The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Budget for FY2007: President’s Request, Congressional Appropriations, and Related Issues

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Budget for FY2007: President’s Request, Congressional Appropriations, and Related Issues

Order Code RS22410
Updated January 17, 2007
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Budget for FY2007:
President’s Request, Congressional
Appropriations, and Related Issues
Wayne A. Morrissey
Information Research Specialist (Science & Technology)
Knowledge Services Group
Summary
This report tracks congressional appropriation action on the President’s FY2007
funding request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Issues of possible concern are summarized, including decreases in funding for ocean
research and consideration of an act to authorize all NOAA programs under a single law.
The President requested $3.68 billion for NOAA and would include increases for its
satellite programs to address cost overruns and schedule slippage. He also proposed
savings of $627 million from NOAA program terminations. P.L. 109-148, the FY2006
Defense Appropriations Act, provided supplemental appropriations of $54.6 million for
the agency. P.L. 109-234 provided $150 million in further emergency appropriations
for NOAA. On June 6, 2006, Congress began its work on the FY2007 appropriation for
NOAA. The House passed H.R. 5672, Science, State, Justice, and Commerce
Appropriations for FY2007. The Senate Appropriations Committee has reported H.R.
5672 (amended), recommending $1 billion more in funding for NOAA than the House
and far more than the FY2007 request. A continuing resolution requires that NOAA
funding be maintained at House-passed levels until further notice. This report will be
updated as warranted.
Agency Funding
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 In terms of funding, NOAA is the largest agency of the Department of Commerce
(DOC) and, for FY2007, accounts for about two-thirds of DOC’s budget request of $6.1
1 Department of Commerce, NOAA FY2007 Budget Summary, Feb. 8, 2006.

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billion. NOAA is funded in Title II, “Department of Commerce,” of the House Science,
State, Justice, and Commerce Appropriations Act (hereafter, SSJC Appropriations).
President’s Budget and Congressional Action Overview
Congress passed H.R. 2862, SSJC Appropriations for FY2006 on November 25,
2006, which provided $3.95 billion for NOAA (P.L. 109-108). On February 6, 2006,
President Bush requested $3.68 billion for NOAA for FY2007. (See Table 1.) On June
22, 2006, the House passed H.R. 5672 and reported SSJC Appropriations for FY2007
(H.Rept. 109-520), appropriating $3.38 billion for the agency. On July 13, 2006, the
Senate reported H.R. 5672, amended (S.Rept. 109-280), and recommended $4.43 billion
for NOAA for FY2007. H.J.Res. 102 (P.L. 109-289, division B) requires that for FY2007
NOAA be funded at House-passed H.R. 5672 levels until February 15, 2007.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico
and inflicted major damage. Scores of lives were lost. President Bush requested
emergency appropriations to repair damages of NOAA equipment and facilities. A 1%
across-the-board discretionary spending cut was proposed for most federal agencies to
offset funding for the 2005 Gulf hurricane disasters in P.L. 109-148. The act funded
$54.3 million in emergency appropriations for NOAA. On February 6, 2006, President
Bush requested another $32.8 million for NOAA recovery in the Gulf. Congress passed
H.R. 4943, appropriating $150 million instead (P.L. 109-248). In the end, NOAA
received a total appropriation of $4.1 billion for FY2006.
FY2007 Budget Request. The President requested nearly $3.68 billion for
NOAA for FY2007. (See Table 1 and Figure 1 below). Of that amount, $2.59 billion
was requested for ORF; $1.02 billion for PAC; and $60.8 million for NOAA’s “Other
Accounts.” On February 8, 2006, in Washington, DC, Administrator VADM Conrad C.
Lautenbacher, Jr. (Ret.-USN) of NOAA discussed proposed funding increases for some
discretionary programs and funding cuts for others.2 NOAA’s FY2007 baseline budget
was set at $3.91 billion, which excludes FY2006 emergency appropriations.
Table 1 below shows the Presidents’s request for the agency and subsequent
appropriation action for FY2007. NOAA has three budget accounts. The Operations,
Research, and Facilities (ORF) account funds research programs and operations of five
line offices and Program Support (PS). The Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction
(PAC) account funds multi-year, capital-intensive outlays across the agency. NOAA’s
“Other Accounts” finance U.S. fishery operations, and manage the Pacific Coastal Salmon
Recovery Fund (PCSRF) and the Coastal Zone Management Fund (CZMF).3 Also, a
portion of fees collected in the CZMF and proceeds from the Promote and Develop
American Fisheries Fund (PDAF) are transferred to ORF as budget authority. In some
2 See the presentation at [http://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/%7Enbo/FY07_BlueBook/
PDFs/VADMFY07ConstituentBriefFINAL_NoNotes.pdf].
3 As an alternative to the budget presentation above, NOAA also reports its annual request by five
agency-wide strategic goals: Ecosystems, Climate, Weather & Water, Commerce and
Transportation, and Mission Support. For appropriations purposes, Congress has voiced
preference for NOAA’s “traditional” budget presentation.

