15 U.S.C. § 8562 — Improving probable maximum precipitation estimates

(a) In general. Within 90 days after the National Academies publicly releases the report required by section 8561, the Administrator must consider the report's recommendations and consult with partners, including data users, to build a plan to: (1) update the nation's probable maximum precipitation estimates within 6 years of the report's completion, and then at least every 10 years after that, with each update accounting for "non-stationarity" (changing weather patterns over time); (2) coordinate with partners on research into extreme precipitation estimation, following the research needs the report identified; (3) publicly post, in a searchable format that works with other systems, all of NOAA's probable maximum precipitation studies that NOAA is legally allowed to share and that are ready to be shared, on a NOAA website; and (4) make sure all of NOAA's probable maximum precipitation data, products, documentation, and metadata are properly preserved, organized, and made available by NOAA. (b) National guidance document. The Administrator, working with federal agencies, state, territorial, tribal, and local governments, academia, and other partners it chooses, must create a National Guidance Document that: (1) gives best practices that federal and state regulators, private weather consultants, and other people doing these studies can follow; (2) takes into account the recommendations from the National Academies study under section 8561; (3) makes it easier for regulators to review probable maximum precipitation studies; and (4) builds confidence in regional and site-specific precipitation estimates. (c) Publication. Within 2 years after the National Academies makes its report public, the Administrator must post the National Guidance Document on a NOAA website. (d) Updates. The Administrator must update the National Guidance Document at least once every 10 years after it's first published, and publish each update the same way.