I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1832 
To establish the National Hurricane Research Initiative to improve hurricane 
preparedness, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 29, 2007 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. BOYD of Florida, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. 
MACK, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. KELLER of Florida, and Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ- 
BALART of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Science and Technology 
A BILL 
To establish the National Hurricane Research Initiative to 
improve hurricane preparedness, 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 Hurricane 
Research Initiative Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the National Science Foundation. 
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(2) UNDER
SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 
Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary for Oceans 
and Atmosphere of the Department of Commerce. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL HURRICANE RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 
(a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH.—The Under Sec-
retary and the Director shall establish an initiative known 
as the National Hurricane Research Initiative for the pur-
poses described in subsection (b). 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the National Hurri-
cane Research Initiative shall be to set research objectives 
based on the findings of the January 12, 2007, National 
Science Board report entitled ‘‘Hurricane Warning: The 
Critical Need for National Hurricane Initiative’’— 
(1) to make recommendations to the National 
Science Board based on such research; 
(2) to assemble the expertise of the science and 
engineering capabilities of the United States through 
a multi-agency effort that is focused on— 
(A) improving a better understanding of 
hurricane prediction, intensity, and mitigation 
on coastal populations; 
(B) infrastructure; and 
(C) the natural environment; and 
(3) to make grants to eligible entities to carry 
out research in the following areas: 
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(A) PREDICTING HURRICANE INTENSIFICA-
TION.—Research to improve understanding 
of— 
(i) rapid intensity change in storms, 
relationships among storm size, motion, 
and intensity; 
(ii) the internal dynamics of hurri-
canes; and 
(iii) the manner in which hurricanes 
interact with the environment. 
(B) 
UNDERSTANDING
AIR-SEA
INTER-
ACTIONS.—Research to improve understanding 
of theories of air-sea interaction that are com-
mon to the strong wind and high wave condi-
tions associated with hurricanes, and cases in 
which the air-sea interface beneath hurricanes 
vanishes and is replaced by an emulsion, includ-
ing theoretical theories, observational theories, 
and modeling. 
(C) PREDICTING STORM SURGE, RAINFALL, 
AND
INLAND
FLOODING
FROM
HURRICANES 
AND
TROPICAL
STORMS.—Research to under-
stand and model rainfall and flooding from hur-
ricanes, including probabilistic modeling and 
mapping of storm surge risk. 
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(D) HURRICANE
MODIFICATION.—Basic 
research for modifying hurricanes to reduce the 
intensity or alter the movement of hurricanes 
by human intervention, including research to 
improve understanding of the potential effects 
of hurricane modification on precipitation and 
fresh water supply, as well as on climate. 
(E) IMPROVED OBSERVATION OF HURRI-
CANES
AND
TROPICAL
STORMS.—Research to 
improve hurricane and tropical storm observa-
tion through mobile radars, Global Positioning 
System technology, unmanned aerial vehicles, 
and ground-based and aerial wireless sensors to 
improve understanding of the complex nature of 
storms. 
(F) ASSESSING VULNERABLE INFRASTRUC-
TURE.—Research to develop a national engi-
neering assessment of coastal infrastructure, in-
cluding infrastructure related to levees, sea-
walls, drainage systems, bridges, water and 
sewage utilities, power, and communications, to 
determine the level of vulnerability of such in-
frastructure to damage from a hurricane. 
(G) INTERACTION OF HURRICANES WITH 
ENGINEERED
STRUCTURES.—Research to im-
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prove understanding of the impacts of hurri-
canes and tropical storms on buildings, struc-
tures, and housing combined with modeling es-
sential for guiding the creation of improved 
building designs and construction codes in loca-
tions particularly vulnerable to hurricanes. 
(H) 
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN
HURRI-
CANES, 
CLIMATE, 
AND
NATURAL
ECO-
SYSTEMS.—Research to improve the under-
standing of the complex relationships between 
hurricanes and climate, including research to 
determine the most effective methods to use ob-
servational information to examine the impacts 
on ecosystems over long and short periods of 
time. 
(I) TECHNOLOGIES
FOR
DISASTER
RE-
SPONSE AND RECOVERY.—Research to improve 
emergency communication networks for govern-
ment agencies and nongovernment entities and 
to improve communications between such net-
works during disaster response and recovery, 
including cyber-security during disaster situa-
tions and the ability to improve damage assess-
ments during storms. 
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