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34–014PS 2007

THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC

ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) FISCAL YEAR 2008

BUDGET PROPOSAL

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND

ENVIRONMENT

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

MARCH 22, 2007

Serial No. 110–16

Printed for the use of the Committee on Science and Technology

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/science

(II)

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

HON. BART GORDON, Tennessee, Chairman

JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas

LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California

MARK UDALL, Colorado

DAVID WU, Oregon

BRIAN BAIRD, Washington

BRAD MILLER, North Carolina

DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois

NICK LAMPSON, Texas

GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona

JERRY MCNERNEY, California

PAUL KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania

DARLENE HOOLEY, Oregon

STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey

MICHAEL M. HONDA, California

JIM MATHESON, Utah

MIKE ROSS, Arkansas

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri

CHARLIE MELANCON, Louisiana

BARON P. HILL, Indiana

HARRY E. MITCHELL, Arizona

CHARLES A. WILSON, Ohio

RALPH M. HALL, Texas

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER JR.,

Wisconsin

LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas

DANA ROHRABACHER, California

KEN CALVERT, California

ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland

VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan

FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma

JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois

W. TODD AKIN, Missouri

JO BONNER, Alabama

TOM FEENEY, Florida

RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas

BOB INGLIS, South Carolina

DAVID G. REICHERT, Washington

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas

MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida

PHIL GINGREY, Georgia

BRIAN P. BILBRAY, California

ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

HON. NICK LAMPSON, Texas, Chairman

JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois

LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California

DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois

GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona

JERRY MCNERNEY, California

MARK UDALL, Colorado

BRIAN BAIRD, Washington

PAUL KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania

BART GORDON, Tennessee

BOB INGLIS, South Carolina

ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland

JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois

W. TODD AKIN, Missouri

RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas

MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida

RALPH M. HALL, Texas

JEAN FRUCI Democratic Staff Director

CHRIS KING Democratic Professional Staff Member

SHIMERE WILLIAMS Democratic Professional Staff Member

ELAINE PAULIONIS Democratic Professional Staff Member

STACEY STEEP Research Assistant

(III)

C O N T E N T S

March 22, 2007

Page

Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2

Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3

Opening Statements

Statement by Representative Nick Lampson, Chairman, Subcommittee on

Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S.

House of Representatives .................................................................................... 8

Written Statement ............................................................................................ 9

Statement by Representative Bob Inglis, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................................... 9

Written Statement ............................................................................................ 10

Prepared Statement by Representative Jerry F. Costello, Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................................... 10

Witnesses:

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr. (U.S. Navy, Ret.), Under Secretary

of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 11

Written Statement ............................................................................................ 13

Biography .......................................................................................................... 19

Dr. Len Pietrafesa, Associate Dean, Office of External Affairs; Professor of

Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Physical and Mathematical

Sciences, North Carolina State University

Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 20

Written Statement ............................................................................................ 22

Biography .......................................................................................................... 33

Discussion

National Weather Service Operations ................................................................ 33

National Polar Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System

(NPOESS) .......................................................................................................... 35

Wildfire and Drought Warnings ......................................................................... 35

Insufficient Funding Levels ................................................................................. 36

Law Enforcement Capability ............................................................................... 37

Research Capability ............................................................................................. 38

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) ....................................................... 39

Satellite Capability .............................................................................................. 42

International Collaboration ................................................................................. 44

More on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) ................................. 45

Climate Change .................................................................................................... 46

More on the NPOESS .......................................................................................... 47

Water Monitoring Programs ............................................................................... 49

New Programs ...................................................................................................... 49

Hurricane Forecasting ......................................................................................... 51

More on Insufficient Funding ............................................................................. 53

Water Conservation ............................................................................................. 54

Page

IV

Appendix 1: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr. (U.S. Navy, Ret.), Under Secretary

of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce ..................................................................................................................... 60

Dr. Len Pietrafesa, Associate Dean, Office of External Affairs; Professor of

Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Physical and Mathematical

Sciences, North Carolina State University ........................................................ 62

Appendix 2: Additional Material for the Record

Statement by Dr. Braxton C. Davis, Director, Science and Policy Division,

Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control ...................................................... 66

(1)

THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC

ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) FISCAL YEAR 2008

BUDGET PROPOSAL

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2007

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Washington, DC.

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m., in Room

2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Nick Lampson

[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.

2

3

HEARING CHARTER

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) Fiscal Year 2008

Budget Proposal

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2007

2:00 P.M.–4:00 P.M.

2318 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING

Purpose

On Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. the House Committee on Science and

Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a hearing to examine the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fiscal year

2008 (FY08) budget proposal.

Witnesses

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., Under Secretary of Commerce for

Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Dr. Len Pietrafesa, Associate Dean, Office of External Affairs, Professor of Ocean

& Atmospheric Sciences, College of Physical & Mathematical Sciences, North Carolina State University

Background

The President’s FY 2008 budget request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is $3.96 billion, 2.7 percent below the FY 2006 appropriated funding.

NOAA’s mission includes weather forecasting, climate prediction, management of

fisheries and coastal and ocean resources. In addition, NOAA is responsible for mapping and charting our coastal areas and providing other navigation support services

through programs of the National Ocean Service (NOS). NOAA also conducts research in support of these missions including atmospheric sciences, coastal and oceanic science, climate and air quality research, ecosystem research, and fisheries and

marine mammal research. NOAA also operates a constellation of satellites that

monitor and transmit data for weather forecasting, climate prediction, space weather forecasting, and Earth and ocean science research through the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS).

The President’s requests for NOAA routinely exclude funding for a wide array of

Congressionally-mandated projects with some of this funding is re-directed to Presidential priorities. However, much of this funding is simply cut from the NOAA

budget resulting in a lower funding request for NOAA. This is especially true for

accounts in NOS which has the highest number of Congressionally-mandated activities.

The table below shows the six primary accounts of the agency’s budget. The only

line office receiving a substantial increase in the FY 2008 request is the National

Weather Service (NWS). The FY 2008 request would result in funding levels below

FY 2006 appropriations for all other offices, with NOS receiving the largest reduction of $122 million, a 21 percent reduction.

4

National Weather Service:

The National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, hydrologic, and climate

forecasts and warnings for the United States, adjacent waters, and ocean areas for

the protection of life and property. NWS provides a national infrastructure to gather

and process data worldwide from the land, sea, and air.

The NWS is the only line office that receives a substantial increase in the President’s FY 2008 request. The FY 2008 request for NWS is 6.5 percent higher than

the 2006 enacted levels. Three areas account for most (about 84 percent) of the

$55.3 million increase: mandatory federal pay raises ($18.3 million); operation and

maintenance of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS),

Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS), and Next Generation Weather Radar

(NEXRAD) ($11.3 million); and the expansion of the Tsunami Warning Network

($17.2 million).

AWIPS is the specialized software package that enables forecasters to prepare accurate, timely forecasts and warnings. ASOS is composed of the sensors needed to

measure and record significant weather conditions. NEXRAD is the radar system

that shows patterns and movement of weather conditions.

The increases for the Tsunami network involves funds to repair one of the weather data buoys that add to the enhanced real-time hurricane observations and storm

monitoring as well as complete the 39 DART buoy network system. The completion

of the tsunami detection network expands NWS’s operational capabilities.

However, this is the only area where the Administration proposes to make an investment in improved forecasting to protect life and property. If funds for the mandatory pay raise and tsunami network expansion are excluded from the FY 2008 request, the proposed NWS budget increase is a little over two percent. The Tsunami

Hazard Mitigation Program was moved from Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

(OAR) with a request of $2.1 million.

5

NWS also requests a $1.9 million increase to fund operations, maintenance and

transition costs associated with the planned frequency conversion and technical updating of the NOAA Wind Profiler Network (NPN). The NPN improves NWS forecast capability during tornadoes, winter storms, and other severe storms improving

their ability to provide aviation and fire weather warnings. The NPN has been in

a quasi-operational status. The funds requested will provide for the transition of the

NPN to full operational status.

NOAA requests an increase of $2.3 million for the Space Environment Center

(SEC) over the FY 2006 enacted funding level. The $6.2 million request will support

SEC real-time monitoring and forecasting of solar and geophysical events. This will

support the space weather alerts and warnings for disturbances that can affect satellite operations, electric utility transmission equipment, astronauts working in the

space station and people in aircraft flying along polar flight paths.

This FY 2008 request increase may not be sufficient to fully cover all operational

and maintenance requirements for current weather forecasting equipment especially

if we experience a year with high frequency of severe weather events and hurricanes

that often result in damage or loss to weather monitoring and forecasting equipment. This level of funding will not enable NWS to move new monitoring and forecasting equipment from research to fully operational mode.

National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS):

The President’s budget FY 2008 budget request would increase the overall

NESDIS budget increased by three percent ($26 million increase). The budget for

NESDIS is dominated by the procurement, acquisitions and construction (PAC) accounts for the polar and geostationary satellite systems.

The Operations, Research and Facilities (ORF) account for NESDIS contains the

programmatic funding for management, processing, analyzing, and archiving the

data received from all of NOAA’s weather monitoring equipment—both groundbased and space-based. This program account includes funds for data processing and

analyses at data centers located in Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland, and West

Virginia.

This account also supports a number of regional climate centers. The FY 2008 request for these accounts is $20 million below the FY 2006 enacted levels. The FY

2008 request also eliminates $4 million in funding for NOAA–NASA Partnerships

to facilitate the transfer of research to operations. The Data Centers and Information Services accounts are reduced by $18 million from the FY 2006 enacted levels.

NESDIS Procurement, Acquisitions and Construction (PAC) Accounts:

NOAA operates two satellite systems that collect data for weather forecasting.

The polar satellites (Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites—POES) orbit the

Earth and provide information for medium to long-range weather forecasts. The geostationary satellites (GOES) gather data above a fixed position on the Earth’s surface and provide information for short-range warnings and current weather conditions. Both of these systems are scheduled for replacement through the NPOESS

and GOES–R programs, respectively. Because of the long time period required to

design and develop new satellite series, the procurement of a new series begins

years before the current series has completed its production cycle. Therefore,

NOAA’s procurement budget in this area includes both funds to complete and

launch current weather satellites (POES and GOES) and funds to design and develop the next generation of weather satellites (NPOESS and GOES–R).

The current series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES–

N, O and P) are nearing completion. GOES–N was launched last May. The FY 2008

request of $80.4 million will support the continued development, procurement and

launch of the remaining GOES satellites scheduled for April 2007 and October 2008,

respectively. The request for GOES–R, the new series of geostationary satellites

($279 million) has been reduced from the original FY 2008 estimate ($532 million)

to reflect changes in the program’s content (reducing the number of instruments and

planned number of satellites) and to provide additional time to re-structure the program.

The current series of Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) is nearing

the end of its production cycle. There is one remaining satellite in this series to be

launched (POES N–Prime). This satellite was damaged in production in 2003. Problems with the new series of polar satellites, National Polar Orbiting Environmental

Satellite System (NPOESS) has resulted in a delay for the first launch of an

NPOESS satellite. To decrease the risk of gaps in weather data from these satellites, the last POES satellite will now be launched in 2009. The original planned

request for POES in FY 2008 was $62 million. The FY 2008 request is $43 million

above the original estimate for FY 2008 provided in the FY 2007 request. The extra

6

funds are to cover costs for rebuilding and storage costs for N–Prime, support for

testing of a European satellite, installation of NOAA instrumentation on a European

satellite, and to restore N–Prime funding that was re-directed to POES–N due to

an unplanned delay in the launch of the POES–N satellite.

The request for NPOESS, the new polar satellite series, is $331 million. This is

$13 million less than the planned FY 2008 request included in the FY 2007 budget.

The funding will cover the continued development, production and risk reduction activities for the four key instruments to be included on the test satellite, the

NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP), scheduled for launch in 2010. Funding for this

program will be officially re-evaluated and estimated and the prime contract will be

re-negotiated later this year.

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research:

The office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) is the primary research

arm of NOAA that provides the scientific information and tools needed for better

understanding of the oceans and atmosphere. OAR conducts the scientific research,

environmental studies, and technology development needed to improve NOAA’s operations. OAR consists of seven internal research laboratories and manages extramural research at 30 National Sea Grant colleges and universities. Therefore, OAR

contains over half of the research programs at NOAA. These programs are reduced

by nearly $11 million below the FY 2006 enacted levels an approximate three percent reduction.

NOAA’s FY 2008 budget request for Climate Research increases by $23 million

(13.5 percent) over FY 2006 enacted funding. Most of this increase is in the competitive research program and is accomplished by redirection of funds from Congressionally-mandated projects. This includes $50 million for Laboratories and Cooperative

Institutes and Climate Data and $133 million for the Competitive Research Program. A portion of this increase of $5 million will enhance our understanding of the

link between ocean currents and rapid climate change. An additional $1 million in

funding will provide additional computational support for assessing abrupt climate

change.

The Administration’s FY 2008 NOAA budget reflects an increase in requested

funds for ocean activities included in the Ocean Action Plan (OAP) and the recently

released Ocean Research Priorities Plan (ORPP). The FY 2008 NOAA budget includes $143 million to support three major areas outlined in the OAP: (1) Enhanced

ocean science and research; (2) Protection and restoration of sensitive marine and

coastal areas; and (3) Ensuring sustainable use of ocean resources.

