FLOODS Act

116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4462 AN ACT 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 2 † S 4462 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Sup- 3 port Act’’ or the ‘‘FLOODS Act’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 5 this Act is as follows: 6 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. Estimates of precipitation frequency in the United States. Sec. 13. Interagency Coordinating Committee on Water Management. Sec. 14. National Weather Service 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. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 9 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 10 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 11 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 12 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 13 States, and any other territory or possession of the 14 United States. 15 3 † S 4462 ES (2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 1 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 2 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 3 SEC. 3. NATIONAL INTEGRATED FLOOD INFORMATION SYS- 4 TEM. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall estab- 6 lish a system, to be known as the ‘‘National Integrated 7 Flood Information System’’, to better inform and provide 8 for more timely decision making to reduce flood-related 9 effects and costs. 10 (b) SYSTEM FUNCTIONS.—The Under Secretary, 11 through the National Integrated Flood Information Sys- 12 tem, shall— 13 (1) provide an effective flood early warning sys- 14 tem that— 15 (A) collects and integrates information on 16 the key indicators of floods and flood impacts, 17 including streamflow, reservoir release and di- 18 version, precipitation, soil moisture, snow water 19 equivalent, land cover, and evaporative demand; 20 (B) makes usable, reliable, and timely fore- 21 casts of floods; 22 (C) assesses the severity of flood conditions 23 and effects; 24 4 † S 4462 ES (D) issues flood watches and warnings 1 when necessary; 2 (E) provides information described in sub- 3 paragraph (A), forecasts described in subpara- 4 graph (B), and assessments described in sub- 5 paragraph (C) at the national, regional, and 6 local levels, as appropriate; and 7 (F) communicates flood forecasts, flood 8 conditions, and flood impacts to public and pri- 9 vate entities engaged in flood planning, pre- 10 paredness, and response, including— 11 (i) decision makers at the Federal, 12 State, local, and Tribal levels of govern- 13 ment; 14 (ii) the private sector; and 15 (iii) the public; 16 (2) provide timely data, information, and prod- 17 ucts that reflect differences in flood conditions 18 among localities, regions, watersheds, and States; 19 (3) coordinate and integrate, through inter- 20 agency agreements as practicable, Federal research 21 and monitoring in support of the flood early warning 22 information system provided under paragraph (1); 23 (4) use existing forecasting and assessment pro- 24 grams and partnerships; 25 5 † S 4462 ES (5) make improvements in seasonal precipita- 1 tion and temperature, subseasonal precipitation and 2 temperature, and flood water prediction; and 3 (6) continue ongoing research and monitoring 4 activities relating to floods, including research activi- 5 ties relating to— 6 (A) the prediction, length, severity, and 7 impacts of floods and improvement of the accu- 8 racy, timing, and specificity of flash flood warn- 9 ings; 10 (B) the role of extreme weather events and 11 climate variability in floods; and 12 (C) how water travels over and through 13 surfaces. 14 (c) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Under Secretary, through 15 the National Integrated Flood Information System, may— 16 (1) engage with the private sector to improve 17 flood monitoring, forecasts, land and topography 18 data, and communication, if the Under Secretary de- 19 termines that such engagement is appropriate, cost 20 effective, and beneficial to the public and decision 21 makers described in subsection (b)(1)(F)(i); 22 (2) facilitate the development of 1 or more aca- 23 demic cooperative partnerships to assist in carrying 24 6 † S 4462 ES out the functions of the National Integrated Flood 1 Information System described in subsection (b); 2 (3) use and support monitoring by citizen sci- 3 entists, including by developing best practices to fa- 4 cilitate maximum data integration, as the Under 5 Secretary considers appropriate; and 6 (4) engage with, and leverage the resources of, 7 entities within the National Oceanic and Atmos- 8 pheric Administration in existence as of the date of 9 the enactment of this Act, such as the National In- 10 tegrated Drought Information System, the Regional 11 Climate Center, and the National Mesonet Program, 12 to improve coordination of water monitoring, fore- 13 casting, and management. 14 (d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and maintaining 15 the National Integrated Flood Information System, the 16 Under Secretary shall consult with relevant Federal, 17 State, local, and Tribal government agencies, research in- 18 stitutions, and the private sector. 19 (e) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGEN- 20 CIES.—Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appro- 21 priate with the Under Secretary in carrying out this sec- 22 tion. 23 7 † S 4462 ES SEC. 4. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FOR TOTAL WATER 1 PREDICTION. 2 (a) PARTNERSHIPS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 4 establish partnerships with 1 or more institutions of 5 higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to 7 evaluate observations that would improve total water 8 prediction. 9 (2) PRIORITY OBSERVATIONS.—In establishing 10 partnerships under paragraph (1), the Under Sec- 11 retary shall prioritize partnerships to evaluate obser- 12 vations from unmanned aerial systems. 13 (b) MAINTAINED OBSERVATIONS.—If the Under Sec- 14 retary determines that incorporating additional observa- 15 tions improves total water prediction, the Under Secretary 16 shall, to the extent practicable, continue incorporating 17 those observations. 18 (c) MODELING IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Sec- 19 retary shall advance geographic coverage, resolution, skill, 20 and efficiency of coastal oceanographic modeling, includ- 21 ing efforts that improve the coupling of and interoper- 22 ability between hydrological models and coastal ocean 23 models. 24 (d) GEOSPATIAL DATA.—The Under Secretary shall 25 advance the development of models to vertically transform 26 8 † S 4462 ES geospatial data into a common system for use as the Fed- 1 eral standard for surveys and mapping. 2 SEC. 5. SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS AT RIVER 3 FORECAST CENTERS OF THE NATIONAL 4 WEATHER SERVICE. 