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years, Congress has authorized NOAA use of previous fiscal year surplus funding
(deobligations).
Table 1. NOAA’s Budget Request and Appropriations for FY2007
($ in millions)
FY2006
FY2007
H.R.
Senate
Accounts
Approp.a
Req.b
5672 c
Markd
NOAA 5 Line Offices & Program Support
NOS
ORF
500.0
394.5
315.1
630.5
PAC
92.6
12.7
—
144.8
National Ocean Service
595.6
407.2
315.1
775.3
NMFS
ORF
678.5
649.0
539.1
813.7
PAC
17.5
0.0
—
—
National Marine Fisheries Service
696.0
649.0
539.1
813.7
OAR
ORF
373.7
338.3
328.5
467.2
PAC
9.5
10.4
10.4
18.4
Oceanic & Atmospheric Research
383.2
348.7
338.9
485.6
NWS
ORF
745.3
783.4
784.6
823.6
PAC
92.0
98.4
100.4
103.0
National Weather Service
837.3
881.8
885.0
890.1
NESDIS
ORF
179.3
149.6
145.3
163.2
PAC
785.3
884.3
884.3
719.8
Natl.Enviro. Satellite, Data, & Info. Service
964.6
1,033.9
1,029.6
883.0
PS
ORF
356.4
364.1
356.6
386.3
PAC
127.4
20.7
3.6
71.9
Program Supporte
483.8
384.8
361.2
458.2
ORF Subtotal
2,727.9
2,587.8
2,365.2
3,284.4
ORF Deobligations and Transfersf
(66.1)
(77.0)
(77.0)
(77.0)
ORF Adjustmentsg
2.9
5.0
3.0
5.0
FY2006 Emergency Appropriations (ORF)h
$135.2
—
—
—
Total ORF
2,866.1
2,592.8
2,368.2
3,289.4
Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction
PAC Subtotal
1,109.9
1,024.5
996.7
1,057.9
FY2006 Emergency Appropriation (PAC)h
69.4
—
—
—
Total PAC
1,179.3
1,024.5
996.7
1,057.9
Other Accounts
PCSRF
66.6
66.8
22.0
90.0
CZMF
(3.0)
(3.0)
(3.0)
(3.0)
Fisheries Financing
(9.0)
(3.0)
(5.0)
(3.0)
Total Other
54.6
60.8
12.0
84.0
Grand Total NOAA
$4,100.0
$3,678.1
$3,376.9
$4,431.3
Source: Compiled by CRS from sources noted below.
a. Grand totals for the FY2006 appropriation and the President’s FY2007 budget request are estimates of
the Senate Appropriations Committee (S.Rept. 109-280, July 13, 2006).
b. Request detail from U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA, FY2007 Budget Summary, February 7, 2006.
c. H.R. 5672 as passed by House, June 26, 2006 (funding recommended in H.Rept. 109-520).