The FY 2008 budget includes funding for several important ocean and coastal programs for the first time and the FY 2008 budget request is higher than the FY 2007

request. However, the $143 million provided in the Ocean Action Plan represents

a decrease of over $200 million from the FY 2006 request for ocean, Great Lakes,

and fisheries programs at NOAA. The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS)

receives a request of $11.5 million for regional observations.

The Administration’s budget once again cuts the Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lake

Research account below previous years’ funding. The FY 2006 appropriation level

is reduced from $127 million to $105 million, a 17 percent decrease for these programs.

Sea Grant receives a very small increase ($166 thousand), and the Administration

requests an increase for Ocean Exploration of about $14 million. The Administration

proposed last year to merge the National Undersea Research Program (NURP) with

the Ocean Exploration Program. The budget appears to reflect this proposal. All

funding for NURP is eliminated ($9 million). Again, the largest reduction comes

through the elimination of Congressionally-mandated projects under the category of

Other Partnership Programs.

The FY 2008 budget request for programs authorized in the Harmful Algal Bloom

and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA) is $8.9 million, a $9.5 million

decrease from FY 2006 funding. HABHRCA authorizes funding for research on

harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia to advance scientific understanding and

our ability to detect, assess, predict, control, and mitigate these events.

Weather and Air Quality research accounts are reduced in the FY 2008 request

by $21 million dollars (30 percent decrease) from the FY 2006 enacted levels. The

Laboratories and Joint Institutes would receive about $6 million above FY 2006 enacted levels, but the other Partnership Programs are reduced by $25 million with

the elimination of over a dozen Congressionally-mandated projects.

The OAR budget also contains funding for the High-Performance Computing and

Communication (HPCC) program. NOAA relies upon sophisticated computer models

to make major improvements in NOAA’s ability to forecast the weather and climate

7

and to model ecosystems and ocean processes. The FY 2008 budget request proposes

$12.97 million, a $6.6 million increase for this program.

National Ocean Service:

The National Ocean Service (NOS) protects the National Marine Sanctuaries and

is an advocate for coastal and ocean stewardship. It also introduced electronic nautical charts which they combine with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to enhance

the safety and efficiency of navigation of U.S. waterways. The President’s FY 2008

request for NOS would reduce funding for NOS programs by over 20 percent. The

largest reductions are in the Ocean Assessment program ($36 million) and in the

Response and Restoration program ($13 million) of the Ocean Resources, Conservation and Assessment accounts.

Funding for Navigational Services including mapping and charting and geodetic

surveys (measuring and monitoring the size and shape of the Earth and locating

points on its surface) would be reduced by over $5 million in the FY 2008 request.

The Ocean and Coastal Zone Management accounts would receive about $4 million additional in funding primarily through an increase in the request for funds in

the Marine Sanctuary program.

Program Support:

The Program Support account includes funding for corporate services and agency

management. This is the Under Secretary’s office, the office of the Chief Financial

Officer, and the Program, Planning and Integration Office.

The Program Support account also includes the NOAA Education Program. Overall, the Program Support account is reduced by about 10 percent as compared to

the FY 2006 enacted level. Most of this reduction is due to a reduction in the procurement accounts.

However, the proposed funding for NOAA education programs is also reduced significantly below the $38 million enacted for these programs in FY 2006 to a proposed funding level of $19 million (48 percent reduction). NOAA plans to provide

lower funding levels for the Hollings Scholarship ($3.7 million); the Nancy Foster

Scholarship ($400,000); JASON Education and Outreach ($1 million) and the Education Partnership Program ($14 million).

With a nearly fifty-percent cut to the Education Program, the promotion of careers

in environmental sciences to ensure future workforce in disciplines critical to

NOAA’s mission is undermined.

8

Chairman LAMPSON. I will call this meeting to order. I wish everyone a good afternoon. Welcome everyone to today’s Subcommittee hearing on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request. This important

agency provides warnings to our citizens of severe weather, charts

our seas and skies, guides the management of our ocean and coastal resources and conducts research to improve our understanding

of the environment.

NOAA is a diverse agency with many important missions and responsibilities. However, issuing watches and warnings of severe

storms may be the role for which NOAA is most famous. In Texas

we experience storms every year in the form of tornadoes and hurricanes. In 2005, the Gulf Coast experienced one of the worst natural disasters in American history when Hurricanes Katrina and

Rita slammed into our coastline back to back. Texas was hit especially hard by Rita causing billions of dollars in damage. Fortunately, many lives were saved as a result of the forecasting done

by NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and the local forecasting offices of the National Weather Service.

Accurate prediction of hurricanes and other severe storms and

sound management of our ocean and coastal resources can only be

achieved through sound investments in the personnel, equipment,

and research at NOAA.

While there are some encouraging features of this year’s budget

request for NOAA, the Administration has once again requested

less funding for 2008 than Congress appropriated in past years.

The Administration’s budget provides few opportunities to expand

NOAA capacity to fulfill its diverse missions. If NOAA is to advance its capabilities to forecast the weather, if we are to restore

our fisheries and coastal ecosystems to a productive and healthy

state, if we are to advance our understanding of the oceans and the

atmosphere, we must invest additional funds in this agency. I have

said it a thousand times that an investment will give us significant

return when we make those investments, if they are done right.

We continue to be concerned about the procurements for the new

polar and geostationary weather satellite systems. It is essential

that we have these new systems completed and delivered in time

to avoid any gaps in coverage of weather data. I am also concerned

about the long-term implications of the cost overruns in the polar

satellite program, NPOESS, for NOAA’s budget in the future. The

Committee will continue to follow both of these procurements closely.

On the positive side, the Administration included funding for an

integrated ocean observing system, funding for the National Integrated Drought Information System, NOAA’s wind profilers, and

funding to complete the Tsunami Warning Network. I also support

the provision of funds to cover the cost of pay raise for NOAA employees. The work NOAA does every day impacts our everyday

lives and supports our economy.

I look forward to hearing the testimony of our witnesses who are

here today, and I thank you very much, your views on the Administration’s budget proposal, and your recommendations for improving

NOAA’s capabilities in the atmospheric and ocean sciences.

9

At this time I’d like to recognize our distinguished Ranking

Member, Mr. Inglis, of South Carolina, for his opening statement.

[The prepared statement of Chairman Lampson follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN NICK LAMPSON

Good Afternoon. I want to welcome everyone to today’s Subcommittee hearing on

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration FY 2008 budget request.

This important agency provides warnings to our citizens of severe weather; charts

our seas and skies; guides the management of our ocean and coastal resources; and

conducts research to improve our understanding of the environment.

NOAA is a diverse agency with many important missions and responsibilities.

However, issuing watches and warnings of severe storms may be the role for which

NOAA is the most famous.

In Texas we experience severe storms every year in the form of tornadoes and

hurricanes. In 2005, the Gulf Coast experienced one of the worst natural disasters

in American history when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita slammed into our coastline

back-to-back.

Texas was hit especially hard by Rita, causing billions of dollars in damage. Fortunately, many lives were saved as a result of the forecasting done by NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and the local forecasting offices of the National Weather

Service.

Accurate prediction of hurricanes and other severe storms and sound management

of our ocean and coastal resources can only be achieved through sound investments

in the personnel, equipment, and research at NOAA.

While there are some encouraging features of this year’s budget request for

NOAA, the Administration has once again requested less funding for NOAA in 2008

than Congress appropriated in past years. The Administration’s budget provides few

opportunities to expand NOAA’s capacity to fulfill its diverse missions.

If NOAA is to advance its capabilities to forecast the weather, if we are to restore

our fisheries and coastal ecosystems to a productive and healthy state, if we are to

advance our understanding of the oceans and the atmosphere, we must invest additional funds in this agency.

We continue to be concerned about the procurements for the new polar and geostationary weather satellite systems. It is essential that we have these new systems

completed and delivered in time to avoid any gaps in coverage of weather data.

I am also concerned about the long-term implications of the cost-overruns in the

polar satellite program—NPOESS—for NOAA’s budget in the future. The Committee will continue to follow both of these procurements closely.

On the positive side, the Administration included funding for an integrated ocean

observing system, funding for the National Integrated Drought Information System,

NOAA’s wind profilers, and funding to complete the Tsunami Warning Network. I

also support the provision of funds to cover the cost of the pay raise for NOAA employees.

The work NOAA does everyday impacts our everyday lives and supports our economy.

I look forward to hearing your testimony, your views on the Administration’s

budget proposal, and your recommendations for improving NOAA’s capabilities in

the atmospheric and ocean sciences.

Mr. INGLIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for being

here today with us. Good afternoon. This hearing about the President’s fiscal year 2008 request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is an important part of what we do here at

the Science Committee. This is a tight budget climate, and given

all the competing demands for federal resources, this appears to be

a balanced budget request for NOAA. It maintains ongoing operational needs while providing for some new initiatives that have

been recommended by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.

I am particularly interested in the budget for the National

Weather Service. This arm of NOAA provides vital services that

our citizens and economy depend on every day. My state of South

Carolina faces threats from hurricanes, occasional ice storms, if you

can believe it, and flooding just to name a few. Without the timely

10

and accurate forecast and warnings provided by the Weather Service, we would be in the dark about these dangers, and so I want

to make sure that the Weather Service continues to have the resources to do its great work.

NOAA also provides important information services for other

parts of our coastal communities or other aspects for our coastal

communities. While I recognize that many in the ocean community

would like to see an even larger budget for NOAA, I would give the

Admiral credit for the new initiatives in the Fiscal Year 2008

Budget Request that reflect priorities in the President’s Ocean Action Plan. At a time when many agencies face flat or declining

budgets, he convinced the Administration to invest $123 million in

programs that will improve our understanding of stewardship of

coastal and ocean resources. We are grateful for your work on that,

Admiral.

Thank you to both of you for being here, and we look forward to

hearing more of the details of the NOAA proposed budget for 2008.

And I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Chairman.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Inglis follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE BOB INGLIS

Good afternoon. Thank you, Chairman Lampson, for holding this hearing about

the President’s Fiscal Year 2008 request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration.

Outside this committee, we don’t hear much about NOAA, but that’s not because

NOAA isn’t doing much. The services NOAA provides have broad applications and

impacts, and it’s vital that these services have the resources necessary to continue

to do the best job possible.

Take the National Weather Service for example. This arm of NOAA provides vital

services that our citizens and economy depend on every day. One of those citizens

and businessmen is my brother, who operates a shrimping boat in Bluffton, South

Carolina. The timely and accurate forecasts and warnings provided by the Weather

Service enable my brother to profit from the best weather, and avoid the worst. It’s

vital that this, and other services, have the resources necessary to continue to do

the best job possible.

NOAA also provides important information and services for coastal communities.

While I recognize that many in the ocean community would like to see an even larger budget for NOAA, I want to give Admiral Lautenbacher credit for the new initiatives in the FY 2008 budget request that reflect priorities in the President’s Ocean

Action Plan. At a time when many agencies face flat or declining budgets, he convinced the powers that be to invest $123 million in programs that will improve our

understanding and stewardship of coastal and ocean resources. We should not overlook his good work on that issue.

I thank our witnesses for being here today and look forward to learning more details about NOAA’s proposed FY 2008 budget.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Chairman LAMPSON. Thank you, Mr. Inglis. I ask unanimous

consent that all additional opening statements, and we have so

many Members here today, submitted by the Subcommittee Members be included in the record. Without objection so ordered.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Costello follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE JERRY F. COSTELLO

Good afternoon. I would like to thank the witnesses for appearing before our subcommittee today to discuss the President’s fiscal year 2008 (FY08) budget proposal

for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The National Weather Service (NWS) is under the jurisdiction of NOAA and it

plays a significant role in providing weather forecasting for a variety of sectors. Specifically, the NWS’s weather products and data are a vital component of the Federal

Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) air traffic control system, providing timely and acVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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curate weather information to local, regional, and national air traffic management,

navigation, and surveillance systems. To ensure our nation’s aviation weather technologies and services are accurate, cost effective, and efficient, I am pleased the

Government Accountability Office (GAO) is in the process of evaluating the NWS’s

efforts to implement recommendations to improve aviation weather services and I

look forward to hearing from our witnesses on the current status of the Nation’s

aviation weather technologies and services.

In addition to NWS’s role in providing weather services to the aviation community, the agency within NOAA is also involved in forecasting weather for our communities. In Southwestern Illinois, there have been a series of bad weather-related

storms causing significant damage and destruction to communities in the congressional district I am privileged to represent. As a result, several of the counties were

declared federal disaster areas by the President, and our region has been eligible

for assistance to rebuild and restore homes, schools, businesses, and local infrastructures. Before any storm hits, it is critically important to have accurate and timely

information on weather forecasts in order to prepare.

While I recognize that weather forecasting is not 100% correct, computer modeling

and weather forecasting programs continue to advance in order to reduce the margin of error. The President’s FY08 proposed budget provides for a 6.5 percent increase than the 2006 enacted levels for the National Weather Service (NWS). I am

pleased the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), a radar system that shows

patterns and movements of weather conditions, received an $11.3 million increase.

However, I have concerns that the FY08 increase for the NWS may not be sufficient to fully cover all operational and maintenance requirements for current weather forecasting equipment, especially if we experience a year with severe weather

events and hurricanes that often result in damage or loss to weather monitoring

and forecasting equipment.

