IB
Union Calendar No. 139
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2811
[Report No. 103–248]
To authorize certain atmospheric, weather, and satellite programs and func-
tions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 30, 1993
Mr. HALL of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
SEPTEMBER 21, 1993
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 30, 1993]
A BILL
To authorize certain atmospheric, weather, and satellite pro-
grams and functions of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Atmospheric and Satellite
Program Authorization Act of 1993’’.
TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF
APPROPRIATIONS
SEC. 101. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
(a) OPERATIONS AND RESEARCH.—There are author-
ized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce (in
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) to enable the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry
out the operations and research duties of the National
Weather Service, $473,256,000 for fiscal year 1994 and
$492,185,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties include mete-
orological, 
hydrological, 
and 
oceanographic 
public
warnings and forecasts, as well as applied research in sup-
port of such warnings and forecasts.
(b) SYSTEMS ACQUISITION.—There are authorized to
be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out the pub-
lic warning and forecast systems duties of the National
Weather Service, $76,299,000 for fiscal year 1994 and
$71,115,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties include the
development, acquisition, and implementation of major
public warning and forecast systems. None of the funds au-
thorized under this subsection shall be used for the purposes
for which funds are authorized under section 102(b) of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Author-
ization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567). No funds may
be expended for Next Generation Doppler Weather Radar
(NEXRAD) until the requirements of paragraph (2)(A) or
(B) of such section 102(b) have been fulfilled by the Sec-
retary. None of the funds for NEXRAD authorized by such
section 102(b)(2)(A) or (B) shall be expended, subject to an-
nual review, for a particular NEXRAD installation site un-
less such site appears on page D–10, D–11, or D–12 of the
National Implementation Plan for Modernization of the
National Weather Service, required under section 703 of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Author-
ization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567), for fiscal year
1994, or unless such funds are to be used only for spare
parts, not installation at a particular site.
(c) CONSTRUCTION
OF WEATHER FORECAST OF-
FICES.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration to carry out construction, repair, and modi-
fication activities relating to new and existing weather fore-
cast offices, $62,784,000 for fiscal year 1994 and
$14,739,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such activities include
planning, design, and land acquisition related to such
offices.
SEC. 102. ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH.
(a) CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY RESEARCH.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap-
propriated to the Secretary to enable the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry
out its climate and air quality research duties,
$105,922,000 for fiscal year 1994 and $138,737,000
for fiscal year 1995. Such duties include interannual
and seasonal climate research and long-term climate
and air quality research.
(2) CLIMATE
AND
GLOBAL
CHANGE.—Of the
sums authorized under paragraph (1), $66,902,000
for fiscal year 1994 and $84,573,000 for fiscal year
1995 are authorized to be appropriated for the pur-
poses of studying climate and global change, includ-
ing global observations, monitoring, and data and in-
formation management relating to the study of
changes in the Earth’s climatic system, and fun-
damental research on oceanic and atmospheric proc-
esses critical to climate prediction and diagnostics.
(b) ATMOSPHERIC PROGRAMS.—There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out its
atmospheric research duties, $42,103,000 for fiscal year
1994 and $52,980,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties in-
clude research for developing improved prediction capabili-
ties for atmospheric processes, as well as solar-terrestrial
research and services.
SEC. 103. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA,
AND INFORMATION SERVICE.
(a) SATELLITE OBSERVING SYSTEMS.—There are au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry
out its satellite observing systems duties, $206,383,000 for
fiscal year 1994 and $264,890,000 for fiscal year 1995, ex-
cept that no funds may be expended for Geostationary Oper-
ational Environmental Satellite until the requirements of
section 105(d)(2) (A) or (B) of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992
(Public Law 102–567) have been fulfilled by the Secretary.
Such duties include spacecraft procurement, launch, and
associated ground station system changes involving polar
orbiting and geostationary environmental satellites, as well
as the operation of such satellites. None of the funds author-
ized under this subsection shall be used for the purposes for
which funds are authorized under section 105(d) of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authoriza-
tion Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567).
