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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 2904. National Climate Program
(a) Establishment
The President shall establish a National Climate Program in
accordance with the provisions, findings and purposes of this
chapter.
(b) Duties
The President shall -
(1) promulgate the 5-year plans described in subsection (d)(9)
of this section;
(2) define the roles in the Program of Federal officers,
departments, and agencies, including the Departments of
Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, State, and
Transportation; the Environmental Protection Agency; the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration; the Council on
Environmental Quality; the National Science Foundation; and the
Office of Science and Technology Policy; and
(3) provide for Program coordination.
(c) National Climate Program Office
(1) The Secretary shall establish within the Department of
Commerce a National Climate Program Office not later than 30 days
after September 17, 1978.
(2) The Office shall -
(A) serve as the lead entity responsible for administering the
program;
(B) be headed by a Director who shall represent the Climate
Program Policy Board and shall be spokesperson for the program;
(C) serve as the staff for the Board and its supporting
committees and working groups;
(D) review each agency budget request transmitted under
subsection (g)(1) of this section and submit an analysis of the
requests to the Board for its review;
(E) be responsible for coordinating interagency participation
in international climate-related activities; and
(F) work with the National Academy of Sciences and other
private, academic, State, and local groups in preparing and
implementing the 5-year plan (described in subsection (d)(9) of
this section) and the program.
The analysis described in subparagraph (D) shall include an
analysis of how each agency's budget request relates to the
priorities and goals of the program established pursuant to this
chapter.
(3) The Secretary may provide, through the Office, financial
assistance, in the form of contracts or grants or cooperative
agreements, for climate-related activities which are needed to meet
the goals and priorities of the program set forth in the 5-year
plan pursuant to subsection (d)(9) of this section, if such goals
and priorities are not being adequately addressed by any Federal
department, agency, or instrumentality.
(4) Each Federal officer, employee, department and agency
involved in the Program shall cooperate with the Secretary in
carrying out the provisions of this chapter.
(d) Program elements
The Program shall include, but not be limited to, the following
elements:
(1) assessments of the effect of climate on the natural
environment, agricultural production, energy supply and demand,
land and water resources, transportation, human health and
national security. Such assessments shall be conducted to the
maximum extent possible by those Federal agencies having national
programs in food, fiber, raw materials, energy, transportation,
land and water management, and other such responsibilities, in
accordance with existing laws and regulations. Where appropriate
such assessments may include recommendations for action;
(2) basic and applied research to improve the understanding of
climate processes, natural and man induced, and the social,
economic, and political implications of climate change;
(3) methods for improving climate forecasts on a monthly,
seasonal, yearly, and longer basis;
(4) global data collection, and monitoring and analysis
activities to provide reliable, useful and readily available
information on a continuing basis;
(5) systems for the management and active dissemination of
climatological data, information and assessments, including
mechanisms for consultation with current and potential users;
(6) measures for increasing international cooperation in
climate research, monitoring, analysis and data dissemination;
(7) mechanisms for intergovernmental climate-related studies
and services including participation by universities, the private
sector and others concerned with applied research and advisory
services. Such mechanisms may provide, among others, for the
following State and regional services and functions: (A) studies
relating to and analyses of climatic effects on agricultural
production, water resources, energy needs, and other critical
sectors of the economy; (B) atmospheric data collection and
monitoring on a statewide and regional basis; (C) advice to
regional, State, and local government agencies regarding
climate-related issues; (D) information to users within the State
regarding climate and climatic effects; and (E) information to
the Secretary regarding the needs of persons within the States
for climate-related services, information, and data. The
Secretary may make annual grants to any State or group of States,
which grants shall be made available to public or private
educational institutions, to State agencies, and to other persons
or institutions qualified to conduct climate-related studies or
provide climate-related services;
(8) experimental climate forecast centers, which shall (A) be
responsible for making and routinely updating experimental
climate forecasts of a monthly, seasonal, annual, and longer
nature, based on a variety of experimental techniques; (B)
establish procedures to have forecasts reviewed and their
accuracy evaluated; and (C) protect against premature reliance on
such experimental forecasts; and
(9) a preliminary 5-year plan, to be submitted to the Congress
for review and comment, not later than 180 days after September
17, 1978, and a final 5-year plan to be submitted to the Congress
not later than 1 year after September 17, 1978, that shall be
revised and extended at least once every four years. Each plan
shall establish the goals and priorities for the Program,
including the intergovernmental program described in paragraph
(7), over the subsequent 5-year period, and shall contain details
regarding (A) the role of Federal agencies in the programs, (B)
Federal funding required to enable the Program to achieve such
goals, and (C) Program accomplishments that must be achieved to
ensure that Program goals are met within the time frame
established by the plan.
(e) Climate Program Policy Board
(1) The Secretary shall establish and maintain an interagency
Climate Program Policy Board, consisting of representatives of the
Federal agencies specified in subsection (b)(2) of this section and
any other agency which the Secretary determines should participate
in the Program.
(2) The Board shall -
(A) be responsible for coordinated planning and progress review
for the Program;
(B) review all agency and department budget requests related to
climate transmitted under subsection (g)(1) of this section and
submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget concerning
such budget requests;
(C) establish and maintain such interagency groups as the Board
determines to be necessary to carry out its activities; and
(D) consult with and seek the advice of users and producers of
climate data, information, and services to guide the Board's
efforts, keeping the Director and the Congress advised of such
contacts.
(3) The Board biennially shall select a Chair from among its
members. A Board member who is a representative of an agency may
not serve as Chair of the Board for a term if an individual who
represented that same agency on the Board served as the Board's
Chair for the previous term.
(f) Cooperation
(1) The Program shall be conducted so as to encourage cooperation
with, and participation in the Program by, other organizations or
agencies involved in related activities. For this purpose the
Secretary shall cooperate and participate with other Federal
agencies, and foreign, international, and domestic organizations
and agencies involved in international or domestic climate-related
programs.
(2) The Secretary and the Secretary of State shall cooperate with
the Office in (A) providing representation at climate-related
international meetings and conferences in which the United States
participates, and (B) coordinating the activities of the Program
with the climate programs of other nations and international
agencies and organizations, including the World Meteorological
Organization, the International Council of Scientific Unions, the
United Nations Environmental Program, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, the World
Health Organization, and Food and Agriculture Organization.
(g) Budgeting
Each Federal agency and department participating in the Program,
shall prepare and submit to the Office of Management and Budget, on
or before the date of submission of departmental requests for
appropriations to the Office of Management and Budget, an annual
request for appropriations for the Program for the subsequent
fiscal year and shall transmit a copy of such request to the
National Climate Program Office. The Office of Management and
Budget shall review the request for appropriations as an
integrated, coherent, multiagency request.
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