§8541 Environmental Information Services Working Group

Summary

Keep a standing group called the Environmental Information Services Working Group to give advice to the NOAA Science Advisory Board on improving weather forecasts. The group must help set research priorities, suggest useful new technologies or techniques from industry and research, find ways to improve communications among forecasters, emergency managers (federal, state, local, tribal), and the public, and strengthen NOAA’s partnerships with private and academic groups. It also takes on other tasks the Science Advisory Board asks. The group must have at least 15 top experts in fields like atmospheric chemistry and physics, meteorology, hydrology, social science, risk communication, electrical engineering, and computer science. It may form subpanels. The group can send nominees to the Science Advisory Board for approval and pick a chair or co-chairs with that board’s approval. At least once a year it must report progress on its recommendations to the Science Advisory Board, which sends the report to the Under Secretary. The Under Secretary must send a copy to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology within 30 days of receiving it.