Us Code § 8550 - Improvements to Cooperative Observer Program of National Weather Service
Full text of Us Code United States Code § 8550 — Improvements to Cooperative Observer Program of National Weather Service, with citation guidance and answers to common questions.
§ 8550. Improvements to Cooperative Observer Program of National Weather Service
(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.
(Pub. L. 115–423, §8, Jan. 7, 2019, 132 Stat. 5461.)
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.
SUBCHAPTER IV—IMPROVING FEDERAL PRECIPITATION INFORMATION
About This Section
15 U.S.C. § 8550 is part of Title 15 of the United States Code. The United States Code is the official codification of federal statutes maintained by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress amends the Code through new public laws, which are eventually incorporated into the relevant title.
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