Precipitation Forecasting for Agriculture Act.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3802 To accelerate subseasonal to seasonal prediction skills related to precipitation forecasts for agriculture in the central United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 5, 2023 Mr. BAIRD (for himself and Mr. MILLER of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To accelerate subseasonal to seasonal prediction skills related to precipitation forecasts for agriculture in the central United States, 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 ‘‘Precipitation Fore- 4 casting for Agriculture Act.’’ 5 SEC. 2. CENTRAL UNITED STATES PRECIPITATION PILOT 6 PROJECT. 7 Subsection (h) of section 1762 of the Food Security 8 Act of 1985 (15 U.S.C. 8521) is amended to read as fol- 9 lows: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3802.IH H3802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3802 IH ‘‘(h) SUBSEASONAL TO SEASONAL FORECASTING 1 PILOT PROJECTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary 3 shall establish at least one pilot project within the 4 U.S. Weather Research Program of the Oceanic and 5 Atmospheric Research office of the National Oceanic 6 and Atmospheric Administration to support im- 7 proved subseasonal to seasonal precipitation fore- 8 casts for agriculture in the central United States. 9 ‘‘(2) OBJECTIVES.—In carrying out this sub- 10 section, the Under Secretary shall ensure that a 11 pilot project under paragraph (1) addresses key 12 science challenges to improving forecasts and devel- 13 oping related products described in subsection (c) 14 for agriculture in the central United States, includ- 15 ing the following: 16 ‘‘(A) Improving observations and accurate 17 modeling of the land surface and hydrologic 18 cycle, such as soil moisture and flash drought 19 processes. 20 ‘‘(B) Improving fidelity in modeling of 21 warm season precipitation processes. 22 ‘‘(C) Understanding and predicting large- 23 scale upper-level dynamical flow anomalies that 24 occur in spring and summer. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3802.IH H3802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3802 IH ‘‘(3) ACTIVITIES.—A pilot project under this 1 subsection shall include activities that carry out the 2 following: 3 ‘‘(A) Best implement recommendations of 4 the National Weather Service’s 2019 Report, 5 entitled ‘Subseasonal and Seasonal Forecasting 6 Innovation: Plans for the Twenty-First Cen- 7 tury’. 8 ‘‘(B) Achieve measurable objectives for 9 operational forecast improvement. 10 ‘‘(C) Engage with, and leverage the re- 11 sources of, entities within the National Oceanic 12 and Atmospheric Administration in existence as 13 of the date of the enactment of this subsection, 14 including the Midwestern Regional Climate 15 Center and the National Centers for Environ- 16 mental Information. 17 ‘‘(D) Are carried out in coordination with 18 the Assistant Administrator for the Office of 19 Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the Di- 20 rector of the National Weather Service. 21 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 22 From amounts made available to Operations, Re- 23 search, and Facilities at the National Oceanic and 24 Atmospheric Administration, there is authorized to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3802.IH H3802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3802 IH be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1 2024 through 2028 to carry out this subsection. 2 ‘‘(5) SUNSET.—The authority under this sub- 3 section shall terminate on the date that is five years 4 after the date of the enactment of this subsection.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Jun 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3802.IH H3802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS