radiosondes) both from a meteorological, and financial standpoint. A revised five year budget will be developed during the FY 1999 budget cycle to reflect the latest technology capabilities and NAOS requirements.

National Weather Service: Susquehanna River Basin Flood Warning System

Q59. On page 56 of NOAA's FY 1998 Budget Request Summary document, it is stated: “A decrease of 50.4 million is requested for the Susquehanna River Basin Flood Warning System to reflect the on-going needs of the program."

Q59a. Please describe the Susquehanna River Basin Flood Warning System, and provide its funding levels for FY 1995-FY 1998.

Answer:

The Susquehanna River Basin Flood Warning System was established in 1986 to provide enhanced flood forecast and warning services to the Susquehanna River Basin. Funds are used to operate and maintain a series of USGS stream and rain gages and to provide enhanced NWS forecast and warning capabilities for the basin. The funding levels are as follows:

The FY 1997 President's Budget for this program was $669K. The FY 1997 appropriation increased program funding to $1,000K. This funding level has enabled the NWS to operate a more extensive data collection network during FY 1997 (rain/stream gages). While the FY 1998 President's Budget level of $619K, the NWS will continue to provide enhanced flood forecast services for the Susquehanna utilizing as many data collection points as possible. Delivery of an Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) at the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center and collocated Central Pennsylvania Weather Forecast Office in State College, PA during FY 1998 will bring better data integration and dissemination capabilities to the program. Further, the NWS will continue to work closely with the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation to address any operational or programmatic issues.

National Weather Service: Regional Climate Center Program

Q60. On page 56 of NOAA's FY 1998 Budget Request Summary document, it is stated: “A decrease of $2.0 million is requested to reflect the privatization of the Regional Climate Center Program (RCCs). The RCCs provide specific regional climate information that can more appropriately be provided by non-Federal sources."

Q60a. Please describe the Regional Climate Center Program, and provide its funding levels for FY 1995-FY 1998.

Answer:

The Regional Climate Centers program (RCCs) is a grant program that supports the provision of climate information specific to six regions of the country. The services provided by the RCCs include information on climate patterns and variations, data base management and applied climate research. This information is used by several different sectors of the economy to improve long-range planning and decision making. The six regions and the associated grantees are as follows:

Q60b. What specific non-Federal sources are providing funds for the RCCs?

Answer:

The RCCs are funded mainly through NWS grants. A minimal level of salary funding and in-kind support is provided by the States. The services provided by the RCCs can be provided (and in many cases already are provided) by non-federal sources including state climatologists, universities, and the private meteorological community. These services have significant market value and can be sustained through increased demand both from governments and private interests. These organizations, including federal agencies, will have to assume the cost of any services they may require.

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service: Polar Satellite Convergence Q61. On page 62 of NOAA's FY 1998 Budget Request Summary document, it is stated: "The Polar-Orbiting System request includes a increase of $22.5 million. This increase reflects NOAA's share of the converged polar orbiting system which will succeed the current NOAA satellites and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) of the Department of Defense after the current series of satellites have expended their useful lives. This program is a Tri-Agency (NOAA, DOD, and NASA) effort designed to integrate the polar orbiting satellite programs as recommended in the National Performance Review."

What is the convergence program's total proposed funding for FY 1998, and what amount is being provided by each of NOAA, NASA, and DOD?

Answer:

The total funding for the convergence program in FY 1998 is $103 million. NOAA and DOD are requesting $51.5 million each for FY 1998.

NASA does not provide funding. NASA has lead agency responsibility to support the program in facilitating the development and insertion of new cost-effective and enabling technologies that enhance the ability of the converged system to meet its operational requirements.

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program

Q62. NOAA's FY 1998 budget does not include funds for a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) follow-on program, and funds for this program are not planned until FY 2000. Please explain why funding for the GOES follow-on program (beginning with GOES-R) is being delayed until FY 2000.