(b) ENVIRONMENTAL DATA AND INFORMATION SERV-
ICES.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration to carry out its environmental data and infor-
mation services duties, $34,068,000 for fiscal year 1994 and
$41,227,000 for fiscal year 1995. Such duties include cli-
mate data services, geophysical data services, and environ-
mental assessment and information services.
SEC. 104. PROGRAM SUPPORT.
(a) ADMINISTRATION AND SERVICES.—There are au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for Administra-
tion and Services, $73,319,000 for fiscal year 1994 and
$76,252,000 for fiscal year 1995.
(b) AIRCRAFT SERVICES.—There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary for Aircraft Services and Air-
craft Critical Safety and Instrumentation, $9,495,000 for
fiscal year 1994 and $9,875,000 for fiscal year 1995.
SEC. 105. LIMITATION ON APPROPRIATIONS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no
funds are authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year
after fiscal year 1995 for carrying out the programs for
which funds are authorized by this Act.
TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS
SEC. 201. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RE-
SEARCH LABORATORIES.
(a) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall conduct an as-
sessment of the long-term role and mission of the Environ-
mental Research Laboratories of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration and the relevance of the re-
search conducted therein to issues of global and national
importance. In conducting such assessment, the Secretary
shall take into consideration—
(1) the adequacy of resources provided to support
the missions of the Environmental Research Labora-
tories;
(2) the capacity of the Environmental Research
Laboratories to process and disseminate environ-
mental data and information collected and processed,
or expected to be collected and processed, by the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and
other appropriate Federal departments and agencies;
(3) the mission of the Environment Research
Laboratories to provide solar-terrestrial services to the
Nation;
(4) the ability of the Environmental Research
Laboratories to provide continued support for the
modernization of weather services;
(5) the responsibilities of the Environmental Re-
search Laboratories to monitor, assess, and predict
changes in the Earth’s climate;
(6) the capability of the Environmental Research
Laboratories to integrate and interpret scientific data
in order to provide information useful to policy mak-
ers for responding to national and global environ-
mental concerns;
(7) the operational efficiency and effectiveness of
the Environmental Research Laboratories; and
(8) any other issues that the Secretary may iden-
tify.
(b) COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall develop and submit to the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House
of Representatives a comprehensive strategic plan, based on
the assessment conducted under subsection (a), to modernize
and improve the role and mission of the Environmental Re-
search Laboratories of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration. The assessment conducted under
subsection (a) shall be submitted along with such plan.
SEC. 202. HYDROLOGICAL RESEARCH AND FLOOD FORE-
CAST MODERNIZATION REPORT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation
with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall
prepare and submit to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Commit-
tee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report identifying the actions required to im-
prove the hydrological research programs and to modernize
the Flood Forecasting System of the National Weather Serv-
ice.
(b) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report required under
subsection (a) shall include consideration of—
(1) current, planned, and potential technological
improvements in the collection of observational
hydrological data;
(2) use of additional satellite remote-sensing
data and airborne surveys, including those systems
operated by other Federal agencies, for hydrological
data collection;
(3) improvements in data analysis and computer
modeling in support of flood forecasts and pre-
dictions; and
(4) full integration of the River Forecast Centers
in the National Weather Service Modernization Plan.
SEC. 203. NOTICE OF REPROGRAMMING.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide notice
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate and to the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, not
less than 15 days before reprogramming funds available for
a program, project, or activity of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration in an amount greater than the
lesser of $250,000 or 5 percent of the total funding of such
program, project, or activity, if the reprogramming—
(1) augments an existing program, project, or
activity;
(2) reduces by 5 percent or more (A) the funding
for an existing program, project, or activity, or (B)
the numbers of personnel therefor as approved by
Congress; or
(3) results from any general savings from a re-
duction in personnel which would result in a change
in an existing program, project, or activity.
(b) NOTICE
OF REORGANIZATION.—The Secretary
shall provide notice to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Commit-
tee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep-
resentatives not later than 15 days before any major reorga-
nization of any program, project, or activity of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
SEC. 204. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that any transfers of Na-
tional Weather Service employees from field offices neces-
sitated by the National Implementation Plan for Mod-
ernization of the National Weather Service be carried out
in a manner that will not result in the degradation of serv-
ices in the service area of such field office.