WING Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3764 To amend title IV of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 to research the impact of obstructions on radar detection and prediction capabilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 31, 2023 Mr. FEENSTRA (for himself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mrs. BICE, Mrs. MILLER- MEEKS, and Mr. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To amend title IV of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 to research the impact of ob- structions on radar detection and prediction capabilities, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Weather Innovation 4 for the Next Generation Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘WING Act 5 of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3764 IH SEC. 2. RADAR OBSTRUCTION RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, 1 TEST, AND EVALUATION PROGRAM. 2 (a) RADAR OBSTRUCTION RESEARCH.—Title IV of 3 the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 4 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8514 et seq.) is amended by adding at 5 the end the following new section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 415. RADAR OBSTRUCTION RESEARCH, DEVELOP- 7 MENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION PROGRAM. 8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Na- 9 tional Weather Service, in coordination with the Assistant 10 Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, 11 shall establish a Research, Development, Test, and Eval- 12 uation Program (in this section referred to as the ‘Pro- 13 gram’) to ensure the continued performance of weather 14 radar detection and prediction capabilities with physical 15 obstructions in the line of sight of such radar. 16 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the Program, 17 the Director, in consultation with the Interagency Council 18 for Advancing Meteorological Services, shall— 19 ‘‘(1) partner with industry, academia, Federal, 20 State, and local government entities, and any other 21 entity the Director considers appropriate; 22 ‘‘(2) identify and test existing or near-commer- 23 cial technologies and solutions that mitigate the po- 24 tential impact of obstructions on weather radar; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3764 IH ‘‘(3) research additional solutions that could 1 mitigate the effects of an obstruction on weather 2 radar, including— 3 ‘‘(A) signal processing algorithms; 4 ‘‘(B) short-term forecasting algorithms to 5 replace contaminated data; and 6 ‘‘(C) the use of dual polarization charac- 7 teristics in mitigating the effects of wind tur- 8 bines on weather radar; and 9 ‘‘(4) develop commercially viable technical miti- 10 gation solutions for obstructions to weather radar 11 capabilities. 12 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In carrying out the requirements 13 described in subsection (b), the Director shall prioritize 14 consideration of the following technology-based mitigation 15 solutions: 16 ‘‘(1) Multifunction phased array radar. 17 ‘‘(2) The replacement of contaminated data 18 with commercial radar data. 19 ‘‘(3) The utilization of data from private-sector- 20 associated meteorological towers. 21 ‘‘(4) Providing wind farm boundaries and con- 22 solidated wind farm areas to display on local fore- 23 casting equipment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3764 IH ‘‘(5) Installing and providing access to rain 1 gauges. 2 ‘‘(6) Any other technology-based mitigation so- 3 lution the Director determines could overcome beam 4 blockage or ghost echoes. 5 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—The authority of the Director 6 to carry out the Program shall terminate on the earlier 7 of— 8 ‘‘(1) September 30, 2028; or 9 ‘‘(2) one year after date on which the final rec- 10 ommendation required by subsection (e)(2) is sub- 11 mitted by the Director. 12 ‘‘(e) REPORT; RECOMMENDATION.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 14 after the date of the enactment of this section and 15 annually thereafter until the Program terminates 16 pursuant to subsection (d), the Director shall submit 17 to Congress a report on the implementation of the 18 Program, including an evaluation of each tech- 19 nology-based mitigation solution identified for pri- 20 ority consideration pursuant to subsection (c), and a 21 recommendation regarding additional identification 22 and testing of new technologies based on such con- 23 sideration. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3764 IH ‘‘(2) FINAL RECOMMENDATION.—Not later 1 than five years after the date of the enactment of 2 this section, the Director shall provide to Congress 3 a recommendation on whether additional research, 4 testing, and development through the Program es- 5 tablished under subsection (a) is needed, and a de- 6 termination of whether a cessation of field research, 7 development, testing, and evaluation is appropriate. 8 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) BEAM BLOCKAGE.—The term ‘beam block- 10 age’ means a signal that is partially or fully blocked 11 due to an obstruction. 12 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 13 the Director of the National Weather Service. 14 ‘‘(3) GHOST ECHO.—The term ‘ghost echo’ 15 means radar signal reflectivity or velocity return er- 16 rors in radar data due to the close proximity of an 17 obstruction. 18 ‘‘(4) OBSTRUCTION.—The term obstruction in- 19 cludes— 20 ‘‘(A) a wind turbine that could limit the ef- 21 fectiveness of a weather radar system; and 22 ‘‘(B) any building that disrupts or limits 23 the effectiveness of a weather radar system.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3764 IH (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting 2 Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by inserting after the 3 item relating to section 414 the following new item: 4 ‘‘415. Radar obstruction Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Pro- gram.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS