Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2023, Sec. 502 ("National Integrated Drought Information System")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-01-03

Risk subdomain coverage

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal to no coverage of AI risk domains. It is primarily a legislative authorization for a drought information system that will incorporate AI/ML technologies as tools for monitoring and forecasting. The document does not address AI-specific risks, harms, safety measures, or governance challenges.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Trade, Transportation & Utilities

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs AI use within Public Administration (specifically NOAA and federal weather/climate agencies) for drought monitoring and forecasting. It also has implications for Agriculture through the provision of drought information services to agricultural stakeholders, and Scientific Research and Development Services through its research and modeling requirements.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the United States Congress that amends existing law, establishes mandatory requirements for federal agencies, and authorizes specific appropriations with legal force.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is a Congressional act ('Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2023') that amends existing federal law, indicating Congress as the proposing authority.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Developer
• Entities: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); National Integrated Drought Information System; National Weather Service; Climate Prediction Center; Under Secretary; National Mesonet Program
• Summary: The document applies to federal agencies and programs responsible for implementing the National Integrated Drought Information System, including NOAA and its constituent programs. These entities will be developing and deploying AI/ML technologies for drought monitoring.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Under Secretary
• Summary: NOAA and the Under Secretary have the authority to implement and oversee the requirements of this statute, including the deployment of AI technologies and establishment of partnerships.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); National Integrated Drought Information System; National Weather Service cooperative observer program
• Summary: The document establishes monitoring responsibilities through observational networks and requires the system to utilize various monitoring programs for drought information.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily addresses the deployment and operational monitoring stages of AI systems for drought forecasting. It mandates the advancement and deployment of AI/ML technologies and requires ongoing monitoring through observational networks. There is also coverage of the planning stage through requirements to transition to probabilistic forecasts and incorporate new modeling tools.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Models
• AI Systems
• Predictive AI
• Task-specific AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions artificial intelligence and machine learning as technologies to be deployed for drought monitoring and forecasting. It does not define these terms or distinguish between different types of AI systems, models, or capabilities. No compute thresholds, foundation models, or specific AI architectures are mentioned.