NOAA ADMINISTRATOR PRESENTS NEW BUDGET TO CONGRESS

In his first appearance before the 110th Congress, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today told a House Subcommittee that NOAA’s fiscal year 2008 will help it build upon recent successes. Overall, NOAA’s FY 2008 budget request is $3.8 billion, which represents a $131 million or 3.4 percent increase over the FY 2007 request.

A top priority for the President and NOAA is implementing the President’s Ocean Action Plan. “The President’s budget includes $123 million in additional funding for Ocean Action Plan priorities,” testified retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This includes $38 million to protect and restore marine and coastal areas, $25 million to ensure sustainable use of ocean resources, and $60 million to advance ocean science and research.”

Lautenbacher cited President Bush’s designation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a marine national monument, Congress’ reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and NOAA’s implementation of protections covering more than 500,000 square miles of U.S. Pacific Ocean habitats against harmful fishing practices as major successes in 2006.

Other budget increases include:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

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