Major Weather Research Bill Heads to Senate
A mobile weather radar operated by the National Severe Storms Lab at the University of Oklahoma.
(Matthew Woods / NOAA / NSSL)
Legislation to broadly update policy for weather research and forecasting programs was passed by the House last week by a vote of 394-19.
Called the Weather Act Reauthorization, the bill would set budget targets for weather research programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and calls for the creation of new R&D programs focused on next-generation radar, atmospheric rivers, flooding, and aviation weather.
It also aims to expand NOAA’s use of commercial weather data. The bill is a priority of Science Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK), who is also interested in separating NOAA from the Commerce Department and turning it into an independent agency. The Weather Act reauthorization is now with the Senate, which has not introduced analogous legislation.
The House passed the legislation along with five other bills that also emerged from the Science Committee: the Fire Weather Development Act, the Abandoned Well Remediation R&D Act, the Carbon Sequestration Collaboration Act, the Clean Energy Demonstration Transparency Act, and the Privacy Enhancing Technology Research Act.
This news brief originally appeared in FYI’s newsletter for the week of May 6.
