148 
‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated $45,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out the activi-
ties under this section.’’. 
SEC. 502. NATIONAL INTEGRATED DROUGHT INFORMATION 
SYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the National Inte-
grated Drought Information System Act of 2006 (15 
U.S.C. 313d) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) incorporates flash drought research 
and tools to enhance timely response;’’; 
(B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(C) in paragraph (6)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘(including ecological 
drought)’’ after ‘‘drought’’ each place it 
appears; and
149 
(ii) by striking the period and insert-
ing a semicolon; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(7) advance and deploy next generation tech-
nologies related to drought and related publicly 
available data, such as monitoring, preparedness, 
and forecasting capabilities utilizing artificial intel-
ligence, machine learning, and cloud technologies; 
and 
‘‘(8) utilize observational networks, including 
the National Weather Service cooperative observer 
program and State or regional hydrological moni-
toring projects, and refine drought indicators across 
a variety of spatial and temporal scales for decision- 
support products by optimizing data and resources 
from across the Federal Government, including 
snowpack, soil moisture, groundwater, and rapid in-
tensification data.’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe-
riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
150 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(4) in partnership with the National Mesonet 
Program, establish memoranda of understanding to 
provide 
coordinated, 
high-quality, 
nationwide 
drought information for the public good, including 
integrated soil moisture information in accordance 
with the 2021 report, ‘A Strategy for the National 
Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network’.’’; 
and 
(3) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(f) MODELING UPDATE.—The Under Secretary, in 
partnership with National Integrated Drought Informa-
tion System and the Climate Prediction Center of the Na-
tional Weather Service, shall undertake an effort to transi-
tion existing drought products to probabilistic forecasts 
and incorporate new and improved dynamical and statis-
tical forecast modeling tools.’’. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
4 of the National Integrated Drought Information System 
Act of 2006 (15 U.S.C. 313d note) is amended to read 
as follows:
151 
‘‘SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
‘‘From amounts made available to Operations, Re-
search, and Facilities of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, there are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this section the following: 
‘‘(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 
‘‘(2) $15,500,000 for fiscal year 2025. 
‘‘(3) $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 
‘‘(4) $16,500,000 for fiscal year 2027. 
‘‘(5) $17,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.’’. 
SEC. 503. NATIONAL MESONET PROGRAM. 
(a) PROGRAM.—The Under Secretary shall maintain 
the National Mesonet Program (in this section referred 
to as the ‘‘Program’’). The Program shall— 
(1) obtain observations in all geographic envi-
ronments to improve understanding of and forecast 
capabilities for atmospheric and water events, with 
a prioritization on leveraging available commercial, 
academic, and other non-Federal environmental data 
to enhance coordination across the private, public, 
and academic sectors of the United States weather 
enterprise; and 
(2) establish memoranda of understanding with 
networks outside of the scope of the Program. 
(b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The Program shall carry 
out the following activities:
152 
(1) Improve environmental observations used by 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion and the National Weather Service to support 
baseline forecasts, including nowcasts, and warnings 
that protect the Nation’s citizens, businesses, mili-
tary, and government agencies, and enable such in-
dividuals and entities to operate in safe, efficient, 
and orderly manners. 
(2) When demonstrably cost effective and meet-
ing or exceeding agency data quality standards, le-
verage existing networks of environmental moni-
toring stations, including supplemental radar sys-
tems, to increase the quantity and density of envi-
ronmental observations and data available to the Ad-
ministration. 
(3) Establish means to integrate greater density 
and type of environmental observations into the Pro-
gram on an annual basis, including by encouraging 
local and regional networks of environmental moni-
toring stations, in situ sensor networks and satellite 
constellations to participate in the Program. 
(4) Yield increased quantities of boundary-layer 
data to improve numerical weather prediction per-
formance, including regarding subseasonal to sea-
sonal timescales.
153 
(5) Provide the critical technical and adminis-
trative infrastructure needed to facilitate rapid inte-
gration and sustained use of new and emerging net-
works of environmental monitoring stations antici-
pated in coming years from non-Federal sources. 
(6) Expand and enhance environmental obser-
vational networks in the roadway environment to 
provide real-time road weather and surface condi-
tions for surface transportation and related eco-
nomic sectors. 
(7) Identify available terrestrial or marine envi-
ronmental data, or quantifiable gaps in such data, to 
improve the understanding of air-sea interactions. 
(8) Support the National Weather Service in 
reaching its target of a 30-minute warning time for 
severe weather through better predictive model algo-
rithms driven by increasingly effective observations. 
(9) Coordinate with existing Administration 
data used for forecasts, including data from the Na-
tional Environmental Satellite, Data, and Informa-
tion Service, the Integrated Ocean Observing Sys-
tem, the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing 
Program, the National Data Buoy Center, and the 
National Ocean Service.
154 
(10) Identify and communicate to the Office of 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and other part-
ners priorities of research and development needed 
to advance observations in the Program. 
(11) Support the National Coordinated Soil 
Moisture Monitoring Network in acquiring soil mois-
ture and related data to support the development of 
decision-support products and other information 
services. 
(c) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the Pro-
gram, the Under Secretary may, to the extent 
amounts are made available, award up to 15 percent 
of the Program’s annual appropriations for financial 
assistance to State, Tribal, private, and academic 
entities seeking to build, expand, or upgrade equip-
ment and capacity of mesonet systems. Financial as-
sistance under this subsection may be made in co-
ordination with and in addition to awards from 
other Federal agencies. 
(2) AGREEMENTS.—Before receiving financial 
assistance under paragraph (1), the State, Tribal, 
private, or academic entity seeking financial assist-
ance under this subsection shall enter into an agree-
ment with the Under Secretary to provide data to
155 
the Program, subject to verification by the Program 
of the relative operational value and evaluation of 
the cost of such data, for use in weather prediction, 
severe weather warnings, and emergency response. 
(3) ASSISTANCE
AND
OTHER
SUPPORT.—The 
Under Secretary may provide technical assistance, 
project implementation support, and guidance to 
State, Tribal, private, and academic entities seeking 
financial assistance under this subsection. The 
Under Secretary may provide technical and financial 
assistance for maintenance of monitoring stations in 
underrepresented or remote areas of the country 
where it is financially unfeasible for one entity to op-
erate such stations without such assistance. 
(4) TERMS.—In providing financial assistance 
under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall es-
tablish terms to ensure that each State, Tribal, pri-
vate, or academic entity that receives financial as-
sistance under this subsection receives a level of 
Federal support commensurate with the quality and 
other characteristics of the data to be provided. 
(5) DETERMINATION.—A State, Tribal, private, 
or academic entity may receive financial assistance 
under this subsection only if the Under Secretary 
determines such entity shall provide sufficient non-
156 
Federal financial support and full maintenance to 
maintain the quality of the mesonet system and as-
sociated data standards required by the Program for 
a period of not less than five years. 
(6) PRIORITY.—The Under Secretary shall 
prioritize providing assistance under paragraph (1) 
to at least one entity in an underrepresented or re-
mote area. 
(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 
ensure the Program has an active advisory com-
mittee of subject matter experts to make rec-
ommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration on the identification, imple-
mentation, procurement, and tracking of data need-
ed to supplement the Program, and recommend im-
provements, expansions, and acquisitions of available 
data. The Under Secretary may designate an exist-
ing Federal advisory committee, subcommittee, or 
working group, including, if appropriate, the Science 
Advisory Board of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, to carry out this subsection. 
(2) ACADEMIC EXPERTISE.—The advisory com-
mittee under paragraph (1), in consultation with the 
Program, shall include expertise from one or more
157 
institutions of higher education (as such term is de-
fined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to assist the advisory com-
mittee to identify, evaluate, and recommend poten-
tial partnerships, regional or subregional consortia, 
and collaborative methods that would expand the 
number of participants and volume of data in the 
Program. 
(e) REGULAR REPORTING.—The Under Secretary 
shall provide regular briefings, not less than twice annu-
ally, to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on 
all Program activities. Such briefings shall include infor-
mation relating to the following: 
(1) Efforts to implement the activities described 
in subsection (b). 
(2) Any financial or technical assistance pro-
vided pursuant to subsection (c). 
(3) Efforts to address recommendations re-
ceived from the advisory committee under subsection 
(d). 
(4) The potential need and associated benefits 
of a coastal and ocean mesonet, or other emerging 
areas of weather data needs.
158 
(5) Progress toward eliminating gaps in weath-
er observation data by States and regions of the 
United States. 
(6) Any other topic the Under Secretary deter-
mines relevant. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 
amounts made available to the National Weather Service, 
the Under Secretary, to carry out this section, shall allo-
cate up to the following amounts for each specified fiscal 
year: 
(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 
(2) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 
(3) $61,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 
(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
159 
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. 
(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
160 
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’’; 
(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
161 
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: 
‘‘(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
162 
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. 
(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:
163 
‘‘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.
164 
‘‘(4) Enhancing research transition to oper-
ations through testbeds, including the evaluation of 
physical and social science, technology, and other re-
search to develop products and services for imple-
mentation and use by relevant stakeholders. 
‘‘(5) Incorporating social, behavioral, and eco-
nomic sciences best practices into operations for 
more effective and actionable watch and warning 
products that help drive public safety and damage 
mitigation decisions in coordination with the pro-
grams established in accordance with this Act. 
‘‘(6) Ensuring data and metadata management 
processes are in place to support data access and ar-
chive for long term research and operations among 
multiple partners. 
‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the program 
under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall support 
research-to-operations work, including relating to the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) Implementing key strategies and following 
priorities and objectives outlined by the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ‘Precipi-
tation Prediction Grand Challenge Strategy’.
165 
‘‘(2) Improving the physical science, operational 
modeling and tools, and technology related to better 
forecasting precipitation extremes across timescales. 
‘‘(3) Improving the social, behavioral, risk, com-
munications, and economic sciences related to 
vulnerabilities, risk communication, and delivery of 
information critical for reducing the loss of life or 
property related to extreme precipitation. 
‘‘(4) Conducting the research necessary to de-
velop and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guid-
ance technology relating to precipitation extremes in 
operational practice. 
‘‘(5) Enhancing the operational capacity of the 
National Weather Service to deliver decision support 
for increasing precipitation extremes. 
‘‘(6) Expanding computational resources to im-
prove precipitation modeling. 
‘‘(d) ANNUAL BUDGET.—The Under Secretary shall, 
not less frequently than annually, submit to Congress a 
proposed budget corresponding with carrying out this sec-
tion.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting 
Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by striking the item