FLOODS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8882 To establish a national integrated flood information system within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 4, 2020 Ms. SHERRILL (for herself and Mr. WEBER of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined 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 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8882 IH 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. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 3 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 4 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 5 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 6 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 7 States, and any other territory or possession of the 8 United States. 9 (2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 10 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 11 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8882 IH SEC. 3. NATIONAL INTEGRATED FLOOD INFORMATION SYS- 1 TEM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall estab- 3 lish a system, to be known as the ‘‘National Integrated 4 Flood Information System’’, to better inform and provide 5 for more timely decision making to reduce flood-related 6 effects and costs. 7 (b) SYSTEM FUNCTIONS.—The Under Secretary, 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 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8882 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, and response, including— 6 (i) decision makers at the Federal, 7 State, local, and Tribal levels of govern- 8 ment; 9 (ii) the private sector; and 10 (iii) the public; 11 (2) provide timely data, information, and prod- 12 ucts that reflect differences in flood conditions 13 among localities, regions, watersheds, and States; 14 (3) coordinate and integrate, through inter- 15 agency agreements as practicable, Federal research 16 and monitoring in support of the flood early warning 17 information system provided under paragraph (1); 18 (4) use existing forecasting and assessment pro- 19 grams and partnerships; 20 (5) make improvements in seasonal precipita- 21 tion and temperature, subseasonal precipitation and 22 temperature, and flood water prediction; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8882 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 Under Secretary, through 12 the 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 Under Secretary 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 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8882 IH cilitate maximum data integration, as the Under 1 Secretary considers appropriate; and 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 In- 6 tegrated Drought Information System, the Regional 7 Climate Center, and the National Mesonet Program, 8 to improve coordination of water monitoring, fore- 9 casting, and management. 10 (d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and maintaining 11 the National Integrated Flood Information System, the 12 Under Secretary shall consult with relevant Federal, 13 State, local, and Tribal government agencies, research in- 14 stitutions, and the private sector. 15 (e) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGEN- 16 CIES.—Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appro- 17 priate with the Under Secretary in carrying out this sec- 18 tion. 19 SEC. 4. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FOR TOTAL WATER 20 PREDICTION. 21 (a) PARTNERSHIPS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 23 establish partnerships with 1 or more institutions of 24 higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8882 IH Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to 1 evaluate observations that would improve total water 2 prediction. 3 (2) PRIORITY OBSERVATIONS.—In establishing 4 partnerships under paragraph (1), the Under Sec- 5 retary shall prioritize partnerships to evaluate obser- 6 vations from unmanned aerial systems. 7 (b) MAINTAINED OBSERVATIONS.—If the Under Sec- 8 retary determines that incorporating additional observa- 9 tions improves total water prediction, the Under Secretary 10 shall, to the extent practicable, continue incorporating 11 those observations. 12 (c) MODELING IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Sec- 13 retary shall advance geographic coverage, resolution, skill, 14 and efficiency of coastal oceanographic modeling, includ- 15 ing efforts that improve the coupling of and interoper- 16 ability between hydrological models and coastal ocean 17 models. 18 (d) GEOSPATIAL DATA.—The Under Secretary shall 19 advance the development of models to vertically transform 20 geospatial data into a common system for use as the Fed- 21 eral standard for surveys and mapping. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8882 IH SEC. 5. SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS AT RIVER 1 FORECAST CENTERS OF THE NATIONAL 2 WEATHER SERVICE. 3 (a) DESIGNATION OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY- 4 DROLOGISTS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 6 Weather Service (in this section referred to as the 7 ‘‘Director’’) shall designate at least 1 service coordi- 8 nation hydrologist at each River Forecast Center of 9 the National Weather Service. 10 (2) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.— 11 Performance of the responsibilities outlined in this 12 section is not limited to the service coordination hy- 13 drologist position. 14 (b) PRIMARY ROLE OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY- 15 DROLOGISTS.—The primary role of the service coordina- 16 tion hydrologist shall be to carry out the responsibilities 17 required by this section. 18 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 20 consistent with the analysis described in section 409 21 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 22 Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 112), 23 and in order to increase impact-based decision sup- 24 port services, each service coordination hydrologist 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8882 IH designated under subsection (a) shall, with respect 1 to hydrology— 2 (A) be responsible for providing service to 3 the geographic area of responsibility covered by 4 the River Forecast Center at which the service 5 coordination hydrologist is employed to help en- 6 sure that users of products and services of the 7 National Weather Service can respond effec- 8 tively to improve outcomes from flood events; 9 (B) liaise with users of products and serv- 10 ices of the National Weather Service, such as 11 the public, academia, media outlets, users in the 12 hydropower, transportation, recreation, and ag- 13 ricultural communities, and forestry, land, fish- 14 eries, and water management interests, to 15 evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the 16 products and services of the National Weather 17 Service; 18 (C) collaborate with such River Forecast 19 Centers and Weather Forecast Offices and Fed- 20 eral, State, local, and Tribal government agen- 21 cies as the Director considers appropriate in de- 22 veloping, proposing, and implementing plans to 23 develop, modify, or tailor products and services 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8882 IH of the National Weather Service to improve the 1 usefulness of such products and services; 2 (D) engage in interagency partnerships 3 with Federal, State, local, and Tribal govern- 4 ment agencies to explore the use of forecast-in- 5 formed reservoir operations to reduce flood risk; 6 (E) ensure the maintenance and accuracy 7 of flooding call lists, appropriate office flooding 8 policy or procedures, and other flooding infor- 9 mation or dissemination methodologies or strat- 10 egies; and 11 (F) work closely with Federal, State, local, 12 and Tribal emergency and floodplain manage- 13 ment agencies, and other agencies relating to 14 disaster management, to ensure a planned, co- 15 ordinated, and effective preparedness and re- 16 sponse effort. 17 (2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a 18 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 19 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 20 carry out such responsibility. 21 (d) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 23 service coordination hydrologist designated under 24 subsection (a) may, with respect to hydrology— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8882 IH (A) work with a State agency to develop 1 plans for promoting more effective use of prod- 2 ucts and services of the National Weather Serv- 3 ice throughout the State; 4 (B) identify priority community prepared- 5 ness objectives; 6 (C) develop plans to meet the objectives 7 identified under subparagraph (B); and 8 (D) conduct flooding event preparedness 9 planning and citizen education efforts with and 10 through various State, local, and Tribal govern- 11 ment agencies and other disaster management- 12 related organizations. 13 (2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may assign a 14 responsibility set forth in paragraph (1) to such 15 other staff as the Director considers appropriate to 16 carry out such responsibility. 17 (e) PLACEMENT WITH STATE AND LOCAL EMER- 18 GENCY AND FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 20 the Director may place a service coordination hy- 21 drologist designated under subsection (a) with a 22 State or local emergency or floodplain manager, if 23 the Director determines that such placement is nec- 24 essary or convenient to carry out this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8882.IH H8882 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8882 IH (2) TREATMENT.—If the Director determines 1 that the placement of a service coordination hydrolo- 2 gist with a State or local emergency or floodplain 3 manag [Text truncated for display. 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