108 
(4) $68,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. 
(5) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2028. 
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’’) 
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. 
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(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. 
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’’; 
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(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.’’. 
(v) 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-
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: 
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‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated $46,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2024 through 2028 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: 
(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. 
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(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. 
Æ 
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