CONTENTS Page March 4, 1998: Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Authorization Request: Na- tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Opening Statement by Representative Ken Calvert (CA-43), Chairman, Sub- committee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science, U.S. House Opening Statement by Representative Ellen Tauscher (CA-10), Ranking Mi- nority Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives Opening Statement by Representative Tim Roemer (IN-3), Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on The Honorable D. James Baker, Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Administrator, National Oceanic and Mr. Joel C. Willemssen, Director, Civil Agencies Information Systems, Ac- counting and Information Management Division, U.S. General Accounting 66 Financial Disclosure Information Christian Andreasen, Rear Admiral, NOAA Retired, and Past Presdent Appendix 2: Additional Materials for the Record National Weather Service: Events Surrounding Fiscal Year 1997 Budget (GAO/AIMD-98-69, March 4, 1998) NOAA FY 1999 Budget Request, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC, February 2, 1998. NOAA-Relevant Excerpts from "Department of Commerce Strategic Plan for NOAA-Relevant Excerpts from "The Department of Commerce Annual Per- Letter to the Honorable Jim Sensenbrenner, Chairman, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives, from William M. Daley, Secretary of Commerce, dated March 30, 1998, Certifying that the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) Can Be Completed Within the Letter to the Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Chairman, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives, from William M. Daley, Sec- retary of Commerce, dated April 9, 1998, Certifying that the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) I-M Procurement Can Be Completed Without Requiring Further Authorizations of Appropriations Be- yond Amounts Authorized by Public Law 102-567 and Foreseeing No Gap in Two-Satellite Service Operations Resulting from Non-Performance of Appendix 3: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions Submitted by Members of the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment The Honorable D. James Baker, Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Administrator, National Oceanic and Page National Ocean Service (NOS): Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment Coastal Resource Coordination Program 751 National Ocean Service (NOS): Ocean and Coastal Management 752 754 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS): Information Collection and 755 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS): Conservation and Management Operations 757 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS): State and Industry Assistance Programs 759 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS): Acquisition of Data 760 761 765 Ocean and Atmospheric Research (OAR): Ocean and Great Lakes Programs 768 Ocean and Atmospheric Research (OAR): Acquisition of Data 773 775 National Weather Service (NWS): Systems Acquisition 778 National Weather Service (NWS): General Kelly's Report 780 National Weather Service (NWS): Specialized Forecasts 871 National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS): Space Observing Systems 871 National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS): Environmental Data Management Systems 874 FISCAL YEAR 1999 BUDGET AUTHORIZATION REQUEST: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1998 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., in room 2318, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ken Calvert, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. Chairman CALVERT. This hearing of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee will come to order. Today we will look at the Fiscal Year 1999 budget request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). We will hear both from NOAA's Administrator and the GAO, which has released a report on the management problems at the National Weather Service. For all of NOAA, the request totals $2.12 billion, an increase of 6.8 percent over Fiscal Year 1998 appropriations. For that portion of NOAA under this Subcommittee's jurisdiction, the request totals $1.62 billion. This is 12 percent over Fiscal Year 1998 and 3.2 percent over the authorized level under H.R. 1278 which passed the full Science Committee last year. There is good news and bad news for the taxpayers in NOAA's performance over the past year. The good news is the all-too-accurate prediction of El Niño induced weather conditions made last year before this Subcommittee. Unfortunately for my home State of California, we have seen a series of storms that have been intensified by the El Niño phenomenon and we can't say we weren't warned. These conditions are mild, however, compared with the El Niño effect in other parts of the world, including droughts in the Far East and Pacific storms in South America. But I should add that this isn't over yet, and we expect a wet March and, potentially, April. Because of the unusual publicity surrounding this year's prediction, which has made El Niño a household word around the world, the public has had a rare chance to see the practical results of scientific research. The Science Committee has given strong support to other research programs that have studied El Niño and other long-term weather studies and will continue to do so. |