(f) LIAISON OFFICER.-The Secretary may not close, consolidate, automate, or relocate a field office until arrangements have been made to maintain for a period of at least 2 years at least one person in the service area to act as a liaison officer who (1) provides timely information regarding the activities of the National Weather Service which may affect service to the community, including modernization and restructuring; and (2) works with area weather service users, including persons associated with general aviation, civil defense, emergency preparedness, and the news media, with respect to the provision of timely weather warnings and forecasts. SEC. 707. MODERNIZATION TRANSITION COMMITTEE. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.-There is established a committee of 12 members to be known as the Modernization Transition Committee. (b) MEMBERSHIP AND TERMS.-(1) The Committee shall consist of (A) five members representing agencies and departments of the United States which are responsible for providing or using weather services, including but not limited to the National Weather Service, the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and (B) seven members to be appointed by the Secretary from civil defense and public safety organizations, news media, any labor organization certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority as an exclusive representative of weather service employees, meteorological experts, and private sector users of weather information such as pilots and farmers. (2) The terms of office of a member of the Committee shall be 3 years; except that, of the original membership, four shall serve a 5-year term, four shall serve a 4-year term, and four shall serve a 3-year term. No individual may serve for more than one additional 3-year term. (3) The Secretary shall designate a chairman of the Committee from among its members. (c) DUTIES. (1) The Committee may review any proposed certification under section 706 for which the Secretary has provided a notice of intent to certify in the Plan, and should review such a proposed certification if there is a significant possibility of degradation of service within the affected service area. Upon the request of the Committee, the Secretary shall make available to the Committee the supporting documents developed by the Secretary in connection with the proposed certification. The Committee may prepare and submit to the Secretary, prior to publication of the proposed certification, a report which evaluates the proposed certification on the basis of the modernization criteria and with respect to the requirement that there be no degradation of service. (2) The Committee shall advise the Congress and the Secretary on (A) the implementation of the Strategic Plan, annual development of the Plan, and establishment and implementation of modernization criteria; and (B) matters of public safety and the provision of weather services which relate to the comprehensive modernization of the National Weather Service. (d) PAY AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.-Members of the Committee who are not employees of the United States shall each be paid at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the rate for GS-18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which the member is engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the Committee. Members shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code. (e) STAFF.-The Secretary shall make available to the Committee such staff, information, and assistance as it may reasonably require to carry out its activities. (f) TERMINATION.-The Committee shall terminate on December 31, 1999. SEC. 708. WEATHER SERVICE REPORT. (a) REPORT.-The Secretary shall prepare a report on the proposed modernization of the National Weather Service and transmit the report, not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 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. (b) CONTENTS.-(1) The report required by subsection (a) shall identify the size of the geographic area of responsibility of each proposed Weather Forecast Office and shall include an explanation of the number and type of personnel required at each Weather Forecast Office. For each proposed Weather Forecast Office covering a geographic area greater than two times the average geographic area of responsibility of Weather Forecast Offices nationwide, the report shall detail the reasons for assigning those Weather Forecast Offices a geographic area which differs significantly from the national average. (2) The report shall list the number of next generation weather radars that will be associated with each Weather Forecast Office nationwide under the proposed modernization plan. If some Weather Forecast Offices will be associated with more than one such radar, the report shall explain the deviation from the National Weather Service's stated policy of associating one such radar with one Weather Forecast Office, and shall analyze and compare any differences in the expected efficiency of those Weather Forecast Offices with Weather Forecast Offices that will be associated with only one such radar. (c) CONSULTATION.-In preparing portions of the report that address Weather Forecast Offices located in areas of the Nation that are uniquely dependent on general aviation as a means of transportation, the Secretary shall consult with local aviation groups. In the case of Alaska, such local groups shall include the Alaska Aviation Safety Foundation, the Alaska Airmen's Associa 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". tion, and the regional representatives of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. SEC. 709. REPEALS. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1989 (15 U.S.C. 313 note), is amended by repealing— (1) subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 407; and AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY PREEMINENCE ACT OF 1991 AN ACT To authorize appropriations for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Technology Administration of the Department of Commerce, 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. [15 U.S.C. 3701 note] SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991". SEC. 108. [15 U.S.C. 3704b-2] TRANSFER OF FEDERAL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION. (a) TRANSFER.-The head of each Federal executive department or agency shall transfer in a timely manner to the National Technical Information Service unclassified scientific, technical, and engineering information which results from federally funded research and development activities for dissemination to the private sector, academia, State and local governments, and Federal agencies. Only information which would otherwise be available for public dissemination shall be transferred under this subsection. Such information shall include technical reports and information, computer software, application assessments generated pursuant to section 11(c) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710(c)), and information regarding training technology and other federally owned or originated technologies. The Secretary shall issue regulations within one year after the date of enactment of this Act outlining procedures for the ongoing transfer of such information to the National Technical Information Service. (b) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.-As part of the annual report required under section 212(f)(3) of the National Technical Information Act of 1988, the Secretary shall report to Congress on the status of efforts under this section to ensure access to Federal scientific and technical information by the public. Such report shall include (1) an evaluation of the comprehensiveness of transfers of information by each Federal executive department or agency under subsection (a); |