Contents

• Accounts and Funding
• Accounts
• Sources of NOAA's Funding
• Annual Funding
• Additional Funding
• Issues for Congress
• Authorizations and Funding Levels
• Authorizations of Appropriations
• Funding Levels
• Program Administration
• Administering Program Funding
• Oversight and Monitoring
• Federal and Nonfederal Capacity to Administer Programs and Projects

Summary

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency within the Department of Commerce (DOC), is the principal federal agency tasked with understanding and predicting changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts; sharing that knowledge and information with others; and conserving and managing coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.

Congress has provided and/or authorized both discretionary and mandatory funding to NOAA; for example, in FY2024, NOAA's discretionary and mandatory funding totaled $7.1 billion. Congress provides annual discretionary funding for NOAA through Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations laws. Components of the agency's annual budget request, and the amounts Congress provides to NOAA through annual appropriations laws, have included regular appropriations, transfers from other accounts, and deobligations of prior year obligations. Congress typically refers to the total of these three components as the agency's direct obligations or funding levels. Appropriations generally occupy the largest portion of NOAA's funding levels, with transfers and deobligations comprising smaller portions of the total. Mandatory funding (spending controlled by laws other than appropriations acts) is generally a small percentage of total NOAA funding. It is composed of transfers from other federal agencies, settlements, premiums, fees, fines, penalties, forfeiture proceeds, and congressional appropriations.

Congress and NOAA have created multiple discretionary and mandatory accounts. The largest discretionary accounts are (1) Operations, Research, and Facilities (ORF) and (2) Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction (PAC). In FY2024, Congress provided nearly $6.8 billion in total discretionary funding, which included over $6.7 billion for the ORF and PAC discretionary accounts (99% of the total). NOAA administers six other discretionary accounts. In FY2024, total mandatory funding accounted for $265.1 million of the total, which NOAA administered through 16 mandatory accounts (although not all 16 accounts received funding in FY2024).

Congress also has provided NOAA with periodic additional funding. The total amount of additional funding provided in two acts—P.L. 117-58 (the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or IIJA) and P.L. 117-169 (known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA)—exceeds the total additional amount provided to NOAA, outside of annual appropriations acts, since 2015. Congress directed NOAA to disburse most of the IIJA and IRA funding to nonfederal entities through direct payments, grants, and cooperative agreements (e.g., agreements in which NOAA has "substantial involvement" in a project with a nonfederal entity).

Congress may consider a range of potential issues related to NOAA's annual and additional funding. These issues are discussed under two broad categories: (1) authorizations of appropriations and funding-level issues and (2) program administration issues. Funding-related issues include a lack of current or updated authorizations of appropriations across programs and fiscal years and changes in funding levels due, in part, to additional funding. Some Members of Congress have expressed concern with appropriating funding to NOAA activities and programs with authorizations of appropriations that have expired or are expiring in the current fiscal year. Others have asserted that NOAA's annual funding levels should increase, decrease, or stay the same to account for additional funding and issues within and outside of the agency. NOAA and nonfederal entities may face multiple challenges in administering programs and projects. These challenges could include the ability to efficiently (1) manage accounts with different administrative activities and statutory requirements, (2) conduct oversight of and monitor fund disbursement, and (3) address program and project administration capacities at the federal and nonfederal recipient levels. Congress may consider whether to address these challenges through multiple means, including directives in law and/or appropriations report language, and oversight mechanisms (e.g., holding hearings and requesting audits and investigations).

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency within the Department of Commerce (DOC), is the principal federal agency tasked with understanding and predicting changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts; sharing that knowledge and information with others; and conserving and managing coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.¹ Congress has provided the agency with between $6.3 billion and $7.3 billion per fiscal year (in 2023 dollars) in discretionary funding from FY2015 through FY2024. Congress also provided several billion dollars in additional funding in recent years to support NOAA's mission.

This report describes NOAA's budget structure, including the agency's major and minor accounts, then summarizes annual and additional funding trends since FY2015.² Finally, the report identifies potential issues for congressional consideration, including concerns regarding NOAA's authorizations of appropriations and funding levels and the agency's administration of program funding, oversight and monitoring, and federal and nonfederal capacity to administer programs and projects.

