Order Code RS22825
April 28, 2008
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA): President’s Budget
Request for FY2009
Wayne A. Morrissey
Information Research Specialist
Knowledge Services Group
Summary
On February 4, 2008, President Bush released his FY2009 budget for the United
States government. The President requested $4.109 billion in discretionary budget
authority for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the
Department of Commerce. This amount is 0.76% or $31 million more than the FY2007
appropriation of $4.078 billion and 5.5% or $213 million more than FY2008 enacted
appropriations of $3.896 billion. The Bush Administration’s high budget priorities for
NOAA focus on (1) restoring funding for programs that were flat-funded or cut for
FY2008, by reprogramming funding not requested in FY2008; (2) re-capitalizing aging
facilities, equipment, vessels, buildings, and other infrastructure; (3) ensuring that
NOAA satellite programs are able to meet mission requirements and keep to schedule;
and (4) implementing the President’s Ocean Initiative.
Introduction
The mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is
to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and conserve and manage
coastal and marine resources to meet the nation’s economic, social, and environmental
needs.1 The President’s FY2009 request of $4.109 billion for NOAA is the largest for the
Department of Commerce (DOC), in terms of funding, and accounts for nearly 67.4% of
DOC’s discretionary budget request of $6.1 billion. FY2009 budget documents indicate
that NOAA’s share of the entire “Federal Science and Technology Budget” for FY2009
would be $378 million, or about 0.61% of the $61.7 billion proposed by the President.2
1 Department of Commerce, NOAA, 2009 President’s Budget Rollout, “Protecting Lives and
Livelihoods,” February 7, 2008. Presentation by Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., U.S.
Navy (Ret.), Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, February 7, 2008 (Washington, DC).
2 U.S. Office of Management and Budget, The Budget for Fiscal Year 2009: Analytical
Perspectives, Table 5-2, “Federal Science and Technology Budget” (NOAA), p. 54.

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The FY2009 President’s Budget
Of the $4.109 billion the President requested for NOAA for FY2009 (Table 1),
$2.831 billion would be for the Operations, Research, and Facilities (ORF) discretionary
account; $1.238 billion for the Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction (PAC)
account; and $39.8 million for NOAA’s Other Accounts, which include the Pacific
Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF), the Coastal Zone Management Fund (CZMF),
and fishery financing. Additional budget authority (BA), generally requested by the
President for NOAA annually, offsets the amount of discretionary funding the agency
would require otherwise. For FY2009, the President proposed a transfer of $79 million
in offsetting BA from NOAA’s Promote and Develop American Fisheries Products Fund
(PDAF) to the ORF account. (Funds available in the PDAF are transferred from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.) Other offsetting BA for the ORF account of $11 million
would be derived (if authorized by Congress) from previous fiscal-year unobligated
appropriations. Another $3 million would be transferred internally from CZMF
collections to administer the ORF Coastal Zone Management Program. In addition to the
five NOAA budget line offices under ORF, Program Support (PS) is a cross-cutting
budget activity which supports agency administration, education, marine services, and the
NOAA fleet of marine vessels and aircraft. Details of PS funding are found in Table 2.
Table 1. FY2007 and FY2008 Funding and the FY2009 Request
(budget authority in millions of dollars)
FY2007
FY2008
FY2009
%L FY2009
NOAA Accounts
Enacteda
Enacteda
Requestb
vs Enacted
Operations, Research, and Facilities: NOAA Budget Line Offices
National Ocean Service (NOS)
459.2
467.9
449.3
(4.0%)
NOAA Fisheries (NMFS)
683.5
708.6
724.2
2.2%
NOAA Research (OAR)
363.5
387.9
372.3
(4.0%)
National Weather Service (NWS)
775.0
805.3
818.8
1.7%
NOAA Satellites (NESDIS)
177.2
179.2
165.3
(7.8%)
Program Support (PS)
362.1
392.4
394.4
0.5%
ORF BA Totalc
2,820.5
2,941.3
2,924.3
(0.6%)
Emergency Supplemental (P.L. 110-28)
170.4
NA
NA
NA
Offsets (PDAF/CZMF transfer/deobligations)
(79.4)
(82.0)
(93.0)
NA
ORF Discretionary
2,911.5
2,859.3
2,831.3
(0.9%)
Procurement, Acquisition, & Construction
1,110.2
979.2
1,238.7
26.5%
Other Accounts/PCSRF/CZMF/Finance
56.6
58.0
39.8
(44.6%)
Total Discretionary Appropriationsd
$4,078.3
$3,896.5
$4,109.8
5.2%
Source: Compiled by CRS from sources as noted below.

Notes: Figures are subject to change.

