U.S. House members Alcee Hastings and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen today introduced a bill to dramatically expand hurricane research to the tune of $2.35 billion over five years.
The proposed funding is designed to help scientists learn better ways to track hurricanes, improve early warning systems and study how storms form and intensify.
?The current federal investment in hurricane research is shameful in contrast to our nation?s increasing vulnerability,?? said Hastings, a Democrat from Miramar. `` This legislation will ensure improved coordinated research to fill the gaps in our hurricane knowledge.??
Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Miami, added: ?As a state and as a nation, we are woefully unprepared to handle the sometimes devastating consequences of hurricanes and their aftermath.??
Their bill springs from recommendations by the National Science Board, a 24-member independent advisory body to the president and Congress.
Here is their summary of the bill:
National Hurricane Research Initiative Act of 2009
Section 1 Title: ?National Hurricane Research Initiative Act of 2009
Section 2 Definitions
Section 3 (a) Requires the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere of the Department of Commerce and the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a National Hurricane Research Initiative and to cooperate with other specified federal agencies to carry it out. (b) Requires such Initiative to set research objectives (based on a National Science Board report on the need for such Initiative) to: (1) make recommendations to the Board and to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science Advisory Board; (2) assemble the science and engineering expertise of state or local government agencies and nongovernmental entities through a multi-agency effort focused on improving severe tropical storm forecasting capabilities, on durable and resilient infrastructure, and on mitigating impacts on coastal populations, the coastal built environment, and the natural coastal environment; and (3) make grants available for carrying out hurricane research in the following areas: A. Predicting hurricane intensity change, including o rapid change in storm structure o storm internal dynamics o interactions between storms and its environmental conditions B. Understanding ocean-atmosphere interactions C. Predicting storm surge, rainfall, inland flooding, and strong winds produced by hurricanes and tropical storms during and after landfall D. Improved observations of hurricane and tropical storms E. Assessing vulnerable infrastructure F. Interaction of hurricanes with engineered structures G. Relationship between hurricanes, climate, and natural ecosystems H. Technologies for disaster response and recovery I. Evaluation planning J. Computational capability
(c) Directs the Under Secretary and the Director to cooperate with the heads of the following entities to utilize the expertise and capabilities of the listed entities to carry out the purposes of the National Hurricane Center:
1. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2. The National Institute of Standards and Technology. 3. The Department of Homeland Security, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 4. The Department of Energy. 5. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. 6. The Environmental Protection Agency. 7. The United States Geological Survey. 8. The Army Corps of Engineers. (d) Directs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, through the National Science and Technology Council, to coordinate U.S. activities related to the Initiative as a formal program with a well-defined organizational structure and execution plan. (e) Provides authority for the Under Secretary and Director to award grants to carry out the purposes listed in subsection (b) and to develop a public description of best practices to be used when conducting a project with this grant money. (f) Directs the Under Secretary and the Director to carry out a series of national seminars and forums to help achieve the purposes listed in subsection (b) (g) Directs the Under Secretary and the Director to issue a request for proposals to undertake the basic and applied research with a sufficient annual budget to accomplish the desired research results during a 5-year term (h) Authorization of Appropriations - $150,000,000 for each fiscal year 2009 through 2013.
Section 4 (a) Requires the establishment of a National Infrastructure Database to catalogue traits necessary for providing a baseline; provide information to Federal, State, and local governments for use in policy-making; and provide data to researchers (b) Requires the National Infrastructure Database to be a virtual, cyber environment (c) Authorization of Appropriations - $10,000,000 for each fiscal year 2009 through 2013.
Section 5 (a) Requires the development of a National Hurricane Research Model to conduct integrative research and to facilitate the transfer of research knowledge to operational applications. (b) Provides technical requirements for the National Hurricane Research Model (c) Authorization of Appropriations - $75,000,000 for each fiscal year 2009 through 2013.