106 STAT. 4304 PUBLIC LAW 102-567—OCT. 29,1992

decommission a National Weather Service radar, change staff-
ing levels significantly, or move a field office to a new location
inside the local commuting and service area;

(3) "Committee" means the Modernization Transition
Committee established by section 707;

(4) "degradation of service" means any decrease in or failure
to maintain the quality and type of weather services provided
by titie National Weather Service to the public in a service
area, including but not limited to a reduction in existing
weather radar coverage at an elevation of 10,000 feet;

(5) "field office" means any National Weather Service Office
or National Weather Service Forecast Office;

(6) "Plan" means the National Implementation Plan
required under section 703;

(7) "relocate" means to transfer from one location to another
location that is outside the local commuting or service area;

(8) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Commerce;

(9) "service area" means the geographical area for which
a field office provides services or conducts observations, includ-
ing but not limited to local forecasts, severe weather warnings,
aviation support, radar coverage, and ground weather observa-
tions; and

(10) "Strategic Plan" means the 10-year strategic plan for
the comprehensive modernization of the National Weather
Service, required under section 407 of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1989
(15U.S.C.313note).

SEC. 70S. NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

(a) NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—As part of the budget
justification documents submitted to Congress in support of the
annual budget request for the Department of Commerce, the Sec-
retary shall include a National Implementation Plan for moderniza-
tion of the National Weather Service for each fiscal year following
fiscal year 1993 until such modernization is complete. The Plan
shall set forth the actions, during the 2-year period beginning
with the fiscal year for which the budget request is made, that
will be necessary to accomplish the objectives described in the
Strategic Plan, and shall include—

(1) detailed requirements for new technologies, facilities,
staffing levels and positions, and funding, in accordance with
the overall schedule for modernization;

(2) notification of any proposed action to change operations
at a field office and the intended date of such operational
change;

(3) identification of any field office that the Secretary
intends to certify under section 706, including the intended
date of such certification;

(4) special measures to test, evaluate, and demonstrate
key elements of the modernized National Weather Service oper-
ations prior to national implementation, including a
multistation operational demonstration which tests the
performance of the modernization hi an integrated manner
for a sustained period;

(5) detailed plans and funding requirements for meteoro-
logical research to be accomplishment under this title to assure
that new techniques in forecasting will be developed to utilize