- Weather Act debate begins
- Caifornia wildfire model bill advances
- Europe regulator models €35 billion repo cyber risk
Debate Over Data Access Heats Up Over Weather Act Reauthorization
Access to, development of, and funding for federally supported weather data—critical to everything from real-time public forecasting to private-sector climate and catastrophe models—took center stage last week as Congress began debating the reauthorization of the 2017 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act (Weather Act).
During testimony before the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Environment Subcommittee, weather risk start-ups made impassioned appeals to both continue and expand access to publicly funded forecasting and climate data.
Some also challenged the federal government’s role, calling for a greater shift of responsibility to the private sector.
“These comprehensive datasets are the bedrock upon which the entire AI revolution in weather is being built,” said Dr. Jayesh K. Gupta, CEO of Silurian AI, a weather modeling start-up founded by former Microsoft executives. “Any reduction in this public data stream would be a direct threat to American innovation and our ability to lead in this strategic field. We believe it should be a national priority to protect and enhance these datasets for American AI consumption.”
While praising NOAA and NASA’s long-standing role in collecting, curating, and publicly sharing raw weather and climate data, Gupta called for abandoning “an old paradigm where progress is slow and risk-averse.”
However, he stopped short of advocating for a full transition away from government-backed weather research and spending. “We must understand that for training these models, continuous, long-term data streams are essential,” he said, arguing that private-sector paradigms characterized by “sporadic, short-lived missions” cannot replace the existing, sustained observational infrastructure.
Thomas Cavett, head of government strategy and business development at Tomorrow.io, took a more critical stance on federal funding for government-led modeling efforts.
“Without aggressive modernization, innovation, and partnership with the private sector, the U.S. risks falling further behind—compromising its ability to predict severe weather, protect critical infrastructure, support military operations worldwide, and recapture global leadership in weather forecasting,” Cavett said.
He argued that by leveraging private-sector innovation, the federal government can break free from the “multi-decadal cycle of overly complex, cost-plus weather missions” that have delivered budget increases without commensurate performance improvements.
The reauthorization bill—H.R. 3816—co-sponsored by Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), the committee’s former chair, is expected to be marked up this week. The proposed legislation aims to strengthen NOAA’s forecasting capabilities, improve public communication, and enhance collaboration with private industry.
California Advances Public Wildfire Model
California lawmakers are moving forward with a plan to create the country’s first publicly developed wildfire catastrophe model.
Senate Bill 429, authored by State Senator Dave Cortese and sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, was passed by the Assembly Emergency Management Committee last week and now awaits consideration by the Appropriations Committee.
The legislation would establish a state-managed wildfire simulation model that assesses property-level risk and could ultimately influence how insurance premiums are set.
