NOAA Budget Slashed by $500 Million in House Bill

June 29, 2006 -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill today that would cut approximately $500 million from the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in fiscal year 2007. 

The massive budget cut passed the House of Representatives less than one year after NOAA was widely praised for its success in forecasting hurricane Katrina and protecting thousands of people from death or injury.  According to NOAA, the House bill would fail to fund day-to-day operations of the agency’s aircraft, which are the nation’s first line of defense for monitoring and forecasting hurricanes and tropical storms. 

The House appropriations bill would provide $3.4 billion for NOAA in FY 2007, a decrease of approximately $500 million or 13 percent below its current funding level of $3.9 billion.  The President proposed cutting NOAA’s budget to $3.7 billion in FY 2007, eliminating numerous congressional earmarks and increasing the budgets of some core research programs. 

The House bill would protect the budgets of National Weather Service and NOAA’s weather and climate satellite programs.  Other NOAA programs would suffer enormous losses in order to absorb the entire $500 million budget cut. 

• Funding for the National Ocean Service would be slashed by approximately by 46 percent or $277 million below the FY 2006 funding level. NOAA said this cut would reduce funding for basic mapping and charting activities needed to ensure safe marine transportation within U.S. ports and marine transportation routes.
• Funding for the National Marine Fisheries Service would decline by approximately 28 percent or $156 million below the current funding level.  This cut would “force NOAA to close critical fisheries, terminate protected species programs and terminate the Seafood Quality and Safety Program, costing billions in economic losses and increasing the cost of seafood to US consumers,” according to NOAA’s impact statement.
• Funding for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research would decline by about 11 percent or $40 million to $328 million.  The budget for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research includes $130 million for a “consolidated competitive climate research program for the Climate Program Office.”  Within this amount, the House encourages NOAA to implement a new competitive national program for partnerships in coastal and ocean observing.

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, offered an amendment that would provide an additional $783 million for NOAA’s in FY 2007.  As expected, Gilchrest withdrew his amendment without a vote after several Representatives had an opportunity to discuss the importance of NOAA and speak in favor of additional funding for the agency.  The amendment would have offset an increase in funding for NOAA with a decrease in funding for NASA’s mission to Mars. 

Large reductions in funding for NOAA are inconsistent with the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission.  The chairs of these commissions, Adm. James D. Watkins and Leon E. Panetta, issued a joint letter expressing their concern that the proposed funding cuts are being imposed at a time when there is clear recognition of the growing number and severity of problems that are compromising the health and associated economic benefits generated by our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. 

In recent years, the Senate has allocated more funding for NOAA than the House.  However, NOAA lost one of its major champions with the retirement of Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) and it will be difficult for the Senate to restore the entire budget cut.  

Craig Schiffries, Ph.D.
Director of Science Policy
National Council for Science and the Environment
1707 H Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20006
Tel: 202-530-5810
E-mail: policy@NCSEonline.org