Accounts and Funding

NOAA's responsibilities (or functions) are divided among six subagencies, or line offices: (1) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS); (2) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); (3) National Ocean Service (NOS); (4) National Weather Service (NWS); (5) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR); and (6) Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO). The line offices are supported by cross-cutting administrative functions related to education, planning, information technology, human resources, and infrastructure, collectively known as Mission Support.³ The sections below describe NOAA's funding account structure, including multiple discretionary and mandatory accounts that support line office activities, as well as funding levels for these accounts in recent years.

Accounts

Through authorization and appropriations laws, Congress has directed NOAA to establish multiple funding accounts to support agency activities. As a result, NOAA administers both discretionary and mandatory funding accounts. Discretionary spending results from budget authority provided in appropriations acts. Mandatory spending consists of outlays for certain federal benefit programs and other payments to nonfederal entities. Mandatory spending is generally governed by statutory criteria and, in most cases, is not constrained by the annual appropriations process.⁴

Congress provides discretionary funding to NOAA primarily through two accounts: (1) Operations, Research, and Facilities (ORF) and (2) Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction (PAC) (see the text box "Activities Funded Through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Operations, Research, and Facilities and Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction Accounts"). For example, in FY2024, Congress provided nearly $6.8 billion in total discretionary funding levels through the appropriations process, which included over $6.7 billion for ORF and PAC discretionary accounts (99% of the total).⁵

In addition to funding the PAC and ORF accounts, Congress has provided annual funding to several smaller discretionary accounts focused on specific activities (Table 1). In FY2024, the six non-ORF and non-PAC discretionary accounts focus on fisheries, marine mammals, and health insurance for the NOAA Commissioned Officers Corps.⁶ Non-ORF and non-PAC discretionary accounts represent a relatively small portion of NOAA's total funding; for example, in FY2024, Congress provided $6.8 billion in total discretionary funding levels, which included $67.9 million for non-ORF or non-PAC discretionary accounts (1% of the total).⁷

Congress also has authorized NOAA to administer various mandatory topic-specific accounts. Mandatory funding generally forms a small percentage of total NOAA funding. For example, in FY2024, NOAA had $6.8 billion in total discretionary funding levels and $265.1 million in mandatory funding levels.⁸ Mandatory funding composed nearly 4% of the FY2024 total of $7.1 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding levels. In FY2024, NOAA administered 16 mandatory accounts (Table 2);⁹ not all 16 accounts received funding in FY2024.

Sources of NOAA's Funding

NOAA obtains funding for its discretionary and mandatory accounts from several sources, including congressional appropriations, fees, receipts, and penalties, on an annual and/or occasional additional basis.

Annual Funding

Congress provides annual discretionary funding for NOAA through the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.¹⁰ In some years, funding for DOC agencies, including NOAA, is provided through either continuing resolutions or omnibus (or consolidated) appropriations acts.¹¹ Components of the agency's annual budget request and the amount Congress provides to NOAA through the annual discretionary funding process generally have included regular appropriations, transfers from other accounts, and deobligations from prior year obligations.¹² Congress typically refers to the total of these three components as the agency's direct obligations or funding levels (hereinafter funding levels).¹³ Regular appropriations are usually the largest portion of NOAA's overall funding levels, with transfers from other accounts and deobligations making up a relatively small portion of the total. For example, in FY2024, of the nearly $6.8 billion Congress provided the agency in discretionary funding, $454.5 million (nearly 7%) was provided via transfers from other accounts and deobligations.¹⁴

Congress has specified annual funding amounts for various discretionary accounts. For example, for each of FY2015 through FY2024, Congress provided between $6.3 billion and $7.3 billion (in 2023 dollars) for total ORF and PAC discretionary funding levels (Figure 1). Congress typically provides higher funding levels to the ORF account than to the PAC account, though the percentage of the total allocated to each of the ORF and PAC accounts has varied over time (Figure 1). From FY2015 through FY2024, ORF discretionary funding levels ranged from about 59% to 75% of the total ORF and PAC discretionary funding levels, with ORF composing over 70% since FY2020. Congress typically has allowed available funding to be obligated in multiple fiscal years, such as one to two fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated.

