Federal

National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act

Source: Congress.gov · 673 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill directs the Director of the National Weather Service to upgrade the instant messaging system that weather service workers currently use. The bill creates a new section of federal law requiring the implementation of a commercial communications solution hosted on the public cloud to replace the existing system called "NWSChat." The new system must meet requirements set by the Director and handle more users as the service grows.

Who It Affects

National Weather Service personnel who use the instant messaging system and the National Weather Service as an agency.

Key Provisions

* The Director of the National Weather Service shall implement a commercial off-the-shelf communications solution hosted on the public cloud to replace the current instant messaging system (Sec. 415(a)). * The new communications solution must satisfy requirements set by the Director and accommodate future growth and increased numbers of users (Sec. 415(a)). * The Director may allocate up to $3,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2024 through 2027 to carry out this upgrade (Sec. 415(b)). * All funding for this upgrade must come from amounts already appropriated or made available to the National Weather Service (Sec. 415(c)).

What Changes

The National Weather Service will transition from its current instant messaging system (NWSChat) to a new commercial cloud-based communications system that the Director determines can better serve current and future needs.

Important Definitions

None defined in the bill text.

IB Union Calendar No. 41 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1496 [Report No. 118–61] To upgrade the communications service used by the National Weather Service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2023 Mr. FEENSTRA (for himself, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. MILLER of Ohio, Mrs. HINSON, Mrs. GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina, Ms. ROSS, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. SORENSEN, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, and Mrs. FOUSHEE) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology MAY 16, 2023 Additional sponsors: Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CAREY, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 May 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1496.RH H1496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1496 RH A BILL To upgrade the communications service used by the National Weather Service, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 May 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1496.RH H1496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1496 RH 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Weather 4 Service Communications Improvement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Weather Research 7 and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8541 8 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 9 new section: 10 ‘‘SEC. 415. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMMUNICA- 11 TIONS. 12 ‘‘(a) SYSTEM UPGRADE.—The Director of the Na- 13 tional Weather Service shall improve the instant mes- 14 saging service used by National Weather Service personnel 15 by implementing a commercial off-the-shelf communica- 16 tions solution hosted on the public cloud to serve as a re- 17 placement for the communications system in use as of the 18 date of the enactment of this section (commonly referred 19 to as ‘NWSChat’). Such communications solution shall 20 satisfy requirements set forth by the Director to best ac- 21 commodate future growth and perform successfully with 22 increased numbers of users. 23 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—From amounts made available for 24 Operations, Research, and Facilities, the Director of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 May 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1496.RH H1496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 1496 RH National Weather Service shall allocate up to $3,000,000 1 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2027 to carry out 2 subsection (a). 3 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON FUNDING.—Amounts made 4 available to carry out subsection (a) shall be derived from 5 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to the 6 National Weather Service.’’. 7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 8 in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting 9 Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by inserting after the 10 item relating to section 414 the following new item: 11 ‘‘Sec. 415. National Weather Service communications.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 May 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1496.RH H1496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 May 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1496.RH H1496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Union Calendar No. 41 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1496 [Report No. 118–61] A BILL To upgrade the communications service used by the National Weather Service, and for other purposes. MAY 16, 2023 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 May 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1496.RH H1496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.