118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1416 AN ACT 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 † S 1416 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NOAA Weather Radio 2 Modernization Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘NWR Modernization 3 Act of 2023’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 (a) NOAA WEATHER RADIO.—The term ‘‘NOAA 6 Weather Radio’’ means the National Oceanic and Atmos- 7 pheric Administration Weather Radio All Hazards net- 8 work. 9 (b) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under Sec- 10 retary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for 11 Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator of the Na- 12 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 13 SEC. 3. UPGRADING EXISTING SYSTEMS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, to the 15 maximum extent practicable, upgrade systems of NOAA 16 Weather Radio in use as of the date of the enactment of 17 this Act in order to expand coverage and ensure the reli- 18 ability of NOAA Weather Radio. 19 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out subsection (a), 20 the Under Secretary shall— 21 (1) maintain support for systems described in 22 such subsection that serve areas not covered by or 23 having poor quality cellular service; 24 3 † S 1416 ES (2) ensure consistent maintenance and oper- 1 ations monitoring, with timely repairs to equipment 2 and antennas at broadcast transmitter sites; 3 (3) enhance the ability to amplify non-weather 4 emergency messages through NOAA Weather Radio 5 as necessary; and 6 (4) acquire additional transmitters as required 7 to expand coverage to rural and underserved com- 8 munities, units of the National Park System, and 9 National Recreation Areas. 10 SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION INITIATIVE. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, to the 12 maximum extent practicable, modernize NOAA Weather 13 Radio to ensure the capabilities and coverage of NOAA 14 Weather Radio remain valuable to the public. 15 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out subsection (a), 16 the Under Secretary shall— 17 (1) upgrade the telecommunications infrastruc- 18 ture of NOAA Weather Radio to accelerate the tran- 19 sition of broadcasts to media that provide an in- 20 crease in reliability and repairability over copper 21 media; 22 (2) accelerate software upgrades to the Ad- 23 vanced Weather Interactive Processing System of 24 the National Weather Service, or any relevant suc- 25 4 † S 1416 ES cessors of the system, in order to implement partial 1 county notifications and alerts; 2 (3) enhance the accessibility and usability of 3 data and feeds of NOAA Weather Radio, with the 4 feedback of the public and user groups; 5 (4) develop options, including satellite backup 6 capability and commercial provider partnerships, for 7 continuity of service provided by NOAA Weather 8 Radio in the event of outages among Weather Fore- 9 cast Offices; 10 (5) research and develop alternative options, in- 11 cluding microwave capabilities, to transmit signals 12 from NOAA Weather Radio to transmitters that are 13 remote or do not have Internet Protocol capability; 14 and 15 (6) transition critical applications to the Inte- 16 grated Dissemination Program of the National 17 Weather Service, or any relevant successors of the 18 program. 19 (c) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out subsections (a) and 20 (b), the Under Secretary shall prioritize practices, capa- 21 bilities, and technologies recommended in the assessment 22 required by subsection (d) in order to maximize the acces- 23 sibility of NOAA Weather Radio, particularly in remote 24 areas of the United States and areas that are at risk for 25 5 † S 1416 ES a lack of access to weather information in the event of 1 an emergency weather event. 2 (d) ASSESSMENT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 5 Secretary shall complete and submit to the Com- 6 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 7 the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 8 and Technology of the House of Representatives an 9 assessment of access to NOAA Weather Radio. 10 (2) CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOMMENDA- 11 TIONS.—In conducting the assessment required by 12 paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall take into 13 consideration and provide recommendations on— 14 (A) the need for continuous, adequate, and 15 operational real-time broadcasts from NOAA 16 Weather Radio; 17 (B) solicited input on the compatibility of 18 NOAA Weather Radio data with third-party 19 platforms that provide online services, such as 20 websites and mobile device applications, or de- 21 liver access to NOAA Weather Radio; 22 (C) existing or new management systems, 23 which promote consistent, efficient, and com- 24 patible access to NOAA Weather Radio; 25 6 † S 1416 ES (D) the ability of the National Oceanic and 1 Atmospheric Administration to aggregate real- 2 time broadcast feeds at one or more central lo- 3 cations; 4 (E) effective coordination between agencies 5 with responsibilities relating to emergencies and 6 natural disasters; 7 (F) the potential effects of an electro- 8 magnetic pulse or geomagnetic disturbance on 9 NOAA Weather Radio; and 10 (G) improvements of hazardous weather 11 and water event communications to more clear- 12 ly inform action and increase the likelihood that 13 the public takes such action to prevent the loss 14 of life or property. 15 Passed the Senate December 18, 2023. Attest: Secretary. 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1416 AN ACT 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.