I look forward to hearing the testimony of our witnesses.

Chairman LAMPSON. We do have one small problem. I think we

can get our opening statements out of the way in convenient time,

but we will have a vote that will come up probably sometime in the

next five, maybe less than 10, minutes. We have got adequate time,

I believe, to have both of your statements made, and then if you

all will forgive us, we will run off and make our way back as quickly as we possibly can.

It is a pleasure to introduce the excellent panel of witnesses that

we have with us here this afternoon. Vice Admiral Conrad

Lautenbacher is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and

Atmosphere and Administrator of NOAA and Dr. Len Pietrafesa is

the Associate Dean of External Affairs and Professor of Ocean and

Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University and is

the former Chair of NOAA’s Science Advisory Board.

So we welcome both of you very much. You will each have five

minutes for your spoken testimony. Your full, written testimony

will be included in the record for the hearing. And when each of

you have completed your testimony, we will begin with questions,

and each Member will have five minutes to question the panel and

we will rotate as normal.

Admiral Lautenbacher, would you please begin?

STATEMENT OF VICE ADMIRAL CONRAD LAUTENBACHER, JR.

(U.S. NAVY, RET.), UNDER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR

OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERE AND NOAA ADMINISTRATOR,

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION,

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good

afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Inglis, members of the

staff. We appreciate very much this opportunity to be able to testify

on behalf of the 2008 budget. We thank this committee for its conVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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tinuing support. This committee has been very important to the

ability of NOAA to carry out its mission, and we look forward to

working with you to build the best budget possible for the country.

This year I think everyone is aware NOAA is celebrating 200

years of science, service, and stewardship to the Nation. The precursor of NOAA was the first scientific agency in the United States

Government, seen fit to be brought into existence by President

Thomas Jefferson and the Congress in those days. Since that point,

we have been joined by the Weather Bureau, Commission on Fish

and Fisheries in the 1870’s and up until today where we have satellites and a fabulous research branch that works for us. So it has

been a long road. Our folks are very proud of their contributions,

and we are looking forward to celebrating this legacy this year.

I have a couple of details on the 2008 request. Allow me to mention just a couple of the accomplishments that have occurred in the

past year thanks to the support of Congress. In June, the President

designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a Marine National Monument encompassing nearly 140,000 square miles. This

monument includes 4,500 square miles of relatively undisturbed

coral reef habitat that is home to more than 7,000 species, a quarter of which do not exist anywhere else on Earth. And for the first

time, NOAA will play a leading role in managing a national monument. It is an exciting and important opportunity for NOAA.

We have also increased the security of our nation’s folks living

around the coastlines. We have a combination of new tsunami

buoys and around-the-clock warning capability thanks to support

from Congress. NOAA has 23 special buoys around the U.S. coast.

Plans call for the U.S. Tsunami Warning Network to include 39

buoy stations by mid-summer 2008 with 32 in the Pacific and seven

in the Atlantic. NOAA has also achieved 24–7 operation of the Nation’s two Tsunami Warning Centers located in Alaska and Hawaii

which provide warnings and alerts to our nation and to the nations

in the Pacific rim.

NOAA collaborated with federal partners to place a NOAA

weather radio in every public school in America, and the support

of this committee has been very important to NOAA weather radio.

That is more than 97,000 radios to aid in protecting our children.

Our weather radios, All Hazards, provide automatic alerts for severe weather, man-made disasters such as chemical spills and terrorism threats as well as Amber Alerts for missing children.

My written testimony presents the details of the budget. It is

aligned in several priority areas. First of all, sustaining critical operations and then supporting our U.S. Ocean Action Plan mentioned previously, improving weather warnings and forecasts and

climate monitoring and research are all important to today’s society

and economy. I will highlight just a few of the key increases in

these areas.

The total request is $3.8 billion which represents a $131 million,

or 3.4 percent, increase over the fiscal year 2007 request. But as

mentioned, it is a $96 million decrease from the fiscal year 2006

enacted level. The budget does provide modest new investments in

priority areas while maintaining critical services. Approximately

$54 million in net increases will support our workforce which is

mentioned again as a critical part of what we provide to the counVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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try and pay for regular inflation costs. Continued implementation

of the President’s Ocean Action Plan, which follows on the Ocean

Policy Commission and the Pew Commission, remains a priority for

the Administration. As mentioned, the budget requests $123 million increase to support the plan, $60 million for ocean science and

research, $38 million to protect and restore marine and coastal

areas, and $25 million to ensure sustainable use of our oceans. And

specifically the budget requests $16.4 million for the Integrated

Ocean Observing System, or IOOS, for development of regional systems and improved data management and communications. It also

includes $8 million for enforcement and management activities in

the newly designated Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National

Marine Monument.

To improve weather forecast and warnings, our budget requested

an increase of $5 million to support operations and maintenance of

hurricane data buoys and research on hurricane intensity that will

ultimately save lives. More than $23 million in total is requested

to continue strengthening the U.S. Tsunami Warning System,

which is including an increase of about $2 million for additional

deep-ocean buoy stations. Climate monitoring and research increases of $9.4 million will support the development of an integrated drought early warning forecast system that will enhance our

nation’s food security by providing earlier and more accurate

drought forecasts.

I appreciate the efforts again of this committee in passing the

NIDIS legislation last year.

Let me conclude briefly by talking briefly about two oversight

issues which I know are of importance to this committee and certainly to NOAA. There have been many challenges with our satellite programs and NPOESS in particular. Let me assure the Committee that I am doing everything, along with my organization, to

ensure this program stays on track. We have made numerous personnel changes, we are implementing every recommendation from

the GAO and the Department of Commerce Inspector General and

I meet with the Under Secretary of the Air Force and the NASA

Administrator once a quarter and more often, if necessary, to review this program. Satellites are complex and risky tools, but they

are vital to all aspects of NOAA’s mission.

I also want to assure the Committee that the Department of

Commerce is in the final stage of updating its communication policy which will ensure our scientists have, for the foreseeable future,

the freedom to speak openly, communicate their science to the

media and public. Open and free scientific debate is an important

principle that I maintain personally and within the organization.

Again, thank you for this opportunity to present the budget. I

look forward to your questions.

[The prepared statement of Vice Admiral Lautenbacher follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF VICE ADMIRAL CONRAD LAUTENBACHER, JR.

Madam Chairwoman and Members of the Subcommittee, before I begin my testimony I would like to thank you for your leadership and the generous support you

have shown the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Your

continued support for our programs is appreciated as we work to improve our products and services for the American people. Thank you for the opportunity to testify

on the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Budget Request for NOAA.

14

The FY 2008 President’s Budget supports NOAA’s priority to advance missioncritical services. The FY 2008 request is $3.815 billion, which represents a $131 million or 3.4 percent increase over the FY 2007 request. This request includes the

level of resources necessary to carry out NOAA’s mission, which is to understand

and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, and conserve and manage coastal

and marine resources to meet our nation’s economic, social and environmental

needs. At NOAA we work to protect the lives and livelihoods of Americans, and provide products and services that benefit the economy, environment, and public safety

of the Nation. Before I discuss the details of our FY 2008 budget request, I would

like to briefly highlight some of NOAA’s notable successes from the past fiscal year

(2006).

FY 2006 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

President Designates Largest Fully-Protected Marine Area on Earth

Recognizing the continuing need for resource protection, President Bush designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a marine national monument on

June 15, 2006. Encompassing nearly 140,000 square miles, the monument covers an

area larger than all of our national parks put together, including 4,500 square miles

of relatively undisturbed coral reef habitat that is home to more than 7,000 species.

The creation of the largest fully-protected marine area in the world is an exciting

achievement and recognizes the value of marine resources to our nation.

Successful Launch of NOAA Satellite GOES–13 and New Satellite Operations Facility Ensure Continuity of Improved Data Collection

On May 24, 2006, officials from NOAA and the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) confirmed that a new geostationary operational environmental satellite, designed to track hurricanes and other severe weather impacting

the Nation, successfully reached orbit. Upon reaching final orbit, the satellite was

renamed GOES–13. This is the first in a new series of satellites featuring a more

stable platform enabling improved instrument performance. NOAA instruments

were also launched on the European MetOp-A polar-orbiting satellite in October

2006. Combined with NOAA and Department of Defense (DOD) operational satellites, MetOp-A will help provide global data for improving forecasts of severe

weather, disaster mitigation, and monitoring of the environment. This launch ushered in a new era of U.S.-European cooperation in environmental observing.

In 2006, NOAA satellite operations and data processing groups began moving into

the new NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF). The NSOF will house the

NOAA satellite command and control functions and data and distribution activities

that are central to NOAA’s mission. The NSOF will also house the U.S. Mission

Control Center for the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) program and the National Ice Center (NIC), a joint NOAA/DOD mission to track ice

floes and issue warnings to the Nation’s maritime force. The NSOF will become fully

operational in Spring 2007.

Enhancements to NOAA’s Fleet of Ships and Aircraft

Significant progress is being made in modernizing NOAA’s fleet. NOAA took delivery of the Fisheries Survey Vessel (FSV) HENRY B. BIGELOW, the second of four

new FSV, on July 25, 2006. The BIGELOW has high-tech capabilities that make it

one of the world’s most advanced fisheries research ships. These ships will be able

to perform hydro-acoustic fish surveys and conduct bottom and mid-water trawls

while running physical and biological oceanographic sampling during a single deployment—a combined capability unavailable in the private sector that will enable

research and assessment to be carried out with greater accuracy and cost efficiency.

NOAA also took delivery from the Navy of a ‘‘retired’’ P–3 aircraft in response to

the hurricane supplemental bill attached to the FY 2006 Defense appropriations legislation. Rehabilitation of the P–3 is expected to be completed by the start of the

2008 hurricane season.

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Reauthorized

Congress reauthorized the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) in December, 2006, and it was signed into law by President Bush

on January 12, 2007. The MSA is the guiding legislation that authorizes fishery

management activities in federal waters. Enactment of this bill was one of the top

priorities of the U.S. Ocean Action Plan. The reauthorized MSA strengthens NOAA’s

ability to end overfishing, rebuild fish stocks, and work collaboratively on conservation.

15

U.S. Tsunami Warning System Improved

NOAA designed easy to deploy Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of

Tsunamis (DART)–II technology, which provides two-way communication between

the buoys and NOAA facilities. This technology allows engineers to troubleshoot

these systems from the lab and repair the systems remotely when possible. This

functionality can minimize system downtime and save money by not requiring a

ship be deployed to make minor repairs. The U.S. Tsunami Warning Program also

created tsunami impact forecast models for nine major coastal communities, providing information for inundation maps. With the December 11, 2006 deployment

of DART #23 in the Western Pacific Ocean, NOAA achieved initial operating capability (IOC) of the planned expanded U.S. Tsunami Warning Program. NOAA also

achieved full 24/7 operations of the Nation’s two Tsunami Warning Centers. Plans

call for the U.S. Tsunami Warning Network to total 39 DART–II buoy stations by

mid-summer 2008 (32 in the Pacific, seven in the Atlantic).

NOAA also continued to monitor sea height through a network of buoys and tide

gauges, collecting information critical to understanding the time of arrival and the

height of tsunami waves. In 2006, NOAA completed the installation of eight new

National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) stations to fill gaps in the detection network, bringing the two-year total to 15. The 15 stations were installed

in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

These and other new stations brought the NWLON to 200 stations by the end of

calendar year 2006. In addition, NOAA continued to upgrade the entire NWLON to

real-time status by replacing over 50 data collection platforms.

Red Tide Monitoring Protects Human Health and Coastal Economics in

New England

In the wake of the 2005 New England red tide crisis that forced the closure of

most shell fisheries in the region, NOAA provided additional emergency funding in

2006 to provide timely and critical information to state managers to build upon

long-term research supported by the Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal

Bloom, and Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Bloom programs at

the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, as well as other partner institutions. In

the spring of 2006, NOAA-sponsored monitoring detected rapid escalations of the

bloom, which subsequently closed shell fisheries in Massachusetts, New Hampshire

and Maine. Additional NOAA efforts allowed New England managers to make more

strategic sampling and shellfish bed closures/openings to protect human health and

minimize the economic impacts of harmful algal blooms.

National Estuarine Research Reserve System Adds 27th Reserve

On May 6, 2006, Commerce and Congressional officials dedicated the newest site

in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System in Port Aransas, TX, bring the

total to 27 reserves. This new reserve introduces a new biogeographic area type into

the system, and adds 185,708 acres of public and private land and water. The reserves are federal-State partnerships, where NOAA provides national program guidance and operational funding. These reserves serve as living laboratories for scientists and provide science-based educational programs for students and the public.

Wide Application Potential of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Demonstrated

In 2006, NOAA worked with federal and private sector partners to successfully

demonstrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) technology. NOAA is interested in

UAS as a tool to explore and gather data to help us reach new heights in our ability

to understand and predict the world in which we live. Use of UAS could help NOAA

achieve our mission goals and provide cost-effective means to: enforce regulations

over NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries, conduct long endurance flights for

weather, conduct research over areas that pose significant risks to pilots, validate

satellite measurements, provide counts of marine mammal populations, monitor atmospheric composition and climate, and hover above hurricanes and gather critical

data for input into hurricane models. NOAA will continue to examine how UAS can

assist in the collection of environmental data.

Protecting Habitat Essential to Fish

In 2006, over 500,000 square miles of U.S. Pacific Ocean habitats were protected

from damage by fishing practices, particularly bottom-trawling. Combined, these

areas are more than three times the size of all U.S. national parks. The historic protections, implemented by NOAA with the support and advice of the regional fishery

management councils, fishing industry, and environmental groups, made the protection of essential fish habitat and deep coral and sponge assemblages a significant

part of management efforts to conserve fisheries in the Pacific Ocean.

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NOAA Continues Efforts to Assist with Gulf Coast Recovery Following 2005

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

In addition to providing the forecasts and immediate response assistance in 2005,

following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, NOAA has continued to assist with Gulf

Coast recovery efforts in FY 2006.

NOAA ships and aircraft provided critical response and recovery capabilities in

the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. NOAA Ship THOMAS JEFFERSON

completed obstruction surveys in the Gulf of Mexico so that busy ports and shipping

lanes could be re-opened to traffic. NOAA’s Citation aircraft flew post-storm damage

assessment surveys along the coasts of the Gulf States. This imagery was

downloaded on the NOAA website, enabling emergency managers, local officials and

average citizens to inventory damage and prioritize recovery efforts.

NOAA mounted a multi-pronged effort to address fishery-related impacts in the Gulf of Mexico in FY 2006. In August, 2006, NOAA awarded $128 million to the

Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to reseed and restore oyster beds and conduct fisheries monitoring in the Gulf. In addition, NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER

conducted a seafood contamination survey for NOAA Fisheries near the Mississippi

Delta to spot potential safety issues. This research monitored the seafood coming

in from the Gulf to ensure it was safe for public consumption (free of PCBs, pesticides, and fossil fuels).

Collaboration Enables a NOAA Weather Radio to be Placed in Every Public

School in America

NOAA and the Departments of Homeland Security and Education worked to get

97,000 NOAA weather radios placed in every public school in America to aid in protecting our children from hazards, both natural and man-made. In many cases, local

Weather Forecast Office staff provided expertise in programming the radios to select

specific hazards and geographic areas for which the school wanted to be alerted.

This multi-month effort required close collaboration between the Departments of

Homeland Security, Education, and Commerce (NOAA). This effort enabled schools

to connect to part of the Nation’s Emergency Alert System and greatly increases environmental situational awareness and public safety.

World Ocean Database 2005

NOAA’s National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) released a major upgrade

to its World Ocean Database product. World Ocean Database 2005 (WOD05) is the

largest collection of quality-controlled ocean profile data available internationally

without restriction. All data are available on-line for public use. Data are available

for 29 ocean variables, including plankton data. The database includes an additional

900,000 temperature profiles not available in its predecessor. The database provides

the ocean and climate science communities with research-quality ocean profile data

sets that will be useful in describing physical, chemical and biological parameters

in the ocean, over both time and space. This database is a crucial part of the Integrated Ocean Observing System and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.

New Arctic Observatory Established for Long-Term Climate Measurements

NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, in conjunction

with our Canadian counterparts, established a research site located on Ellesmere

Island to make long-term climate measurements of Arctic clouds and aerosols. This

observatory supports NOAA’s activities for the 2007–2008 International Polar Year.

NOAA Scientists Identify Carbon Dioxide Threats to Marine Life

A report co-authored by NOAA research scientists documents how carbon dioxide

is dramatically altering ocean chemistry and threatening the health of marine organisms. The research also uncovered new evidence of ocean acidification in the North

Pacific. The report resulted from a workshop sponsored by NOAA, the National

Science Foundation, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

First Operational Satellite Products for Ocean Biology

In June, 2006, NOAA began to process and distribute ocean biology products for

U.S. coastal waters, using satellite observations. This activity represents a successful transition of NASA research to NOAA operations. These products (e.g., chlorophyll concentration) represent the first satellite-derived biological products generated by NOAA for coastal and open ocean waters. These products are useful in

detecting and monitoring harmful algal blooms, assessing regional water quality,

and locating suitable habitat for fish and other important marine species. Development of these products prepares NOAA for generating and distributing ocean biology products in the global ocean after 2010.

17

FY 2008 BUDGET REQUEST HIGHLIGHTS

Supporting the U.S. Ocean Action Plan

Coastal and marine waters help support over 28 million jobs, and the value of the

ocean economy to the United States is over $115 billion. The commercial and recreational fishing industries alone add over $48 billion to the national economy each

year. The FY 2008 President’s Budget requests $123 million in increases for NOAA

to support the President’s U.S. Ocean Action Plan. This oceans initiative 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.

New investments in ocean science are aimed at monitoring and better understanding marine ecosystems. Increased funding of $16 million is included for the Integrated Ocean Observing System to enhance models and information products

through development of regional systems and improved data management and communications. A total increase of $20 million is provided for NOAA research on four

near-term priorities established through the national Ocean Research Priorities

Plan. An additional $8 million will support exploring and defining areas of the continental shelf that are adjacent to, but currently outside of, U.S. jurisdiction. This

work will enable a U.S. claim to these areas and the potential $1.2 trillion worth

of resources they are estimated to contain.

The FY 2008 President’s Budget builds on NOAA’s strong record of investing in

projects that embody the spirit of cooperative conservation. Projects to protect and

restore valuable marine and coastal areas include funding of $8 million for enforcement and management activities in the recently designated Northwestern Hawaiian

Islands Marine National Monument, and $10 million for a project to restore nearly

1,000 stream miles of habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon and other fish species.

A total of $15 million is provided for the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation

Program, to assist State and local partners in the purchase of high priority coastal

or estuarine lands or conservation easements. Increased funding of $3 million is also

included to support Klamath River salmon recovery projects. Finally, an increase of

$5 million will support competitive grant programs focused on the Gulf of Mexico

Alliance coastal resource priorities, as identified in the Governors’ Action Plan for

Healthy and Resilient Coasts.

Finally, the FY 2008 NOAA budget provides support to ensure sustainable access

to seafood through development of offshore aquaculture and better management of

fish harvests. The Administration will propose legislation to establish clear regulatory authority and permitting processes for offshore aquaculture. An increase of

$3 million is included to establish the regulatory framework to encourage and facilitate development of environmentally sustainable commercial opportunities. In addition, $20 million in increases are provided to improve management of fish harvests,

including $6.5 million in increases to implement the new and expanded requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, $3 million for observer programs, and $6 million for market-based

approaches to fisheries management. Market-based approaches—such as Limited

Access Privilege Programs (LAPPs) that provide exclusive privileges to harvest a

quantity of fish—move fisheries management away from cumbersome and inefficient

regulatory practices and have been shown to lead to lengthened fishing seasons, improved product quality, and safer conditions for fishermen. The Administration has

set a goal of doubling the number of LAPPs in use by the year 2010, and the increased funding of $6 million for LAPPs in this request supports that goal. Finally,

an additional $2 million in funding is provided to meet the management challenges

of assessing and mitigating the impacts of sound from human activities, such as national defense readiness and energy exploration and development, on marine mammals.

Sustaining Critical Operations

As always, I support NOAA’s employees by requesting adequate funding for our

people, infrastructure, and facilities. NOAA’s core values are science, service, and

stewardship, as well as people, ingenuity, integrity, excellence, and teamwork. Our

ability to serve the Nation and accomplish the missions outlined below is determined by the quality of our people and the tools they employ. Our facilities, ships,

aircraft, environmental satellites, data-processing systems, computing and communications systems, and our approach to management provide the foundation of support for all of our programs. Approximately $54.6 million in net increases will support our workforce inflation factors, including $44.9 million for salaries and benefits

and $6.6 million for non-labor related adjustments such as fuel costs.

18

This year, we focus on the operations and maintenance of NOAA vessels and necessary enhancements to marine safety, facility repair, and modernization. A funding

increase of $8.3 million will be used to support marine operations and equipment,

including $5.6 million for new vessel operations and maintenance and $1.7 million

to implement a more effective maritime staff rotation and safety enhancements.

This funding will support the operations maintenance for the OKEANOS EXPLORER, NOAA’s first dedicated Ocean Exploration vessel. Increased funding of

$5.5 million will support operations and maintenance for NOAA’s third P–3 aircraft.

NOAA is also moving forward this year with increases in funding for unmanned vehicles, with $0.7 million in support of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) and

an increase of $3 million in funding to support the further use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). With this increase, NOAA will evaluate the benefits and potential of using UAS to collect data crucial for climate models, weather research,

fisheries enforcement, and coastal zone studies.

The backbone of the NOAA infrastructure is our integrated Earth observation effort. NOAA, NASA and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) serve

as the lead agencies for the Federal Government in developing our U.S. integrated

Earth observing strategy. In addition, I serve as one of four intergovernmental cochairs of the effort to develop the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.

Building and maintaining state of the art satellite programs is an important component of NOAA’s integrated observation efforts. An increase of $25 million in the

Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) program continues support for

development and acquisition of polar-orbiting weather satellites to improve weather

forecasting and our understanding of the climate. This increase will allow NOAA

to complete acquisition of this series of polar satellites and install and maintain instruments important to U.S. Government interests on the European MetOp partner

satellite. Following the completion of the POES program, it will be replaced by the

tri-agency National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System

(NPOESS). This transition is expected in 2013. We will continue to partner with the

Europeans on their MetOp satellite as NPOESS replaces our current POES satellites.

Improving Weather Warnings & Forecasts

Severe weather events cause $11 billion in damages and approximately 7,000

weather-related fatalities yearly in the United States. Nearly one-third of the economy is sensitive to weather and climate. Realizing this, NOAA seeks to provide decision makers with key observations, analyses, predictions, and warnings for a variety

of weather and water conditions to help protect the health, lives, and property of

the United States and enhance its economy. Increased funding of $2 million will accelerate research to improve hurricane intensity forecasts through targeted research

for new models and observations. Another $3 million will support the operations and

maintenance of 15 hurricane data buoys in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the

Atlantic Ocean. Finally, NOAA continues to strengthen the U.S. Tsunami Warning

Program with an increase of $1.7 million to deploy additional deep ocean buoy

(DART) stations. Strengthening the U.S. Tsunami Warning Program provides effective, community-based tsunami hazard mitigation actions including required inundation flood mapping, modeling, forecasting efforts and evacuation mapping, and

community-based public education/awareness/preparedness for all U.S. communities

at risk.

Climate Monitoring & Research

Society exists in a highly variable climate system, and major climatic events can

impose serious consequences on society. The FY 2008 Budget Request contains investments in several programs aimed at increasing our predictive capability, enabling NOAA to provide our customers (farmers, utilities, land managers, weather

risk industry, fisheries resource managers and decision makers) with assessments

of current and future impacts of climate events such as droughts, floods, and trends

in extreme climate events. NOAA is building a suite of information, products and

services to enable society to understand, predict, and respond to changing climate

conditions. These activities are part of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program

and are being conducted in collaboration and coordination with our important interagency partners including NASA, NSF, and the Department of Energy. We will continue to expand and improve access to global oceanic and atmospheric data sets for

improved climate prediction and development of climate change indicators. NOAA

will support the critical National Integrated Drought Information System with increases of $4.4 million to develop an integrated drought early warning and forecast

system to provide earlier and more accurate forecasts of drought conditions. This request also supports the Administration’s efforts to create a U.S. Integrated Earth

19

Observation System. With an increase of $0.9 million, we will support research on

water vapor to refine climate models. In support of the Ocean Research Priorities

Plan, NOAA will enhance our understanding of the link between ocean currents and

rapid climate change with an increase of $5 million in support of research on this

topic. Finally, an additional $1 million in funding will provide additional computational support for assessing abrupt climate change.

Critical Facilities Investments

The FY 2008 President’s Budget Request also includes important increases for

critical facilities, necessary to provide a safe and effective working environment for

NOAA’s employees.

Of particular importance this year is the $3 million funding increase to begin design of a replacement facility at the La Jolla Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

NOAA is also requesting $20.3 million for continued construction of the new Pacific

Region Center on Ford Island in Honolulu, Hawaii. This increase in funding will

allow NOAA to complete the exterior renovation of one of the Ford Island buildings,

a crucial next step in the construction process.

CONCLUSION

NOAA’s FY 2008 Budget Request provides essential new investments in our priority areas while maintaining critical services, reflecting NOAA’s vision, mission,

and core values. The work NOAA accomplished in 2006 impacted every U.S. citizen.

We will build on our successes from last year, and stand ready to meet the challenges that will surface in FY 2008 and beyond. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing

economic security and national safety through research and accurate prediction of

weather and climate-related events, and to providing environmental stewardship of

our nation’s coastal and marine resources. That concludes my statement, Madam

Chairwoman. Thank you for the opportunity to present NOAA’s FY 2008 Budget Request. I am happy to respond to any questions the Committee may have.

BIOGRAPHY FOR VICE ADMIRAL CONRAD C. LAUTENBACHER, JR.

A native of Philadelphia, Pa., retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher,

Ph.D., is serving as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.

He was appointed Dec. 19, 2001. Along with this title comes the added distinction

of serving as the eighth Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in applied mathematics.

