NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC (Public Law 102-567) AN ACT To authorize appropriations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 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 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992". (c) [15 U.S.C. 325 note] COOPERATIVE WEATHER OBSERVER PROGRAM. The Secretary of Commerce may use funds otherwise available for conducting weather observations to strengthen the Cooperative Weather Observer Program and encourage public participation in the program. The Secretary may (1) provide distinctive insignia or paraphernalia to Cooperative Weather Observers; and (2) make awards of nominal value to recognize continued participation in the program by observers or to recognize outstanding achievements by such observers or groups of observers without regard to any law restricting expenditures for such purposes to Federal employees. (c) [15 U.S.C. 1537] NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR DATA MANAGEMENT, ARCHIVAL, AND DISTRIBUTION.-(1) Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act and at least biennially thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall complete an assess ment of the adequacy of the environmental data and information systems of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In conducting such an assessment, the Secretary shall take into consideration the need to (A) provide adequate capacity to manage, archive, and disseminate environmental data and information collected and processed, or expected to be collected and processed, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other appropriate departments and agencies; (B) establish, develop, and maintain information bases, including necessary management systems, which will promote consistent, efficient, and compatible transfer and use of data; (C) develop effective interfaces among the environmental data and information systems of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other appropriate departments and agencies; (D) develop and use nationally accepted formats and standards for data collected by various national and international sources; and (E) integrate and interpret data from different sources to produce information that can be used by decisionmakers in developing policies that effectively respond to national and global environmental concerns. (2) Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall develop and submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 1 a comprehensive plan, based on the assessment under paragraph (1), to modernize and improve the environmental data and information systems of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report shall (A) set forth modernization and improvement objectives for the 10-year period beginning with the year in which the plan is submitted, including facility requirements and critical new technological components that would be necessary to meet the objectives set forth; (B) propose specific agency programs and activities for implementing the plan; (C) identify the data and information management, archival, and distribution responsibilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with respect to other Federal departments and agencies and international organizations, including the role of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with respect to large data systems like the Earth Observing System Data and Information System; and (D) provide an implementation schedule and estimate funding levels necessary to achieve modernization and improvement objectives. 1 In accordance with section 1(a)(10) of Public Law 104-14 (109 Stat. 187), "the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives shall be treated as referring to the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives”. SEC. 107. [15 U.S.C. 313 note] HURRICANE RECONNAISSANCE PROGRAM. (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. (1) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce shall establish a 5-year joint program for collecting operational and reconnaissance data, conducting research, and analyzing data on tropical cyclones to assist the forecast and warning program and increase the understanding of the causes and behavior of tropical cyclones. (2) The Secretary of Commerce shall establish the Tropical Cyclone Research Advisory Committee, an advisory committee of tropical cyclone research scientists, to make recommendations for tropical cyclone research activities and reconnaissance procedures. (b) RESPONSIBILITIES. (1) The Secretary of Defense shall have the responsibility for maintaining, flying, and funding tropical cyclone reconnaissance aircraft to accomplish the program established under this section and to transfer the data to the Secretary of Commerce. Program responsibility may not be transferred to any other Federal department or agency, including the Coast Guard, without the agreement and approval of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, and the head of any other Federal agency or department to which the responsibility is transferred. (2) The Secretary of Commerce shall have the responsibility to provide funding for data gathering and research by remote sensing, ground sensing, research aircraft, and other technologies necessary to accomplish the program established under this section. (c) MANAGEMENT PLANS.-(1) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce shall jointly develop and, within 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to the Congress a management plan for the program established under this section, which shall include organizational structure, goals, major tasks, and funding profiles for the 5-year duration of the program. (2) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Tropical Cyclone Research Advisory Committee established by section 107(a)(2), shall jointly develop and, within 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to the Congress a management plan providing for continued tropical cyclone surveillance and reconnaissance which will adequately protect the citizens of the coastal areas of the United States. (3) The management plans and programs required by this section shall in every sense provide for at least the same degree and quality of protection (such as early warning capability and accuracy of fixing a storm's location) as currently exists with a combination of satellite technology and manned reconnaissance flights. Additionally, such plans and programs shall in no way allow any reduction in the level, quality, timeliness, sustainability, or area served (including the State of Hawaii) of both the existing principal and back-up tropical cyclone reconnaissance and tracking systems. SEC. 108. [15 U.S.C. 313 note] UNITED STATES WEATHER RESEARCH PROGRAM. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology through the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences, shall establish a United States Weather Research Program to |