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OFCM operates with policy guidance from the Federal
Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (FCMSSR).
The Chairperson of FCMSSR is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans
and Atmosphere, and Administrator of NOAA. The members of the FCMSSR
are senior policy executives from the federal agencies with meteorological
programs. In addition to reviewing OFCM activities and providing policy
guidance, FCMSSR is the final forum to resolve agency differences.
The two Program Councils, chaired by the Federal
Coordinator and directly under FCMSSR, coordinate key programs at the
highest interagency policy decision-making level, and ensure that the
programs meet joint requirements. In addition to establishing policy,
the program councils coordinate development and oversee the preparation
and implementation of national program plans which include R&D,
systems development, validation and integration, acquisition strategy,
operational concepts, agency roles, and management.
The Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological
Services and Supporting Research (ICMSSR), chaired by the Federal
Coordinator, is the primary program management body of the Federal coordinating
structure. ICMSSR provides advice to OFCM, implements FCMSSR policies,
and oversees the committees and working groups that address observing
systems, weather operations and services, operational processing centers,
and automated weather information systems.
The Committees and their Working and Joint
Action Groups provide at the program and working level (1) a forum
for each agency to report activities, difficulties, and achievements;
(2) a mechanism for coordinated change and problem solving; (3) a medium
for collection, documentation and consolidation of agency requirements
and inventories; (4) oversight for coordinated system development; (5)
a vehicle for coordinating with other groups; and (6) a mechanism for
the preparation of studies, agreements, standards, protocols, reports,
and national plans.
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