,,ii #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #fac ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,february #ah1 #bjbe,mr4 ,schatz 7for himself and ,mr4 ,marshall7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation ,a ,,bill ,to require the ,under ,secretary of ,commerce for ,oceans and ,atmosphere to maintain the ,national ,mesonet ,program1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,improving ,flood and ,agricultural ,forecasts ,act of #bjbe4 #b4 ,national ,mesonet ,program 7a7 ,program ,the ,under ,secretary shall maintain the ,national ,mesonet ,program 7referred to in this section as the ,program71 which shall-- 7#a7 obtain observations to improve understanding of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric1 drought1 fire1 and water events1 with a prioritization on leveraging available commercial1 academic1 and other non-,federal ,government environmental data to enhance coordination across the private1 public1 and academic sectors of the weather enterprise in the ,united ,states2 7#b7 establish means to integrate greater density and more types of environmental observations into the ,program on an annual basis1 including by encouraging local and regional networks of environmental monitoring stations and in situ sensor networks1 including soil moisture and ground-based profilers1 to participate in the ,program2 7#c7 establish memoranda of understanding with networks outside of the scope of the ,program in furtherance of this section2 and 7#d7 coordinate with satellite data and services acquired under section #cjb of the ,weather ,research and ,forecasting ,innovation ,act of #bjag 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #hecb74 7b7 ,program elements ,in carrying out the ,program1 the ,under ,secretary shall-- 7#a7 increase data density by-- 7,a7 improving and increasing the quantity and density of environmental observations used by the ,national ,oceanic and ,atmospheric ,administration 7referred to in this section as the ,administration7 and the ,national ,weather ,service to support baseline forecasts1 including nowcasts1 warnings1 and hyper local forecasts that protect individuals1 businesses1 agricultural production1 food security1 the military1 and government agencies in the ,united ,states1 and enabling such individuals and entities to operate in a safe1 efficient1 and orderly manner2 7,b7 yielding increased quantities of boundary-layer data to improve numerical weather prediction performance1 including in subseasonal to seasonal timescales2 7,c7 identifying available terrestrial or marine environmental data1 or quantifiable gaps in such data1 to improve the understanding of air-sea interactions2 and 7,d7 supporting the ,national ,weather ,service in reaching its target of a #cj-minute warning time for severe weather through better predictive model algorithms driven by increasingly effective observations2 7#b7 monitor local meteorological conditions by-- 7,a7 acquiring soil and moisture data to monitor soil moisture1 vegetation water content1 and moisture loss from evaporation1 in support of operational forecasting1 the ,national ,integrated ,drought ,information ,system1 and local commercial1 agricultural1 and emergency management needs2 7,b7 supporting the ,national ,coordinated ,soil ,moisture ,monitoring ,network in acquiring soil moisture and related data to support the development of decision-support products and other information services2 and 7,c7 expanding and enhancing environmental observational networks in the roadway environment to provide real-time road weather and surface conditions for surface transportation and related economic sectors2 and 7#c7 administer the ,program by-- 7,a7 obtaining data in furtherance of this section only when demonstrably cost effective and meeting or exceeding data quality standards available to the ,administration2 7,b7 subject to the requirement in subparagraph 7,a71 leveraging existing networks of environmental monitoring stations1 including supplemental radar systems1 to increase the quantity and density of environmental observations and data available to the ,administration2 7,c7 providing the critical technical and administrative infrastructure needed to facilitate rapid integration and sustained use of new and emerging networks of environmental monitoring stations anticipated in coming years from non-,federal ,government sources2 7,d7 coordinating with existing data developed by the ,administration and used for forecasts1 including data from the ,national ,environmental ,satellite1 ,data1 and ,information ,service1 the ,integrated ,ocean ,observing ,system1 the ,global ,ocean ,monitoring and ,observing ,program1 the ,national ,data ,buoy ,center1 and the ,national ,ocean ,service2 and 7,e7 identifying and communicating to the ,office of ,oceanic and ,atmospheric ,research and other partners priorities of research and development needed to advance observations in the ,program4 7c7 ,financial and technical assistance 7#a7 ,in general ,in furtherance of the ,program1 in a fiscal year1 the ,under ,secretary may award not less than #ae percent of the amount appropriated for the ,program for that fiscal year for financial assistance to ,state1 ,tribal1 private1 and academic entities seeking to build1 expand1 or upgrade equipment and capacity of mesonet systems4 7#b7 ,other ,federal awards ,financial assistance under this subsection may be made in coordination with and in addition to awards from other ,federal agencies4 7#c7 ,agreements ,before receiving financial assistance under paragraph 7#a71 the ,state1 ,tribal1 private1 or academic entity seeking financial assistance under this subsection shall enter into an agreement with the ,under ,secretary to provide data to the ,program1 subject to verification by the ,program of the relative operational value and evaluation of the cost of such data1 for use in weather prediction1 severe weather warnings1 and emergency response4 7#d7 ,assistance and other support ,the ,under ,secretary may provide-- 7,a7 technical assistance1 project implementation support1 and guidance to ,state1 ,tribal1 private1 and academic entities seeking financial assistance under this subsection2 and 7,b7 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 operate such stations without such assistance4 7#e7 ,terms ,in providing financial assistance under this subsection1 the ,under ,secretary shall establish terms to ensure that each ,state1 ,tribal1 private1 or academic entity that receives financial assistance under this subsection receives a level of support commensurate with the quality and other characteristics of the data to be provided4 7#f7 ,determination ,a ,state1 ,tribal1 private1 or academic entity may only receive financial assistance under this subsection if the ,under ,secretary determines such entity will provide sufficient financial support from non-,federal ,government sources and fully maintain the quality of the mesonet system and associated data standards required by the ,program for a period of not less than #e years4 7#g7 ,priority ,the ,under ,secretary shall prioritize providing assistance under paragraph 7#a7 to not fewer than one entity in a remote area or an area that has a lack of environmental monitoring stations described in subsection 7a77#b74 7d7 ,advisory committee 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,under ,secretary shall ensure the ,program has an active advisory committee of subject matter experts to make recommendations to the ,administration on-- 7,a7 the identification1 implementation1 procurement1 and tracking of data needed to supplement the ,program2 and 7,b7 improvements1 expansions1 and acquisitions of available data4 7#b7 ,designation of existing committee ,the ,under ,secretary may designate an existing advisory committee1 subcommittee1 or working group of the ,federal ,government1 including the ,science ,advisory ,board of the ,administration1 to carry out the requirement under paragraph 7#a74 7#c7 ,academic expertise ,the advisory committee under paragraph 7#a71 in consultation with the ,program1 shall include expertise from one or more institutions of higher education 7as defined in section #aja of the ,higher ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ajja77 to assist the advisory committee to identify1 evaluate1 and recommend potential partnerships1 regional or subregional consortia1 and collaborative methods that would expand the number of participants and volume of data in the ,program4 7e7 ,regular briefings 7#a7 ,in general ,not less frequently than annually through #bjce1 and not later than ,june #cj of each year1 the ,under ,secretary shall provide regular briefings to the ,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation of the ,senate and the ,committee on ,science1 ,space1 and ,technology of the ,house of ,representatives on all activities under the ,program4 7#b7 ,briefing content ,each briefing required under paragraph 7#a7 shall include information relating to the following3 7,a7 ,efforts to implement the activities described in subsection 7b74 7,b7 ,any financial or technical assistance provided pursuant to subsection 7c74 7,c7 ,efforts to address recommendations received from the advisory committee under subsection 7d71 if any4 7,d7 ,the potential need and associated benefits of a coastal and ocean mesonet1 or other emerging areas of weather data needs4 7,e7 ,progress toward eliminating gaps in weather observation data in ,states and regions of the ,united ,states4 7,f7 ,any other topic the ,under ,secretary determines relevant4 7f7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,seasonal1 ,state1 subseasonal1 ,under ,secretary1 weather enterprise ,the terms seasonal1 ,state1 subseasonal1 ,under ,secretary1 and weather enterprise have the meanings given such terms in section #b of the ,weather ,research and ,forecasting ,innovation ,act of #bjag 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #heja74 7#b7 ,weather data ,the term weather data means information used to track and predict weather conditions and patterns1 including forecasts1 observations1 and derivative products from such information4 7g7 ,authorization of appropriations ,from amounts authorized to be appropriated to the ,national ,weather ,service1 there shall be available not more than the following amounts to carry out this section3 7#a7 #ej1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjbe4 7#b7 #ee1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjbf4 7#c7 #fa1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjbg4 7#d7 #fh1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjbh4 7#e7 #gj1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjbi4