II Calendar No. 258 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1284 To improve forecasting and understanding of tornadoes and other hazardous weather, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 25, 2023 Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. THUNE, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. YOUNG, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. WARNOCK) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation DECEMBER 4, 2023 Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To improve forecasting and understanding of tornadoes and other hazardous weather, 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 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 2 •S 1284 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tornado Observations 2 Research and Notification Assessment for Development of 3 Operations Act’’ or the ‘‘TORNADO Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER 7 EVENTS.—The term ‘‘hazardous weather and water 8 events’’ means weather and water events that have 9 a high risk of loss of life or property, including— 10 (A) severe storms, such as hurricanes and 11 short-fused, small-scale hazardous weather or 12 hydrologic events produced by thunderstorms, 13 including large hail, damaging winds, torna- 14 does, and flash floods; 15 (B) winter storms, such as freezing or fro- 16 zen precipitation (including freezing rain, sleet, 17 and snow), or combined effects of freezing or 18 frozen precipitation and strong winds; and 19 (C) other weather hazards, such as ex- 20 treme heat or cold, wildfire, drought, dense fog, 21 high winds, river flooding and lakeshore flood- 22 ing. 23 (2) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI- 24 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 25 university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 3 •S 1284 RS institution’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 1 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 2 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 3 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 4 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 6 (4) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 7 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 8 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 9 U.S.C. 15801). 10 (5) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 11 government’’ means the recognized governing body 12 of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 13 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com- 14 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 15 parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 16 of the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to sec- 17 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 18 List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 19 (6) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 20 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 21 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 4 •S 1284 RS SEC. 3. HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER EVENT RISK 1 COMMUNICATION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall main- 3 tain and improve the system of the National Oceanic and 4 Atmospheric Administration by which the risks of haz- 5 ardous weather and water events are communicated to the 6 general public, with the goal of informing action and en- 7 couraging response to prevent loss of life and property. 8 (b) HAZARD RISK COMMUNICATION IMPROVEMENT 9 AND SIMPLIFICATION.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 11 maintain a hazard risk communication office (in this 12 subsection referred to as the ‘‘Office’’), for the pur- 13 poses of simplifying and improving the communica- 14 tion of hazardous weather and water event risks. 15 (2) TERMINOLOGY.—The Office shall identify, 16 eliminate, or modify unnecessary, redundant, or con- 17 fusing terms for hazardous weather and water event 18 communications and add new terminology, as appro- 19 priate. 20 (3) COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVEMENT.—The Of- 21 fice shall improve the form, content, and methods of 22 hazardous weather and water event communications 23 to more clearly inform action and increase the likeli- 24 hood that the public takes such action to prevent the 25 loss of life or property. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 5 •S 1284 RS (4) EVALUATIONS.—The Office shall, in coordi- 1 nation with the performance branch of the National 2 Weather Service, develop metrics for that branch to 3 track and evaluate the degree to which hazardous 4 weather and water event communications result in 5 action and response. 6 (5) SUPPORT PLAN.—The Office shall develop a 7 plan for the purpose of supporting the activities de- 8 scribed in paragraph (3). The plan shall be periodi- 9 cally updated and informed by internal and extra- 10 mural research and the results of the evaluation of 11 hazardous weather and water event communications 12 conducted under paragraph (4). 13 (6) METHODS.—In carrying out this subsection, 14 the Office shall develop and implement recommenda- 15 tions that— 16 (A) are based on the best and most recent 17 understanding from social, behavioral, risk, and 18 communication science research; 19 (B) are validated by social, behavioral, 20 risk, and communication science, taking into ac- 21 count the importance of methods that support 22 reproduction and replication of scientific stud- 23 ies, use of rigorous statistical analyses, and, as 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 6 •S 1284 RS applicable, data analysis supported by artificial 1 intelligence and machine learning technologies; 2 (C) account for the needs of various demo- 3 graphics, vulnerable populations, and geo- 4 graphic regions; 5 (D) account for the differences between 6 various types of weather and water hazards; 7 (E) respond to the needs of Federal, State, 8 and local government partners and media part- 9 ners; and 10 (F) account for necessary changes in the 11 infrastructure, technology, and protocols for 12 creating and disseminating federally operated 13 watches and warnings. 14 (7) COORDINATION.—In implementing this Act, 15 the Office shall coordinate with— 16 (A) Federal partners, including National 17 Laboratories, Cooperative Institutes, and re- 18 gional integrated sciences and assessments pro- 19 grams; 20 (B) State and local government partners; 21 (C) Tribal governments; 22 (D) institutions of higher education; and 23 (E) media partners. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 7 •S 1284 RS (8) TIMELINESS AND CONSISTENCY.—The Of- 1 fice shall develop best practices and guidance for en- 2 suring timely and consistent communication across 3 public facing platforms that disseminate hazardous 4 weather and water event information. 5 (c) HAZARD COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AND EN- 6 GAGEMENT.