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APPENDIX 2:
Additional Material for the Record
NOAA BACKGROUND BRIEF
In preparation for the Subcommittee's May 9 hearing on the Administration's FY 02 budget request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we put together a background piece on NOAA for those of you who are unfamiliar with the agency. The charter for the hearing will focus more on the specific budget issues within NOAA.
History
In a July 1970 statement to Congress, President Nixon proposed creating NOAA to serve a national need ''. . .for better protection of life and property from natural hazards. . .for a better understanding of the total environment. . . [and] for exploration and development leading to the intelligent use of our marine resources.'' NOAA is the largest agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce, accounting for about 60 percent of its budget (FY 02), and receives the largest amount of funding for R&D in the Dept. of Commerce.
NOAA can be broken down into five line-item offices: the National Ocean Service (NOS), Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Weather Service (NWS), National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). NOAA also likes to describe the agency (and budget) in terms of its strategic goals of Environmental Stewardship and Environmental Assessment and Prediction, which cut across the line offices.
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NOAA's Strategic Goals with budget breakdown
Environmental Stewardship
Build Sustainable Fisheries (14% of NOAA's total budget)—agencies involved NMFS (lead), NOS, OAR, NESDIS
Recover Protected Species (7% of budget)—NMFS (lead), NOS, OAR
Sustain Healthy Coasts (19% of budget)—NOS, NMFS, OAR, NESDIS, NWS
Environmental Assessment and Prediction
Advanced Short-term Warning and Forecast Services (45% of budget)—NWS, OAR, NESDIS, NOS
Implement Seasonal to Interannual Climate Forecast (4%)—NWS, OAR, NESDIS, NOS
Predict and Assess Decadal to Centennial Change (2%)—OAR, NESDIS, NWS, NOS
Promote Safe Navigation (4%)—NOS (lead), NWS, NESDIS, OAR
Jurisdiction
Our Subcommittee has sole jurisdiction over the National Weather Service, NESDIS (Satellites), and climate and atmospheric research programs under Ocean and Atmospheric Research (OAR). We share jurisdiction with the Resources Committee on marine research issues under OAR and the National Ocean Service (NOS), and NOAA's fleet of ships and planes. Historically (since 1995), the Science Committee has not had jurisdiction over any National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issues (even marine/fish research).
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The National Weather Service (NWS)
NWS has 4,604 employees (FY 01 budget $693 million, FY 02 request $728 million) and is charged with providing weather, water, and climate warnings and forecasts. There are 121 weather offices, 13 river forecast centers, and nine national centers. The offices obtain data from NOAA satellites, marine buoys and other surface observing systems. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure, which can be used by other government agencies (FAA), the private sector, the public and the global community.
The NWS has gone through a decade long modernization at a cost of about $4.5 billion. The effort included installing Doppler radars and new computers around the country, as well as, deploying new satellites and observation capabilities. As part of this effort, NWS streamlined operations going from about 300 to 121 weather offices.
This modernization effort was riddled with problems, cost overruns and specifications not being met. In January 2001, GAO finally took the NWS off its high-risk list for project oversight. However, as the NWS continues to upgrade its technologies, GAO has again identified some problems with implementing new technologies without sufficient computer capabilities.
The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)
NESDIS has 836 employees (FY O1 budget $640 million, FY 02 request $738 million—of which $606 million is for acquisition) and provides procurement, launch, operation, data collection and storage to ensure continually operation of two polar orbiting satellites (POES), two geostationary environmental satellites (GOES) and all backup systems.
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The GOES satellites provide imagery and data for the Western Hemisphere to track severe storms, hurricanes, solar-terrestrial disturbances, and identify the likely locations of powerful weather systems. The POES satellites track atmospheric variables and patterns that affect the weather and climate of the U.S. NESDIS also oversees search and rescue tracking, which has saved 12,000 people in the last 20 years.
NESDIS maintains three data centers that collect and make available meteorological, climatic, marine geology and geophysics, solar physics, and global oceanographic data and information. There are also six universities that serve as regional climate centers under NESDIS. The centers provide data and some background and prediction on varying climate issues. NOAA believes the funding should come from the universities themselves or the private sector, which purchases the analyzed information. However, each year Congress has restored the funding.
