[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1127 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 211
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1127
To require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make
certain operational models available to the public, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 14, 2021
Mr. Thune (for himself and Mr. Schatz) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
December 17, 2021
Reported by Ms. Cantwell, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make
certain operational models available to the public, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Learning Excellence and Good
Examples from New Developers Act of 2021'' or the ``LEGEND Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
(3) Earth prediction innovation center.--The term ``Earth
Prediction Innovation Center'' means the community global
weather research modeling system described in paragraph (5)(E)
of section 102(b) of the Weather Research Forecasting and
Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)), as redesignated by
section 4(g).
(4) Model.--The term ``model'' means any vetted numerical
model and associated data assimilation of the Earth's system or
its components--
(A) developed, in whole or in part, by scientists
and engineers employed by the Administration; or
(B) otherwise developed using Federal funds.
(5) Operational model.--The term ``operational model''
means any model that has an output used by the Administration
for operational functions.
(6) Suitable model.--The term ``suitable model'' means a
model that meets the requirements described in paragraph
(5)(E)(ii) of section 102(b) of the Weather Research
Forecasting and Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)), as
redesignated by section 4(g), as determined by the
Administrator.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to support innovation in modeling by allowing
interested stakeholders to have easy and complete access to the
models used by the Administration, as the Administrator
determines appropriate; and
(2) to use vetted innovations arising from access described
in paragraph (1) to improve modeling by the Administration.
SEC. 4. PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN TO MAKE CERTAIN MODELS AND DATA
AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.
(a) In General.--The Administrator shall develop and implement a
plan to make available to the public the following:
(1) Operational models developed by the Administration.
(2) Models that are not operational models, including
experimental and developmental models, as the Administrator
determines appropriate.
(3) Applicable information and documentation for models
described in paragraphs (1) and (2).
(4) Subject to section 7, all data owned by the Federal
Government and data that the Administrator has the legal right
to redistribute that are associated with models made available
to the public pursuant to the plan and used in operational
forecasting by the Administration, including--
(A) relevant metadata;
(B) data used for operational models used by the
Administration as of the date of the enactment of this
Act; and
(C) a description of intended model outputs.
(b) Accommodations.--In developing and implementing the plan under
subsection (a), the Administrator may make such accommodations as the
Administrator considers appropriate to ensure that the public release
of any model, information, documentation, or data pursuant to the plan
does not jeopardize--
(1) national security;
(2) intellectual property or redistribution rights,
including under titles 17 and 35, United States Code;
(3) any trade secret or commercial or financial information
subject to section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code;
(4) any models or data that are otherwise restricted by
contract or other written agreement; or
(5) the mission of the Administration to protect lives and
property.
(c) Priority.--In developing and implementing the plan under
subsection (a), the Administrator shall prioritize making available to
the public the models described in subsection (a)(1).
(d) Exclusion of Certain Models.--In developing and implementing
the plan under subsection (a), the Administrator may exclude models
that the Administrator determines will be retired or superseded in
fewer than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(e) Platforms.--In carrying out subsections (a) and (b), the
Administrator may use government servers, contracts or agreements with
a private vendor, or any other platform consistent with the purpose of
this Act.
(f) Support Program.--The Administrator shall plan for and
establish a program to support infrastructure, including
telecommunications and technology infrastructure of the Administration
and the platforms described in subsection (e), relevant to making
operational models and data available to the public pursuant to the
plan under subsection (a).
(g) Technical Correction.--Section 102(b) of the Weather Research
Forecasting and Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)) is amended
by redesignating the second paragraph (4) (as added by section 4(a) of
the National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act
of 2018 (Public Law 115-423; 132 Stat. 5456)) as paragraph (5).
SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO REVIEW MODELS AND LEVERAGE INNOVATIONS.
The Administrator shall--
(1) consistent with the mission of the Earth Prediction
Innovation Center, periodically review innovations and
improvements made by persons outside the Administration to the
operational models made available to the public pursuant to the
plan under section 4(a) in order to improve the accuracy and
timeliness of forecasts of the Administration; and
(2) if the Administrator identifies an innovation for a
suitable model, develop and implement a plan to use the
innovation to improve the model.
SEC. 6. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report on the implementation of
this Act that includes a description of--
(1) the implementation of the plan required by section 4;
(2) the process of the Administration under section 5--
(A) for engaging with interested stakeholders to
learn what innovations those stakeholders have found;
(B) for reviewing those innovations; and
(C) for operationalizing innovations to improve
suitable models.
(b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, as
appropriate, may withhold any model or data if the Administrator
determines doing so to be necessary to protect the national security
interests of the United States.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to supersede any other provision of law governing the protection of the
national security interests of the United States.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this Act $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
(b) Derivation of Funds.--Funds to carry out this section shall be
derived from amounts authorized to be appropriated to the National
Weather Service that are enacted after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
Calendar No. 211
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1127
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make
certain operational models available to the public, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
December 17, 2021
Reported without amendment