I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1438 To establish a national integrated flood information system within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2021 Ms. SHERRILL (for herself, Ms. ROSS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CRIST, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SIRES, and Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastruc- ture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a national integrated flood information system within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Sup- 5 port Act’’ or the ‘‘FLOODS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1438 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. National Integrated Flood Information System. Sec. 4. Observations and modeling for total water prediction. Sec. 5. Service coordination hydrologists at River Forecast Centers of the Na- tional Weather Service. Sec. 6. Improving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commu- nication of future flood risks and hazardous flash flood events. Sec. 7. Freshwater monitoring along the coast. Sec. 8. Tornado warning improvement. Sec. 9. Hurricane forecast improvement program. Sec. 10. Weather and water research and development planning. Sec. 11. Forecast communication coordinators. Sec. 12. Improving precipitation frequency estimates. Sec. 13. Interagency Coordinating Committee on Water Management. Sec. 14. Hydrologic research fellowship program. Sec. 15. Identification and support of consistent, Federal set of forward-look- ing, long-term meteorological information. Sec. 16. Gap analysis on availability of snow-related data to assess and predict flood and flood impacts. Sec. 17. Availability to the public of flood-related data. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 5 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 6 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 7 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 8 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 9 States, and any other territory or possession of the 10 United States. 11 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 12 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 13 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1438 IH SEC. 3. NATIONAL INTEGRATED FLOOD INFORMATION SYS- 1 TEM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 3 a system, to be known as the ‘‘National Integrated Flood 4 Information System’’, to better inform and provide for 5 more timely decision making to reduce flood-related effects 6 and costs. 7 (b) SYSTEM FUNCTIONS.—The Administrator, 8 through the National Integrated Flood Information Sys- 9 tem, shall— 10 (1) provide an effective flood early warning sys- 11 tem that— 12 (A) collects and integrates information on 13 the key indicators of floods and flood impacts, 14 including streamflow, reservoir release and di- 15 version, precipitation, soil moisture, snow water 16 equivalent, land cover, and evaporative demand; 17 (B) makes usable, reliable, and timely fore- 18 casts of floods; 19 (C) assesses the severity of flood conditions 20 and effects; 21 (D) issues flood watches and warnings 22 when necessary; 23 (E) provides information described in sub- 24 paragraph (A), forecasts described in subpara- 25 graph (B), and assessments described in sub- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1438 IH paragraph (C) at the national, regional, and 1 local levels, as appropriate; and 2 (F) communicates flood forecasts, flood 3 conditions, and flood impacts to public and pri- 4 vate entities engaged in flood planning, pre- 5 paredness, response, and post-event flood extent 6 including— 7 (i) decision makers at the Federal, 8 State, local, and Tribal levels of govern- 9 ment; 10 (ii) the private sector; and 11 (iii) the public; 12 (2) provide timely data, information, and prod- 13 ucts that reflect differences in flood conditions 14 among localities, regions, watersheds, and States; 15 (3) coordinate and integrate, through inter- 16 agency agreements as practicable, Federal research 17 and monitoring in support of the flood early warning 18 information system provided under paragraph (1); 19 (4) use existing forecasting and assessment pro- 20 grams and partnerships; 21 (5) make improvements in seasonal precipita- 22 tion and temperature, subseasonal precipitation and 23 temperature, and flood water prediction; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1438 IH (6) continue ongoing research and monitoring 1 activities relating to floods, including research activi- 2 ties relating to— 3 (A) the prediction, length, severity, and 4 impacts of floods and improvement of the accu- 5 racy, timing, and specificity of flash flood warn- 6 ings; 7 (B) the role of extreme weather events and 8 climate variability in floods; and 9 (C) how water travels over and through 10 surfaces. 11 (c) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Administrator, through the 12 National Integrated Flood Information System, may— 13 (1) engage with the private sector to improve 14 flood monitoring, forecasts, land and topography 15 data, and communication, if the Administrator de- 16 termines that such engagement is appropriate, cost 17 effective, and beneficial to the public and decision 18 makers described in subsection (b)(1)(F)(i); 19 (2) facilitate the development of 1 or more aca- 20 demic cooperative partnerships to assist in carrying 21 out the functions of the National Integrated Flood 22 Information System described in subsection (b); 23 (3) use and support monitoring by citizen sci- 24 entists, including by developing best practices to fa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1438 IH cilitate maximum data integration, as the Adminis- 1 trator considers appropriate; 2 (4) engage with, and leverage the resources of, 3 entities within the National Oceanic and Atmos- 4 pheric Administration in existence as of the date of 5 the enactment of this Act, such as the National 6 Weather Service with respect to forecast and warn- 7 ing functions, the National Integrated Drought In- 8 formation System, the Regional Climate Center, and 9 the National Mesonet Program, to improve coordina- 10 tion of water monitoring, forecasting, and manage- 11 ment; and 12 (5) engage with and support water monitoring 13 by the United States Geological Survey— 14 (A) to improve the availability and con- 15 tinuity of streamflow data at critical locations 16 through the deployment of Rapid Deployment 17 Gages and the flood-hardening of at-risk 18 streamflow gages; and 19 (B) to increase storm surge monitoring 20 data through the deployment of additional 21 storm surge sensors. 