Figure 1. NOAA Requested and Enacted ORF and PAC Accounts Annual Discretionary Funding Levels (FY2015-FY2024)

Source: CRS, from NOAA budget justifications, congressional explanatory statements, and the White House, Office of Management and Budget, Table 10.1- Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables: 1940-2028, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/historical-tables/. Notes: FY = fiscal year; NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; ORF = Operations, Research, and Facilities; PAC = Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction. Discretionary funding levels include regular appropriations, transfers, and recoveries from prior year obligations. The figure does not include additional funding.

NOAA receives annual mandatory funding through various means, including transfers from other federal agencies, settlements, premiums, fees, fines, penalties, forfeiture proceeds, and congressional appropriations (see Table 2 for further information).¹⁵ Mandatory funding composed nearly 4% of the FY2024 total of $7.1 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding, for example.

Additional Funding

Congress has provided NOAA with periodic additional funding outside of the annual funding process (Figure 2).¹⁶ The additional funding has been both discretionary and mandatory. Additional discretionary funding has funded NOAA programs and activities focused on responding to certain economic disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and extreme weather events, such as hurricanes. Congress has provided such funds several times since 2015. For example, the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), provided a total of $620.0 million in funding to the ORF and Fisheries Disaster Assistance Fund accounts for activities in response to COVID-19.¹⁷ In another instance, the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 117-43) included over $92.0 million for ORF and over $52.0 million for PAC for "necessary expenses related to the consequences of hurricanes and of wildfires."¹⁸ Congress typically has allowed the additional amounts to remain available for multiple fiscal years, such as one to two fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated.

In addition, Congress has provided additional mandatory funding for the ORF, PAC, and Fisheries Disaster Assistance Fund accounts for reasons unrelated to a specific event (Figure 2). For example, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58) and the law known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA; P.L. 117-169) included several billion dollars in funds for NOAA activities.¹⁹ Provisions, for example, included $492 million over five years for grants from the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund and $190 million to remain available for five years to procure high-performance computing, data processing capacity, data management, and storage assets, among other purposes.²⁰

The total amount of additional funding provided in IIJA and IRA exceeds the total amounts Congress had otherwise provided NOAA since 2015 (Figure 2). Congress directed the agency to disburse most of the IIJA and IRA funding to nonfederal entities through direct payments, grants, and cooperative agreements.²¹

Figure 2. NOAA Additional Funding Amounts by Year of Enactment (2015-2024, by law)

Source: CRS from P.L. 115-123, P.L. 116-20, P.L. 116-136, P.L. 116-260, P.L. 117-43, P.L. 117-58, P.L. 117-169, P.L. 117-328, and the White House, Office of Management and Budget, Table 10.1- Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables: 1940-2028, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/historical-tables/. Notes: NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; ORF = Operations, Research, and Facilities; PAC = Procurement, Acquisitions, and Construction. P.L. 117-169 (known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) did not distinguish what account the amounts provided should go toward. Therefore, the P.L. 117-169 amount is denoted as "Unspecified" and shown in hashed gray. The laws made funding available for multiple fiscal years or until expended.

Issues for Congress

Congress may consider a range of potential issues related to NOAA's annual and additional funding. These issues are discussed below under two broad categories: (1) authorizations of appropriations and funding level issues and (2) program administration issues.

Authorizations and Funding Levels

NOAA faces several funding-related challenges. Issues include a lack of current or updated authorizations of appropriations across programs and fiscal years and changes in funding levels due, in part, to additional funding.

Authorizations of Appropriations

The potential effect of expired authorizations of appropriations on congressional decisionmaking on appropriations levels has been a concern for Congress. As of July 2024, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) listed at least 23 laws, some with multiple provisions, directing NOAA's activities with authorizations of appropriations that expired prior to or are expiring in FY2025.²² CBO estimated that Congress has authorized appropriations of over $515.4 billion and appropriated over $442.4 billion over time for these provisions, which focus on topics such as research, fisheries, marine mammal conservation, and marine and aviation operations, among others.²³

Some Members of Congress have expressed concern with appropriating funding to NOAA activities and programs with authorizations of appropriations that have expired or are expiring in the current fiscal year. They have sought a "commitment to regular order" where appropriations are made only to agencies and programs with current authorizations of appropriations.²⁴ Others in Congress might assert that the authorizations could be reconsidered to better reflect current congressional priorities and to better guide appropriators and Congress generally in decisionmaking on levels of appropriations. Congress could choose to examine some or all of NOAA's authorities and programs with lapsed authorizations of appropriations. Additionally, Congress might wish to consider whether consolidating authorizations of appropriations across programs or parts of NOAA would create more efficiencies and consistency in NOAA's implementation of its authorities. Alternatively, Congress might seek to reduce deliberations on authorizations of appropriations given other congressional priorities, time constraints, and the potential for collaboration among authorizing committees, appropriations committees, and congressional leadership during the appropriations process.