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 8 establish or maintain a research program— 9 (A) to modernize the creation and commu- 10 nication of risk-based, statistically reliable, 11 probabilistic hazard information to inform effec- 12 tive actions and responses to hazardous weather 13 and water events; and 14 (B) to improve the fundamental social, be- 15 havioral, risk, and communication science re- 16 garding hazardous weather and water event 17 communication. 18 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the re- 19 search program required by paragraph (1), the 20 Under Secretary shall coordinate and communicate 21 with States, Tribal governments, localities, and 22 emergency managers on research priorities and re- 23 sults. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 8 •S 1284 RS (3) PILOT PROGRAM FOR TORNADO HAZARD 1 COMMUNICATION REQUIRED.— 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—To further research 3 into hazard communication, the Under Sec- 4 retary, in collaboration with one or more eligible 5 institutions, shall establish a pilot program for 6 tornado hazard communication to test the effec- 7 tiveness of implementing the research conducted 8 under this subsection with respect to tornadoes. 9 (B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION DEFINED.—In 10 this paragraph, the term ‘‘eligible institution’’ 11 means any of the following: 12 (i) A historically Black college or uni- 13 versity located in an area of persistent pov- 14 erty that is subjected to frequent severe 15 weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, 16 and floods. 17 (ii) An institution of higher education 18 in close proximity to a National Weather 19 Service Weather Forecast Office of the Na- 20 tional Weather Service. 21 (d) DATA MANAGEMENT.—The Under Secretary 22 shall establish, maintain, and improve a central repository 23 system for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin- 24 istration for social, behavioral, risk, and economic data re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 9 •S 1284 RS lated to the communication of hazardous weather and 1 water events, including data developed or received pursu- 2 ant to paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (b). 3 (e) DIGITAL WATERMARKING.—The Under Secretary 4 shall develop methods to reduce the likelihood of unauthor- 5 ized tampering with online hazardous weather and water 6 event risk communication, such as developing digital wa- 7 termarks. 8 SEC. 4. WARN-ON-FORECAST STRATEGIC PLAN. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 11 shall prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan for 12 developing and prioritizing the implementation of high- 13 resolution probabilistic forecast guidance for hazardous 14 weather and water events using a next-generation weather 15 forecast and warning framework. 16 (b) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The strategic plan required 17 by subsection (a) shall include the following: 18 (1) A discussion of— 19 (A) the priorities and needs of vulnerable 20 populations and National Weather Service part- 21 ners; and 22 (B) high-performance computing, visualiza- 23 tion, and dissemination needs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 10 •S 1284 RS (2) A timeline and guidance for implementation 1 of— 2 (A) high-resolution numerical weather pre- 3 diction models; 4 (B) methods for meeting the high-perform- 5 ance computing, visualization, and dissemina- 6 tion needs discussed under paragraph (1)(B); 7 (C) real-time high-resolution probabilistic 8 forecasts; 9 (D) improved observations, including 10 through radars, satellites, and uncrewed aerial 11 systems; 12 (E) a flexible framework to communicate 13 clear and simple hazardous weather and water 14 event information to the public; and 15 (F) social, behavioral, risk, and commu- 16 nication research to improve the forecaster 17 operational environment and societal informa- 18 tion reception and response. 19 SEC. 5. TORNADO RATING SYSTEM. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, in col- 21 laboration with such stakeholders as the Under Secretary 22 considers appropriate— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 11 •S 1284 RS (1) evaluate the system used as of the date of 1 the enactment of this Act to rate the severity of tor- 2 nadoes; and 3 (2) determine whether updates to that system 4 are required to ensure that the ratings accurately re- 5 flect the severity of tornadoes. 6 (b) UPDATE REQUIRED.—If the Under Secretary de- 7 termines under subsection (a) that updates to the tornado 8 rating system are necessary, the Under Secretary shall up- 9 date the system. 10 SEC. 6. POST-STORM SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall per- 12 form one or more post-storm surveys and assessments fol- 13 lowing each hazardous weather or water event determined 14 by the Under Secretary to be of sufficient societal impor- 15 tance to warrant a post-event survey and assessment. 16 (b) COORDINATION.—The Under Secretary shall co- 17 ordinate with Federal, State, and local governments, Trib- 18 al governments, private entities, and relevant institutions 19 of higher education when conducting post-storm surveys 20 and assessments under subsection (a) in order to optimize 21 data collection, sharing, and integration. 22 (c) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary shall 23 make the data obtained from each post-storm survey and 24 assessment conducted under subsection (a) available to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 12 •S 1284 RS public as soon as practicable after conducting the survey 1 and assessment. 2 (d) IMPROVEMENT.—The Under Secretary shall— 3 (1) investigate the role of uncrewed aerial sys- 4 tems in data collection during post-storm surveys 5 and assessments conducted under subsection (a); 6 (2) identify gaps in and update tactics and pro- 7 cedures to enhance the efficiency and reliability of 8 data obtained from post-storm surveys and assess- 9 ments; and 10 (3) increase the number of post-storm commu- 11 nity impact studies, including— 12 (A) surveying individual responses; 13 (B) conducting review of the accuracy of 14 prior risk evaluations; 15 (C) evaluating the efficacy of prior mitiga- 16 tion activity; and 17 (D) gathering survivability statistics. 18 (e) SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYEES.—The Under Sec- 19 retary shall provide training, resources, and access to pro- 20 fessional counseling to support the emotional and mental 21 health and well-being of employees conducting post-storm 22 surveys and assessments under subsection (a). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Dec 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1284.RS S1284 13 •S 1284 RS SEC. 7. VORTEX-USA PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103 of the Weather Re- 2 search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 3 8513) is amended— 4 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TOR- 5 NADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT AND EXTEN- 6 SION’’ and inserting ‘‘VORTEX-USA’’; 7 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘establish a 8 tornado warning impro [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]