To establish in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a program to improve precipitation forecasts, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4416 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4416

 To establish in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a 
  program to improve precipitation forecasts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 2025

Ms. Ross (for herself and Mr. Weber of Texas) introduced the following 
   bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
                               Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a 
  program to improve precipitation forecasts, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF NOAA PRECIPITATION FORECASTS PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a program to improve 
precipitation forecasts (in this section referred to as the 
``program'').
    (b) Goal.--The goal of the program shall be to improve 
precipitation forecasts across all timescales through the research, 
development, and operational implementation of fully coupled Earth 
System Models. The program shall carry out the following:
            (1) Improve the understanding and prediction of 
        precipitation extremes from a wide variety of weather systems 
        and climate patterns.
            (2) Improve the development, production, management, 
        assimilation, integration, availability, and curation of 
        datasets for precipitation prediction.
            (3) Identify and improve observations and analyses 
        necessary for precipitation prediction, including relating to 
        water vapor, oceans, and boundary layers.
            (4) Utilize high performance computing and other 
        technologies, as appropriate, to advance Earth System Models 
        predictions skill of precipitation extreme phenomena, including 
        atmospheric rivers, tropical cyclones, and winter storms across 
        weather, subseasonal, and decadal timescales.
            (5) Advance understanding and modeling of precipitation 
        processes key to improving models and precipitation forecasts 
        from weather to subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) to seasonal-to-
        decadal (S2D) timescales.
            (6) Support research and development to improve the 
        accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of precipitation 
        prediction, in collaboration with academic and private sector 
        partners to test and evaluate emerging technologies, including 
        the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
            (7) Improve weather, subseasonal, seasonal, and decadal 
        skill for precipitation forecasts through the use of emerging 
        techniques and technologies.
            (8) Support research in social and behavioral sciences to 
        improve precipitation forecast products and communication, in 
        collaboration with the Director of the National Weather 
        Service.
            (9) Lead the ongoing advancement of current and next-
        generation precipitation forecasting models.
            (10) Identify observational gaps, systematic errors, and 
        model limitations in precipitation prediction systems.
            (11) Improve, expand, and sustain operational precipitation 
        products and applications for decision support.
            (12) Coordinate across NOAA line offices to address 
        priorities of the program.
            (13) Direct efforts to engage with Federal, State, local, 
        Tribal, and academic entities and stakeholders, as appropriate, 
        when conducting program activities.
            (14) Ensure adequate data management, access, and archive 
        processes are in place to ensure data and metadata are 
        findable, accessible, interoperable, and usable by the science 
        community and public.
    (c) Updates.--The Administrator of NOAA shall revise and update, as 
necessary, the goals of the program at least once every two years. Such 
revisions and updates shall be incorporated into relevant NOAA 
strategic implementation plans as determined appropriate by the 
Administrator.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 
carry out this section the following:
            (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.
            (2) $15,040,000 for fiscal year 2027.
            (3) $15,080,800 for fiscal year 2028.
            (4) $15,122,416 for fiscal year 2029.
            (5) $15,200,000 for fiscal year 2030.
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