Further, if Congress were to amend the authorizations of appropriations on a program-by-program or line office basis, there may be a lag in reauthorizing appropriations for each program. This may create a challenge for NOAA in developing consistent policies and procedures across programs when there is uncertainty regarding what additional directives may be included in subsequent reauthorization language or appropriations bills.

Funding Levels

Members of Congress and other stakeholders have expressed differing views on NOAA's funding levels, with some advocating for higher, lower, or level funding over time. For example, some Members of Congress have proposed increased funding levels that would help NOAA "advance the next generation of climate and weather satellites," among other activities.²⁵ Some stakeholders also could contend that increasing NOAA's funding level to account for inflation, for example, would be appropriate. Alternatively, some Members have asserted that decreases in funding levels for some agencies, such as NOAA, are necessary, as the "fiscal situation facing the [n]ation requires some very significant and difficult spending reductions"; some of these Members contended that a draft version of the FY2024 appropriations bill, for example, "right-sizes agencies and programs."²⁶ Others have favored additional scrutiny of NOAA's budget request to determine whether the "program, activity or funding protect[s] lives and property," among other factors.²⁷ Stakeholders outside of Congress have shared sentiments similar to those expressed in Congress, with some supporting maintenance of or increases to NOAA's funding and others advocating for lower funding levels.²⁸

It can be difficult to track NOAA's proposed and actual spending of additional funding, making it challenging to determine whether existing funding levels are adequate to meet the agency's responsibilities (further discussed in the "Oversight and Monitoring" section, below). Congress may consider making changes to annual funding levels for activities and programs to account for available additional funding for NOAA through FY2026. Congress also may deliberate whether additional annual funds are necessary for the agency once additional funding has been spent.

Program Administration

NOAA and nonfederal entities may face multiple challenges in administering programs and projects. These challenges could include the ability to efficiently (1) manage accounts with different administrative activities and statutory requirements, (2) monitor and conduct oversight of fund disbursement, and (3) address program and project administration capacities at both the federal and nonfederal recipient levels.

Administering Program Funding

It may be challenging for NOAA to administer its programs and activities because of the agency's multiple authorizations and funding streams (see "Accounts and Funding"). As noted, the two main accounts that fund NOAA projects are ORF and PAC. However, the administrative activities involved for ORF-funded projects differ significantly from the administrative activities involved for PAC-funded projects. Program administration activities for ORF-type projects generally include developing extensive policy and procedure manuals that provide definitions and allowable-use provisions for project management and administration (M&A) costs.²⁹ By comparison, PAC-type projects generally involve more pre-award program administration activities by NOAA to ensure the acquisition, construction, or modification of facilities aligns with applicable federal rules and regulations.³⁰ Therefore, program administration approaches, including how to allocate resources to disburse and monitor funding, vary based upon the type of account used to fund the project.

Further, Congress sometimes includes additional directives in appropriations laws and related report language. In these instances, NOAA must adjust program administration activities specific to that particular appropriated amount. This may increase NOAA's administrative tasks and impact the agency's ability to streamline program administration activities across programs and accounts. Alternatively, additional directives may require the agency to streamline program and activity administration, which may lessen administrative burden. Congress may consider the relative merits of alternative approaches to program administration. Potential approaches could include consolidating program activities based on the type of project to be funded or streamlining program and activity authorizations across the agency, among other actions.

Oversight and Monitoring

Both Congress and NOAA perform oversight and monitoring of federal funding administration—Congress of the agency's program and activity administration and NOAA of its grant recipients' project administration. Congress may assess whether to address challenges in program and project administration, including via changes to spend plans and grant recipient monitoring mechanisms, among other potential options.

