National Climate Service Act of 2009 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to establish within the Climate Program Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a National Climate Service that includes a national center and a network of regional and local facilities for operational climate observation, modeling, and research. Requires the Service to: (1) inform the public about climate impacts; (2) serve as a clearinghouse and technical access point to stakeholders for information on climate, climate impacts, and adaptation, and relevant comprehensive databases of information; (3) provide education on climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and application of climate information in decisionmaking; (4) design decision-support tools that facilitate use of climate information in stakeholders' near-term operations and long-term planning; (5) facilitate user access to climate experts for technical assistance in the use of climate information and to inform the climate forecast community of their information needs; (6) provide researcher, modeler, and observations experts access to users to help guide direction of their activities; and (7) propose and evaluate adaptation strategies for climate variability and change.
Sets forth the Service's functions, including establishing an atmospheric monitoring and verification program utilizing aircraft, satellite, ground sensors, ocean and coastal observing systems, and modeling capabilities to monitor, measure, and verify greenhouse gas concentrations and emissions throughout the oceans and atmosphere.
Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on a plan of action for the Service.
Requires the Administrator of NOAA to appoint a Director of the Service. Requires the Director to appoint members of a National Climate Service Advisory Council to promote coordination across regional, national, and international concerns and assess information needs.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2306 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2306
To provide for the establishment of a National Climate Service, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 7, 2009
Mr. Dicks introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of a National Climate 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 ``National Climate Service Act of
2009''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Weather, climate change, and climate variability affect
public safety, environmental services and security, human
health, agriculture, energy use, water resources, and other
factors vital to national security and human welfare.
(2) Climate forecasts create opportunities for society to
prepare, potentially reducing the costs of climate-related
events, as well as serving national needs related to enhancing
economic growth, managing risk, protecting life and property,
and promoting environmental stewardship.
(3) Information on predicted climate and climate impacts is
not being fully disseminated or used well, despite the
increasing predictability of climate.
(4) The United States lacks adequate research,
infrastructure, and coordinated outreach and communication
mechanisms to meet national climate monitoring, prediction, and
decision support needs for adapting to and mitigating the
impacts of climate change and climate variability.
(5) Increasing societal resilience to climate impacts
requires understanding climate trends and variations as well as
possible, understanding the impacts of climate on human and
nonhuman systems, providing decision-relevant tools based on
that information, and increasing society's capacity to act on
that information.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this Act to establish a National Climate
Service that will assist the Nation and the world in understanding,
anticipating, and responding to climate, climate change, and climate
variability and their impacts and implications. The Service shall
inform the public through the sustained production and delivery of
authoritative, timely, useful information about impacts on local,
State, regional, tribal, national, and global scales. The Service shall
be user-centric, by ensuring that the information is accessible,
consistent with users' ability to respond, and based on user needs and
limitations. The Service shall provide such usable information through
a sustained network of observations, modeling, and research activities.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL CLIMATE SERVICE.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce shall establish
within the Climate Program Office of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration a National Climate Service (in this
Act referred to as the ``Service'') not later than one year
after the date of enactment of this Act. The Service shall
include a national center and a network of regional and local
facilities for operational climate observation, modeling, and
research.
(2) General purpose.--The Service shall inform the public
through the sustained production and delivery of authoritative,
timely, useful information about impacts on local, State,
regional, tribal, national, and global scales.
(3) Specific services.--The Service, at minimum, shall--
(A) serve as a clearinghouse and technical access
point to stakeholders for regionally and nationally
relevant information on climate, climate impacts, and
adaptation, developing comprehensive databases of
information relevant to specific regional and national
stakeholder needs;
(B) provide education on climate impacts,
vulnerabilities, and application of climate information
in decisionmaking;
(C) design decision-support tools that facilitate
use of climate information in stakeholders' near-term
operations and long-term planning
(D) facilitate user access to climate and climate
impacts experts for technical assistance in use of
climate information and to inform the climate forecast
community of their information needs;
(E) provide researcher, modeler, and observations
experts access to users to help guide direction of
research, modeling, and observation activities; and
(F) propose and evaluate adaptation strategies for
climate variability and change.
