119-hr4416

[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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