As part of the next generation satellite observing system, NOAA, DOD, and NASA have combined resources and expertise to develop a National Polar-orbiting Operation Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). This collaborative approach is expected to save money by eliminating redundant polar assets (DOD has two of its own currently). This project is expected to be operational in 2008, with a total cost of about $6.5 billion split between NOAA and DOD. The budget request for FY 02 is $157 million (increase of $83 million from FY 01) and will grow considerably in FY 03 to $237 million, FY 04 $300 million and remain roughly at that level until 2008.
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
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OAR has 931 employees (FY 01 budget $350 million, FY 02 request $340 million) and is known as NOAA Research. Its role is to provide products and services that describe and predict changes in the environment. Research is conducted in three major areas: atmosphere, climate, and oceans and coastal resources.
The research is conducted through:
12 NOAA laboratories and their 11 Joint Institute research partners
National Sea Grant Program
National Undersea Research Program
Office of Global Program.
Six of the 12 NOAA Research labs are in Boulder, CO. These labs study atmospheric, climatic and oceanic conditions, and on projects ranging from developing remote sensing techniques to climate and monitoring research. The Air Resources Lab (Silver Spring, MD) conducts research on processes that affect the quality of the atmosphere. The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab (Miami, FL) is the primary source of hurricane and ocean climate research. The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab (Princeton, NJ) focuses primarily on climate and ocean modeling. The Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (Ann Arbor, MI) conducts research on Great Lakes protection issues. The National Severe Storms Lab (Norman, OK) provides research on tornadoes and severe storms. And, the Pacific Marine Environmental Lab (Seattle, WA) focuses on El Niño, tsunami, underwater volcano and fisheries research.
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The National Sea Grant Program allows NOAA to jointly fund its research priorities through many of the nation's top universities. The network of 30 Sea Grant programs are located in every coastal and Great Lakes state and Puerto Rico, and serve as the nucleus of more than 200 participating institutions involving more than 3,000 scientists.
The National Undersea Research Program (NURP) is a network of six regional centers in partnership with Universities and a private foundation. The program places scientists underwater, either remotely or in person.
The Office of Global Change is responsible for NOAA's scientific research to observe, understand, assess, predict and respond to changes in the global climate. The program is also NOAA's main contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and many NOAA scientists represent the U.S. on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The National Ocean Service (NOS)
NOS has 1438 employees (FY 01 budget $594 million, FY 02 request $395 million) and the mission to conserve and manage coastal resources. NOS manages a system of National Marine Sanctuaries, and in partnership with coastal and Great Lakes states, administers the Coastal Zone Management Program (Resources and Transportation Committee) and a network of National Estuarine Research Reserves (which we share with Resources).
NOS conducts and supports scientific research on a wide variety of coastal issues, including harmful algae blooms, invasive species, and pollutants that threaten coastal waters.
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NOS provides nautical charts for the waters of the U.S. and maintains a network of 189 tide and water-level observation stations. NOS responds to more than 100 marine oil and chemical spills each year, providing scientific support to the Coast Guard on spill trajectory, contamination and mitigation.
The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO)
OMAO operates and maintains NOAA's fleet of 15 research ships and 13 aircraft, manages the NOAA diving program, and administers NOAA's Commissioned Corps, one of the nation's seven uniformed services.
There has been considerable debate and dialogue about the NOAA fleet. Many feel that the aging ships cannot fulfill its missions (charting, research, and fisheries) and more work should be contracted out to private entities, especially to the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). Presently, about 38 percent of NOAA's day-at-sea requirements are outsourced.
The NOAA Commissioned Corps is made up of 250 officers who command the ships, fly the planes, and provide management and technical support to the program offices. NOAA Corps officers are generally the third in command of each NOAA line office (NOS, NWS, etc.) and in charge of many of the operations of each office.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
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NMFS has about 3,000 employees (FY 01 budget $815 million, FY 02 request $734 million) and is responsible for all fisheries management and regulatory issues. We do not have jurisdiction over NMFS. However, this regulatory agency makes up about 25 percent of NOAA's budget and about 50 percent of the R&D budget (mostly fish assessment issues).
NMFS has the impossible task of managing and regulating fisheries, with the research and science component contained within the regulatory body. The situation is made worse by continuous lawsuits, significant congressional interference and infighting at the agency. There have been discussions about taking the science component out of NMFS to help relieve pressure on the regulatory side, but those discussions have met with much opposition.
Please contact Eric Webster or Mike Quear at 5–8844 if you have any questions about NOAA or the upcoming hearing.
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