Spend Plans

Congress performs oversight and monitoring of federal agency spending through various means, including reviewing agency plans to spend available funding. However, it can be difficult to track NOAA's proposed and actual spending of funding. This is because budget documents are typically released once a year as part of the annual requested budget submission to Congress and/or may not include information about additional funding. For example, while Congress included NOAA-specific oversight measures within IIJA, Congress did not do so in IRA. The IIJA provisions state that, for the ORF and Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery accounts, "for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2026, as part of the annual budget submission of the President under [31 U.S.C. §1105(a)], the Secretary of Commerce shall submit a detailed spend plan for that fiscal year."³¹ The FY2023 and FY2024 NOAA budget requests to Congress, which are publicly available, included mentions of IIJA and IRA. These requests did not contain a spend plan for this additional funding.³² The FY2025 NOAA budget request included a spend plan for appropriations received via IIJA and did not include a spend plan for IRA funds.³³ Spend plans for additional funding in these years could have been sent to the congressional committees of jurisdiction directly and not made publicly accessible. Some agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, have published their spend plans, in addition to their annual budget requests, on agency websites.³⁴

Moving forward, Congress could evaluate whether to take additional actions to foster congressional oversight of NOAA and public availability of information from the agency. For instance, Congress could assess the advantages and disadvantages of directing NOAA to include spend plans, for any future additional funding laws, in subsequent budget documents. Similarly, Congress could consider whether to direct NOAA to report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on programs funded or created by additional funding laws, as required for some other agencies.³⁵ Additionally, Congress could weigh whether to instruct DOC and/or NOAA to continue to track existing and/or new aspects of additional spending through mechanisms such as USAspending.gov and individual agency websites and geospatial tools.³⁶

Grant Recipient Monitoring

In line with other federal agencies, NOAA is required to conduct monitoring and oversight activities of grant recipients as part of the agency's program administration responsibilities. DOC has reported on issues related to NOAA's disbursement of previous additional funding. For example, in 2020, the DOC Office of Inspector General (OIG) identified errors in previous disbursements of additional funds for fishery disaster assistance, including instances "where [interstate] Commissions claimed costs that were either unallowable, not allocable, or unsupported."³⁷ DOC officials identified ways to improve the agency's funding disbursal and use, using lessons learned from oversight of COVID-related funds, including improving controls over grant file management.³⁸

Additionally, Congress could consider whether to direct the agency to implement a pre-award risk assessment mechanism pursuit to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance.³⁹ Among other provisions in the OMB guidance, a grantee risk assessment could include evaluating nonfederal entities' capacity to conduct appropriate project management and developing an enhanced monitoring, reporting, and technical assistance plan to better assist the nonfederal entities in managing federal grant funding. Adjusting grant guidance to the grantee, based on the risk assessment, could reduce agency program administration challenges. In addition, such actions might enable NOAA to take a more proactive approach to potential high-risk grantees, potentially reducing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse in line with OMB recommendations.

Congress could consider other ways to perform oversight of the disbursement of IIJA and IRA funds to grant recipients to encourage appropriate implementation. For example, Congress could evaluate whether to

• conduct additional oversight actions, such as holding congressional hearings, writing letters to the agency, and making requests for DOC OIG and Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits and investigations of agency and nonfederal recipient actions,⁴⁰ and
• direct a portion of enacted funding or any future funding toward DOC OIG to conduct oversight of NOAA's disbursal of the additional funding.⁴¹

More generally, Congress could consider whether to direct NOAA to take any of these actions using enacted funding, which could draw funds away from other agency activities. Alternatively, Congress could consider providing additional funds for implementation, which could impact the availability of funding for other NOAA functions or governmental purposes more broadly.

Federal and Nonfederal Capacity to Administer Programs and Projects

Additional funding often requires enhanced program administration capacity at both federal agencies and nonfederal entities.⁴² GAO has reported that human capital, organizational, and financial capacities at federal agencies and nonfederal entities are key to successful grants management,⁴³ with limited capacity potentially increasing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. Some stakeholders have expressed concerns with federal and nonfederal capacity to administer funding provided to NOAA via IIJA and IRA.

