15 U.S.C. § 8550 — Improvements to Cooperative Observer Program of National Weather Service

FEDERAL · 15 U.S.C. · Chapter 111

Improvements to Cooperative Observer Program of National Weather Service

Current through Pub. L. 119-102

Title 15 — Commerce and Trade·Ch. 111 — WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVATION·Subch. III

(a)In general The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, acting through the National Weather Service, shall improve the Cooperative Observer Program by—

(1)providing support to—

(A)State-coordinated programs relating to the Program; and

(B)States and regions where observations provided through the Program are scarce;

(2)working with State weather service headquarters to increase participation in the Program and to add stations in States and regions described in paragraph (1)(B);

(3)where feasible, ensuring that data streams from stations that have been contributing data to the Program for more than 50 years are maintained and continually staffed by volunteers;

(4)prioritizing the recruitment of new volunteers for the Program;

(5)ensuring that opportunities exist for

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(a) In general
The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, acting through the National Weather Service, shall improve the Cooperative Observer Program by—
(1) providing support to—
(A) State-coordinated programs relating to the Program; and
(B) States and regions where observations provided through the Program are scarce;
(2) working with State weather service headquarters to increase participation in the Program and to add stations in States and regions described in paragraph (1)(B);
(3) where feasible, ensuring that data streams from stations that have been contributing data to the Program for more than 50 years are maintained and continually staffed by volunteers;
(4) prioritizing the recruitment of new volunteers for the Program;
(5) ensuring that opportunities exist for automated reporting to lessen the burden on volunteers to collect and report data by hand; and
(6) ensuring that integrated reporting is available for qualitative observations that cannot be automated, such as drought conditions, snow observations, and hazardous weather events, to ensure that volunteers in the Program can report and upload observations quickly and easily.
(b) Coordination with States and regions
Not less frequently than every 180 days, the National Weather Service shall coordinate with State and regional offices with respect to the status of Cooperative Observer Program stations.
(c) Coordination with Federal agencies
The National Weather Service shall coordinate with other Federal agencies, including the Forest Service, the Department of Agriculture, and the United States Geological Survey, to leverage opportunities to grow the Cooperative Observer Program network and to more effectively use existing infrastructure, weather stations, and staff of the Program.

15 U.S.C. § 8550 (Improvements to Cooperative Observer Program of National Weather Service) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Source Credit

History

(Pub. L. 115–423, §8, Jan. 7, 2019, 132 Stat. 5461.)

Editorial Notes

Editorial Notes

Codification
This section was enacted as part of the National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018, and not as part of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 which comprises this chapter.