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a. Joint Explanatory Statement to accompany H.R. 2764, amended (P.L. 110-161), October 16, 2007.
b. NOAA line office budget request details from NOAA, FY2009 Budget Summary, February 4, 2008,
available online at [http://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/~nbo/09bluebook_highlights.html].
c. The FY2008 ORF total includes a rescission of $11.3 million in Title VII, P.L. 110-161. It also reflects
S.Amdt. 3290 to H.R. 3093, approved October 16, 2007, which transferred $30 million from NOAA’s
PAC account to the U.S. Attorneys Office to hire additional prosecutors for offenses relating to the
sexual exploitation of children (Sec. 704 of P.L. 109-248).
d. The FY2007 total includes a rescission for NOAA of $25 million and an emergency appropriation of
$170.4 million (P.L. 110-128).
NOAA Funding Proposals
Among NOAA’s priorities for FY2009, Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr,
U.S. Navy (Ret.), Administrator of NOAA, stressed the agency’s need to “recapitalize”
(invest capital) to address problems with aging equipment, facilities, infrastructure, and
marine and aviation vessels. He also noted that “technology refreshment” is needed for
some of NOAA’s marine vessels and aircraft and as replacements for older environmental
sensing instrumentation.3 The Vice Admiral stated that base funding for certain programs
and activities at the agency was reduced by Congress in FY2008, and that funding for
these programs and activities needed to be restored, especially if the agency were to fund
new initiatives. The Administrator also indicated that NOAA would have to absorb
increased costs of personnel and inflation of goods and services to maintain operation of
NOAA’s “Core Mission.” As part of the President’s Ocean Initiative, Lautenbacher
discussed funding increases for (1) climate and ocean-related research activities
(including drought); (2) marine resources conservation and management to enforce
regulations aimed at over-fishing; and (3) critical marine habitat restoration to increase
declining fish stocks. He added that other Ocean Initiative funding would target coastal
research, navigation safety, and deployment of the national Integrated Ocean Observation
Network (IOOS).
Specific priorities for NOAA for FY2009, Lautenbacher stated, are as follows.

! Meteorological and climate observation and climate research, including
developing and testing of instrumentation for the next generation of
geostationary satellites (GOES-R). NOAA is requesting Congress to
restore funding cutbacks for the program in FY2008 and an increase of
$242.2 million for FY2009, more than twice the FY2008 appropriation.
! NOAA has requested $74 million in new funding to restore critical
sensors for the polar orbiting satellite program. These are needed to
develop and test the National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite
System (NPOESS) and to meet future challenges of weather forecasting,
global climate monitoring, and to ensure continuity and preservation of
scientific data. Funding is also requested to test NPOESS ground control
systems as part of a near-term NPOESS preparatory project (NPP). Even
so, polar satellite programs would be decreased by $92 million to reflect
winding down of the original polar-orbiting satellite series, POES.
3 Ibid.

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! The President’s FY2009 request for the Ocean Initiative included $49
million in new funding for NOAA, for a total of $159 million.4 Of the
total, $78.3 million is for ocean science and research; $31.7 million is for
protecting and restoring marine coastal areas, including an increase of
$7 million for the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program
(CELCP); and $48.9 million is for sustainable use of ocean resources and
enforcing laws against over-fishing in U.S. waters.
! To enhance the public’s understanding of the oceans, as well as that of
students at all education levels, NOAA requested an increase of $7
million for implementation of a national ocean observation network, the
Integrated Ocean Observation System (IOOS). Increased funding would
advance deployment of IOOS which would operate to assess the state of
the oceans. Development of IOOS would also fulfil part of the Ocean
Research Priorities Plan Implementation funded at $10 million.
! Plans are to expand NOAA’s National Water Level Observation Network
(NWLON) for near-coastal, real-time tide gauge data. Also, the Physical
Observation in Real Time System (PORTS) would expand to additional
major U.S. ports to serve safe navigation and homeland security needs.
! The President proposed $2.9 million for a NOAA Weather Radio
Improvement Project operated by the National Weather Service (NWS).
This funding would assist in modernizing existing forecast dissemination
technology and facilitate high impact (storm-based) and geographically
targeted forecasts and warnings for those at high risk of being affected.
! An increase of $5.3 million was requested to assist in implementing
technology enhancements and additional instrumentation to support
weather forecast modeling at NWS Central Forecast Guidance. Also
requested is $4.3 million for Hurricane Forecasting Modeling as part of
the U.S. Weather Research Program.
! Funding of $40.3 million is requested to construct the Pacific Regional
Center facility on Ford Island, near Honolulu, HI that would consolidate
scattered NOAA science facilities operating in temporary structures.
! An increase of $11.2 million for Program Support is requested to
refurbish NOAA’s Fairbanks, AK Command and Data Acquisition
Station (CDAS). As a priority for NOAA, recapitalization of this facility
would enable the building of a semi-permanent structure and acquiring
equipment upgrades. After major repairs, the original and upgraded
facility is expected to continue operating through 2026.
4 Hereafter, funding changes reported by NOAA are as compared with the FY2008 request.