22 (d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and maintaining 23 the National Integrated Flood Information System, the 24 Administrator shall consult with relevant Federal, State, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1438 IH local, and Tribal government agencies, research institu- 1 tions, and the private sector. 2 (e) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGEN- 3 CIES.—Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appro- 4 priate with the Administrator in carrying out this section. 5 SEC. 4. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FOR TOTAL WATER 6 PREDICTION. 7 (a) PARTNERSHIPS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es- 9 tablish partnerships with 1 or more institutions of 10 higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to 12 evaluate observations that would improve total water 13 prediction. 14 (2) PRIORITY OBSERVATIONS.—In establishing 15 partnerships under paragraph (1), the Administrator 16 shall prioritize partnerships to evaluate observations 17 from uncrewed aerial systems. 18 (b) MAINTAINED OBSERVATIONS.—If the Adminis- 19 trator determines that incorporating additional observa- 20 tions improves total water prediction, the Administrator 21 shall, to the extent practicable, continue incorporating 22 those observations. 23 (c) MODELING IMPROVEMENTS.—The Administrator 24 shall advance geographic coverage, resolution, skill, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1438 IH efficiency of coastal oceanographic modeling, including ef- 1 forts that improve the coupling of and interoperability be- 2 tween hydrological models and coastal ocean models. 3 (d) GEOSPATIAL DATA.—The Administrator shall ad- 4 vance the development of models to vertically transform 5 geospatial data into a common system for use as the Fed- 6 eral standard for surveys and mapping, and engage with 7 the United States Geological Survey to collaborate and im- 8 plement the National Hydrography Datasets as the 9 geospatial underpinning of the system, and to collaborate 10 and implement the National Hydrography Infrastructure 11 to improve discovery and access to flood and other water- 12 related information. 13 SEC. 5. SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS AT RIVER 14 FORECAST CENTERS OF THE NATIONAL 15 WEATHER SERVICE. 16 (a) DESIGNATION OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY- 17 DROLOGISTS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 19 Weather Service (in this section referred to as the 20 ‘‘Director’’) shall designate at least 1 service coordi- 21 nation hydrologist at each River Forecast Center of 22 the National Weather Service. 23 (2) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.— 24 Performance of the responsibilities outlined in this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1438 IH section is not limited to the service coordination hy- 1 drologist position. 2 (b) PRIMARY ROLE OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY- 3 DROLOGISTS.—The primary role of the service coordina- 4 tion hydrologist shall be to carry out the responsibilities 5 required by this section. 6 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 8 consistent with the analysis described in section 409 9 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 10 Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 112), 11 and in order to increase impact-based decision sup- 12 port services, each service coordination hydrologist 13 designated under subsection (a) shall, with respect 14 to hydrology— 15 (A) be responsible for providing service to 16 the geographic area of responsibility covered by 17 the River Forecast Center at which the service 18 coordination hydrologist is employed to help en- 19 sure that users of products and services of the 20 National Weather Service can respond effec- 21 tively to improve outcomes from flood events; 22 (B) liaise with users of products and serv- 23 ices of the National Weather Service, such as 24 the public, academia, media outlets, users in the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1438 IH hydropower, transportation, recreation, and ag- 1 ricultural communities, and forestry, land, fish- 2 eries, and water management interests, to 3 evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the 4 products and services of the National Weather 5 Service; 6 (C) collaborate with such River Forecast 7 Centers and Weather Forecast Offices and Fed- 8 eral, State, local, and Tribal government agen- 9 cies as the Director considers appropriate in de- 10 veloping, proposing, and implementing plans to 11 develop, modify, or tailor products and services 12 of the National Weather Service to improve the 13 usefulness of such products and services; 14 (D) engage in interagency partnerships 15 with Federal, State, local, and Tribal govern- 16 ment agencies to explore the use of forecast-in- 17 formed reservoir operations to reduce flood risk; 18 (E) ensure the maintenance and accuracy 19 of flooding call lists, appropriate office flooding 20 policy or procedures, and other flooding infor- 21 mation or dissemination methodologies or strat- 22 egies; and 23 (F) work closely with Federal, State, local, 24 and Tribal emergency and floodplain manage- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1438.IH H1438 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1438 IH ment agencies, and other agencies relating to 1 disaster management, to ensure a planned, co- 2 ordinated, and effective preparedness and re- 3 sponse effort. 4 (2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a 5 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 6 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 7 carry out such responsibility. 8 (d) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 10 service coordination hydrologist designated under 11 subsection (a) may, with respect to hydrology— 12 (A) work with a State agency to develop 13 plans for promoting more effective use of prod- 14 ucts and services of the National Weather Serv- 15 ice throughout the State; 16 (B) identify priority community prepared- 17 ness objectives; 18 (C) develop plans to meet the objectives 19 identified under subparagraph (B); and 20 (D) conduct flooding event preparedness 21 planning and citizen education efforts with and 22 through various State, local, and Tribal govern- 23 ment agencies and other disaster management- 24 related organizations. 2 [Text truncated for display. 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