5 (a) DESIGNATION OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY- 6 DROLOGISTS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 8 Weather Service (in this section referred to as the 9 ‘‘Director’’) shall designate at least 1 service coordi- 10 nation hydrologist at each River Forecast Center of 11 the National Weather Service. 12 (2) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.— 13 Performance of the responsibilities outlined in this 14 section is not limited to the service coordination hy- 15 drologist position. 16 (b) PRIMARY ROLE OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY- 17 DROLOGISTS.—The primary role of the service coordina- 18 tion hydrologist shall be to carry out the responsibilities 19 required by this section. 20 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 22 consistent with the analysis described in section 409 23 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 24 Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 112), 25 9 † S 4462 ES and in order to increase impact-based decision sup- 1 port services, each service coordination hydrologist 2 designated under subsection (a) shall, with respect 3 to hydrology— 4 (A) be responsible for providing service to 5 the geographic area of responsibility covered by 6 the River Forecast Center at which the service 7 coordination hydrologist is employed to help en- 8 sure that users of products and services of the 9 National Weather Service can respond effec- 10 tively to improve outcomes from flood events; 11 (B) liaise with users of products and serv- 12 ices of the National Weather Service, such as 13 the public, academia, media outlets, users in the 14 hydropower, transportation, recreation, and ag- 15 ricultural communities, and forestry, land, fish- 16 eries, and water management interests, to 17 evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the 18 products and services of the National Weather 19 Service; 20 (C) collaborate with such River Forecast 21 Centers and Weather Forecast Offices and Fed- 22 eral, State, local, and Tribal government agen- 23 cies as the Director considers appropriate in de- 24 veloping, proposing, and implementing plans to 25 10 † S 4462 ES develop, modify, or tailor products and services 1 of the National Weather Service to improve the 2 usefulness of such products and services; 3 (D) engage in interagency partnerships 4 with Federal, State, local, and Tribal govern- 5 ment agencies to explore the use of forecast-in- 6 formed reservoir operations to reduce flood risk; 7 (E) ensure the maintenance and accuracy 8 of flooding call lists, appropriate office flooding 9 policy or procedures, and other flooding infor- 10 mation or dissemination methodologies or strat- 11 egies; and 12 (F) work closely with Federal, State, local, 13 and Tribal emergency and floodplain manage- 14 ment agencies, and other agencies relating to 15 disaster management, to ensure a planned, co- 16 ordinated, and effective preparedness and re- 17 sponse effort. 18 (2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a 19 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 20 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 21 carry out such responsibility. 22 (d) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 23 11 † S 4462 ES (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 1 service coordination hydrologist designated under 2 subsection (a) may, with respect to hydrology— 3 (A) work with a State agency to develop 4 plans for promoting more effective use of prod- 5 ucts and services of the National Weather Serv- 6 ice throughout the State; 7 (B) identify priority community prepared- 8 ness objectives; 9 (C) develop plans to meet the objectives 10 identified under subparagraph (B); and 11 (D) conduct flooding event preparedness 12 planning and citizen education efforts with and 13 through various State, local, and Tribal govern- 14 ment agencies and other disaster management- 15 related organizations. 16 (2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a 17 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 18 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 19 carry out such responsibility. 20 (e) PLACEMENT WITH STATE AND LOCAL EMER- 21 GENCY AND FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 23 the Director may place a service coordination hy- 24 drologist designated under subsection (a) with a 25 12 † S 4462 ES State or local emergency or floodplain manager, if 1 the Director determines that such placement is nec- 2 essary or convenient to carry out this section. 3 (2) TREATMENT.—If the Director determines 4 that the placement of a service coordination hydrolo- 5 gist with a State or local emergency or floodplain 6 manager under paragraph (1) is near a River Fore- 7 cast Center of the National Weather Service, such 8 placement shall be treated as designation of the 9 service coordination hydrologist at such River Fore- 10 cast Center for purposes of subsection (a). 11 SEC. 6. IMPROVING NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOS- 12 PHERIC ADMINISTRATION COMMUNICATION 13 OF FUTURE FLOOD RISKS AND HAZARDOUS 14 FLASH FLOOD EVENTS. 15 (a) ASSESSMENT OF FLASH FLOOD WATCHES AND 16 WARNINGS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 18 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 19 Secretary shall— 20 (A) conduct an assessment of— 21 (i) the flash flood watches and warn- 22 ings of the National Weather Service; and 23 13 † S 4462 ES (ii) the information delivery to sup- 1 port preparation and responses to floods; 2 and 3 (B) submit to Congress a report on the 4 findings of the Under Secretary with respect to 5 the assessment required by subparagraph (A). 6 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 7 paragraph (1)(A) shall include the following: 8 (A) An evaluation of whether the watches, 9 warnings, and information described in para- 10 graph (1)(A)— 11 (i) communicate risk to the general 12 public; 13 (ii) inform action to prevent loss of 14 life and property; 15 (iii) inform action to support flood 16 preparation and response; and 17 (iv) deliver information in a manner 18 designed to lead to appropriate action. 19 (B) Subject to subsection (b)(2), such rec- 20 ommendations as the Under Secretary may 21 have for— 22 (i) legislative and administrative ac- 23 tion to improve the watches and warnings 24 described in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and 25 14 † S 4462 ES (ii) such research as the Under Sec- 1 retary considers necessary to address the 2 focus areas described in paragraph (3). 3 (3) FOCUS AREAS.—The assessment required 4 by paragraph (1)(A) shall focus on the following 5 areas: 6 (A) Ways to communicate the risks posed 7 by hazardous flash flood events to the public 8 that are most likely to result in informed deci- 9 sion making regarding the mitigation of those 10 risks. 11 (B) Ways to provide actionable geographic 12 information to the recipient of a watch or warn- 13 ing for a flash flood, including partnering with 14 em [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]