNATION OF EXISTING COMMITTEE.— 
The Under Secretary may designate an existing ad-
visory committee, subcommittee, or working group of 
the Federal Government, including the Science Advi-
sory Board of the Administration, to carry out the 
requirement under paragraph (1). 
(3) ACADEMIC EXPERTISE.—The advisory com-
mittee under paragraph (1), in consultation with the 
Program, shall include expertise from one or more 
institutions of higher education (as such term is de-
fined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to assist the advisory com-
mittee to identify, evaluate, and recommend poten-
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tial partnerships, regional or subregional consortia, 
and collaborative methods that would expand the 
number of participants and volume of data in the 
Program. 
(e) REGULAR BRIEFINGS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than an-
nually through 2035, the Under Secretary shall pro-
vide regular briefings to the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
nology of the House of Representatives on all activi-
ties under the Program. 
(2) BRIEFING
CONTENT.—Each briefing re-
quired under paragraph (1) shall include informa-
tion relating to the following: 
(A) Efforts to implement the activities de-
scribed in subsection (b). 
(B) Any financial or technical assistance 
provided pursuant to subsection (c). 
(C) Efforts to address recommendations 
received from the advisory committee under 
subsection (d), if any. 
(D) The potential need and associated ben-
efits of a coastal and ocean mesonet, or other 
emerging areas of weather data needs. 
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(E) Progress toward eliminating gaps in 
weather observation data in States and regions 
of the United States. 
(F) Any other topic the Under Secretary 
determines relevant. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 
amounts authorized to be appropriated to the National 
Weather Service, there shall be available not more than 
the following amounts to carry out this section: 
(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 
(2) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. 
(3) $61,000,000 for fiscal year 2028. 
(4) $68,000,000 for fiscal year 2029. 
(5) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2030. 
SEC. 504. NATIONAL COORDINATED SOIL MOISTURE MONI-
TORING NETWORK. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in collabo-
ration with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of 
the United States Geological Survey, the Administrator of 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and 
the heads of other relevant Federal agencies and depart-
ments, shall support the development, deployment, and 
maintenance of soil moisture monitoring networks by man-
aging the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring 
Network (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Network’’) 
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within the National Integrated Drought Information Sys-
tem. 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—The Under Secretary shall ensure 
the Network includes activities that carry out the fol-
lowing: 
(1) Establishing a visible, user-friendly website. 
(2) Developing a set of criteria for high-quality 
data sources. 
(3) Supporting research necessary to develop or 
improve soil moisture monitoring products at a na-
tional scale. 
(4) Increasing the number of long-term, high- 
quality, in situ and remote sensing soil moisture 
monitoring stations across the United States. 
(5) Sharing methodologies and validation proto-
cols with the private sector. 
(6) Engaging with the citizen science commu-
nity. 
(7) Developing, releasing, and promoting new, 
nationwide point-based and gridded soil moisture 
data products that meet the needs of diverse end- 
user groups. 
(8) Supporting community building and out-
reach to the network of individuals engaged with soil 
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