National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 115-423.
National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018
This bill reauthorizes through FY2023 and modifies the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Program.
(Sec. 2) The bill amends the National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006 to require, under NIDIS, that the collection and integration of information on the key indicators of drought and drought impacts includes indicators of precipitation, soil moisture, and evaporative demand.
NIDIS shall also
provide timely data, information, and products that reflect watershed differences in drought conditions;
through interagency agreements, coordinate and integrate future federal research and monitoring in support of a drought early warning information system;
utilize existing forecasting and assessment programs and partnerships, including forecast communication coordinators and cooperative institutes, and improvements in seasonal and subseasonal precipitation and temperature and low flow water prediction; and
continue ongoing research and monitoring activities related to drought, including research activities relating to the prediction of drought.
NIDIS may
engage with the private sector to improve drought monitoring, forecast, and communication if the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) determines such partnership is appropriate, cost-effective, and beneficial to the public and certain decision-makers;
facilitate the development of academic cooperative partnerships to assist with NIDIS functions; and
utilize and support monitoring by citizen scientists, including by developing best practices to facilitate maximum integration of data.
NIDIS shall develop a strategy for a national coordinated soil moisture monitoring network.
(Sec. 3) The bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend through FY2023 certain activities related to the provision of agricultural and silvicultural weather and climate information.
The bill amends the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 to reauthorize through FY2023 the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research of NOAA to carry out (1) weather laboratories and cooperative institutes, (2) weather and air chemistry research programs, and (3) a certain joint technology transfer initiative to ensure the continuous development and transition of the latest scientific and technological advances into the operations of the National Weather Service (NWS).
The summary continues for 31 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on January 7, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on January 7, 2019: Became Public Law No: 115-423.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
John Thune (R-SD) introduced it on December 6, 2017, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenatePassed
- HousePassed
- PresidentSigned into law