173 
(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 
moisture information delivery, from data provision to 
end-user decision making. 
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174 
SEC. 505. NATIONAL WATER CENTER. 
Section 301 of the Coordinated Ocean Observations 
and Research Act of 2020 (42 U.S.C. 10371) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 
by inserting ‘‘as a component of the Na-
tional Centers for Environmental Pre-
diction’’ after ‘‘center’’; 
(ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(iii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe-
riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(iv) by adding at the end the following 
new clause: 
‘‘(iii) to provide service backup capa-
bilities and additional mission support 
services for River Forecast Centers.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) Serving as the primary Center for 
collaboration and coordination of the National 
Oceanic 
and 
Atmospheric 
Administration’s 
water research and operational activities with 
existing Federal centers and networks, includ-
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175 
ing the Department of Agriculture, the Army 
Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, 
the United States Geological Survey, and the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency.’’; 
(2) by striking subsection (b) and redesignating 
subsections (c) through (e) as subsections (b) 
through (d) respectively; and 
(3) by amending subsection (c), as so redesig-
nated, to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated $46,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out this section.’’. 
SEC. 506. SATELLITE TRANSFERS REPORT. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology of the House of Representatives a report 
describing the Department of Commerce’s authorities, 
policies, and Federal Government-wide policies related to 
transferring any portion of the weather satellite systems 
operated by the Department of Commerce to any other 
Federal department or agency. The report shall also in-
clude the following: 
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(1) A description of the process for decommis-
sioning a Department of Commerce operational 
weather satellite, any existing agreements related to 
transfers of weather satellites, whether decommis-
sioned or not, and any reimbursable agreements re-
lated to the transfer of physical property or the op-
eration of Department of Commerce weather sat-
ellites on behalf of any other Federal department or 
agency. 
(2) A summary of any Department of Com-
merce plans for potential transfer of existing or fu-
ture weather satellite systems to any other Federal 
department or agency. 
SEC. 507. PRECIPITATION FORECAST IMPROVEMENT PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Weather Research 
and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501 
et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 603 as section 604; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 602 the following 
new section: 
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177 
‘‘SEC. 603. PRECIPITATION FORECAST IMPROVEMENT PRO-
GRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in collabo-
ration with the United States weather industry, other Fed-
eral agencies, and academic partners, shall maintain a 
program to improve precipitation forecasting across 
timescales. 
‘‘(b) GOAL.—The goal of the program under sub-
section (a) shall be to provide more accurate, reliable, and 
timely precipitation forecasts across timescales through 
the development and application of a fully coupled Earth 
system prediction model in order to reduce the loss of life 
or property related to precipitation extremes, with a focus 
on the following: 
‘‘(1) Improving the understanding and pre-
diction of precipitation extremes from a variety of 
weather systems, including atmospheric rivers. 
‘‘(2) Evaluating and incorporating, as appro-
priate, innovative observations into operational moni-
toring and forecast systems to improve precipitation 
forecasts. 
‘‘(3) Improving earth system model predictions 
of precipitation extremes from atmospheric rivers, 
tropical cyclones, summer-time thunderstorms, win-
ter storms, and other phenomena, in coordination 
with relevant programs. 
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