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On February 4, 2008, President Bush requested $4.103 billion in discretionary budget authority
for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Department of
Commerce (DOC) for FY2009. This amount was $207 million, or 5.3%, more than FY2008
enacted appropriations of $3.896 billion. Bush Administration priorities for the NOAA budget
included restoring funding for some programs that were flat-funded or cut for FY2008; re-
capitalizing aging facilities, equipment, vessels, buildings, and other infrastructure; and ensuring
that NOAA satellite programs meet mission requirements and are kept to schedule.
On December 10, 2008, the House Appropriations Committee reported H.R. 7322 (110th
Congress), amended, to fund the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related
Agencies (CJS) for FY2009. The House committee recommended $4.252 billion for NOAA,
which is $356 million, or 9.1%, more than the FY2008 appropriation and $149 million, or 3.6%,
more than the FY2009 request.
On June 23, 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported S. 3182 (110th Congress), the
CJS Appropriations Act for FY2009, and recommended $4.446 billion for NOAA. This amount
was $549 million, or 14.2%, more than the FY2008 appropriation, $193 million, or 4.5%, more
than the House committee recommendation, and $342 million, or 8.3%, more than the FY2009
request.
On September 30, 2008, President Bush signed the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance,
and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 into law as P.L. 110-329, Division B, which froze most
of NOAA’s spending at FY2008 levels through March 6, 2009. NOAA also received emergency
supplemental appropriations under P.L. 110-329, Division A, totaling $92 million.
In addition, NOAA would receive additional funding as reported by the conference committee on
H.R. 1 (amended), the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, passed by Congress on
February 13, 2009, and popularly known as “The Stimulus Bill.”
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Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
President Bush’s FY2009 Budget.................................................................................................... 1
NOAA Funding Proposals......................................................................................................... 3
Congressional Action on Appropriations for NOAA ................................................................ 5
House Actions ..................................................................................................................... 5
Senate Actions..................................................................................................................... 5
Comparison of FY2009 Funding Provisions............................................................................. 6
FY2009 Continuing Resolution. ............................................................................................... 6
FY2009 Stimulus Bill................................................................................................................ 7
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Table 1. FY2008 Appropriations, the FY2009 Request, and Congressional Budget Action........... 1
Table 2. NOAA Program Support (PS) Funding Detailed............................................................... 2
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Author Contact Information ............................................................................................................ 7
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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 President Bush’s
FY2009 request of $4.103 billion for NOAA is the largest for an agency of the Department of
Commerce (DOC) in terms of funding, and accounts for nearly 47%of DOC’s discretionary
budget request of $8.721 billion. An FY2009 budget document indicates that NOAA’s share of
President Bush’s entire “Federal Science and Technology Budget” for FY2009 would be $378.0
million, or 0.61%, of the $61.7 billion proposed.2
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Of the $4.103 billion President Bush requested for NOAA for FY2009 (
Table 1), $2.834 billion
would be for the Operations, Research, and Facilities (ORF) discretionary account; $1.238 billion
for the Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction (PAC) account; and a net $31 million for
NOAA’s Other Accounts, which includes $35.0 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery
Fund (PCSRF), zero net funding for the ORF Coastal Zone Management Fund (CZMF) and,
according to the House Appropriation Committee estimates, an offsetting budget authority of $4.0
million from NOAA fishery financing. When authorized, additional budget authority (BA) offsets
the amount of discretionary funding that the agency would require otherwise. For example, for
FY2009 President Bush proposed a transfer of $79.0 million in offsetting BA for ORF from
NOAA’s Promote and Develop American Fisheries Products Fund (PDAF), the proceeds of
which are transferred from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Table 1. FY2008 Appropriations, the FY2009 Request, and Congressional Budget
Action
(budget authority in millions of dollars)
FY2008
FY2009
House
Senate
NOAA Accounts
Enacteda
Requestb
Actionc
Actiond
Operations, Research, and Facilities (ORF): NOAA Budget Line Offices
National Ocean Service (NOS)
467.9
449.3
472.2
516.8
NOAA Fisheries (NMFS)
708.6
724.2
744.4
777.3
NOAA Research (OAR)
387.9
372.3
396.3
403.4
National Weather Service (NWS)
805.3
818.8
825.8
847.9
NOAA Satellites (NESDIS)
179.2
165.3
179.2
177.9
Program Support (PS)
392.4
394.4
410.0
426.5
1 U.S. Dept. 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, Table 5-2, “Federal Science and Technology Budget(NOAA),”
The Budget
for Fiscal Year 2009: Analytical Perspectives, February 2008, p. 54.
