Sponsors (17)
The bill improves continuity and protection of NOAA data and services by requiring planned, coordinated cloud contract transitions—benefiting governments, emergency services, and public safety—while adding administrative steps and short-term costs that fall on federal agencies and taxpayers.
State and local governments and hospitals/health systems will be less likely to experience outages or disruptions to NOAA data and services (e.g., weather forecasts) because agencies must plan transitions before terminating cloud storage contracts, improving continuity for infrastructure and emergency response.
Coordination with NOAA leadership should help preserve data protection and the continuity of operational services that rely on NOAA datasets, reducing risks to public safety and mission-critical forecasting systems.
Taxpayers could face slower procurement and increased administrative burden because Commerce must follow additional procedures when ending cloud contracts, potentially delaying contract decisions.
NOAA and Commerce may incur higher short-term contracting and IT expenses to create transition plans and operate overlapping systems during migrations, increasing costs borne by taxpayers and middle-class families.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Stops the Secretary of Commerce from canceling cloud contracts that store NOAA data unless a continuity and transition plan is developed and NOAA is consulted.
Introduced November 20, 2025 by Sarah Elfreth · Last progress November 20, 2025
Prevents the Secretary of Commerce from canceling any contract with a cloud service provider that stores a NOAA data set unless the Secretary first prepares a plan that ensures uninterrupted storage of the data set (including a transition plan to another provider and related reporting systems) and collaborates with the NOAA Administrator to ensure continued protection. Also assigns an official short title and references the existing statutory definition of “cloud service provider.”