Answer:

As noted, there are no funds in the FY 1998 President's budget for NOAA GOES-R. However, at a low resource level, NOAA continues to plan for NOAA GOES-R. NOAA has initiated low-cost studies of potential architectures and instruments. NOAA is also providing some support toward a joint NOAA/NASA Advanced Geostationary Studies effort in FY 1997 and FY 1998.

The need to maintain continuity of service led to decisions to fund other elements of the NOAA GOES program. In the near term, NOAA is procuring up to four satellites (NOAA GOES N thru

Q) which meet current requirements and allow for instrument improvements, assuming requested funding is provided.

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service: Operations, Research and facilities Account

Q63. On page 63 of NOAA's FY 1998 Budget Request Summary document, it is stated: “Also included in this subactivity is NOAA's ongoing effort to rescue aging data and improve user access to all NOAA maintained environmental data." Please describe NOAA's program to rescue aging data and the amount requested in FY 1998 for this purpose.

Answer:

NOAA's data archives contain nearly 100 million pages of paper weather records dating back to the 1860's, as well as millions of microfilm and microfiche images that date from the 1920's onward. Although these records are invaluable to the study of long-range climatic changes, their deteriorating condition will render a significant portion of the records unreadable within a few years. To rescue these aging paper and microfilm records and improve public access to the data, NOAA has initiated a data rescue program jointly conducted by the West Virginia High Technology Consortium. The microfilm rescue effort already has begun. Conversion of paper records to computer-accessible form will begin this spring. The President's Budget requests $5.2 million to continue this program in FY 1998.

Capital Assets Acquisition Account: Goddard Facility

Q64. On page 13 of NOAA's FY 1998 Budget Request Summary document, it is stated:

"The creation of the Capital Assets Acquisition Account (CAA)
responds to the requirements of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining
Act of 1994 and the Information Technology Management Reform Act
of 1996 and includes capital projects contained formerly in the
Operations Research and Facilities (ORF) account and the Construction
account within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Although no funding is currently identified, this account would also
contain any requests for Fleet Replacement previously requested in the
Fleet Modernization, Shipbuilding and Conversion account.

"Placing these projects in this account is consistent with the
Administration's fixed asset policy by seeking advanced appropriations
for multi-year projects... The Administration supports full funding as
part of an ongoing attempt to improve cost and performance of agency

procurement. The Administration's goal is to ensure that capital assets
support core/priority missions of the agency; the assets have
demonstrated a projected return on investment that is clearly
articulated, cost-benefits of acquisition have been evaluated, and to help
ensure accountability."

NOAA is requesting $12.572 million in FY 1998 for the architectural and engineering required for construction of a new 350,000 gross square-foot NOAA operations and research center at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, that will cost $101.609 million.

Q64a. Please document that this proposed capital acquisition will demonstrate "
projected return on investment that is clearly articulated."

Q64b. Please provide the detailed cost-benefits evaluation of this proposed acquisition.
Q64c. What are the alternatives to this proposed facility?

Q64d. What is the projected return on investment of each such alternative identified
in c?

Q64e. Please provide the cost-benefit evaluation of each such alternative identified in

C.

Answer:

Since all questions are interrelated, one answer has been prepared that addresses all of them.

The proposed NOAA operations and research center presents a unique opportunity to assemble and utilize NOAA's and NASA's essential talents, skills, and disciplines to make significant contributions to our country's effort to define and maintain the environment. The center will also foster U.S. world leadership in operational weather and climate prediction, global change research, associated research and applications, and to make the best use of available resources and opportunities. The center at Goddard will provide obvious and undeniable programmatic benefits. The Administrators of both NOAA and NASA have entered into an agreement on this proposal which contains a listing of programmatic benefits. The Agreement (Statement of Intent) appears as Attachment 3. Of particular interest is the Addendum spelling out the programmatic advantages in some detail.

This effort at Goddard will also allow consolidation within a single NOAA facility of existing operations that are currently split between inadequate 50 year old buildings at the Suitland (Maryland) Federal Center (originally designed as an infirmary), and in the World Weather Building in Camp Springs, Maryland (where security is a continuing issue), under a lease which GSA has indicated it will not renew beyond 2003.