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d. See note a.
e. “Program Support” funding details are included in Table 2.
f. ORF totals exclude non-appropriated spending authority such as deobligations (previous fiscal year
budget savings), mandatory transfer of funding from PDAFF, and NOAA use of fees collected for
CZMF, which are subtracted here.
g. Adjustments include $2 million for retirement set-asides and/or $3 million for CZMA.
h. FY2006 appropriation reflects a rescission of $28.3 million for ORF; $11.2 million for PAC; $0.7 for
PCSRF and $0.003 million for the Fisheries Finance Program account, totaling about $40 million, or
about 1.0% for the agency. In addition, sect. 638 of P.L. 109-108 reduced NOAA funding by 0.28%.
FY2006 emergency appropriations for NOAA were included in P.L. 109-148 and P.L. 109-234.
The President’s request is about $420 million, or 10.2%, less than the $4.1 billion
appropriated for NOAA in FY2006. NWS and NESDIS would receive increases,
including $104 million for NOAA’s Global Orbiting Environmental Satellite (GOES)
program to procure new “GOES-R” generation instrumentation. The National Polar
Orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) budget increase proposes $20.3
million to address slipping schedules and cost overruns. (NOAA funding for NPOESS
is matched by the Department of Defense.) The President requested $12.4 million to
procure the remaining tsunami detection buoys for NWS’s National Tsunami Warning
Program, culminating the Administration’s commitment of $40 million toward that goal.4
Table 2. The NOAA Program Support Funding Detailed
FY2006
FY2007
H.R.
Senate
NOAA Accounts
Approp.
Req.
5672
Mark
Corporate Services (CS)a
179.0
192.0
183.8
191.8
Educational Pgms. (Ed)b
34.0
19.3
26.5
37.9
Off. Marine &Aviation Ops. (OMAO)
194.8
129.9
128.9
175.8
Marine O&M
113.8
93.5
106.3
114.7
Aviation Ops.
18.6
19.2
19.0
19.2
Fleet Replace/Acq. (PAC)
62.5
38.2
3.6
41.9
Facilities (FAC)
58.0
23.0
21.0
52.8
Maint./Enviro./Safety
11.0
23.0
4.0
22.8
Construction (PAC)
47.0
—
17.0
30.0
Integr. Ocean Obs. Sys. (IOOS)c
18.0
12.9
—
—
Total
$407.8
$377.1
$360.2
$458.3
Source: Compiled by CRS from same sources identified for Table 1.
a. Funding for Corporate Services (CS) includes the Offices of the Under Secretary for
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (USAO) and the division of Policy Formulation
and Development (PFD).
b. All NOAA educational programs were consolidated as a subactivity under Program Support
in FY2005.
c. A PAC-Program Support budget line was created in FY2006 to fund development of an
Integrated [Coastal &] Ocean Observation System (IOOS). (See S.Rept. 109-88.)
Other budget priorities for NOAA in FY2007 included increases of $10.5 million
to clear a backlog of coastal hydrographic surveys and to update nautical charts; $6.1
4 For additional information about tsunami warning systems and funding, see CRS Report
RL32739, Tsunamis: Monitoring, Detection, and Early Warning Systems, by Wayne Morrissey.