Lautenbacher oversees the day-to-day functions of NOAA, as well as laying out

its strategic and operational future. The agency manages an annual budget of $4

billion. The agency includes, and is comprised of, the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Services; National Marine Fisheries Service; National

Ocean Service; National Weather Service; Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; Marine and Aviation Operations; and the NOAA Corps, the Nation’s seventh uniformed

service. He directed an extensive review and reorganization of the NOAA corporate

structure to meet the environmental challenges of the 21st century.

As the NOAA Administrator, Lautenbacher spearheaded the first-ever Earth Observation Summit, which hosted ministerial-level representation from several dozen

of the world’s nations in Washington July 2003. Through subsequent international

summits and working groups, he worked to encourage world scientific and policy

leaders to work toward a common goal of building a sustained Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) that would collect and disseminate data, information and models to stakeholders and decision-makers for the benefit of all nations

individually and the world community collectively. The effort culminated in an

agreement for a 10-year implementation plan for GEOSS reached by the 55 member

countries of the Group on Earth Observations at the Third Observation Summit

held in Brussels February 2005.

He also has headed numerous delegations at international governmental summits

and conferences around the world, including the U.S. delegation to 2002 Asia-Pacific

Economic Cooperation Ocean Ministerial Meeting in Korea, and 2002 and 2003

meetings of the World Meteorological Organization and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in Switzerland and France, as well as leading the Commerce

delegation to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa.

Before joining NOAA, Lautenbacher formed his own management consultant business, and worked principally for Technology, Strategies & Alliances Inc. He was

president and CEO of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education

(CORE). This not-for-profit organization has a membership of 76 institutions of

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higher learning and a mission to increase basic knowledge and public support across

the spectrum of ocean sciences.

Lautenbacher is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (Class of 1964), and has

won accolades for his performance in a broad range of operational, command and

staff positions both ashore and afloat. He retired after 40 years of service in the

Navy. His military career was marked by skilled fiscal management and significant

improvements in operations through performance-based evaluations of processes.

During his time in the Navy, he was selected as a Federal Executive Fellow and

served at the Brookings Institution. He served as a guest lecturer on numerous occasions at the Naval War College, the Army War College, the Air War College, The

Fletcher School of Diplomacy, and the components of the National Defense University.

His Navy experience includes tours as Commanding Officer of USS HEWITT

(DD–966), Commander Naval Station Norfolk; Commander of Cruiser-Destroyer

Group Five with additional duties as Commander U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Riyadh during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, where he was in

charge of Navy planning and participation in the air campaign. As Commander U.S.

Third Fleet, he introduced joint training to the Pacific with the initiation of the first

West Coast Joint Task Force Training Exercises (JTFEXs).

A leader in the introduction of cutting-edge information technology, he pioneered

the use of information technology to mount large-scale operations using sea-based

command and control. As Assistant for Strategy with the Chief of Naval Operations

Executive Panel, and Program Planning Branch Head in the Navy Program Planning Directorate, he continued to hone his analytic skills resulting in designation

as a specialist both in Operations Analysis and Financial Management. During his

final tour of duty, he served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments) in charge of Navy programs and budget.

Lautenbacher lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Susan who is a life-long

high school and middle school science teacher.

Chairman LAMPSON. Thank you, Admiral Lautenbacher. I would

now call on Dr. Pietrafesa.

STATEMENT OF DR. LEN PIETRAFESA, ASSOCIATE DEAN, OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS; PROFESSOR OF OCEAN AND

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL AND

MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES, NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Dr. PIETRAFESA Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Inglis,

thank you for this opportunity to participate in this hearing regarding NOAA and its budget proposal for fiscal year 2008.

Today I am appearing on behalf of the Friends of NOAA Coalition consisting of over 40 very diverse entities, all NOAA stakeholders. A copy of a letter sent by the Friends Coalition to this

committee in support of an adequate budget for NOAA for fiscal

year 2008 is attached to my testimony.

At the $4.5 billion level, which is $15 per American annually,

NOAA would be able to better serve our nation. The American people need and deserve the most comprehensive, objective, accurate,

and timely environmental information possible. The value of these

services to the Nation, save for D–Day, has never been greater.

What is the broad brush economic importance of NOAA to the

Nation? Department of Commerce statistics show that weather and

climate sensitive industries account for more than one-third of the

Nation’s GDP. Seventy-five percent of the Nation’s gross State

product comes from the coastal States, and 50 percent of the Nation’s economy derives from the coastal counties where NOAA roles

support the significant economic activities. Annually there are 1.5

million highway accidents, and 700,000 deaths that are weather related. $4.5 billion is lost annually just due to weather-related air

21

traffic delays such as the 3,600 canceled flights this past weekend.

Investments in road and aviation, weather infrastructure, and research would greatly reduce these numbers and economic impacts.

Total annual federal spending for weather information is about $25 per household. Aquaculture represents a $1 billion a year industry for U.S. fish farmers and $6 billion per year in retail sales.

Yet, we presently import 80 percent of the fish we consume. As the

Nation’s appetite for seafood grows, the U.S. will need an additional $4.5 billion pounds per year. Here NOAA must lead this effort.

The recently released NRC report, the Decadal Survey, points

out that the U.S. Earth integrated observation capability is lacking

and puts our nation’s global economic competitiveness at risk.

Lloyds of London has stated that we cannot afford to deny climate

trends that may likely lead to $100 billion individual mega catastrophes in insured losses and that U.S. environmental observing

assets and products that should be provided are crucial and critical

to avoiding these industry-threatening costs. Long-term sustained

aid is needed to quantify climate trends. Here the NOAA National

Climatic Data Center’s archive of data and information is critical

for all federal agencies and for its huge economic worth to industry.

But chronic under funding prevents us from capitalizing on new

advances in knowledge, new technology, and innovative ideas; and

in this context, disarray and delay in developing our Earth-observing systems makes no sense to me.

The cost of an integrated ocean observing system that builds on

the essential federal monitoring backbone in the coastal waters, including the Great Lakes, will be $250 million a year. But the value

to the Nation of greatly improved forecasts, including ecological,

will be in the many billions, tens of billions of dollars per year.

I, along with the Pew Commission, the U.S. Commission on

Ocean Policy and many members of the Friends Coalition, believe

that an organic act would significantly strengthen NOAA. A comprehensive NOAA Organic Act should address the following key

issues: management; assessment, production, operations and applications; and research with external partners and educational engagement of the public. As this committee knows, the idea of making NOAA into an independent agency is not new and is controversial. But OMB should assess the NOAA budget in the context of

other major agencies and departments within its natural resource

programs directorate. In this context, the linkages that exist between NOAA and NASA and NSF must be acknowledged and understood. Enactment of a NOAA Organic Act provides a useful

forum for the consideration of such a proposal.

In conclusion, the Friends of NOAA Coalition appreciates the severe budgetary constraints under which the Congress is working.

However, we believe that the case for the NOAA budget is so compelling that we urge the Congress to support an appropriation of

at least $4.5 billion and to support the legislation which would codify and strengthen the agency. The Friends Coalition is deeply

grateful for the opportunity to participate in this hearing, and I

would be happy to respond to any question you and the Members

of the Committee might have.

Thank you.

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[The prepared statement of Dr. Pietrafesa follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF LEN PIETRAFESA

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee—thank you for this opportunity

to participate in this hearing regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its budget proposal for fiscal year 2008.

My name is Len Pietrafesa. I am a Professor of Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

and an Associate Dean at North Carolina State University. I am the immediate past

chair of the NOAA Science Advisory Board, a member of the Board of Trustees of

the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and have been a Governor on

the Board of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, Chair of

the National Council on Ocean Affairs and Chair of the National Association of

State Universities and Land Grant College Board on Oceans and Atmosphere.

Today, I am appearing on behalf of the Friends of NOAA Coalition. The Coalition

consists of over 40 different organizations, institutions, and groups from the academic community, the environmental community and the private sector, including

such organizations as the Shipbuilders Council of America, the Consortium for

Oceanographic Research and Education, the Reinsurance Association of America,

the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative,

the Alliance for Earth Observations, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the National Association of Marine Laboratories, the Red Cross and The

Weather Channel—just to name a few. Diverse though they are, each one of these

organizations believes strongly in the effectiveness of NOAA and benefits from the

products and services provided by the agency. I have attached to my testimony a

copy of a recent letter sent by the Friends of NOAA Coalition to this and other Committees in support of an adequate budget for NOAA for FY 2008 (Attachment I).

The Coalition was formed last year to educate and inform policy-makers and the

public about the important role NOAA plays as a supplier of environmental data

and information products, as the world’s greatest environmental data archiving

agency, as a provider of environmental stewardship services, and as a leader in facilitating the conduct and integration of scientific research in support of the agency’s

critical missions. These missions are: to operationally, routinely forecast atmospheric, marine, space, aviation and road weather and climate, to understand and

predict changes in the Earth’s environment and to conserve and manage hydrologic,

coastal and marine resources to meet our nation’s economic, social and environmental needs.

The services, products and research results provided by NOAA—from forecasting

the weather to predicting coastal hazards to monitoring and anticipating solar disruptions of communications on Earth, to recognizing climate variability and forecasting climate, and from managing drought and wildfires and fisheries, to ensuring

safe and healthy seafood, providing access to navigational information and vital

community assistance and by facilitating scientific research that improves operations and applications—touch the lives of every American and every facet of our

economy. If funded at the $4.5 billion level ($15 per person annually) as recommended by the House Oceans Caucus and this Coalition, NOAA would be able

to continue serving the extensive and varied interests and needs of our nation. The

American people need and deserve the most comprehensive and timely environmental information possible. The value of objective, timely, and accurate environmental information (save for D–Day) has never been greater.

Significant events in recent years—the devastating tsunami following the Southeast Asian earthquake in 2004, the extent and ferocity of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, and the persistence and impact of the prolonged drought in the western United States—all underscore the importance of NOAA’s mission to the Nation

and the world. NOAA’s National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center

issued its forecast for Hurricane Katrina in a very timely manner—a forecast that

probably saved many tens of thousands of lives. Moreover, it is the integration of

NOAA’s wide range of activities that allowed the agency to deliver such valuable

life-saving services and information to our citizens. This integrated system includes

satellites in space, buoys at sea, coastal and ocean observatories, weather stations

found in every state of the Nation with a national radar network that is the envy

of the world, and the people who provide life saving information to those with responsibility for the public’s safety at State and local levels.

A wide variety of government agencies, professional and community organizations,

and private industry have a vested interest in NOAA’s ability to meet its mission.

Each has its respective role in being responsive and effective in serving the Nation’s

needs for economic strength, environmental vitality, and human health and thus relies on services from NOAA. As an agency, NOAA has responsibilities for maintainVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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ing and improving the viability of marine and coastal ecosystems, for delivering valuable weather, climate, and water information and services, for understanding the

science and consequences of climate change, and for supporting and enhancing the

global commerce and transportation upon which we all depend. To do so successfully

in today’s ever changing world, it must have strong Presidential and Congressional

support and work in concert with its partners and stakeholders in Federal, State,

and local governments and private organizations.

The Importance of NOAA to the Nation

Let me paint a picture of the economic importance of NOAA to the Nation, garnering high returns and greatly reducing losses relative to the overall investment

in the agency. According to statistics published by the Department of Commerce last

spring, weather and climate sensitive industries, both directly and indirectly, account for about one-third of the Nation’s GDP ranging from finance, insurance, and

real estate to services, retail and wholesale trade and manufacturing. Industries directly impacted by atmospheric, space and marine weather such as agriculture, construction, air, highway and sea travel, energy distribution, and outdoor recreation

account for nearly 10 percent of the Nation’s GDP. Six billion dollars is lost annually in economic efficiencies as a result of air traffic delays, of which 70 percent is

attributed to weather; such as the 3600 flights canceled this past Saturday due to

the ice and snow storm that pummeled the Northeast. Approximately seven thousand five hundred deaths and 1.5 million highway accidents occur annually across

the Nation that are weather related. Total annual federal spending for weather information is about $25 per household (including aviation and defense, in addition

to NOAA), which produces an annual benefit-cost ratio of 4.4 to one for U.S. households alone or net national benefits of $8.8 billion a year. This does not include benefits in agriculture, transportation, construction or benefits to households in other

countries that rely on weather information from the United States.

A report about to be issued (by the Centric Consulting Group of Savoy, IL) documents an assessment on the value of NOAA to various sectors of our society. Using

temperature information from the National Climatic Data Center, the Homebuilders

Association was able to adjust its building foundation depth code, resulting in an

industry savings of $250 M/year. The value of data from GOES–R satellite sensors

to the U.S. economy includes such sectors as aviation weather, the power industry,

crop irrigation, recreational boating, tropical cyclone forecasting and thus emergency

and health and risk management sectors.

NOAA’s role as the primary management agency for our oceans and coasts also

helps support the significant economic activity in these regions. Seventy-five percent

of the Nation’s Gross State Product came from the coastal states in 2003. Almost

half of the national economy came from the coastal watershed counties, and more

than one-third came from those counties in which states operate their Coastal Zone

Management programs. The near shore area, which is four percent of the Nation’s

land, produces more than 11 percent of the Nation’s economic output. The portion

of the U.S. economy that depends directly on the ocean is also large, with 2.2 million

people employed and $197 billion in output (gross state product) in 2003. Aquaculture represents a $1 billion per year industry for fish farmers and produces $6

billion per year in retail food; yet the Nation is presently importing 80 percent of

the fish it consumes. Overall, U.S. citizens consume about 16 pounds of seafood per

capita per year (half the global average) and, as the population continues to grow,

the U.S. will need to find another two million metric tons of high quality seafood

each year at a value of about $2–8 billion per year. To address this need, by way

of examples, research and outreach supported by the National Sea Grant College

Program on Manila clams and blue mussels have resulted in new industries worth

$19 million annually and a $25M annual hybrid striped bass aquaculture industry.

Estimates of the economic impacts of harmful algal blooms in the United States

average $75 million annually. These impacts are the sum of different kinds of direct

output impacts across four categories of effects: public health (divided between fish

ciguatera and shellfish poisonings); commercial fishing; recreation and tourism; and

monitoring and management costs. However, individual outbreaks can cause economic damage that exceeds the annual average. For example, outbreaks in the

Chesapeake Bay in 1997 cost the Maryland seafood and recreational fishing industries almost $50 million in just a few months. Lost sales of shell fish in Maine and

Massachusetts due to closures imposed as a consequence of 2005 harmful algal

bloom were estimated to be $11 million for the months of May through September.

Invasive algal blooms along Maui’s Kihei coast cause over $20 million in potential

revenue lost each year to the State of Hawaii—including reductions in property

value and rental income, and increased clean up costs.

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NOAA can help mitigate these losses by funding the research necessary to uncover the conditions responsible for the blooms and then advise on how to eliminate

them or how to anticipate them and take the necessary actions to reduce their impacts.

Integrated Earth Observation Capabilities and Leadership

Integrated Earth observation capabilities are vital to American competitiveness.

The recently released National Research Council (NRC) report, the Decadal Survey,

helps us realize that the U.S. Earth observation capability is not keeping up with

expectations and needs and puts our nation’s global competitiveness is at risk. For

example, preliminary estimates of the potential economic benefits from new investments in an Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) in U.S. waters range from

$500 million to $1 billion per year, estimated largely in terms of increased economic

activity and social surplus realized as a result of improved information about coastal

marine conditions.

It is likely that this is a gross underestimate of the potential value of IOOS as

the NOAA Science Advisory Board has issued the report Ocean Modeling which

claims that interactively coupled atmospheric—ocean models with more real time

air—sea data available to be assimilated into the models will greatly improve

NOAA’s ability to forecast the size, intensity and precipitation content of winter

storms; such as dreaded Nor’easters which frequently impact the Nation’s Capitol.

The cost of an IOOS that builds out the essential federal monitoring backbone in

the Nation’s coastal waters, including the Great Lakes, could well be $250M/year

in equipment, maintenance, ship and personnel costs. But what is the value to the

Northeast from Charleston to Nova Scotia of greatly improved forecasts of the timing, amount and type of precipitation or of impending catastrophic storms in Barrow

or the Great Lakes? It must be in the tens of billions per annum. Risk management

requires investments in national infrastructure.

In a January 12, 2007, speech to the World Affairs Council, Lord Levene, Chairman of Lloyd’s, provided a global insurer’s perspective on catastrophe trends and

climate change. He stated, ‘‘We cannot risk being in denial on catastrophe trends.

We can expect to see U.S. mega-catastrophes with 100 billion dollars insured losses

soon. We urgently need a radical rethink of public policy, and to build the facts into

our future planning.’’ He added, ‘‘The insurance industry will continue to play a

vital role as enabler and rebuilder of the U.S. economy.’’ U.S. environmental observing assets and the products provided are critical to ensuring that insurance and

other sectors have accurate and timely information.

Currently, the annual economic return to the U.S. economy associated with

NOAA’s El Nin ̃ o Ocean observing and forecast system is between 13 and 26 percent,

which is significantly higher than the Office of Management and Budget’s 5.8 percent minimum rate of return specified for federal projects. To wit, we must have

the global information infrastructure that is critical to our interconnected society.

Comprehensive science information ensures that decisions will be made based on

evidence rather than anecdotes. Long-term, sustained data is needed to document

climate and identify trends. Without U.S. long-term climate data, the IPCC assessment would not have been possible.

Environmental sensors and remote observations improve our understanding and

response to climate change and can help build enabling capacity to sustain U.S.

competitiveness. Here again, in today’s global, flat-Earth economy, innovation is the

key to America’s ability to prosper. The U.S. must stay at the forefront of Earth

observation and geospatial technologies to better forecast and mitigate the impact

of climate change, natural disasters and not only lead the competition but leave a

more sustainable world for our children and their children. The motivations and aspirations of the next-generation workforce are being shaped today. We should be setting a long-range vision in place to encourage today’s youth to pursue science, math,

technology and engineering professions to assure future innovation and competitiveness. NOAA can aid and abet that process.

While satellites have been viewed as the panacea they are limited in their applications. As stated in the NRC report ‘‘Satellite observations have spatial and temporal resolution limitations and hence do not alone provide a picture of the Earth

system that is sufficient for understanding all of the key physical, chemical, and biological processes.’’ Thus, we need a system of space, ground (in-situ), airborne and

ocean-based (in-situ) sensors, both public and private, that can gather complementary information and can be integrated with a minimum of duplication. Our commitment today to technology and greater knowledge of the Earth would allow us to better protect life and property and create unprecedented opportunities to promote economic vitality. The right instruments and information systems enable our ability to

make forecasts that help anticipate outbreaks of infectious disease, ensure adequate

25

water availability and quality, or increase agricultural productivity. NOAA can aid

and abet the build out of the required infrastructure.

The recommendations by the NRC Decadal Report would enable a global view of

issues and activities. But a global view alone is not sufficient to make policy or decisions. We need researchers, geospatial modeling and analysis that integrate NOAA

data. We should promote the use of established standards and protocols to assimilate data from multiple sensors and sources-including commercial providers, State

and local governments, academia and international partners-and provide the data

through user-friendly web portals. The NOAA NESDIS National Climatic Data Center is the Nation’s archive of weather, climate, satellite, sea level, radar, precipitation, etc. data that are so critical to planning for all federal agencies, including the

Department of Homeland Security and its Federal Emergency Management Agency,

and private industry and academia. High quality, scrubbed, reliable data are available and can be used to conduct retrospectives and to develop disaster risk management based on physical, ecological and social sciences diagnostic assessments and

prognostications. NOAA data is vital to this process.

The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, the Pew Commission, and the NRC

Decadal report all call for increased funding to improve our current national Earth

monitoring capability. While funding is important, what is also needed is clear federal leadership to address key questions such as: What is our national vision for

Earth observations? How are requirements from the federal operational sector such

as NOAA, USGS, USDA and EPA reflected in our research and development programs within NASA and NSF? Are requirements from the private sector being addressed? Leadership is essential to: protect these critical assets; develop a national

Earth observation strategy to appropriately addresses climate change and other environmental challenges based on evidence over anecdote; assure economy and efficiency in agency plans and budgets; allow a smooth transition from research to operations to applications; improve U.S. land, atmospheric and oceanic -observing capabilities in equal priorities; improve capability and cooperation among government,

private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations; assure the much

needed integration of our national and international Earth observation systems; and

develop the products needed to make the best decisions for our country and future

generations.

The NRC Decadal report recommends that the Office of Science and Technology

Policy, in collaboration with the relevant agencies, and in consultation with the scientific community, should develop and implement a plan for achieving and sustaining global Earth observations. Then a single point of contact or lead agency—

such as NOAA—should be designated to assure complementary rather than duplicative or fragmented effort for all operational aspects of Earth observation and analysis.

Climate Change Science

Through their capacity to absorb and transport heat and carbon dioxide, oceans

are key drivers of climate change processes. In addition, they are also undergoing

significant short- and long-term change over both large and small areas as evidenced by the increasing acidification of the oceans, climatic shifts associated with

El Nin ̃ o, dramatic changes in the amount of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, rising sea

level rise, and concern about possible abrupt climatic and ecological changes, particularly associated with shifts in ocean circulation.

Unfortunately, chronic under-funding of ocean and atmospheric science has prevented us from capitalizing on new technology and innovative ideas that would help

address huge information gaps and significantly advance our understanding of atmospheric and ocean processes. Improved understanding of these processes will

greatly enhance our ability to predict the economic and ecological ramifications associated with climate change. This information will be essential as Congress balances

competing demands in the development of new national policies to minimize and

adapt to climate changes in the coming years and decades.

NOAA can provide critical value to the deliberations concerning climate change

by highlighting the importance of significantly improving our knowledge of ocean

and atmospheric processes (physical, biological, chemical, geological) to provide decision makers with the information they need to make intelligent, economic and ecologically sound decisions—as well as the capacity to monitor these system to evaluate the effectiveness of any new policy mandates. The need to reduce our carbon

emissions/footprint is important but so is the need to improve climate science and

to pursue new management approaches to adapt to the inevitable environmental

changes that will occur in the coming years and decades.

A recent example of the advances that have been made but of a lack of resources

to continue the exceptional research results that have been developed derives form

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a NOAA sponsored university cooperative partnership called Climate and Weather

Impacts on Society and the Environment (CWISE). One of the many new advances

made is the ability to predict in April, the number of hurricanes that will make land

fall for an upcoming hurricane season on the U.S. eastern seaboard and the Gulf

of Mexico (as was done in 2006), allowing for advanced planning. Unfortunately the

program will not be continued, apparently because of a lack of NOAA resources to

support the next phase of

research which, within the next year, would have resulted in bi-state level forecasts, from Texas to Maine. How much value would this new information be to federal and State agencies, to offshore and coastal industries, to insurance and risk

management companies and to society? This Committee has been out front in leading the fight for meeting the Nation’s future scientific and technical workforce

needs. But here, the funding for graduate students, who would be skilled in helping

NOAA and society deal with future impacts of natural hazards, will be terminated

and the students will not be allowed to finish their degrees.

Stewardship and Environmental Stability

Beyond the economic benefits that NOAA provides to the Nation, many of its activities and duties help to maintain environmental stability, help to support human

health, and help to enhance national security. The conservation and stewardship aspects of NOAA are vital to these many benefits provided by the agency. Some examples include:

• NOAA works to preserve the Nation’s living marine resources by managing

our fisheries and essential fish habitats for safe and sustainable harvesting

and consumption, by protecting marine mammals under its jurisdiction, and

by helping to implement the Endangered Species Act;

• NOAA protects our underwater treasures through the National Marine Sanctuary System, which maintain, monitor, and enhance the natural biodiversity,

historical and cultural heritage, and other unique qualities of these areas,

while enhancing public awareness, understanding, and stewardship towards

the marine environment; and

• NOAA helps manage the Nation’s coastal zones to balance competing demands, maintains a national network of monitoring programs that detect,

quantify and forecast changes in coastal environmental quality, and works to

protect coastal communities from the occurrence of disastrous oil and hazardous material spills and limiting the effects of spills on coastal resources

that are vital to local economies.

NOAA Organic Act

Many members of the Friends of NOAA Coalition believe that an organic act

would be very useful to guide the continued development of the policies, priorities,

and programs of NOAA. I would like to offer some suggestions on the issues to be

addressed in the hope that Congress will move to enact an organic act for NOAA.

Both the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Commission argued

strongly for an organic statute for NOAA. I believe such a bill would significantly

strengthen the agency by providing a clear mandate from Congress to the Nation’s

lead civilian agency for oceans and atmosphere. The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative’s recent report, From Sea to Shining Sea, also calls on Congress to codify and

strengthen NOAA and thereby enhance its missions.

A comprehensive NOAA organic act should address the following key issues—

• Management—including the management of ocean and coastal areas and living and non-living marine resources, including fisheries, ocean and coastal

areas, vulnerable species and habitats, and protection from pollution and

invasive species;

• Assessment, prediction, and operations for atmospheric, ocean, and coastal atmospheric environments, including mapping and charting, satellite-based and

in situ data collection, implementation of the Integrated Ocean Observing

System, broadly based data information systems, and climate and weather

services and products; and

• Research and education on all aspects of oceanic and atmospheric resources,

including a focus on the importance of research and development, the use of

scientifically valid technical data throughout the agency and with external

partners, and promotion of educational activities at all levels across the agency and with the public.

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Within any NOAA organic act, beginning with a strengthened science program

and a more service-oriented approach, NOAA should promote inclusiveness and a

commitment to meaningful partnerships with other agencies, states, the private sector, and the academic community. Where partnerships are strong, each institution

benefits from the strengths of the others and the tendency to duplicate similar expertise and functions are minimized.

Extramural partnerships were stressed in the recommendations from the NOAA

Research Review Team’s Review of the Organization and Management of Research

in NOAA which said, among other things, ‘‘NOAA cannot accomplish its goals without the extramural community, specifically the universities and institutions that

represent the broad range of expertise and resources across the physical, biological,

and social sciences. Moreover, there is the important issue of maintaining a scientific and technologically competent workforce in NOAA and that workforce is another ‘product’ of the external research community.’’ We urge Congress to provide

explicit authority and guidance via a NOAA Organic Act that will emphasize the

development of meaningful partnerships with NOAA’s stakeholders and partners.

NOAA, NASA, NSF and the Earth Sciences

No discussion about the role of NOAA is complete without recognizing the inextricable linkage that exists between NOAA, NASA and NSF. The importance of

NOAA research and the unique niche that it fills vis-a`-vis both NASA and NSF research is very important and is one of the areas that is always seemingly misunderstood when it comes to the vitally important issue of Earth-observing systems, and

of the need for end-to end scientific research in support of operations, applications,

and services needed by multiple sectors of society including private industry and society in general.

This committee has already heard from the co-chairs of the National Academy of

Sciences panel that prepared the decadal survey entitled, Earth Science and Applications from Space: Urgent Needs and Opportunities to Serve the Nation. The panel’s

interim report made the following observations:

‘‘The current U.S. civilian Earth observing system centers on the environmental

satellites operated by NOAA; the atmosphere-, biosphere-, ocean-, ice-, and

land-observation satellites of NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS); and the

Landsat satellites, which are operated by a cooperative arrangement involving

NASA, NOAA, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Today, this system of

environmental satellites is at risk of collapse. Although NOAA plans to modernize and refresh its weather satellites, NASA has no plan to replace its EOS

platforms after their nominal six-year lifetimes end (beginning with the Terra

satellite in 2005), and it has canceled, descoped, or delayed at least six planned

missions, including the Landsat Data Continuity Mission.

‘‘. . .a substantial reduction in Earth observation programs today will result in

a loss of U.S. scientific and technical capacity, which will decrease the competitiveness of the United States internationally for years to come. U.S. leadership

in science, technology development, and societal applications depends on sustaining competence across a broad range of disciplines that include the Earth

sciences.’’

In January 2007, the National Academies released the final report of the Decadal

Survey panel. In the final report, the panel reiterated the concerns about the Nation’s system of environmental satellites being ‘‘at risk of collapse.’’ The final report

states: ‘‘In the short period since the publication of the Interim Report, budgetary

constraints and programmatic difficulties at NASA and NOAA have greatly exacerbated this concern. At a time of unprecedented need, the Nation’s Earth observation

satellite programs, once the envy of the world, are in disarray.’’

At a time when policy-makers worldwide are grappling with the important issue

of climate change and global warming, allowing such disarray to develop in our

Earth observing systems makes no sense to me. The Coalition supports the continued vigilance of this committee on this matter and urge the Administration and the

Congress to provide the necessary support to move our Earth-observing systems forward rather than backward.

An Independent NOAA

As this committee knows well, the idea of making NOAA into an independent

agency is not new and remains a controversial proposal. At the very least, however,

the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) could consider reviewing NOAA’s

budget within its natural resource programs directorate, rather than the general

government programs directorate. This change would make it easier to reconcile

NOAA’s budget with those of the other major resource-oriented departments and

28

agencies, all of which are reviewed as natural resource programs at OMB. Enactment of a NOAA Organic Act provides a useful forum for the consideration of such

a proposal.

Conclusion

The members of the Friends of NOAA Coalition appreciate the severe budgetary

constraints under which the Congress is working. However, we also believe that

NOAA and its partners directly contribute to the health, safety, and continued economic competitiveness of our country. Therefore, the Coalition urges the Congress

to recognize the importance of NOAA—and the information it produces and services

it provides—by fully supporting an appropriation of at least $4.5 billion (again, only

about $15/American annually) and legislation to codify and strengthen the agency

as the legislative and congressional budget processes go forward over the coming

months.

On behalf of the dozens of organizations, companies, and universities that make

up the Friends of NOAA Coalition, we are grateful for the opportunity to participate

in this hearing. I would be happy to try to answer any questions you and the Members of the Committee might have.

Thank you.

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BIOGRAPHY FOR LEN PIETRAFESA

After receiving his Ph.D. in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics in 1973 from the University of Washington, Dr. Len Pietrafesa joined the faculty at North Carolina State

University and was made Full Professor (of Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences) in 1980.

He served as the Head of the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric

Sciences for over 10 years and is presently the Associate Dean for External Affairs

at the College of Physical and Mathematical Science. Dr. Pietrafesa’s research and

publications are diverse and include: estuary plume dynamics; coastal storm induced surge, flood and inundation forecasts; the interaction between the atmosphere

and ocean in coastal storm genesis and intensification; interactive wave-current coupled modeling; the climatology of the frequency of occurrence and tracks of tropical;

and the role of science in public policy. Recent foci are on the linkages between

weather and climate and human disease, end to end modeling of physical through

human systems and building a real time reporting coastal air-sea observing network

offshore of the Carolinas in which data is assessed on the fly and assimilated into

interactively coupled atmospheric-ocean models. He also discovered the mechanisms

for the topographic deflection of the Gulf Stream at the Charleston Bump and the

creation of the Charleston Trough, which he discovered and named, and coined the

air-sea interaction term ‘‘buoyancy stress.’’

Dr. Pietrafesa is widely published (more than 180 publications) and his community service includes being Chair of the NOAA Science Advisory Board (eight years

total on the Board, five years as the Chair); a member of the Board of Trustees of

the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (for six years); former Chair

of the USA–Peoples Republic of China Steering Committee on Virtual Co-Laboratories; former Chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land

Grant Colleges Board on Oceans and Atmosphere and Vice Chair of the Commission

on Environment, Food and Renewable Resource. He was also former Chair of the

Council on Ocean Affairs, the precursor to the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (an organization he helped form). As well as former Chair of

the American Meteorology Society Educational Advisory Committee, and a member

of the American Geophysical Union Committee on Public Affairs. He has chaired 25

Ph.D. and 25 M.Sc. committees and mentored 15 post-doctoral students. He has

given written and oral testimony on capitol Hill to committees on science in both

the House and the Senate regarding such topics as: ‘‘are we prepared as a nation

for severe weather’’; ‘‘what were the three most important recommendations in the

COPS report’’; and ‘‘is the academic community in support of the American Competitiveness Initiative.’’

DISCUSSION

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OPERATIONS

Chairman LAMPSON. Thank you very much. Let us start in with

the questioning. As I said before, we will go back and forth between

each of the sides as normal. There is an old saying that we all

know. If something is not broken, do not fix it.

With that thought in mind, what is the current status of NOAA’s

concept of operations plan for change in the configuration of local

weather forecasting offices of the National Weather Service, Admiral?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. For the past couple of years, obviously to try to be as efficient as you possibly can with the taxpayer

resources, we are looking for ways to be more efficient with services from our forecast offices. We have not fully fleshed out all of

the ideas that I think are relevant in that area. We are looking at

ways to deal with that, and basically the current idea is on hold

while we look at ways to modify it or change it. But we are going

to continue with the service that we have today and not make any

changes until new ideas can be tested and be thoroughly vetted

with our unions and our personnel.

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Chairman LAMPSON. Are you looking at trying to achieve a cost

savings in the Weather Service operations?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. We need to involve building new

products. So when I talk about saving money, we are trying to figure out how to take care of some of the needs that we have that

are not covered today by being able to be more efficient in the way

we do business. I would like to prefer to say it that way.

Chairman LAMPSON. And I assume that is a yes?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Well, we have a lot of need to provide climate forecasting, ecosystem forecasting, and extensions of

our hazardous weather forecasts. So there is more that can be

done, that needs to be done, as the Nation grows; and we need

ways to be able to accommodate that within our program. So looking for ways to deliver that service in a more efficient way is one

of the things that we are trying to work on.

Chairman LAMPSON. Has there been any effort to try to look at

in terms of a percentage or dollar terms as to what kind of savings

you might be interested in trying to achieve?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Our target is to be more efficient

but maintain the service that we have to date with room for more

service. There is no target. There is no, you must save five percent,

you must save 10 percent. We have found that in an area where

you are providing 24–7 emergency coverage for the Nation is not

the right way to go about delivering those services. Arbitrary cuts

generally don’t work.

Chairman LAMPSON. In the agency briefing to staff in January

on the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) plan, General Johnson indicated that NOAA would ‘‘demonstrate operability, performance,

and effectiveness before committing to changes.’’ What activities

are you planning to demonstrate operability, performance, and effectiveness?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Well, right now they are looking at

ways to set up a testing process. I haven’t approved the final testing process yet, so I can’t sit here and tell you exactly how that will

be done, but we have to do a test in a way that is fair, that doesn’t

eliminate any service, and that goes along with the congressional

advice on indications on what we should do with our spending. So

we intend to honor those indications that we have from Congress.

Chairman LAMPSON. Is the agency planning to obtain comments

from the outside community of the National Weather Service stakeholders’, State and local emergency managers, for example, who

rely on local forecasting office personnel for information and assistance?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Absolutely. I run an active forum

with our stakeholders as well as General Johnson, and any changes

we make are always discussed with our stakeholders.

Chairman LAMPSON. Are NOAA’s employees fully informed of the

agency’s plans and are they being included in the planning and

demonstration of the proposed changes?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Yes, they are and they will be.

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NATIONAL POLAR ORBITING OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL

SATELLITE SYSTEM (NPOESS)

Chairman LAMPSON. This committee has been following the

NPOESS program closely for years now, and it is well over budget

and behind schedule.

The risk of a gap in our weather data is still quite high. The estimate for the procurement of the new geostationary satellite series

is well-above the previous estimate, but there is no indication in

this budget or in any recent budgets that the Administration has

presented to this Congress that any adjustments are being made

to accommodate the budget realities associated with the true cost

of your satellite procurement programs. It looks like the administration’s plan is to pass the bill for all of this onto the next administration. Even a small cost overrun by satellite procurement

standards translates into significant amounts of money where

NOAA’s other programs are concerned.

Where are the additional funds that are needed to continue support for the existing essential programs at NOAA?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. The funding that is in our budget

and that is projected, which we provided as Congress asked for the

next five years, is the restructured NPOESS program. That represents a fully funded program that will deliver the Nunn-McCurdy

Review Program which was briefed to the Committee. The numbers

for this year that are there is 100 percent of the funding that is

needed to maintain this program on track and to minimize the

risk, and the numbers that we have in the out years, 2009, 2010,

are the projections. We intend to work hard to ensure that the

funding remains on track and that the program that we brief to

you will be delivered at this point on track; and I will fight for the

funds to try to do that.

Chairman LAMPSON. Even in the outyears?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Even in the outyears. I am a

shameless advocate of these programs, and I will continue to fight

to get what I think is right, sir.

Chairman LAMPSON. Thank you very much. I will now recognize

the Ranking Member, Mr. Inglis, for five minutes.

WILDFIRE AND DROUGHT WARNINGS

Mr. INGLIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We were talking about a

number of things recently when you and I had an opportunity to

get together, and I am particularly interested in wildfires and planning for droughts and how NOAA might be helpful in that way. Is

that something that you currently do?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Yes, we do. We are involved in

providing warnings for wildfires. We use satellites to help us get

the information where wildfires might be starting and then we use

the atmospheric information that we get from the satellites as well

as ground-based information to plot smoke plumes, and we provide

tailored forecasts to firefighters on scene. And when there is a significant fire, we deploy what we call an I–MET, a well-trained meteorologist with a field computer receiving station right to the command post on-site in the firefighting to provide, which is the most

important thing you can do for firefighters is to give them an idea

36

what is happening locally with winds and precipitation and temperatures. That is what we do, and that is a normal service and

we intend to try to make it better.

We are looking at doing better models, we are looking at improving the links with our satellites and the use of more information

and working with the Department of Agriculture, the Forestry

Service, and the other folks, the states and the local emergency

managers. It is an important part of our mission.

Mr. INGLIS. How about the long-range aspects of that? Any ability to predict a drought in this planting season, for example, such

that it wouldn’t be wise to plant somewhere because we see that

this is coming? Are we that good or is that a ways away still?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. It is not far away, and thanks to

the bill in Congress that you all helped pass last year, the NIDIS

Bill, the Integrated Drought Information System is going to create

a network that uses the federal networks as well as local networks,

private networks, to build a much finer scale of information that

can be brought in to produce models that will give us a much better handle on predicting the future. We believe that with the integrated ocean observing system that was just talked about in addition to the new sensors on satellites, that we will be able to do

things like accurately forecasting seasonal conditions so that planting and crop rotation and management of livestock can be done on

a much more economically sound basis taking into account environmental conditions. I believe that we are at the threshold of being

able to do that.

INSUFFICIENT FUNDING LEVELS

Mr. INGLIS. Dr. Pietrafesa, you testified I believe that the fund- ing level you would recommend is $4.5 billion. As I understand it

we are at $3.8 billion in this request. And climate change is obviously a significant topic around here. Do you think that the $3.8

billion is sufficient to have NOAA be gathering the information

that we need or how do you think we will fare at the $3.8 billion

level?

Dr. PIETRAFESA. I don’t believe we will fare very well and the

reason is in various parts of NOAA, there are activities that will

contribute to our better understanding of climate, but for lack of

the distributed observing network, the global observing network

that is required, let alone the observing network in the coastal

areas of the United States, the Great Lakes, and even over land,

we are lacking the data that is needed and the precision of the

data, the resolution of the data that is really required to really detect climate signals. That said, our ability to archive and store the

data and to scrub that data and make that data available in nearreal time or real time to industry, to university, researchers, and

to federal agency researchers and information providers is compromised because the budgets are so tight.

