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(1) CRITERIA.—Not later than December 31, 
2015, NOAA shall publish data standards and speci-
fications for space-based commercial weather data. 
(2) PILOT CONTRACT.— 
(A) CONTRACT.—Not later than October 
1, 2016, NOAA shall, through an open competi-
tion, enter into at least one pilot contract with 
a private sector entity capable of providing data 
that meet the standards and specifications set 
by NOAA to provide commercial weather data 
in a manner that allows NOAA to calibrate and 
evaluate the data. 
(B) ASSESSMENT
OF
DATA
VIABILITY.— 
Not later than October 1, 2019, NOAA shall 
transmit to Congress the results of a deter-
mination of the extent to which data provided 
under the contract entered into under subpara-
graph (A) meet the criteria published under 
paragraph (1). 
(3) OBTAINING FUTURE DATA.—NOAA shall, 
to the extent feasible, obtain commercial weather 
data from private sector providers. 
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated out of funds 
made available for procurement, acquisition, and 
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construction at NESDIS, $9,000,000 for carrying 
out this subsection. 
SEC. 11. ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SERVICES WORK-
ING GROUP. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The NOAA Science Advisory 
Board shall continue to maintain a standing working 
group named the Environmental Information Services 
Working Group (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Work-
ing Group’’) to— 
(1) provide advice for prioritizing weather re-
search initiatives at NOAA to produce real improve-
ment in weather forecasting; 
(2) provide advice on existing or emerging tech-
nologies or techniques that can be found in private 
industry or the research community that could be in-
corporated into forecasting at NWS to improve fore-
casting skill; 
(3) identify opportunities to improve commu-
nications between weather forecasters, Federal, 
State, local, tribal, and other emergency manage-
ment personnel, and the public; and to improve com-
munications and partnerships among NOAA and the 
private and academic sectors; and 
(4) address such other matters as the Science 
Advisory Board requests of the Working Group. 
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(b) COMPOSITION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group shall be 
composed of leading experts and innovators from all 
relevant fields of science and engineering including 
atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric physics, meteor-
ology, hydrology, social science, risk communica-
tions, electrical engineering, and computer sciences. 
In carrying out this section, the Working Group may 
organize into subpanels. 
(2) NUMBER.—The Working Group shall be 
composed of no fewer than 15 members. Nominees 
for the Working Group may be forwarded by the 
Working Group for approval by the Science Advisory 
Board. Members of the Working Group may choose 
a chair (or co-chairs) from among their number with 
approval by the Science Advisory Board. 
(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Working Group shall 
transmit annually to the Science Advisory Board for sub-
mission to the Under Secretary a report on progress made 
by NOAA in adopting the Working Group’s recommenda-
tions. The Science Advisory Board shall transmit this re-
port to the Under Secretary. Within 30 days of receipt 
of such report, the Under Secretary shall transmit it to 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
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House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 
SEC. 12. INTERAGENCY WEATHER RESEARCH AND INNOVA-
TION COORDINATION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Office of 
Science and Technology Policy shall establish an Inter- 
agency Committee for Advancing Weather Services to im-
prove coordination of relevant weather research and fore-
cast innovation activities across the Federal Government. 
The Interagency Committee shall— 
(1) include participation by the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration, the Federal Avia-
tion Administration, NOAA and its constituent ele-
ments, the National Science Foundation, and such 
other agencies involved in weather forecasting re-
search as the President determines are appropriate; 
(2) identify and prioritize top forecast needs 
and coordinate those needs against budget requests 
and program initiatives across participating offices 
and agencies; and 
(3) share information regarding operational 
needs and forecasting improvements across relevant 
agencies. 
(b) CO-CHAIR.—The Federal Coordinator for Meteor-
ology shall serve as a co-chair of this panel. 
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(c) FURTHER COORDINATION.—The Director shall 
take such other steps as are necessary to coordinate the 
activities of the Federal Government with those of the 
American weather industry, State governments, emer-
gency managers, and academic researchers. 
SEC. 13. OAR AND NWS EXCHANGE PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Administrator for 
OAR and the Assistant Administrator for NWS may es-
tablish a program to detail OAR personnel to the NWS 
and NWS personnel to OAR. 
(b) GOAL.—The goal of this program is to enhance 
forecasting innovation through regular, direct interaction 
between OAR’s world-class scientists and NWS’s oper-
ational staff. 
(c) ELEMENTS.—The program shall allow up to 10 
OAR staff and NWS staff to spend up to 1 year on detail. 
Candidates shall be jointly selected by the Assistant Ad-
ministrator for OAR and the Assistant Administrator for 
NWS. 
(d) REPORT.—The Under Secretary shall report an-
nually to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
nology of the House of Representatives and to the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate on participation in such program and shall high-
light any innovations that come from this interaction. 
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