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million for the “global environmental observing system of systems” (GEOSS); and $22.5
million for protection of marine endangers species. NOAA supercomputer funding
would double to $13 million and include $2.5 million for hurricane research modeling.
President Bush also requested Congress to restore $25 million of unobligated funds that
were rescinded in FY2005 by Section 638 in Title II of P.L. 109-108. The President
sought $627 million in NOAA savings by terminating certain programs, including $572
million from congressional add-ons for FY2006, which the Administration did not
request. The other $55 million in terminations are construction projects funded for one
year only. The President’s FY2007 budget for NOAA has been criticized by Joint
Oceans Commission Initiative (JOCI) leaders because of proposed cuts in ocean and
coastal research-related activities. JOCI supporters are concerned that these activities
would be cut by $280 million compared with the FY2006 appropriation. The National
Ocean Policy Commission (Recommendation 25.1) recommended a doubling of funding
for these activities by 2009.5
House Appropriations. On June 26, 2006, the House passed H.R. 5672, SSJC
Appropriations for FY2007 and appropriated nearly $3.38 billion for NOAA (H.Rept.
109-520). This is about $300 million, or 8.2%, less than the FY2007 request of $3.68
billion and $570 million, or 14.4%, less than the FY2006 appropriation (House totals
included emergency appropriations). The House cut funding for most NOAA line office
budgets more than the President’s request had; the National Weather Service being the
exception. NOAA’s Satellite budget was cut reflecting dissatisfaction with management
of the NPOESS program and its associated satellite data management components. The
PCSRF request of $67 million was cut to less than $20 million, because of little
quantitative data about the program’s performance was provided to Congress. NOS and
NMFS had the largest budget cuts reflecting the Administration’s proposed terminations
for FY2007, such as no new funding provided for marine research or ocean exploration.
Senate Appropriations Committee Recommendations. On July 13, 2006,
H.R. 5672 (amended) was reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee (S.Rept.
109-280) as a substitute bill, which recommended $4.43 billion for NOAA. This is $330
million more than FY2006 appropriations of $4.1 billion, $750 million more than the
FY2007 request, and $1 billion more than House appropriations for FY2007. Increases
of $511 million were recommended to fund ocean and coastal research activities that
were called for by the JOCI. (JOCI leaders had recommended $715 million.) Of the
Senate committee’s recommendations, $142.8 million would be used to develop the
Integrated [Coastal and] Ocean Observation System, exceeding JOCI leaders’
recommendations. The Senate committee also recommended increases for NOAA
fisheries (NMFS) for science-based marine conservation, management, and restoration
activities. It recommended a $25 million increase for the National Sea Grant Program
and would fully fund Ocean Exploration. Further, $28 million was recommended for the
National Buoy Data Center for network upgrades and long-term operations and
maintenance. The network is integral to many NOAA programs and NWS operations.
Funding for NOAA educational programs was recommended at $38 million, about $19
million more than the FY2006 request. Increases were recommended for Marine Data
Acquisition (OMAO) mainly to fund salaries and benefits for 22 additional
commissioned officers, some of whom pilot NOAA marine vessels and aircraft while
5 Joint Oceanic Commission, “Statement of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative on President
Bush’s FY2007 Budget Proposal,” Feb. 13, 2006, at [http://www.jointoceancommission.org/].

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others are professional divers. The committee also recommended $49 million for marine
research vessel procurement, rehabilitation, and conversion. Also, NOAA was directed
to provide a detailed cost estimate for acquiring a second (Gulfstream IV) hurricane
reconnaissance jet. The PCSRF would be slated for $90 million in funding, about $70
million more than the House appropriation. The final outcome for NOAA funding for
FY2007 remains to be seen. The FY2008 budget for NOAA will be introduced on
February 8, 2007.
Figure 1. NOAA Funding Distribution by
Accounts
Source: Compiled by CRS from totals in Table 1.
Related Budget Issues
Other factors may bear on NOAA’s FY2007 budget outcome. These include
! Criticism of President Bush by the JOCI leaders of proposed budget cuts
for NOAA ocean and coastal research-related activities recommended
by the National Ocean Policy and Pew Commission reports.
! NOAA (and partners NASA and DOD) delays in launch and deployment
of NPOESS, including the development of ground-based systems
architecture, general program operations, and contract management.
! Legislative action on H.R. 5450 (109th Cong., 2nd sess.), which is H.R.
50 reintroduced and amended to authorize funding for all of NOAA’s
programs and activities under a single law, known as an organic act.
! Outcome of congressional deliberations on NOAA’s FY2007 budget.