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FY2008
FY2009
House
Senate
NOAA Accounts
Enacteda
Requestb
Actionc
Actiond
ORF BA Total
2,941.3
2,924.3
3,027.9
3,149.8
Offsets (PDAF/CZMF transfer/deobligations)
(82.0)
(93.0)
(45.6)
(97.9)
ORF Discretionary
2,859.3
2,831.3
2,982.3
3,051.9
Procurement, Acquisition, & Construction
979.2
1,238.7
1,212.3
1,258.0
Other Accounts/PCSRF/CZMF/Finance
58.0
33.9
58.0
86.0
Fisheries Disaster Mitigation Funde
N/A
N/A
N/A
50.0
Total NOAA Discretionary
$3,896.5
$4,103.9
$4,252.6
$4,445.9
Appropriationsf
Source: Compiled by CRS from sources as noted below.
Notes: Table does not include $92 million provided in Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and
Continuing Appropriations (through 3/6/09) Act, 2009 (P.L. 110-329, Div. A) for NOAA.
a. As reported by the House conferees on H.R. 2764, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Div. B—
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008, December 26, 2007.
b. H.R. 7322, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2009, introduced, June
26, 2008, and reported by the House Appropriations Committee (H.Rept. 110-919), December 10, 2008.
c. H.Rept. 110-919, December 10, 2008, p. 276.
d. S.Rept. 110-397 to accompany S. 3182, Departments of Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Bill, 2009, June 23, 2008.
e. A new NOAA budget line proposed by the Senate Appropriations Committee (S.Rept. 110-397, June 23,
2008, p. 37).
f. The FY2008 enacted ORF total includes a rescission of $11.3 million mandated in Title VII, P.L. 110-161. It
also reflects S.Amdt. 3290 to H.R. 3093, approved October 16, 2007, which transferred $30.0 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).
For FY2009, President Bush requested that Congress approve other offsetting BA of $11.0
million for the ORF account from previous fiscal-year unobligated appropriations. Another $3.0
million in BA would be transferred internally to ORF from CZMF collections for administering
the Coastal Zone Management Program. In addition to NOAA’s five budget line offices under
ORF, Program Support (PS), a cross-cutting budget activity, supports agency administration,
education programs, facilities, marine services, and the NOAA fleet of marine vessels and
aircraft. Details of PS funding are found in
Table 2.
Table 2. NOAA Program Support (PS) Funding Detailed
($ in millions)
FY2008a
FY2009
House
Senate
PS Accounts
Enacted
Request
Action
Action
Operations, Research, and Facilities
Corporate Services (CS)
Under Secretary and Associate Offices
28.8
28.7
28.7
28.7
Facilities Managementb
18.5
24.3
29.3
24.3
Corporate Services and Agency Management
158.2
162.3
162.4
162.3
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FY2008a
FY2009
House
Senate
PS Accounts
Enacted
Request
Action
Action
Operations, Research, and Facilities
Corporate Services (CS)
Office of Chief Information Officer (IT)
1.0
2.1
2.1
2.1
Subtotal CS
206.5
217.4
222.5
217.4
Educational Programs (ED)
34.1
16.5
20.5
48.7
Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO)
Marine Servicesc
109.9
113.5
118.5
113.5
Fleet Planning & Maintenance
16.8
17.0
17.0
17.0
Aviation Services
25.2
30.0
31.5
30.0
Subtotal OMAO
151.9
160.5
167.0
160.5
Total PS ORF
392.5
394.4
410.0
426.5
Procurement, Acquisition, And Construction
Fleet Replace/Acquisition
5.3
11.5
11.5
15.4
PS Construction
23.2
87.0
37.9
87.0
Total PS PAC
28.5
98.5
49.4
102.4
Grand Total PS (ORF + PAC)d
$421.0
$492.9
$459.4
$528.9
Source: Compiled by CRS from H.Rept. 110-919 (December 10, 2008); S.Rept. 110-397 (June 23, 2008); and
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Committee Print of the House Committee on Appropriations on H.R.
2764 , P.L. 110-161, Division B—Commerce, Justice, Science, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008
(December 16, 2007).
a. P.L. 110-161, Div. B, Title I, Department of Commerce, NOAA.
b. In some sources Facilities is included as part of Corporate Services.
c. Includes funding for NOAA Corps health care benefits across-the-board.
d. The ORF funding portion of PS is reported in Table 1. The PAC portion is part of the PAC total.
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Among NOAA’s priorities for FY2009, Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., U.S. Navy
(Ret.), then 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.3 He indicated that “technology refreshment” was needed for some NOAA marine vessels
and aircraft by replacing older environmental sensing instrumentation. The Vice Admiral stated
that base funding for certain NOAA programs and activities was reduced in FY2008 in favor of
Congressionally Directed Programs (CDPs).4 He added that this funding needed to be restored if
the agency were to fund new initiatives.5 Lautenbacher also noted that the agency would have to
3 U.S. Dept. 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).
4 Ibid.
5 CRS estimated a total of $150.4 million in CDPs for NOAA in U.S. House Appropriations Committee Print
(continued...)
