Description:
S. 3053 would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve precipitation estimates for the United States. Specifically, the bill would authorize the appropriation of $1.5 million for NOAA to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to produce a report on current precipitation estimate practices, their shortcomings, and ways they can be improved. The bill also would direct NOAA to develop and publish estimates of the likelihood of extreme precipitation occurrences and to publish guidance on best practices for developing estimates of extreme precipitation. Using information on the cost of similar weather research and reporting by NOAA and accounting for anticipated inflation, CBO estimates that it would cost NOAA $29 million over the 2022-2027 period to develop and publish the guidance for estimating extreme precipitation. In total, assuming appropriation of the authorized and estimated amounts, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $31 million over that same period. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) provided NOAA with advance appropriations totaling $492 million over the 2022 to 2026 period for flood mapping and water modeling activities, including modernized studies of precipitation frequency and volume. The authorization of appropriations and the estimated amounts needed to implement S. 3053 would be in addition to the funds already provided.
