119-s324

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 324 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 324

To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to 
 carry out pilot projects relating to improved subseasonal to seasonal 
 forecasting in agriculture and water management, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 January 29, 2025

Ms. Rosen (for herself and Mr. Padilla) 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 
 carry out pilot projects relating to improved subseasonal to seasonal 
 forecasting in agriculture and water management, 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 ``Smarter Weather Forecasting for 
Water Management, Farming, and Ranching Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. WEATHER AND CLIMATE INFORMATION IN AGRICULTURE AND WATER 
 MANAGEMENT.

 

Section 1762 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (15 U.S.C. 8521) is 
amended--

    (1) by amending subsection

    (h) to read as follows:
 ``

    (h) Subseasonal to Seasonal Forecasting Pilot Projects.--
 ``

    (1) Establishment.--The Under Secretary shall establish 
 not fewer than two pilot projects, in accordance with paragraph

    (2) , within the U.S. Weather Research Program of the Oceanic 
 and Atmospheric Research office of the National Oceanic and 
 Atmospheric Administration to support improved subseasonal to 
 seasonal precipitation forecasts for the following:
 ``
        (A) Water management in the western United 
 States.
 ``
        (B) Agriculture in the United States.
 ``

    (2) Objectives.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
 Under Secretary shall ensure the following:
 ``
        (A) A pilot project under subparagraph
        (A) of 
 paragraph

    (1) addresses key science challenges to 
 improving forecasts and developing related products for 
 water management in the western United States, 
 including the following:
 ``
            (i) Improving operational model 
 resolution, both horizontal and vertical, to 
 resolve issues associated with mountainous 
 terrain, such as intensity of precipitation and 
 relative fraction of rain versus snow 
 precipitation.
 ``
            (ii) Improving fidelity in the 
 operational modeling of the atmospheric 
 boundary layer in mountainous regions.
 ``
            (iii) Resolving challenges in predicting 
 winter atmospheric circulation and storm 
 tracks, including periods of blocked versus 
 unblocked flow over the eastern North Pacific 
 Ocean and western United States.
 ``
            (iv) Improving the forecast of 
 atmospheric rivers.
 ``
            (v) Improving--
 ``
            (I) the quality and temporal and 
 spatial resolution of observations of 
 air-sea interactions;
 ``
            (II) operational modeling of air-
 sea interactions; and
 ``
            (III) operational modeling of the 
 influence of oceans on subseasonal and 
 seasonal forecasting.
 ``
        (B) A pilot project under subparagraph
        (B) of 
 paragraph

    (1) addresses key science challenges to 
 improving forecasts and developing related products for 
 agriculture in the United States, including the 
 following:
 ``
            (i) Improving the quality and temporal 
 and spatial resolution of observations and 
 accurate operational modeling of the land 
 surface and hydrologic cycle, including soil 
 moisture and flash drought processes.
 ``
            (ii) Improving fidelity in the 
 operational modeling of warm season 
 precipitation processes.
 ``
            (iii) Understanding and predicting large-
 scale upper-level dynamical flow anomalies that 
 occur in spring and summer.
 ``

    (3) Activities.--A pilot project under this subsection 
 shall include activities that--
 ``
        (A) best implement recommendations contained in 
 the 2020 report of the National Weather Service, 
 entitled `Subseasonal and Seasonal Forecasting 
 Innovation: Plans for the Twenty-First Century';
 ``
        (B) achieve measurable objectives for operational 
 forecast improvement;
 ``
            (C) engage with, and leverage the resources of, 
 institutions of higher education (as such term is 
 defined in 

section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 
 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), or a consortia thereof, and 
 entities within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
 Administration in existence as of the date of the 
 enactment of this subsection, including Regional 
 Climate Centers and the National Centers for 
 Environmental Information; and
 ``
            (D) are carried out in coordination with the 
 Assistant Administrator for the Office of Oceanic and 
 Atmospheric Research and the Director of the National 
 Weather Service.
 ``

    (4) Sunset.--The authority under this subsection shall 
 terminate on the date that is five years after the date of the 
 enactment of this subsection.''; and

    (2) by amending subsection

    (j) to read as follows:
 ``

    (j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to 
carry out the activities under this section.''.
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