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S 116 112th Congress Senate Science, Technology, Communications Atmospheric science and weather Census and government statistics Climate change and greenhouse gases Environmental assessment, monitoring, research Government information and archives

Public Access to Historical Records Act

Introduced: January 25, 2011 See on congress.gov
This bill died when the 112th Congress ended
It never became law before the 112th Congress (2011–2012) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 25, 2011
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Jan 25, 2011
Introduced in Senate
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Public Access to Historical Records Act - Directs the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to establish an official dataset on the historical temperature record.

Requires NASA to utilize the raw data related to temperature that is collected by applicable stations and vessels and to quantify the statistical uncertainty of each temperature observation and any subsequent products based on that observation.

Requires the gaps that exist in temperature station and temperature reading data to be clearly and fully identified.

Creates a panel to assist the Administrator in the establishment of the dataset.

Requires the Administrator, at least once every three years, to contract with an appropriate independent entity to perform a verification and validation of the dataset and requires the publication of any algorithms utilized, and any determinations made, in verifying and validating the dataset.

Requires persons and entities engaged in global climate research funded by the federal government to utilize the dataset as a source of data on the historical temperature record.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce to provide for the immediate release of: (1) all raw temperature station data from cooperative observers and automated stations collected by the National Climatic Data Center, and (2) an analysis of the differences between raw and final temperature datasets collected by the Center.

What's happening now January 25, 2011

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 116: Public Access to Historical Records Act. 112th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-116/
MLA
"S. 116: Public Access to Historical Records Act." 112th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-116/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 116, 112th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-116/.
Markdown link
[S. 116: Public Access to Historical Records Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-116/)
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