[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3915 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3915

To improve the National Weather Service's forecasting of turbulence and 
     acquisition of aviation weather data, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2023

Mr. McCormick introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve the National Weather Service's forecasting of turbulence and 
     acquisition of aviation weather data, 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 ``Aviation Weather Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. AVIATION WEATHER AND DATA INNOVATION.

    (a) Program.--The Director of the National Weather Service shall 
maintain an aircraft-based observation program (in this section 
referred to as the ``program'') to partner with the weather industry 
for the deployment on aircraft of critical atmospheric sensors.
    (b) Activities.--The program shall include activities that carry 
out the following:
            (1) Procurement of weather data from commercial aircraft, 
        including Mode S data, water vapor data, or data from Aircraft 
        Meteorological Data Relay or Tropospheric Airborne 
        Meteorological Data Reporting systems.
            (2) Acquisition of additional vertical profile observations 
        that provide the spatial and temporal density required for 
        numerical weather prediction systems.
    (c) Budget.--The Director of the National Weather Service shall, 
not less frequently than annually, submit to Congress a proposed budget 
corresponding with the activities described in subsection (b).
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to 
appropriated to the Operations, Research, and Facilities account of the 
National Weather Service up to $10,000,000 for each fiscal years 2024 
through 2028 to carry out this section.
    (e) Definition.--In this section, the term ``weather industry'' has 
the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Weather Research and 
Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501).

SEC. 3. AVIATION WEATHER AND TURBULENCE FORECASTING COORDINATION.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the National Weather Service shall 
include turbulence events or phenomena in the forecasting capabilities 
of the National Weather Service's Aviation Weather Center, and deliver 
consistent, timely, and accurate weather and turbulence information for 
the world airspace system and the protection of lives and property.
    (b) Coordination.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Director of 
the National Weather Service shall coordinate with the Administrator of 
the Federal Aviation Administration to improve weather and turbulence 
forecasting capabilities, including the following:
            (1) Establishing within the Federal Government an 
        interagency working group to determine weather and 
        environmental data or observation requirements, needs, and 
        potential solutions related to aviation weather and turbulence 
        forecasting.
            (2) Identifying current and future potential data gaps 
        related to turbulence events or phenomena that can--
                    (A) identify or inform route specific flight 
                planning; and
                    (B) be supplemented or filled by commercial 
                aviation tools.
            (3) Transitioning research initiatives and pilot programs, 
        including a pilot program of instrumentation for observing 
        greenhouse gases and other atmospheric factors deployed on 
        commercial aircraft and supporting the evaluation of a 
        sustained observing network using such platforms, into 
        operations that improve the forecasting missions of the 
        Aviation Weather Center.

SEC. 4. NEXT GENERATION AVIATION RESEARCH.

    Paragraph (3) of section 102(b) of the Weather Research and 
Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)), is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as 
        subparagraphs (G) and (H), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(F) aviation weather, contrails, atmospheric 
                composition, and turbulence events or phenomena to 
                improve scientific understanding and forecast 
                capabilities for the world airspace system;''.
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