Built To Last Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1282 To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to identify a consistent, Federal set of best available forward-looking meteorological information and to require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to convene an effort to make such set available, with advice and technical assistance, to standards- developing organizations, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 21, 2021 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself and Mr. RUBIO) 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 identify a consistent, Federal set of best available forward-looking meteorological informa- tion and to require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to convene an effort to make such set available, with advice and technical assist- ance, to standards-developing organizations, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1282.IS S1282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1282 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Built To Last Act of 2 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF CON- 4 SISTENT, FEDERAL SET OF BEST AVAILABLE 5 FORWARD-LOOKING METEOROLOGICAL IN- 6 FORMATION. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 9 the Director of the National Institute of Standards 10 and Technology. 11 (2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 12 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 13 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 14 (3) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme 15 weather’’ includes observed or anticipated severe and 16 unseasonable atmospheric conditions, including 17 drought, heavy precipitation, hurricanes, tornadoes 18 and other windstorms (including derechos), extreme 19 heat, extreme cold, flooding, sustained temperatures 20 or precipitation that deviate substantially from his- 21 torical averages, and any other weather event that 22 the Under Secretary determines qualifies as extreme 23 weather. 24 (4) OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS.—The 25 term ‘‘other environmental trends’’ means wildfires, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1282.IS S1282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1282 IS coastal flooding, inland flooding, land subsidence, 1 rising sea levels, and any other challenges relating to 2 changes in environmental systems over time that the 3 Under Secretary determines qualify as environ- 4 mental challenges other than extreme weather. 5 (5) MITIGATION FRAMEWORK LEADERSHIP 6 GROUP.—The term ‘‘Mitigation Framework Leader- 7 ship Group’’ means the Mitigation Framework Lead- 8 ership Group established pursuant to the Post- 9 Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 10 2006 (Public Law 109–295; 6 U.S.C. 701 note), or 11 successor group. 12 (6) UNITED STATES GLOBAL CHANGE RE- 13 SEARCH PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘United States Glob- 14 al Change Research Program’’ means the United 15 States Global Change Research Program established 16 under section 103 of the Global Change Research 17 Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2933). 18 (7) LONG-TERM.—The term ‘‘long-term’’ shall 19 have such meaning as the Director, in consultation 20 with the Under Secretary, considers appropriate for 21 purposes of this section. 22 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF CONSISTENT, FEDERAL SET 23 OF BEST AVAILABLE METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1282.IS S1282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1282 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 1 identify and support research that enables, a con- 2 sistent, Federal set of forward-looking long-term me- 3 teorological information that— 4 (A) models future extreme weather events, 5 other environmental trends, projections, and 6 up-to-date observations; and 7 (B) is suitable for use under subsection 8 (c). 9 (2) MESOSCALE METEOROLOGICAL INFORMA- 10 TION.—When the Under Secretary determines ap- 11 propriate or upon request of the Director, the Under 12 Secretary shall provide the Director with mesoscale 13 meteorological information that is suitable for use 14 under subsection (c). 15 (c) ADVICE, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND DISSEMI- 16 NATION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall, in con- 18 sultation with the Under Secretary— 19 (A) make available to the public informa- 20 tion identified under subsection (b); 21 (B) identify Federal and non-Federal ef- 22 forts to develop and adopt standards, building 23 codes, and voluntary certifications; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1282.IS S1282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1282 IS (C) using the best available, consistent, 1 Federal set of forward-looking long-term mete- 2 orological information identified under sub- 3 section (b)— 4 (i) advise and provide technical assist- 5 ance to organizations that develop stand- 6 ards, model building codes, or voluntary 7 certifications in order for such organiza- 8 tions to appropriately incorporate forward- 9 looking long-term meteorological informa- 10 tion into such standards, building codes, 11 and voluntary certifications; and 12 (ii) take appropriate steps to make in- 13 formation identified under subsection (b) 14 available to the entities described in clause 15 (i) developing such standards, model build- 16 ing codes, and voluntary certifications. 17 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Director shall carry 18 out paragraph (1) through each of the following: 19 (A) The Fire Research Center, established 20 under section 16 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to 21 establish the National Bureau of Standards’’, 22 approved March 3, 1901 (15 U.S.C. 278f). 23 (B) The National Windstorm Impact Re- 24 duction Program, established under section 204 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1282.IS S1282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1282 IS of the National Windstorm Impact Reduction 1 Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 15703). 2 (C) Such other statutory authorities as the 3 Director considers appropriate. 4 (d) WORKING GROUP.—In order to identify and sup- 5 port research that enable information as required under 6 subsection (b), the Director of the Office of Science and 7 Technology Policy, in coordination with the United States 8 Global Change Research Program and the Mitigation 9 Framework Leadership Group, shall designate a working 10 group consisting of representatives from such Federal 11 agencies as the Director of the Office of Science and Tech- 12 nology Policy considers appropriate. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1282.IS S1282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS