Improving Flood and Agricultural Forecasts Act of 2025

Improving Flood and Agricultural Forecasts Act of 2025

This bill provides statutory authority for the National Mesonet Program (NMP) maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (Mesonets are networks of automated weather and soil observation stations that collect data used in measuring, tracking, and forecasting weather and its effects. The NMP is a national network of local mesonets that collects and disseminates non-federal atmospheric weather observations in the United States.)

The bill sets forth certain requirements for the NMP, including that the program must obtain weather observations in order to improve understanding and forecasting of atmospheric, drought, fire, and water events, and establish means to integrate increased numbers and types of environmental observations into the program annually. However, NOAA may obtain data under the program only when it is demonstrably cost effective and meets or exceeds certain data quality standards. 

Of funds appropriated to the program annually, NOAA must award at least 15% to state, tribal, private, and academic entities seeking to build, expand, or upgrade mesonet system equipment and capacity. Entities receiving funds must agree to provide data to the NMP. In allocating funding, NOAA must prioritize providing funds to entities in remote areas and areas that lack environmental monitoring stations. 

NOAA must also ensure the NMP has an active advisory committee, comprised of subject matter experts, to make recommendations on data needs and procurement, among other topics. 

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 613 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 613

To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to 
     maintain the National Mesonet Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 18, 2025

  Mr. Schatz (for himself and Mr. Marshall) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to 
     maintain the National Mesonet Program, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Flood and Agricultural 
Forecasts Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL MESONET PROGRAM.