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absorb increased costs of personnel and inflation of goods and services to maintain operation of
NOAA’s “Core Mission.” As for the Bush Administration’s Ocean Initiative, Lautenbacher
discussed funding increases for (1) climate and ocean-related research activities (including
drought); (2) marine resources conservation and management regulations aimed at over-fishing;
and (3) critical marine habitat restoration to increase declining fish stocks. Other funding, he
stated, would target coastal research, navigation safety, and the national Integrated Ocean
Observation Network (IOOS). Lautenbacher also cited specific Bush Administration priorities for
NOAA for FY2009, which include the following:6
• Develop and test new technologies to meet future challenges of weather
forecasting, global climate monitoring, and continuity of scientific data.
• Develop and test the next-generation geostationary satellites (GOES-R).
• Restore GOES funding cuts and increase the budget by $242.2 million for
FY2009 (to more than double the FY2008 appropriation).
• Provide $74.0 million to restore critical sensors on the National Polar-orbiting
Observation Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
• Increase funding to test NPOESS ground control systems as part of the near-term
NPOESS preparatory project (NPP).
• Decrease funding for the Polar-orbiting Observational Environmental Satellite
(POES) program by $92.0 million as operations wind down.
• Add $49.0 million in
new funding for President Bush’s Ocean Initiative.
Total
funding requested for the Initiative was $159.0 million for FY2009, and included
$78.3 million for ocean science and research; $31.7 million for protecting and
restoring marine coastal areas (which includes $7.0 million for the Coastal and
Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP)); and $48.9 million for
sustainable use of ocean resources and enforcing laws against over-fishing in
U.S. waters.
• Increase funding for the NOS Integrated Ocean Observation System (IOOS) by
$7.0 million to develop an educational component as part of National Ocean
Research Priorities Plan Implementation.
• Add $2.2 million to Tide and Current Data to expand the National Ocean Service
National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) and augment near-
coastal, real-time tide gauge data.
• Site the Physical Observation in Real Time System (PORTS) at more U.S. ports
with an increase of $2.0 million to support safe navigation and homeland security
needs.
(...continued)
(unnumbered), Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, to Accompany H.R. 2764 (amended), Div. B—Commerce,
Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (P.L. 110-161), December 16, 2007.
6 Funding changes herein reported by NOAA as compared with President Bush’s FY2008 request. See NOAA,
FY2009
Budget Summary, February 4, 2008, at http://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/~nbo/09bluebook_highlights.html.
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• Provide $2.9 million for NOAA Weather Radio Improvement program to
modernize forecast dissemination technology and provide high impact,
geographically targeted forecasts and warnings for those at most risk.
• Increase by $5.3 million funds for technology enhancement and advanced
instrumentation for Central Forecast Guidance weather modeling.
• Provide the U.S. Weather Research Program $4.3 million for Hurricane
Forecasting Modeling.
• Provide $40.3 million for construction of the Pacific Regional Center facility on
Ford Island, near Honolulu, HI to consolidate scattered NOAA science facilities
operating in temporary structures.
• Provide $11.2 million to refurbish the Fairbanks, AK Command and Data
Acquisition Station (CDAS), relocate staff in temporary facilities, add equipment
upgrades, and extend operations of the CDAS through FY2026.
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The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-161) approved $3.896 billion in
discretionary funding for NOAA (
Table 1). This amount included $2.859 billion for the ORF
account, $979.2 million for the PAC account, and a net total of $58.0 million for NOAA’s Other
Accounts, including $67.0 million for the PCSRF, a $3.0 million internal transfer to ORF from
the CZMF, and offsetting BA of $9.0 million from fisheries financing. Additional BA of $77.0
million was transferred to ORF from the PDAF. A Senate amendment directed a transfer of $30.0
million of PAC funding to the Justice Department,7 and NOAA received a rescission of $11.37
million for FY2008.
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On December 10, 2008, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science,
and Related Agencies reported H.R. 7322 (H.Rept. 110-919) which recommended $4.253 billion
in discretionary funding for NOAA. Of that amount, $2.982 billion was recommended for ORF;
$1.212 billion for PAC; and a net total of $58.0 million for NOAA’s Other accounts. Of the $58.0
million approved, $65.0 million was recommended for the PCSRF, which was offset by $4.0
million from the fisheries finance account. In addition, $3.0 million would be transferred
internally to ORF from the CZMF. Other offsetting BA recommended included a transfer of
$79.0 million to the ORF account from the PDAF from USDA collections. The House committee
also recommended another $11.0 million in offsetting BA for NOAA from previous fiscal-year
deobligations. H.R. 7322. There was no further action in the House on H.R. 7322.
