What This Bill Does
This bill directs the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to upgrade and modernize the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards network. The goal is to expand coverage of weather and hazard alerts, improve reliability, and make broadcasts more accessible to Americans across the country.
Who It Affects
The NOAA Weather Radio serves all Americans living in the United States, its territories and Tribal lands. The bill specifically focuses on people in rural areas, underserved communities, national parks and recreation areas who may have limited access to weather alerts.
Key Provisions
• The Administrator must expand NOAA Weather Radio coverage and ensure its reliability, including maintaining support for areas with poor cellular service (Sec. 4(a))
• The Administrator must acquire additional transmitters to expand coverage to rural and underserved communities, national parks and recreation areas (Sec. 4(b))
• The Administrator must upgrade telecommunications to move broadcasts to internet protocol-based communications (Sec. 5(a)(1))
• The Administrator must speed up software upgrades to implement partial county notifications and alerts (Sec. 5(a)(2))
• The Administrator must complete an assessment of NOAA Weather Radio access within 12 months of the bill becoming law, including recommendations on continuous broadcasts in urban and rural areas (Sec. 5(c))
What Changes
If this becomes law, the NOAA Weather Radio network will be upgraded with new transmitters in underserved areas. Broadcasts will transition to newer internet-based technology. The system will support more detailed alerts by county rather than entire counties. A comprehensive assessment will be conducted to identify gaps in coverage and ways to improve access.
Important Definitions
Administrator: the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the head of NOAA (Sec. 2(1))
NOAA Weather Radio: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio All Hazards network (Sec. 2(2))
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
IB
Union Calendar No. 40
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1482
[Report No. 118–60]
To provide guidance for and investment in the upgrade and modernization
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio
All Hazards network, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 9, 2023
Mrs. BICE (for herself, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. MILLER of Ohio, Ms. BONAMICI,
and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
MAY 16, 2023
Additional sponsors: Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina and Ms. LEE of
Pennsylvania
MAY 16, 2023
Reported from the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; committed
to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and or-
dered to be printed
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•HR 1482 RH
A BILL
To provide guidance for and investment in the upgrade and
modernization of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Weather Radio All Hazards network, and
for other purposes.
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•HR 1482 RH
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NOAA Weather Radio
4
Modernization Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘NWR Modernization
5
Act of 2023’’.
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SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
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In this Act:
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(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
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trator’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for
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Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator of
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the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
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tion.
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(2)
NOAA
WEATHER
RADIO.—The
term
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‘‘NOAA Weather Radio’’ means the National Oce-
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anic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio
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All Hazards network.
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SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
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Congress finds the following:
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(1) The NOAA Weather Radio is a nationwide
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network of transmitters that are critical to pro-
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tecting life and property by broadcasting weather
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and other hazard alerts.
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(2) NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts currently
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reach 95 percent of the United States population.
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•HR 1482 RH
(3) NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts originate
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from all National Weather Service Offices, but are
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only available via a receiver located in sufficient
3
proximity to a radio transmitting tower.
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(4) There are limited options to obtain NOAA
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Weather Radio broadcasts via the Internet or mobile
6
device application, which are provided by volunteer
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mechanisms obtaining the audio feed in an ad hoc
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manner.
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(5) NOAA Weather Radio should provide equal
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access and availability to unimpeded broadcasts of
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weather and non-weather hazards to every person lo-
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cated within the United States, its territories, and
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Tribal lands.
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SEC. 4. UPGRADING EXISTING SYSTEMS.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, to the
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maximum extent practicable, expand coverage of the
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NOAA Weather Radio and ensure its reliability. In car-
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rying out this subsection, the Administrator shall—
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(1) maintain support for existing systems serv-
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ing areas not covered by or having poor quality cel-
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lular service;
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(2) ensure consistent maintenance and oper-
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ations monitoring, with timely repairs to broadcast
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transmitter site equipment and antennas; and
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•HR 1482 RH
(3) enhance the ability to amplify Non-Weather
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Emergency Messages via NOAA Weather Radio as
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necessary.
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(b) EXPANDING ACCESS.—In carrying out subsection
4
(a), the Administrator shall acquire additional transmit-
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ters as required to expand coverage to rural and under-
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served communities, national parks, and recreation areas.
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SEC. 5. MODERNIZATION INITIATIVE.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—In parallel to the activities under
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section 4, the Administrator shall, to the maximum extent
10
practicable, enhance NOAA Weather Radio to ensure its
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capabilities and coverage remain valuable to the public. In
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carrying out this section, the Administrator shall—
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(1) upgrade telecommunications infrastructure
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to accelerate the transition of broadcasts to internet
15
protocol-based
communications
over
noncopper
16
media;
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(2) accelerate software upgrades to the Ad-
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vanced Weather Interactive Processing System, or
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the relevant system successors, to implement partial
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county notifications and alerts;
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(3) consult with relevant stakeholders, including
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the private sector, to enhance accessibility and
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usability of NOAA Weather Radio data and feeds;
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•HR 1482 RH
(4) develop options, including satellite backup
1
capability and commercial provider partnerships, for
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NOAA Weather Radio continuity in the event of
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Weather Forecast Office outages;
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(5) research and develop alternative options, in-
5
cluding microwave capabilities, to transmit NOAA
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Weather Radio signals to transmitters that are re-
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mote or do not have internet protocol capability; and
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(6) transition critical applications to the Inte-
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grated Dissemination Program, or the relevant pro-
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gram successors.
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(b) PRIORITY.—In carrying out subsection (a), the
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Administrator shall prioritize practices, capabilities, and
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technologies recommended in accordance with the assess-
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ment under subsection (c) to maximize accessibility, par-
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ticularly in remote and underserved areas of the country.
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(c) ASSESSMENT FOR MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBU-
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TION.—Not later than 12 months after the date of the
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enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall complete
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an assessment of access to NOAA Weather Radio. In con-
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ducting such assessment, the Administrator shall take into
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consideration and provide recommendations on the fol-
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lowing:
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•HR 1482 RH
(1) The need for continuous, adequate, and
1
operational real-time broadcasts of the NOAA
2
Weather Radio in both urban and rural areas.
3
(2) Solicited inputs from relevant stakeholders
4
on the compatibility of NOAA Weather Radio data
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for third party platforms that provide online serv-
6
ices, such as websites and mobile device applications,
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or deliver NOAA Weather Radio access.
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(3) Existing or new management systems that
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promote consistent, efficient, and compatible access
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to NOAA Weather Radio.
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(4) The ability of NOAA to aggregate real time
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broadcast feeds at one or more central locations.
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(5) Effective interagency coordination.
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(6) The potential effects of an electromagnetic
15
pulse or geomagnetic disturbance on NOAA Weather
16
Radio.
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(7) Any other function the Administrator deter-
18
mines necessary.
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Union Calendar No. 40
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1482
[Report No. 118–60]
A BILL
To provide guidance for and investment in the up-
grade and modernization of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio
All Hazards network, and for other purposes.
MAY 16, 2023
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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