(4) Specific functions.--The Service, at minimum, shall--
(A) integrate global, national, and regional
observations to produce information and assessments of
use to stakeholders and researchers;
(B) develop climate models for decision support;
(C) perform basic and applied research on climate
dynamics and impacts relevant to stakeholder interests;
(D) create and maintain an operational delivery
system and facilitate transition of new climate
applications products to Service member agencies;
(E) establish an atmospheric monitoring and
verification program utilizing aircraft, satellite,
ground sensors, ocean and coastal observing systems,
and modeling capabilities to monitor, measure, and
verify greenhouse gas concentrations and emissions
throughout the global oceans and atmosphere;
(F) develop and maintain a dialog among research
teams, Federal agencies, and stakeholders for
developing information relevant for planning and
decisionmaking;
(G) identify climate-related vulnerabilities and
build national capacity to increase resilience;
(H) articulate regional and national climate issues
and concerns in regional and national policy arenas and
facilitate regional-national communications on Service
needs and performance; and
(I) outreach to stakeholder groups.
(b) Action Plan.--Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee
on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives a plan of
action for the National Climate Service. The plan, at a minimum,
shall--
(1) provide for the interpretation and communication of
climate data, conditions, predictions, projections, and risks
on an ongoing basis to decision and policy makers at the local,
regional, and national levels;
(2) design, deploy, and operate a national climate
observing system that closes gaps in existing coverage;
(3) support infrastructure and ability to archive and
ensure the quality of climate data, and make federally funded
model simulations and other relevant climate information
available from Global Change Research Program activities and
other sources (and related data from paleoclimate studies);
(4) include a program for long-term stewardship, quality
control, development of relevant climate products, and
efficient access to all relevant climate data, products, and
model simulations;
(5) establish a national coordinated modeling strategy,
including a national climate modeling center to provide a
dedicated capability for modeling and forecasting scenarios,
and a regular schedule of projections on long-term and short-
term time horizons over a range of scales, including regional
scales;
(6) improve integrated modeling, assessment, and predictive
capabilities needed to document and forecast climate changes
and impacts, and to guide national, regional, and local
planning and decisionmaking;
(7) provide a system of regular consultation and
coordination with Federal agencies, States, tribes,
nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and the
academic community to ensure--
(A) that the information requirements of these
groups are well incorporated; and
(B) timely and full sharing, dissemination and use
of climate information and services in risk
preparedness, planning, decisionmaking, and early
warning and natural resources management, both
domestically and internationally;
(8) develop standards, evaluation criteria, and performance
objectives to ensure that the Service meets the evolving
information needs of the public, policy makers, and
decisionmakers in the face of a changing climate;
(9) develop funding estimates to implement the plan; and
(10) support competitive research programs that will
improve elements of the Service described in this Act through
the Climate Program Office within the Service headquarter
function.
(c) Director.--The Administrator shall appoint a Director of the
Service, who shall oversee all processes associated with managing the
organization and executing the functions and actions described in this
Act.
(d) National Climate Service Advisory Council.--The Administrator
shall, in consultation with the Chairmen and ranking minority members
of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
and the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of
Representatives, and the National Academy of Sciences, appoint the
membership of a National Climate Service Advisory Council, with members
serving 4-year terms, that shall include a diverse membership from
appropriate Federal, State, and local government, universities, and
nongovernment and private sectors who use climate information and cover
a range of sectors, such as water, drought, fisheries, coasts,
agriculture, health, natural resources, transportation, and insurance.
The Council shall advise the Director of the Service of key priorities
in climate-related issues that require the attention of the Service.
The Council shall be responsible for promoting coordination across
regional, national, and international concerns and the assessment of
evolving information needs.
SEC. 5. CONTRACT AND GRANT AUTHORITY.
Functions vested in any Federal officer or agency by this Act or
under the program established under this Act may be exercised through
the facilities and personnel of the agency involved or, to the extent
provided or approved in advance in appropriation Acts, by other persons
or entities under contracts or grant arrangements entered into by such
officer or agency.
SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT.
The Secretary of Commerce shall prepare and submit to the President
and the Congress, not later than March 31 of each year, a report on the
activities conducted pursuant to this Act during the preceding fiscal
year, including--
(1) a summary of the achievements of the National Climate
Service during the previous fiscal year; and
(2) an analysis of the progress made toward achieving the
goals and objectives of the Service.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
(2) Advisory council.--The term ``Advisory Council'' refers
to the National Climate Service Advisor Council.
(3) Climate change.--The term ``climate change'' means any
change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability
or as a result of human activity.
(4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the director of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National
Climate Service.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Commerce.
(6) Service.--The term ``Service'' means the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climate
Service.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry
out this Act--
(1) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2011.
(2) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2012.
(3) $400,000,000 for fiscal year 2013.
(4) $450,000,000 for fiscal year 2014.
(5) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2015.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
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