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On June 23, 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported S. 3182, amended (S.Rept. 110-
397). The committee recommended almost $4.446 billion for NOAA for FY2009, including
$50.0 million for a new “Fisheries Disaster Protection Fund.” Of this total, $3.052 billion would
7 S.Amdt. 3290 to H.R. 3093, approved October 16, 2007, transferred funding to the U.S. Attorneys Office for offenses
relating to the sexual exploitation of children (P.L. 109-248).
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be for ORF; $1.258 billion would be for PAC (offset by BA of $2 million); and a net total of
$86.0 million was proposed for NOAA’s Other Accounts. Of this $86.0 million, $90.0 million
was recommended for the PCSRF; $3.0 million would be transferred internally from the CZMF
to ORF; and $4.0 million in offsetting BA would be derived from the fisheries financing account.
Other offsetting BA of $77.0 million would be transferred to ORF from the PDAF, and $5.3
million offsetting BA would be derived from previous fiscal-year deobligations.
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In all funding scenarios, the total NOAA budget would increase compared with FY2008
appropriations. ORF discretionary funding requested by President Bush was less than the FY2008
appropriation, however. Funding cuts proposed by the Bush Administration for ORF primarily
would affect NOS, OAR, and NESDIS (
Table 1). The Senate Appropriations Committee
recommended $90 million for PCSRF and the House Appropriations Committee recommended
$67.0 million; whereas President Bush requested $35 million. The House committee
recommendation for PAC is less than the FY2009 request owing to a Manager’s amendment that
would reprogram $32.4 million of NOAA PS construction funding to the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST).8 The Senate Appropriations Committee had no similar
proposal. In general, substantial increases were recommended by the Senate committee for
NOAA across-the-board. It stated that much of this increased funding would strengthen national
responses to U.S. Joint Ocean Commission findings on ocean policy.9 For the GOES program,
both House and Senate committees recommended $520.3 million. Further, each proposed $288.0
million for the NOAA/ DOD/NASA (NPOESS); President Bush proposed a reduction of $43.0
million for NPOESS from FY2008 appropriated levels. Congressional funding recommendations
for NPOESS, when combined with those for NPOESS ground control and data systems, total
$992.6 million, the same amount the Bush Administration requested for these programs overall
for FY2009. Also, President Bush requested, and House and Senate committees recommended,
$65.4 million to manage remaining operations of the Polar-orbiting Earth Observations Satellites
(POES) program. President Bush requested $60.3 million to construct the Pacific Regional
Center, HI, from PAC-PS funding for FY2009. The Senate committee recommended $20.3
million for the Center, while the House committee chairman’s amendment reduced an original
proposal of $75.0 million for the Center to $22.9 million.
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Under the FY2009 Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations
Act (P.L. 110-329), Division A, funding for NOAA was frozen at the same level as FY2008
enacted appropriations.
In Division B of the Act, Disaster Assistance, $75 million was provided for fisheries disaster
assistance and $17 million in emergency supplemental appropriations was provided for NOAA to
8 House Appropriations Committee, [Manager’s] Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, Appropriation Bill,
FY2009 (unpublished), June 25, 2998, “An Amendment Offered by Mr. Mollohan.”
9 U.S. Congress, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Departments of Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related
Agencies,
Departments of Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2009, Report to
Accompany S. 3182 (S.Rept. 110-397), June 23, 2008, p. 29, “Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.”
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improve its hurricane track and intensity forecasts for the protection of life and property. These
additional amounts are not reflected in
Table 1.
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On February 13, 2009, the 111th Congress passed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, also known as the “Stimulus Package.” Authors of the ARRA
stated that the legislation was essential for improving environmental research activities and
infrastructure, and is expected to create an estimated 6,000 jobs within the maritime, marine
technology, and environmental research communities.
For NOAA’s Operations, Research and Facilities Account , a total $230 million was provided “to
address a backlog of research, restoration, navigation, conservation and management activities.”
For NOAA’s Procurement, Acquisitions, and Construction account, a total of $600 million was
provided “to construct and repair NOAA facilities and equipment,” and, “include implementing
the fleet modernization plan to address ship maintenance and new construction for the NOAA
fleet; accelerating construction of local Weather Forecast Offices, Critical Weather Observing
Systems, weather radars and dual polarization systems throughout the country; accelerating
construction at regional facilities and laboratories currently under construction; and constructing
vessels for marine conservation.” Within the $600 million proposed, the joint explanatory
statement in the conference report on H.R. 1 (H.Rept. 111-16) states that “$170,000,000 shall
address critical gaps in climate modeling and establish climate data records for continuing
research into the cause, effects and ways to mitigate climate change.”
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Wayne A. Morrissey
Information Research Specialist
wmorrissey@crs.loc.gov, 7-7072
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