(a) Definitions

In this section:

(1) Assistant Administrator

The term “Assistant Administrator” means the Assistant Administrator for Weather Services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(2) Decision support services

The term “decision support services” means information, including data and refined products, that supports water resources-related decision-making processes.

(3) Institution of higher education

The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given that term in section 1001 of title 20.

(4) NOAA line offices

The term “NOAA line offices” means the following offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

(A) The National Ocean Service.

(B) The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.

(C) The National Marine Fisheries Service.

(D) The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

(E) The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

(b) Hydrologic research fellowship program

(1) Establishment

The Administrator shall establish a hydrologic research fellowship program (in this section referred to as the “program”) for qualified individuals.

(2) Qualified individual

For purposes of this section, a qualified individual is an individual who is—

(A) a citizen of the United States; and

(B) enrolled in a research-based graduate program, at an institution of higher education, in a field that advances the research priorities developed by the Assistant Administrator under paragraph (7), such as—

(i) hydrology;

(ii) earth sciences;

(iii) atmospheric sciences;

(iv) computer sciences;

(v) engineering;

(vi) environmental sciences;

(vii) geosciences;

(viii) urban planning; or

(ix) related social sciences.

(3) Award guidelines

Fellowships under the program shall be awarded pursuant to guidelines established by the Assistant Administrator.

(4) Selection preference

In selecting qualified individuals for participation in the program, the Assistant Administrator shall give preference to applicants from historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions.

(5) Placement

The program shall support the placement of qualified individuals in positions within the executive branch of the Federal Government where such individuals can address and advance the research priorities developed by the Assistant Administrator under paragraph (7).

(6) Fellowship term

A fellowship under the program shall be for a period of up to 2 years.

(7) Fellowship research priorities

The Assistant Administrator, in consultation with representatives from the NOAA line offices, the United States Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Army Corps of Engineers, as appropriate, shall develop and publish priorities for the conduct of research by fellows, which may include the following:

(A) Advance the collaborative development of a flexible community-based water resources modeling system.

(B) Apply artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to advance existing hydrologic modeling capabilities.

(C) Support the evolution and integration of hydrologic modeling within an Earth Systems Modeling Framework.

(D) Improve visualizations of hydrologic model outputs.

(E) Advance the state of coupled freshwater and salt water modeling and forecasting capabilities.

(F) Advance understanding and process representation of water quality parameters.

(G) Advance the assimilation of in-situ and remotely sensed observations and data.

(H) Support the integration of social science to advance decision support services.

(I) Develop methods to study groundwater sustainability and estimate the efficiency of recharge management.

(c) Direct hiring

(1) Authority

During fiscal year 2022 and any fiscal year thereafter, the head of any Federal agency may appoint, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title, to a position with the Federal agency a recipient of a fellowship under the program who—

(A) earned a degree from a program described in subsection (b)(2)(B);

(B) successfully fulfilled the requirements of the fellowship within the executive branch of the Federal Government; and

(C) meets qualification standards established by the Office of Personnel Management.

(2) Exercise of authority

The direct hire authority provided by this subsection shall be exercised with respect to an individual described in paragraph (1) not later than 2 years after the date on which the individual completed the fellowship under the program.