119-hr2295

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2295 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2295

 To research the impact of obstructions on radar detection and 
 prediction capabilities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 24, 2025

Mr. Feenstra (for himself, Mrs. Bice, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Haridopolos, Mrs. 
 Radewagen, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Mr. Moylan) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To research the impact of obstructions on radar detection and 
 prediction capabilities, 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 ``Weather Innovation for the Next 
Generation Act of 2025'' or the ``WING Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. RADAR OBSTRUCTION RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION 
 PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Director of the National Weather Service, 
in coordination with the Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Research, shall establish a Research, Development, Test, 
and Evaluation Program (in this section referred to as the ``Program'') 
to ensure the continued performance of weather radar detection and 
prediction capabilities with physical obstructions in the line of sight 
of such radar.

    (b) Requirements.--In carrying out the Program, the Director, in 
consultation with the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological 
Services, shall--

    (1) partner with industry, academia, Federal, State, and 
 local government entities, and any other entity the Director 
 considers appropriate;

    (2) identify and test existing or near-commercial 
 technologies and solutions that mitigate the potential impact 
 of obstructions on weather radar;

    (3) research additional solutions that could mitigate the 
 effects of an obstruction on weather radar, including--
        (A) signal processing algorithms;
        (B) short-term forecasting algorithms to replace 
 contaminated data; and
            (C) the use of dual polarization characteristics in 
 mitigating the effects of wind turbines on weather 
 radar; and

    (4) develop commercially viable technical mitigation 
 solutions for obstructions to weather radar capabilities.
            (c) Priority.--In carrying out the requirements described in 
subsection

    (b) , the Director shall prioritize consideration of the 
following technology-based mitigation solutions:

    (1) Multifunction phased array radar.

    (2) The replacement of contaminated data with commercial 
 radar data.

    (3) The utilization of data from private-sector-associated 
 meteorological towers.

    (4) Providing wind farm boundaries and consolidated wind 
 farm areas to display on local forecasting equipment.

    (5) Installing and providing access to rain gauges.

    (6) Any other technology-based mitigation solution the 
 Director determines could overcome beam blockage or ghost 
 echoes.
            (d) Termination.--The authority of the Director to carry out the 
Program shall terminate on the earlier of--

    (1) September 30, 2030; or

    (2) one year after date on which the final recommendation 
 required by subsection

    (e)

    (2) is submitted by the Director.

    (e) Report; Recommendation.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than two years after the date of 
 the enactment of this section and annually thereafter until the 
 Program terminates pursuant to subsection
            (d) , the Director 
 shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of the 
 Program, including an evaluation of each technology-based 
 mitigation solution identified for priority consideration 
 pursuant to subsection
            (c) , and a recommendation regarding 
 additional identification and testing of new technologies based 
 on such consideration.

    (2) Final recommendation.--Not later than five years after 
 the date of the enactment of this section, the Director shall 
 provide to Congress a recommendation on whether additional 
 research, testing, and development through the Program 
 established under subsection

    (a) is needed, and a determination 
 of whether a cessation of field research, development, testing, 
 and evaluation is appropriate.

    (f) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Beam blockage.--The term ``beam blockage'' means a 
 signal that is partially or fully blocked due to an 
 obstruction.

    (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
 the National Weather Service.

    (3) Ghost echo.--The term ``ghost echo'' means radar signal 
 reflectivity or velocity return errors in radar data due to the 
 close proximity of an obstruction.

    (4) Obstruction.--The term obstruction includes--
        (A) a wind turbine that could limit the 
 effectiveness of a weather radar system; and
        (B) any building that disrupts or limits the 
 effectiveness of a weather radar system.
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