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The 114th Congress is wrapping up and though it will not be recognized as particularly productive. However, despite outward appearances, there were some truly bipartisan bills moving around. One of those was a bill to give the first meaningful overhaul of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in decades. It was to significantly bolster the ability to make medium-range forecasts (2 weeks to 2 years out) and it also addressed a number of issues that NOAA suffers from, such as an improvement in its hurricane and tornado research, it directed them to put sensors on subsea telecommunication cables to improve tsunami warnings, it expanded its efforts in uncovering prehistoric tsunamis, it ordered an evaluation of how well the public understands and responds to its cryptic system of "watch" and "warning" weather alerts, and it directed them to utilize weather data from outside their satellite system. The bill sailed through the Senate on 1 December and it was looking to do the same in the House until it became a victim of a regional water spat between Georgia, Florida and Alabama:
For decades, the states have battled over the Apalachicola River and its two tributaries, the Chattahoochee and Flint. In the 1950s, Georgia dammed the Chattahoochee to create Lake Lanier, which has fueled Atlanta's rapid growth. In Florida's view, this has reduced the freshwater reaching the Gulf of Mexico, causing brackish water and threatening oysters. The conflict has reached the highest levels, with the Supreme Court expected to rule next year on a lawsuit Florida has brought against Georgia.
When the bill was sent back to the House, a section was added by Senator Bill Nelson (D–FL) calling for a three-year study of the water management of the Apalachicola and on ways to improve the system with special emphasis on environmental protection. That addition drew the ire from the Georgia representatives, who viewed it as another attempt by Florida and Alabama to interfere in the dispute through congressional action and the bill was not brought up for a vote before the House adjourned for the remainder of the year. Because of the broad support for the bill, this is optimistically seen as a minor setback for science; however, since the bill did not make it to a vote by the end of the congressional session, it will have to start the whole legislative process over from scratch with the 115th Congress in January.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 14 2016, @09:47PM
Ahhhh the proper earmarks were not properly done. So the once 'good bill' is now the devils work.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 14 2016, @10:05PM
Wasn't really about earmarks, it was about FL training to game the system before the supreme court hears the case.
Honestly this should never have been in the NOAA bill. NOAA has nothing to do with how much water is in lake lanier.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday December 14 2016, @10:39PM
> Honestly this should never have been in the NOAA bill.
I'm for a constitutional amendment stating that only things related to the title and fitting in a limited summary can be in a bill. Make more bills with less hidden things, and everything more consistent so that you don't find the source of a jail sentence for pedophiles in a GMO bill...
However, it's not clear that it would help in this case, because funding studies of hydrology and water quality in the Gulf probably does belong in NOAA bill.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday December 14 2016, @10:58PM
hydrology and water quality
I live in a river town with a NOAA/NWS hydrology station on the river so yeah its directly their thing. I can see nifty graphs of river depth and predictions based on rain fall and snow melt. Kinda cool. The city zones low level land as park only, so I can look at the graph and see when my favorite hiking trails are underwater, although its not hard to guess.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @01:27AM
> I'm for a constitutional amendment stating that only things related to the title and fitting in a limited summary can be in a bill.
Hmmm, this sounds suspiciously like an argument against systemd... I wonder if a constitutional amendment would have any effect on Poettering?
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Thursday December 15 2016, @07:42AM
I wonder if a constitutional amendment would have any effect on Poettering?
I hate to say this, but I'm pretty sure that's not his kryponite.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 14 2016, @11:43PM
Water in the lake equals water coming into the lake minus water going out of the lake. Water coming into the lake is affected by rainfall. If NOAA predicts less rainfall, chances are there will be less rain, and vice versa. So NOAA has a lot to do with the water in Lake Lanier!