The National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2013 () is a bill that would reauthorize the National Integrated Drought Information System, a program that examines the impact of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

s and tries to respond to them on a federal level. The bill would extend the program until 2018. The National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2013 was introduced into the

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

. A similar measure, the Drought Information Act of 2013 (S. 376; 113th Congress), was introduced into and passed the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

signed the National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2013 into law as on March 6, 2014.

Background

The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Act was signed into law in 2006 (Public Law 109-430). The Western Governors' Association described the need for NIDIS in a 2004 report, ''Creating a Drought Early Warning System for the 21st Century: The National Integrated Drought Information System''. The NIDIS Act calls for an interagency, multi-partner approach to drought monitoring, forecasting, and early warning, led by the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(NOAA)."Activities and Plans of the National Integrated Drought Information System" http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/CIMR/abstracts/Plenary%20Session%20Speaker%20Abstracts/Verdin.pdf The law also created th
U.S. Drought Portal
NIDIS is part of the

in the Climate Program Office. At the time that this legislation was being consider in committee, there were serious on-going water shortages in the United States. A drought that started in 2012 caused "some of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

to drop to record lows," hurt farms, and effected shipping on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Provisions of the bill

''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a c ...

, a

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

source.'' The National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2013 would amend the National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006 to specify that the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Program's purpose shall be to better inform and provide for more timely decisionmaking to reduce drought related impacts and costs. The bill would revise NIDIS functions to require the NIDIS, among other things, to: (1) provide certain information, forecasts, and assessments described in the Act on both national and regional levels; (2) build upon existing forecasting and assessment programs and partnerships through designation of one or more cooperative institutes to assist with NIDIS functions; and (3) continue ongoing research and monitoring activities related to drought. The bill would require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (who is also the Administrator of the

(NOAA)) to report to Congress on the NIDIS Program. The bill would reauthorize NIDIS through FY2018.

Congressional Budget Office report

''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Budget Office, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on December 5, 2013. This is a

source.'' H.R. 2431 would amend the National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006. The bill would authorize the appropriation of $13.5 million annually over the 2014-2018 period for the

(NOAA) to maintain a system to provide early warnings of droughts by collecting and disseminating information and coordinating research on drought conditions. Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $60 million over the 2014-2018 period and $8 million after 2018. Enacting H.R. 2431 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. H.R. 2431 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA''(pdf)https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1995-title2/html/USCODE-1995-title2-chap25.htm (text)] restricts the federal government of the United States, federal imposition of unfunded mandates on ...

and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.

Procedural history

The National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2013 was introduced into the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

on June 19, 2013 by Rep. Ralph M. Hall (R, TX-4). The bill was referred to the

United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee has complete jurisdic ...

and the

United States House Science Subcommittee on Environment The Science Subcommittee on Environment is one of five subcommittees of the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. History Chairs of the subcommittee: * Andy Harris (R), Maryland, 2013 * Chris Stewart (R), Utah, 2013-2 ...

. On February 7, 2014, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced that H.R. 2431 would be on the House schedule for February 11 or 12th, 2014, to be considered under a suspension of the rules. On February 10, 2014, the House voted i
Roll Call Vote 55
to pass the bill 365-21. On February 25, 2014, the

voted to pass the bill by unanimous consent. President

signed it into law as on March 6, 2014.

Debate and discussion

Rep. Ralph Hall, speaking in support of the bill, said that "the National Integrated Drought Information System has been a highly effective program that provides the best available information and tools to monitor and predict droughts, assess the potential impacts, and better prepare for and mitigate the effects of droughts." Supporters of the bill argued that the system is necessary to collect information needed to analyse weather and climate data. Executive Director of the Western States Water Council Tony Willardson argues in favor of the bill, saying that "it's hard to analyze data you don't have... NIDIS is a very important tool for evaluating the impacts of drought. It's what we've been looking for, for a long time, as a clearinghouse of drought information."

Notes/References

External links

Library of Congress - Thomas H.R. 2431beta.congress.gov H.R. 2431GovTrack.us H.R. 2431OpenCongress.org H.R. 2431
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2013 (H.R. 2431 113th Congress) United States federal agriculture legislation Acts of the 113th United States Congress Droughts in the United States United States federal environmental legislation