[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2646 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2646
To require the evaluation of certain criteria relating to locations for
deployment of successor radar systems of the National Weather Service,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 3, 2025
Mr. Moore of North Carolina (for himself, Ms. Ross, and Mr. Harrigan)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the evaluation of certain criteria relating to locations for
deployment of successor radar systems of the National Weather Service,
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 ``Radar Gap Elimination Act''.
SEC. 2. RADAR NEXT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and
Atmosphere, in consultation with the Director of the National Weather
Service, shall establish a program to be known as the ``Radar Next
Program'' (in this section referred to as the ``program'').
(b) Requirements.--In carrying out the program, the Under Secretary
of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere shall carry out the following:
(1) Develop performance and coverage requirements for the
weather radar network of the United States, including the
territories of the United States.
(2) Collaborate with the weather enterprise (as such term
is defined in section 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting
Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501)) to determine potential
solutions to update the weather radar network of the United
States that meets the requirements developed under paragraph
(1).
(3) Develop a plan in accordance with subsection (c).
(c) Plan.--
(1) In general.--The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans
and Atmosphere shall develop a plan to replace the Next
Generation Weather Radar of the National Weather Service system
in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act (in
this subsection referred to as the ``NEXRAD system'').
(2) Elements.--The plan developed under this subsection
shall seek to continue and improve weather radar coverage in
the United States and its territories, and include the
following:
(A) Estimates of quantifiable improvements in
performance, coverage, and accuracy to be made from
potential options for replacement of the NEXRAD system.
(B) Development of a proof-of-concept phased array
radar to test and determine the specifications and
requirements for such replacement.
(C) Expected actions needed to implement the
recommendations of the report published by the
Environmental Information Services Working Group of the
Science Advisory Board of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration in November 2023 and
entitled ``A NESDIS Observing System Backbone
Framework'' to assist in defining a radar backbone
architecture that will best serve the United States.
(D) Establishment of a weather surveillance radar
testbed for the following:
(i) Evaluation of commercial radars with
the potential to replace or supplement the
NEXRAD system.
(ii) Providing technical assistance for the
use of small, gap-filling radars with private
and local partners in regions where
geographical topography prevents the full use
of large systems or in locations where such
systems may not be commercially viable.
(E) Consultation and input solicited from academia,
meteorologists, emergency managers, and public safety
or utility officials regarding the specifications and
requirements for replacement of the NEXRAD system.
(F) Prioritized locations for initial deployment of
the system that will replace the NEXRAD system.
(G) Expected locations of the system that will
replace the NEXRAD system, including sites located more
than 75 miles away from an existing NEXRAD system
station and additional appropriate locations.
(H) Expected or planned improvements to data
available for weather and water-related forecasts and
warnings from the system that will replace the NEXRAD
system.
(3) Procurement deadline.--The Under Secretary of Commerce
for Oceans and Atmosphere shall take such actions as may be
necessary to ensure the plan developed under this subsection is
fully implemented and executed by not later than September 30,
2040.
(d) Radar-as-a-Service.--
(1) In general.--The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans
and Atmosphere may partner or contract with entities outside of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fill
data gaps in weather radar coverage using diverse weather
radars and data assimilation technologies in order to
accomplish the following:
(A) Supplement data gaps in weather radar coverage,
including at low levels and wide areas, in existence as
of the date of the enactment of this Act.
(B) Ensure the continued performance of the United
States' weather radar network.
(C) Better detect significant precipitation and
severe weather over a greater area across a population.
(2) Considerations.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere may
consider the following:
(A) Partnering or contracting with entities that
have participated in the testbed described in
subsection (c)(2)(D), the National Mesonet Program, or
Cooperative Research and Development Agreements.
(B) Weather camera systems and services, including
in consultation with the Federal Aviation
Administration, as viable technologies to supplement
weather forecasting and prediction needs.
(e) Updates to Congress.--The Under Secretary of Commerce for
Oceans and Atmosphere shall provide to the Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate periodic updates on
the implementation of this section.
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