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! Congress directed NOAA to fund the National Undersea Research
Program (NURP) as a separate budget line from Ocean Exploration,
under the Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Research Program.5
! The President has asked Congress to restore funding for NOAA programs
that were cut in favor of “Congressionally Directed Programs” (estimated
at $150.4 million6) which the Administration did not request in FY2008.
Table 2. NOAA Program Support (PS) Funding Detailed
($ in millions)
FY2007
FY2008a
FY2009
PS ACCOUNTS
Enacted
Enacted
Request
OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES
Corporate Services (CS)
Under Secretary and Associate Offices
26.1
28.8
28.7
Corporate Services and Agency Management
150.5
158.2
162.3
Office of Chief Information Officer
NA
1.0
2.1
Subtotal CS
176.6
188.0
193.1
Educational Programs (ED)
37.5
34.1
16.5
Facilities Managementb
10.8
18.5
24.3
Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO)
Marine Servicesc
99.3
109.9
113.5
Fleet Planning & Maintenance
15.0
16.8
17.0
Aviation Services
22.9
25.2
30.0
Subtotal OMAO
137.2
151.9
160.5
Total PS ORF
362.1
392.5
394.4
PROCUREMENT, ACQUISITION, AND CONSTRUCTION
Fleet Replace/Acquisition
61.6
5.3
11.5
Aircraft Replacement
13.5
—
—
IOOS (PAC)d
17.7
—
—
PS Construction
19.7
23.2
87.0
Total PS PAC
112.5
28.5
98.5
GRAND TOTAL PS
$474.6
$421.0
$492.9
Source: Compiled by CRS from H.Rept. 110-240 (July 12, 2007); S.Rept. 110-124 on S. 1745 (June 29, 2007); and
Joint Explanatory Statement to accompany H.R. 2764, amended (December 16, 2007).
a. P.L. 110-161, Div. B, Title I.
5 As indicated in the joint explanatory statement to accompany H.R. 2764, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for FY2008, so as to preserve funding autonomy for NURP.
6 Total amount is estimated according to funding reported by conferees in the Joint Explanatory
Statement to accompany H.R. 2764 (amended), dated December 16, 2007.

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b. In some congressional bill reports Facilities is considered part of Corporate Services.
c. Includes $4 million for NOAA Corps retirement and health care benefits.
d. In FY2006 Appropriations a PS-PAC budget subactivity was created to fund development of an Integrated Ocean
Observation System (IOOS) and that funding level was carried over to FY2007 (P.L. 110-5). For FY2008,
funding for IOOS was appropriated in the NOS ORF & PAC budgets, instead.
FY2008 Appropriations for NOAA
The President signed H.R. 2764 amended, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
FY2008, into law on December 26, 2007, as P.L. 110-161. Division B, Title I of the act
funded appropriations for DOC, including NOAA. Congress passed H.R. 2764, amended
first by the Senate and then by the House, on December 19, 2007. As enacted, the measure
was accompanied by a Joint Explanatory Statement that emulated “report language” and
contained NOAA funding tables for FY2008.
Congress approved $3.896 billion in discretionary appropriations for NOAA for
FY2008 (Table I). This amount included $2.856 billion for the ORF account, $979.2
million for the PAC account, and a total of $71.8 million for NOAA’s Other Accounts,
including the PCSRF, CZMF, and fisheries financing. P.L. 110-161 also incorporated a
Senate amendment that transferred $30 million of PAC funding to the Justice
Department.7 It also included a rescission for NOAA of $11.37 million.8 Additional BA
of $77 million was authorized to be transferred to ORF from the PDAF. The FY2008
enacted appropriation was $171 million less (almost 4.2% less), than the FY2007 level of
$4.078 billion (including emergency supplemental appropriations).9
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and
Related Agencies held hearings on April 4, 2008 and the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies held hearings on
March 13, 2008. NOAA’s Administrator Lautenbacher testified at both hearings on behalf
of the agency.
7 Joint Explanatory Statement to accompany H.R. 2764 (December 16, 2007).
8 The FY2008 ORF total includes a rescission of $11.3 million in Title VII, P.L. 110-161. It also
reflects S.Amdt. 3290 to H.R. 3093, approved October 16, 2007, which transferred $30 million
from NOAA’s PAC account to the U.S. Attorneys Office to hire additional prosecutors for
offenses relating to the sexual exploitation of children (Sec. 704 of P.L. 109-248).
9 The FY2007 total includes a rescission for NOAA of $25 million and an emergency
appropriation of $170.4 million (P.L. 110-28).

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