Government Accountability Office report on hazardous weather and water alert dissemination

(a) In general Not later than 540 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report that examines the information technology infrastructure of the National Weather Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, specifically regarding the system for timely public notification of hazardous weather and water event alerts and updates. (b) Elements The report required by subsection (a) shall include the following: (1) An analysis of the information technology infrastructure of the National Weather Service, including software and hardware capabilities and limitations, including an examination of server and data storage methods, broadband, data management, and data sharing. (2) An identification of secondary and tertiary fail-safes for the timely distribution of hazardous weather and water event alerts to the public. (3) A determination of the extent to which public notifications are delayed and an identification of corrective measures that do not add additional notification time. (4) An assessment of whether collaboration with other Federal Government offices, States, or private entities could reduce delays in notifications to the public. (5) A description of actions being undertaken to better identify critical steps in the hazards notification process that may be vulnerable to disruption or failure in the event of communication, technologic, or computational failure.

(a) In general Not later than 540 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report that examines the information technology infrastructure of the National Weather Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, specifically regarding the system for timely public notification of hazardous weather and water event alerts and updates. (b) Elements The report required by subsection (a) shall include the following: (1) An analysis of the information technology infrastructure of the National Weather Service, including software and hardware capabilities and limitations, including an examination of server and data storage methods, broadband, data management, and data sharing. (2) An identification of secondary and tertiary fail-safes for the timely distribution of hazardous weather and water event alerts to the public. (3) A determination of the extent to which public notifications are delayed and an identification of corrective measures that do not add additional notification time. (4) An assessment of whether collaboration with other Federal Government offices, States, or private entities could reduce delays in notifications to the public. (5) A description of actions being undertaken to better identify critical steps in the hazards notification process that may be vulnerable to disruption or failure in the event of communication, technologic, or computational failure.