    (a) Program.--The Under Secretary shall maintain the National 
Mesonet Program (referred to in this section as the ``Program''), which 
shall--
            (1) obtain observations to improve understanding of and 
        forecast capabilities for atmospheric, drought, fire, and water 
        events, with a prioritization on leveraging available 
        commercial, academic, and other non-Federal Government 
        environmental data to enhance coordination across the private, 
        public, and academic sectors of the weather enterprise in the 
        United States;
            (2) establish means to integrate greater density and more 
        types of environmental observations into the Program on an 
        annual basis, including by encouraging local and regional 
        networks of environmental monitoring stations and in situ 
        sensor networks, including soil moisture and ground-based 
        profilers, to participate in the Program;
            (3) establish memoranda of understanding with networks 
        outside of the scope of the Program in furtherance of this 
        section; and
            (4) coordinate with satellite data and services acquired 
        under section 302 of the Weather Research and Forecasting 
        Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8532).
    (b) Program Elements.--In carrying out the Program, the Under 
Secretary shall--
            (1) increase data density by--
                    (A) improving and increasing the quantity and 
                density of environmental observations used by the 
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
                (referred to in this section as the ``Administration'') 
                and the National Weather Service to support baseline 
                forecasts, including nowcasts, warnings, and hyper 
                local forecasts that protect individuals, businesses, 
                agricultural production, food security, the military, 
                and government agencies in the United States, and 
                enabling such individuals and entities to operate in a 
                safe, efficient, and orderly manner;
                    (B) yielding increased quantities of boundary-layer 
                data to improve numerical weather prediction 
                performance, including in subseasonal to seasonal 
                timescales;
                    (C) identifying available terrestrial or marine 
                environmental data, or quantifiable gaps in such data, 
                to improve the understanding of air-sea interactions; 
                and
                    (D) supporting the National Weather Service in 
                reaching its target of a 30-minute warning time for 
                severe weather through better predictive model 
                algorithms driven by increasingly effective 
                observations;
            (2) monitor local meteorological conditions by--
                    (A) acquiring soil and moisture data to monitor 
                soil moisture, vegetation water content, and moisture 
                loss from evaporation, in support of operational 
                forecasting, the National Integrated Drought 
                Information System, and local commercial, agricultural, 
                and emergency management needs;
                    (B) 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 
                services; and
                    (C) 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 
                sectors; and
            (3) administer the Program by--
                    (A) obtaining data in furtherance of this section 
                only when demonstrably cost effective and meeting or 
                exceeding data quality standards available to the 
                Administration;
                    (B) subject to the requirement in subparagraph (A), 
                leveraging existing networks of environmental 
                monitoring stations, including supplemental radar 
                systems, to increase the quantity and density of 
                environmental observations and data available to the 
                Administration;
                    (C) 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 
                sources;
                    (D) coordinating with existing data developed by 
                the Administration and used for forecasts, including 
                data from the National Environmental Satellite, Data, 
                and Information Service, the Integrated Ocean Observing 
                System, the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing 
                Program, the National Data Buoy Center, and the 
                National Ocean Service; and
                    (E) 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 Program.
    (c) Financial and Technical Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--In furtherance of the Program, in a fiscal 
        year, the Under Secretary may award not less than 15 percent of 
        the amount appropriated for the Program for that fiscal year 
        for financial assistance to State, Tribal, private, and 
        academic entities seeking to build, expand, or upgrade 
        equipment and capacity of mesonet systems.
            (2) Other federal awards.--Financial assistance under this 
        subsection may be made in coordination with and in addition to 
        awards from other Federal agencies.
            (3) Agreements.--Before receiving financial assistance 
        under paragraph (1), the State, Tribal, private, or academic 
        entity seeking financial assistance under this subsection shall 
        enter into an agreement with the Under Secretary to provide 
        data to 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.
            (4) Assistance and other support.--The Under Secretary may 
        provide--
                    (A) technical assistance, project implementation 
                support, and guidance to State, Tribal, private, and 
                academic entities seeking financial assistance under 
                this subsection; and
                    (B) 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 assistance.
            (5) Terms.--In providing financial assistance under this 
        subsection, the Under Secretary shall establish terms to ensure 
        that each State, Tribal, private, 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 provided.
            (6) Determination.--A State, Tribal, private, 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 5 years.
            (7) Priority.--The Under Secretary shall prioritize 
        providing assistance under paragraph (1) to not fewer than one 
        entity in a remote area or an area that has a lack of 
        environmental monitoring stations described in subsection 
        (a)(2).
    (d) Advisory Committee.--
            (1) 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--
                    (A) the identification, implementation, 
                procurement, and tracking of data needed to supplement 
                the Program; and
                    (B) improvements, expansions, and acquisitions of 
                available data.
            (2) Designation of existing committee.--The Under Secretary 
        may designate an existing advisory committee, subcommittee, or 
        working group of the Federal Government, including the Science 
        Advisory Board of the Administration, to carry out the 
        requirement under paragraph (1).
            (3) Academic expertise.--The advisory committee under 
        paragraph (1), in consultation with the Program, shall include 
        expertise from one or more institutions of higher education (as 
        defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001)) to assist the advisory committee to identify, 
        evaluate, and recommend potential partnerships, regional or 
        subregional consortia, and collaborative methods that would 
        expand the number of participants and volume of data in the 
        Program.
    (e) Regular Briefings.--
            (1) In general.--Not less frequently than annually through 
        2035, and not later than June 30 of each year, the Under 
        Secretary shall provide regular briefings to the Committee on 
        Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
        Representatives on all activities under the Program.
            (2) Briefing content.--Each briefing required under 
        paragraph (1) shall include information relating to the 
        following:
                    (A) Efforts to implement the activities described 
                in subsection (b).
                    (B) Any financial or technical assistance provided 
                pursuant to subsection (c).
                    (C) Efforts to address recommendations received 
                from the advisory committee under subsection (d), if 
                any.
                    (D) The potential need and associated benefits of a 
                coastal and ocean mesonet, or other emerging areas of 
                weather data needs.
                    (E) Progress toward eliminating gaps in weather 
                observation data in States and regions of the United 
                States.
                    (F) Any other topic the Under Secretary determines 
                relevant.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Seasonal, state, subseasonal, under secretary, weather 
        enterprise.--The terms ``seasonal'', ``State'', 
        ``subseasonal'', ``Under Secretary'', and ``weather 
        enterprise'' have the meanings given such terms in section 2 of 
        the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 
        U.S.C. 8501).
            (2) Weather data.--The term ``weather data'' means 
        information used to track and predict weather conditions and 
        patterns, including forecasts, observations, and derivative 
        products from such information.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--From amounts authorized to be 
appropriated to the National Weather Service, there shall be available 
not more than the following amounts to carry out this section:
            (1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
            (2) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.
            (3) $61,000,000 for fiscal year 2027.
            (4) $68,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.
            (5) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2029.
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