gram, the Under Secretary, acting through the Di-
rector, shall give preference to applicants from his-
torically Black colleges and universities and minor-
ity-serving institutions. 
(5) PLACEMENT.—The program shall support 
the placement of qualified individuals in positions 
within the executive branch of the Federal Govern-
ment where such individuals can address and ad-
vance the research priorities developed by the Under 
Secretary under paragraph (7). 
(6) FELLOWSHIP
TERM.—A fellowship under 
the program shall be for a period of up to 2 years. 
(7) FELLOWSHIP RESEARCH PRIORITIES.—The 
Under Secretary, acting through the Director, and 
in consultation with representatives from the United 
States Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, and the Army Corps of Engi-
neers, as appropriate, shall develop and publish pri-
orities for the conduct of research by fellows, which 
may include the following: 
(A) Advance the collaborative development 
of a flexible community-based water resources 
modeling system. 
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(B) Apply artificial intelligence and ma-
chine learning capabilities to advance existing 
hydrologic modeling capabilities. 
(C) Support the evolution and integration 
of hydrologic modeling within an Earth Systems 
Modeling Framework. 
(D) Improve visualizations of hydrologic 
model outputs. 
(E) Advance the state of coupled fresh-
water and salt water modeling and forecasting 
capabilities. 
(F) Advance understanding and process 
representation of water quality parameters. 
(G) Advance the assimilation of in-situ and 
remotely sensed observations and data. 
(H) Support the integration of social 
science to advance decision support services. 
(I) Develop methods to study groundwater 
sustainability and estimate the efficiency of re-
charge management. 
(c) DIRECT HIRING.— 
(1) AUTHORITY.—During fiscal year 2021 and 
any fiscal year thereafter, the head of any Federal 
agency may appoint, without regard to the provi-
sions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United 
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States Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of 
that title, to a position with the Federal agency a re-
cipient of a fellowship under the program who— 
(A) earned a degree from a program de-
scribed in subsection (b)(2)(B); 
(B) successfully fulfilled the requirements 
of the fellowship within the executive branch of 
the Federal Government; and 
(C) meets qualification standards estab-
lished by the Office of Personnel Management. 
(2) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY.—The direct hire 
authority provided by this subsection shall be exer-
cised with respect to an individual described in para-
graph (1) not later than 2 years after the date on 
which the individual completed the fellowship under 
the program. 
SEC. 15. IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT OF CONSISTENT, 
FEDERAL SET OF FORWARD-LOOKING, LONG- 
TERM METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme 
weather’’ includes observed or anticipated severe and 
unseasonable 
atmospheric 
conditions, 
including 
drought, heavy precipitation, hurricanes, tornadoes 
and other windstorms (including derechos), extreme 
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heat, extreme cold, flooding, sustained temperatures 
or precipitation that deviate substantially from his-
torical averages, and any other weather event that 
the Under Secretary determines qualifies as extreme 
weather. 
(2) LONG-TERM.—The term ‘‘long-term’’ shall 
have such meaning as the Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology, in consulta-
tion with the Under Secretary, considers appropriate 
for purposes of this section. 
(3) OTHER
ENVIRONMENTAL
TRENDS.—The 
term ‘‘other environmental trends’’ means wildfires, 
coastal flooding, inland flooding, land subsidence, 
rising sea levels, and any other challenges relating to 
changes in environmental systems over time that the 
Under Secretary determines qualify as environ-
mental challenges other than extreme weather. 
(b) IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT OF CONSISTENT, 
FEDERAL SET OF FORWARD-LOOKING, LONG-TERM ME-
TEOROLOGICAL
INFORMATION.—The Under Secretary 
shall identify, and support research that enables, a con-
sistent, Federal set of forward-looking, long-term meteoro-
logical information that models future extreme weather 
events, other environmental trends, projections, and up- 
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to-date observations, including mesoscale information as 
determined appropriate by the Under Secretary. 
SEC. 16. GAP ANALYSIS ON AVAILABILITY OF SNOW-RE-
LATED 
DATA 
TO 
ASSESS 
AND 
PREDICT 
FLOOD AND FLOOD IMPACTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Department of Agriculture, the Department 
of the Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers, shall 
conduct an analysis of gaps in the availability of snow- 
related data to assess and predict floods and flood im-
pacts, including data on the following: 
(1) Snow water equivalent. 
(2) Snow depth. 
(3) Snowpack temperature. 
(4) Snow precipitation. 
(5) Snow melt. 
(6) Rain-snow line. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report on— 
(1) the findings of the gap analysis required by 
subsection (a); and 
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