Federal Capacity Challenges

The extent to which NOAA has sufficient capacity to manage available additional funding has been under discussion. Some at NOAA have expressed concern with the agency's capacity to manage the available additional funding. For instance, in 2022, the NOAA Administrator expressed that agency employees lacked "resources and staffing" and were "being asked to do more with less" when implementing NOAA-led initiatives under IIJA and IRA.⁴⁴

Depending on whether NOAA has the authority to adjust allocations of funding for program administration activities, NOAA may face capacity challenges in administering programs, including the following:

• Diversity in types of programs and projects to administer. The diversity in NOAA programs and projects may make it more difficult to streamline or standardize program administration activities.
• Differences in administering annual vs. additional funding. NOAA's process for administering annually appropriated funding differs from the process for administering additional funding. NOAA also may need to conduct additional monitoring and oversight if a nonfederal entity received funding from both funding streams, particularly in cases where there is a significant increase in funding over previous funding amounts.
• Overlapping program administration phases. If additional funding is provided when other grant funding already has been awarded to nonfederal entities, agency employees face overlapping grant administration duties when conducting both pre- and post-award activities simultaneously.⁴⁵ The challenge may be enhanced by the number of programs NOAA is administering that may receive both annual and additional funding.
• Accelerated timelines. Congress directed NOAA to obligate certain amounts of funding provided in IIJA and IRA within certain time frames (e.g., within the next two fiscal years). GAO noted that, in the past, creation of new programs through additional funding sometimes has required accelerated program rollouts, which occasionally has led to administrative capacity challenges for agencies.⁴⁶ Additionally, accelerating the implementation of new programs may lead to reduced monitoring, oversight, and/or technical assistance for existing grantees. In turn, reduced monitoring and oversight activities may increase the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse.

M&A activities generally include the use of cash and grant management systems, technical assistance for grantees, and development of resources for grant seekers and grant recipients. Congress sometimes has specified how NOAA should use M&A funds. For example, under IIJA, Congress directed the agency to use over $2.6 billion for certain activities and "for administrative costs, technical support, and oversight."⁴⁷ Several sections in IRA (§§40001, 40004(a) and (b), and 40005) directed NOAA to use funds for grants, technical assistance, and research and "for related administrative expenses."⁴⁸ NOAA also has previously explored alternatives to reduce the administrative activities of the agency, including by transferring funds to another agency to administer.⁴⁹

Although funding for M&A activities is included in IIJA and IRA, Congress could consider whether additional funding would help resolve specific challenges. Congress also may consider providing guidance to NOAA on how to prioritize M&A expenditures. For example, policymakers may consider directing the agency to use funding for personnel vs. technical assistance to grantees. In addition, Congress may consider extending the time frames to use the funding, thereby potentially alleviating NOAA M&A capacity challenges and possibly reducing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. Finally, policymakers may deliberate whether to direct NOAA to work with other agencies to distribute additional funding.

Nonfederal Capacity Challenges

Nonfederal grant applicants and recipients may face a range of challenges within their organizations that could impact their ability to access, manage, and implement grants. For example, some stakeholders have identified issues related to inadequate staffing to apply for and manage federal grants or financial constraints limiting their ability to fulfill program and project requirements.⁵⁰ More specifically, nonfederal grant applicants and recipients may face capacity challenges related to (1) the availability of funding from and differences in requirements across NOAA programs, (2) variations in requirements for annual funding vs. additional funding, (3) the management of funding opportunities and projects in different administration phases, and (4) the necessity of working on accelerated time frames. For example, a nonfederal entity may be receiving funding from more than one NOAA program, with project administration activities that may overlap if each of the funding opportunities is in a different phase. The recipient may then be notified of the availability of additional funding. Additional funding may include provisions that vary from traditional program administration, which may require the applicant to seek increased assistance to facilitate compliance.⁵¹

Congress has directed NOAA to provide technical assistance to nonfederal entities to facilitate grant funding administration activities and ameliorate some of these challenges. For example, Congress directed NOAA to use some funds under IIJA and IRA for "technical support" or "technical assistance."⁵² NOAA used this funding to provide technical assistance to applicants and/or recipients for IIJA- and IRA-related funding opportunities.⁵³

Congress could evaluate what, if any, additional direction to NOAA might improve nonfederal capacity and potentially lower the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. Additionally, Congress could consider whether to direct GAO, DOC OIG, or another entity to assess the extent to which NOAA is meeting the needs of applicants or recipients through its technical assistance programs or other means. Depending on the outcome of any such assessment, additional courses of action could include directing the agency to implement any assessment recommendations and making additional federal resources available to NOAA for such implementation.

Footnotes