The House of Representatives on January 9 approved bipartisan legislation to improve seasonal and subseasonal weather forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The unanimous passage of H.R. 353, the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act, came just weeks after a previous version of the bill died during last year’s lame duck session when lawmakers added controversial language over management of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint water system.
H.R. 353 as approved by the House omits the problematic Southeastern water management language, and also excludes a section of last year’s bill that would have updated tsunami research and early warning programs and policies. But otherwise the bill matches last year’s version, such as:
- Authorizing $26.5 million for use by NOAA and the National Weather Service to create “usable, reliable, and timely subseasonal and seasonal forecasts”;
- Establishing collaboration programs through which the Weather Service will work with private sector and academic partners to improve tornado warnings and hurricane forecasts; and
- Reforming NOAA’s satellite procurement efforts and requiring the agency to assess the private sector’s capabilities in providing weather data.
The bill will now move on to the Senate, where the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint provisions were added last year. It is not clear at this point how soon the upper chamber will act on the bill, or if there will be another effort by senators to incorporate Southeastern water management provisions.