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 ‘‘Working 
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, and tribal emergency management personnel, 
and the public; and to improve communications and 
partnerships among NOAA and the private and aca-
demic sectors; and 
(4) address such other matters as the Science Ad-
visory Board requests of the Working Group. 
(b) COMPOSITION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group shall be 
composed of leading experts and innovators from all 
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relevant fields of science and engineering including 
atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric physics, meteor-
ology, hydrology, social science, risk communications, 
electrical engineering, and computer sciences. In car-
rying out this section, the Working Group may orga-
nize into subpanels. 
(2) NUMBER.—The Working Group shall be com-
posed 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 ap-
proval 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 House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 
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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 forecast 
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. 
(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 
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weather industry, State governments, emergency 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 estab-
lish 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 Admin-
istrator for OAR and the Assistant Administrator for NWS. 
(d) REPORT.—The Under Secretary shall report annu-
ally to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on 
participation in such program and shall highlight any in-
novations that come from this interaction. 
SEC. 14. VISITING FELLOWS AT NWS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Administrator for 
NWS may establish a program to host postdoctoral fellows 
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and academic researchers at any of the National Centers 
for Environmental Prediction. 
(b) GOAL.—This program shall be designed to provide 
direct interaction between forecasters and talented academic 
and private sector researchers in an effort to bring innova-
tion to forecasting tools and techniques available to the 
NWS. 
(c) SELECTION
AND
APPOINTMENT.—Such fellows 
shall be competitively selected and appointed for a term not 
to exceed 1 year. 
SEC. 15. NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS ‘‘MARK 
TRAIL’’ AWARD PROGRAM. 
(a) PROGRAM.—The Assistant Administrator for NWS 
is authorized to establish the NOAA Weather Radio All 
Hazards ‘‘Mark Trail’’ Award Program. This award pro-
gram shall provide annual awards to honor individuals or 
organizations that use or provide NOAA Weather Radio All 
Hazards receivers or transmitters to save lives and protect 
property. Individuals or organizations that utilize other 
early warning tools or applications also qualify for this 
award. 
(b) GOAL.—This award program draws attention to 
the life-saving work of the NOAA Weather Radio All Haz-
ards program, as well as emerging tools and applications, 
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