Contact: Lori Arguelles FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(202) 482-5647 7/27/95
Tamela Graham
(202) 482-4092
The nation's weather warning and forecasting capability, weather satellites, marine fisheries and other ocean resource management programs as well as basic scientific research would be dramatically cut or eliminated altogether as a result of legislation being considered in congressional hearings this week, according to officials at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In the process of accomplishing its stated purpose, the Department of Commerce Dismantling Act would eliminate or significantly reduce funding for many National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs. NOAA's mission includes providing accurate and timely weather warnings and forecasts to the nation, tracking hurricanes and other severe weather, ensuring the viability of the nation's marine fisheries and other ocean resources, and conducting oceanic and atmospheric research that supports the NOAA mission and directly benefits the American public.
"These services, vital to the safety and economic well-being of all Americans, must be maintained, and must continue in the Department of Commerce," said Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown. "This legislation is nothing more than box-shuffling and provides no real savings to the American people."
During his testimony this week in Congressional hearings, Brown emphasized that the Department has the strong support of President Clinton. "The President believes in the important work done by the Department, and he has authorized me to tell you, in simple and direct terms, he will veto any legislation that dismantles the Department of Commerce."
The proposed legislation calls for the elimination, privatization, or transfer to other agencies many of the functions within NOAA, which include the National Weather Service; National Ocean Service; National Marine Fisheries Service; National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Services that are not eliminated or privatized would be subject to an automatic 25 percent budget cut from 1994 funding levels.
As a result of the legislation, NOAA would be forced to:
--Eliminate 62 of the 118 weather forecast offices planned as a result of the National Weather Service modernization program. The newly modernized offices have shown significant improvements in warning times for severe weather, flash floods and tornadoes. Remaining weather services would be transferred to the Department of the Interior.
--Lose one-half of its satellite capability, creating the potential for a loss of satellite coverage in either the geostationary or polar satellite program. Such a loss would dramatically reduce NOAA's capability to monitor severe weather over the United States, including hurricanes, tornadoes, and flash floods.
--Sell its National Climatic Data Center (Asheville, N.C.), National Geophysical Data Center (Boulder, Colo.), and National Oceanographic Data Center (Wash., D.C.). Selling these three centers will greatly impact American businesses and industries that rely heavily on data from NCDC to settle weather-related insurance claims and to design and construct airports, port facilities, highways, dams and electrical power plants. NCDC receives 143,000 requests for data a year, and 75 percent of its requests are from American businesses and industries.
--Reduce funding for nautical charting and defer updates indefinitely for some ports. Elimination of hydrographic survey vessels and funding for private contractor surveys means that new obstructions, currently identified at the rate of about 500 per year, would go undetected. Remaining functions would be transferred to the Department of Transportation.
--Sell the 11 Environmental Research Labs that provide basic scientific research in the areas of weather and storm prediction, seasonal climate predictions such as those associated with the El Ni¤o phenomena, ozone depletion and global warming. This research is critical to understanding environmental changes and providing information to industry and policy makers so they can make sound decisions that protect lives and property and provide economic benefits to the nation. Without federal funding, the future of these labs and the critical data they provide to the American people is uncertain.
--Terminate the National Data Buoy Center and associated programs, which would eliminate the short-term updates of marine weather warnings for U.S. coastal areas. These warnings are critical to fishermen as well as recreational boaters and commercial shipping pilots.
--Reduce funding for National Marine Fisheries Service offices around the country that provide vital fisheries stock assessments and management guidance for fishermen. This would result in continued overfishing and the potential collapse of fish stocks nationwide, as well as impact ability to recover those stocks. This ineffective management of the nation's marine fisheries would result in lost income to fishermen and the $3.5 billion fishing industry. The remaining functions would be split up, with science activities being transferred to the Department of the Interior and enforcement activities being transferred to the Coast Guard. This transfer would mean a loss of Commerce Department-initiated trade actions that have directly benefitted U.S. fishermen and processors.
--Reduce funding for the national marine sanctuary program by 50 percent, forcing the closure of some sites and reductions in staff who permit recreational and special activities within sanctuary borders. Additionally, this function would be transferred to the Department of the Interior.
"NOAA has already embarked on a streamlining and consolidation plan," said NOAA Administrator D. James Baker. "Modernizing the weather service and converging our polar satellite program with the Department of Defense are good examples. This attempt to dismantle Commerce and NOAA would have a direct negative impact on busineses, industry and members of the public who rely on our information and programs each day."
###
Note to Editors: For a summary of potential impacts on your state, please call NOAA Public Affairs at (202)482-4092.