CONTACT:  Patricia Viets, NOAA           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                         5/4/98

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today that it has revised its regulations for authorizing the use of data collection systems that operate on NOAA's geostationary and polar-orbiting environmental satellites.

In response to the emergence of private sector space services, NOAA will no longer allow the data collection systems on its satellites to be used where there are commercial space-based services available that meet the user's requirements.

NOAA's data collection services play an important national role in collecting real-time environmental and other data deemed critical for government operations. These data are intended primarily for U.S. government users; non-government environmental use will be allowed only when there is a government interest in the application. Non-government, non- environmental use will not be allowed except in rare cases where there is significant possibility of loss of life, such as for Arctic expeditions or scientific campaigns into remote areas.

The NOAA policy that existed before the issuance of these revised regulations predated the emergence of commercial, space-based data collection and location services. Guided by the federal government's long-standing policy against competing with the private sector, the new regulations allow use of the NOAA satellite-based data collection system only when a commercial space-based service does not meet the requirements of the user based on such factors as satellite coverage, accuracy, data throughput, platform compatibility, system access mode, and, in the case of government agencies, cost- effectiveness.

"These new regulations follow an extended dialogue between the government, data collection system users, and the private sector," said Helen Wood, director of NOAA's Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution. "More than 100 people attended a public meeting that we held in December 1996. The new regulations reflect the concerns expressed at that meeting as well as comments NOAA received during a public comment period."

Participants at the meeting indicated that new regulations were needed to establish a clear set of criteria for allowing access to the NOAA data collection systems. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on May 6, 1998.