15 U.S.C. § 9709 — National Weather Service hydrologic research fellowship program
submitted 4 years ago by Pub. L. 117-316 to r/title-15-COMMERCE-AND-TRADE · 644 words · no verdicts yet
The Administrator must create a hydrologic research fellowship program for qualified United States citizens in research graduate programs. The program provides fellowships, prefers applicants from specified institutions, sets research priorities, and permits direct Federal hiring of qualifying fellows within two years.
(a) “Assistant Administrator*” means NOAA’s Assistant Administrator for Weather Services. “Decision support services” means information, including data and refined products, supporting water-resources decisions. “Institution of higher education” has the meaning in 20 U.S.C. 1001. “NOAA line offices” means the National Ocean Service; National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; National Marine Fisheries Service; Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; and Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.
(b)(1) The Administrator must establish a hydrologic research fellowship program for qualified people. (2) A qualified person is a United States citizen enrolled in a research-based graduate program at an institution of higher education in a field advancing the Assistant Administrator’s paragraph (7) priorities, such as hydrology, earth, atmospheric, computer, engineering, environmental, or geosciences; urban planning; or related social sciences. (3) The Assistant Administrator must establish fellowship guidelines. (4) Selection must prefer applicants from historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions. (5) The program must support placing fellows in executive-branch positions where they can address and advance the priorities. (6) A fellowship may last up to two years. (7) Consulting as appropriate with NOAA line offices, the Geological Survey, FEMA, and the Army Corps of Engineers, the Assistant Administrator must develop and publish research priorities, which may include—(A) a flexible community-based water-resources modeling system; (B) artificial intelligence and machine learning for hydrologic models; (C) hydrologic modeling in an Earth Systems Modeling Framework; (D) better model-output visualizations; (E) coupled freshwater and saltwater modeling and forecasting; (F) water-quality parameters and processes; (G) assimilating in-situ and remotely sensed observations and data; (H) social science in decision support; and (I) groundwater sustainability and recharge-management efficiency.
(c)(1) During fiscal year 2022 and later fiscal years, a Federal agency head may appoint a program fellow to a Federal position without following title 5 subchapter I of chapter 33, except sections 3303 and 3328, if the fellow earned a degree from a program in (b)(2)(B), successfully completed the fellowship in the executive branch, and meets Office of Personnel Management qualification standards. (2) The authority must be used no later than two years after the fellow completed the program.
In this section:
The term “Assistant Administrator” means the Assistant Administrator for Weather Services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration*.
The term “decision support services” means information, including data and refined products, that supports water resources-related decision-making processes.
The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given that term in section 1001 of title 20.
The term “NOAA line offices” means the following offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
The National Ocean Service.
The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.
The National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.
The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.
The Administrator shall establish a hydrologic research fellowship program (in this section referred to as the “program”) for qualified individuals.
For purposes of this section, a qualified individual is an individual who is—
a citizen of the United States; and
enrolled in a research-based graduate program, at an institution of higher education, in a field that advances the research priorities developed by the Assistant Administrator under paragraph (7), such as—
hydrology;
earth sciences;
atmospheric sciences;
computer sciences;
engineering;
environmental sciences;
geosciences;
urban planning; or
related social sciences.
Fellowships under the program shall be awarded pursuant to guidelines established by the Assistant Administrator.
In selecting qualified individuals for participation in the program, the Assistant Administrator shall give preference to applicants from historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions.
The program shall support the placement of qualified individuals in positions within the executive branch of the Federal Government where such individuals can address and advance the research priorities developed by the Assistant Administrator under paragraph (7).
A fellowship under the program shall be for a period of up to 2 years.
The Assistant Administrator, in consultation with representatives from the NOAA line offices, the United States Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Army Corps of Engineers, as appropriate, shall develop and publish priorities for the conduct of research by fellows, which may include the following:
Advance the collaborative development of a flexible community-based water resources modeling system.
Apply artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to advance existing hydrologic modeling capabilities.
Support the evolution and integration of hydrologic modeling within an Earth Systems Modeling Framework.
Improve visualizations of hydrologic model outputs.
Advance the state* of coupled freshwater and salt water modeling and forecasting capabilities.
Advance understanding and process representation of water quality parameters.
Advance the assimilation of in-situ and remotely sensed observations and data.
Support the integration of social science to advance decision support services.
Develop methods to study groundwater sustainability and estimate the efficiency of recharge management.
During fiscal year 2022 and any fiscal year thereafter, the head of any Federal agency may appoint, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title, to a position with the Federal agency a recipient of a fellowship under the program who—
earned a degree from a program described in subsection (b)(2)(B);
successfully fulfilled the requirements of the fellowship within the executive branch of the Federal Government; and
meets qualification standards established by the Office of Personnel Management.
The direct hire authority provided by this subsection shall be exercised with respect to an individual described in paragraph (1) not later than 2 years after the date on which the individual completed the fellowship under the program.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 117–316, § 14, Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4415.)
- 2022Enacted · Pub. L. 117-316 · 136 Stat. 4415
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 117-316 on 2022-12-27.
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