§8541 Environmental Information Services Working Group

Summary

NOAA’s Science Advisory Board must keep a standing group called the Environmental Information Services Working Group. The group must advise NOAA on which weather research to prioritize to make forecasts better, recommend useful technologies or methods from industry and research for the National Weather Service, find ways to improve communication between forecasters, emergency managers at all levels, and the public, improve NOAA’s partnerships with private and academic groups, and work on other tasks the Science Advisory Board asks. The group must have at least 15 top experts from fields such as atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric physics, meteorology, hydrology, social science, risk communications, electrical engineering, and computer science. It can form subpanels and pick a chair or co-chairs with the Science Advisory Board’s approval. At least once a year the group must send a report on NOAA’s progress adopting its recommendations to the Science Advisory Board, which will forward it to the Under Secretary. The Under Secretary must give a copy of that report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology within 30 days of receiving it.