One of the issues that really challenged the Science Advisory

Board was the fact that NOAA simply can’t afford to invest as

much money as we believe it could or it should rather into the data

activity. And NOAA has made every effort to improve its data

archiving and access facilities and capabilities, but they are just

under capitalized in that area. Also, the assessments of those data

37

require different kinds of mathematical methodologies, both deterministic and statistical and empirical. And that requires an investment not only in the computers to be able to analyze those massive

data sets but to integrate those data sets with each other; and

these are diverse, different but complementary data sets that need

to be integrated if one is going to truly resolve what the relationships are between different climate factors and the weather delivery systems that evolve from these climate conditions. That takes

people, it takes personnel, that takes extramural engagement, that

is engagement of the extramural community, the university community, private industry, along with the NOAA scientists. And that

is a considerable enterprise. So just in the data area, if we saw another $25 to $50 million

that would go a long way towards improving the capability of the

agency to deliver more timely climate information and better climate information, more advance climate information, and in fact to

get into the downscaling and upscaling of the climate to weather

models and vice versa. And these are not just weather models—it

doesn’t end with the weather models. It actually could move into

the ecological area.

So one could anticipate ecological impacts from various climate

conditions, along with socioeconomic impacts. The Science Advisory

Board believes that it is entirely possible to go from physical phenomenon to socioeconomic impacts in a seamless way through some

complex mathematics and assimilation of the data that NOAA has

in its archives or should be and could be collecting in its archives

were it not undercapitalized.

Chairman LAMPSON. The gentleman from Washington, the Chairman of the Research and Science Education Committee I’ll recognize for five minutes.

LAW ENFORCEMENT CAPABILITY

Mr. BAIRD. I thank the Chair. Thank you, Gentlemen. Being

from Washington State we are obviously interested in NOAA’s activities. Particularly I want to ask a question about the resources

available. Almost by its nature, NOAA is going to have to spend

a lot of time in the water. Do you have adequate resources and

what sorts of resources do you need for two main missions, both enforcement and research?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Those are fully loaded questions.

Mr. BAIRD. They are not meant to be loaded. I know they are

broad.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. No, no, they are broad. But enforcement, I believe that we have the right amount of money in our

budget to be able to deal with enforcement, and what is important

about our enforcement budget is that it leverages State assets and

resources. Part of our budget is designed to have cooperative agreements with each of the States that bring their Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and DNR people in so we have seamless enforcement of our rules between the State waters and between the federal waters.

Mr. BAIRD. I have been told that some of your vessels are kind

of aging to say the least and not up to the task of tracking down

people who are violating our maritime laws. And that is really, on

38

the enforcement side, that is the nature of my concern. We have

got these wonderful sanctuaries or other zones of protection or just

natural interest. Do you guys have the folks who can track somebody as an intruder? They spend time out in the region themselves,

in the real world in the region, and then if somebody does intrude

or violate laws, track them down. That is the essence what I am

after.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. I understand your question. The

sanctuaries have small boats that they do use for enforcement activities inside the marine sanctuaries, which of course, there is a

number on the West Coast. We try to recapitalize those boats with

what we have. Obviously the fleet is aging, but we are able to each

year replace a few and try to move on. We also use the cooperative

agreements again. Fish and Wildlife helps us in places where we

have adjoining types of preserves and national monument areas

and national management areas. And the states help us as well.

But in fact, it is difficult at times to maintain full coverage of all

of our national marine sanctuaries. They have their large areas,

and that is true.

RESEARCH CAPABILITY

Mr. BAIRD. The second question, in particular, Doctor, the research side, do we have the kinds of vessels we need. I remember

talking to somebody a couple years ago, and the nature of the vessel—if they wanted to study an area, they weren’t equipped to go

overnight for a couple of days. And so they were having to go out,

study during the day, and come back; and sort of common sense

says, one, that is not the most economical way. If you have the

seakeeping capacity and the berths and whatnot to spend a couple

days there, you could save all that transit time, plus you are in the

environment longer. You can do real-time continuous observation

versus—anyway, any thoughts on that?

Dr. PIETRAFESA. We have been able to in the last couple of years

with some congressional help to provide some larger vessels. There

is a new one now at the Monterey Bay Sanctuary that allows us

to go overnight for several days and do the kinds of research activities that you’ve mentioned. I think this new boat is a good prototype for the future. We are looking as we can build the capital

budgets to be able to put more of these in our sanctuaries, but they

are an important adjunct to research.

Mr. BAIRD. Thank you. Admiral, Doctor, any comments on that?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Yeah, I mentioned earlier the integrated ocean observing system, part of the deploying and maintaining and recovering and keeping the system alive is actually a research activity because the kinds of systems that have been deployed in the past are not necessarily real time but all of the

NOAA assets have been real time. But some of the new observing

systems are capable of observing for example wave spectra, that is,

the propagation of waves and also tell you not just the amplitude

of the waves but which way they are moving. And getting that data

back in real time is a challenge because, you know, you are collecting data every half-second; and so you need wide band widths

and you need to be able to talk to the instruments out in the ocean,

so it has to be two-way communication.

39

But those sensors are still in developmental stages, and NOAA

is going to have to develop a strategy to maintain those systems

once they are shown to be very valuable, particularly in predicting

things like riptides for example which take so many lives per year.

And once they get into that game, they are going to have to be able

to get back out there to service these instruments. It is not going

to be an annual servicing but rather it may have to be every six

months.

Mr. BAIRD. So that will need to be in the budget?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. That needs to be in the budget as

well.

NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE (NMFS)

Mr. BAIRD. Admiral, educate me. NMFS is part of your budget,

correct?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Yes, it is.

Mr. BAIRD. One of the challenges we face in the northwest has

been with the listing of salmon steelhead, and those species. Permitting times are extraordinarily costly to our economy. I recognize

the importance of your job in trying to do the environmental review

process, but when we don’t have enough personnel to move permits

quickly, literally hundreds of millions of dollars and significant opportunity costs result.

So I would be interested first of all in your comments on your

budget as it relates to personnel to process permits. Secondly I

want to commend some of your folks in the district. We have really

initiated, at my request, some collaborative efforts where NMFS

works with Fish and Wildlife, Corps of Engineers works with EPA,

as needed, and with State agencies to do simultaneous parallel

processing of permits, to work on programmatic kinds of permits.

Any comments either on that approach and/or personnel would be

much appreciated.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Yes, sir. Thank you very much

with recognizing the issues that we have with permitting. We have

some additional money, not a lot, in this budget to help improve

the permitting system and get a few more people on it. It is one

of the issues that generally is not recognized as important in my

view as it ought to be. I am a strong advocate for increasing resources in that area. Each year I try to do as much as I can to improve both in the marine mammal protection area as well as in the

fishery permits and the consultations that we have to do for various other licensing that occurs for power dams and all that other

thing.

I am a big fan of the streamlining and of simultaneous processes.

We have tried to make strong bridging agreements with the Interior Department and local areas so we can do things simultaneously and try to improve, and EPA as well to try to improve it.

I strongly support all efforts to make that a collaborative effort.

Mr. BAIRD. I appreciate that. I know my time has expired. The

last comment I would make is I personally believe that investing

in additional permitting personnel would vastly pay back the taxpayers in terms of expedited review process.

Chairman LAMPSON. I want to continue a little bit of what Mr.

Baird was talking about, because while he is having a problem

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with salmon in one place, I am having a problem with red fish at

another place. And I know how important rebuilding stocks are and

it is a priority of the administration, but what has been requested,

$3.96 billion is about 2.7 percent below the fiscal year 2006 appropriated funding including $795.9 million for the National Marine

Fishery Service, nearly $8 million less than what was appropriated

in fiscal year 2006.

So for the past year, I have been literally beaten up over concerns from the Texas Gulf Coast regarding stock assessments, especially like when it comes to red snapper. Now, there are commercial interest, there are recreational anglers which is a significant

part of the economy there. In my district and in surrounding districts, along with commercial shrimpers, both shrimpers and commercial boats have experienced losses in recent years with some

being literally forced out of business. One of the largest and most

popular snapper fishing party boats just recently announced that

he could no longer stay in business because of seasons and size restrictions. Anglers have to throw back catch that is deemed too

small, and one of the problems with catching red snapper, which

is a fish that goes at a very deep water, and if you pull a fish up

very quickly as one does in fishing and you find out that it is not

the right size and you have to release it, it is dead.

And so we are drawing a good resource. And that means that I

get to catch more of those fish and pull them up and kill them as

well. And if they are not the right size, then we throw them overboard as well.

So we got some serious problems here that have been discussed

for a long time but don’t seem to be reaching the point of solution.

It results in higher mortality rates and consequently, lower stocks.

And they are being forced to comply with shorter and shorter seasons which is supposed to help in rebuilding the stock but I am not

convinced that it is.

Same question, is this budget request sufficient to perform the

real research necessary to provide adequate stock assessment and

management?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. A couple of comments. The Magnuson-Stevens Bill under which we manage fishery was just reauthorized by Congress last year. So it is a bill that includes actually

stronger provisions in it to prevent over-fishing. The Administration has added another $6.5 million to try to accommodate the

work that goes on. Some of that is to improve the amount of effort

that goes into the science so that we don’t have the debates on

what is the right science for this.

Chairman LAMPSON. How does that fit with this which has been

decreased?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. You were talking about the section

of the National Marine Fishery Service budget, and I will point out

to you that that is the area that was shall we say least reduced

from the enacted level. It is almost at the same level as Congress

had left it in fiscal year 2006. That area is not a big change. There

are changes if you look across——

Chairman LAMPSON. $8 million?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. $8 million out of——

Chairman LAMPSON. $8 million less.

41

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER.—$800. $8 million out of $800,

roughly. I mean that is the numbers you are looking at, I think,

right? Around $790-something, $804? I haven’t got it in front of me.

The Fishery Service of all of our areas is closer to being what Congress authorized in previous years. None of our areas are up to the

level as been pointed out by all of you, that we are roughly $100

million down from the enacted levels that we are working on this

year with the continuing resolution, but these are increases over

what the administration asked for last year. Again, I come before

Congress with continued offers to work with Congress to make sure

that the money is put in the right places, that together the Nation

uses it as well as we can.

But we have added more money to help us with Magnuson-Stevens which is what you are——

Chairman LAMPSON. Okay.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER.—commenting on.

Chairman LAMPSON. What about in working with other agencies,

for example, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, other States’

agencies to increase the data collection efforts, especially when it

comes to licensing of recreational anglers and tracking of charter

boats. Additional work——

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. There is $3 million to try to improve that effort. We recognize that in the National Academy, we

asked for a National Academy Report, that we need to have better

information for recreational anglers, that it is obviously a major

part of our economy and our coastal management issues.

Chairman LAMPSON. Would you like to make a comment on this,

Dr. Pietrafesa? My time is expired, but I think it would be——

Dr. PIETRAFESA. Sure. This is an area where I believe that investments would really be wise and would be very productive. As

I said in my testimony, the U.S. appetite for seafood is such that

we are going to need an additional 4.5 billion pounds to appear in

our supermarkets over the very short term in the future. And I see

that there are two approaches that could be taken. One is that we

need to be investing in research that looks at the stocks, the

strength of the stocks, also the year-class strengths of the recruits

as relates to climate factors and weather conditions, you know,

changes in precipitation, river discharge and the like, changes in

how the loop current in your part of the world, how the transport

of the loop current changes from year to year or even season to season. So that is how the wild stock varies as a function of naturally

occurring phenomenon.

On the other side, we need research on creating new agricultural

industries, and so if you are going to invest $3 million a year in

regulation, it seems to me that centers of excellence could be created at least on the order of $6 million. At least initially that could

be located at some key locations around the country where agriculture research could be done along with climatological weather,

ecological research that could be done.

So one could take a look at the agriculture approach as well as

the wild stock approach to better understand the natural system as

well as growing and raising new stocks.

Chairman LAMPSON. I have a personal request, Admiral

Lautenbacher, and that is you help me find some way that I can

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personally work with the folks in NMFS and see if we can’t get

them to better listen to the tens of thousands of sports fishermen

who really know particularly the Western Gulf. My guess is that

many know other areas of the Gulf of Mexico as well. But these

people truly feel that they are not being heard or listened to by this

agency. That is a personal request on my part, and I would be honored if you would work with me on that.

And at this time I will recognize Mr. Inglis.

SATELLITE CAPABILITY

Mr. INGLIS. I thought you were going to ask him to help you

identify where the big ones were, or that is what I thought. Admiral Lautenbacher, back to the climate change issue. Help me understand NOAA’s role in all that the Federal Government is doing

about climate change. I take it you have a fair amount of the responsibility for the work that is going on, right? NASA is also involved and spends a lot of money on satellites. How does that

break down? Describe the role of NOAA as compared to other agencies that are doing other things?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. We have a very strong interest

and a strong talent and skills to deal with climate issues. We are

part of the government-wide Climate Change Science Program. In

fact, one of our people is the leader of that program, Dr. Bill Brennan. We contribute across the full spectrum of climate services in

general, from research up through products that our Weather Service puts out regularly for people which was mentioned a little earlier in our experimentation to be more efficient.

So we have the laboratories to do the modeling. The Princeton

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory’s model is ranked in the

top of the models that was used in the IPCC Report which just

came out earlier in February. We have the satellites that are—

some of the data is climate quality, a lot of it is not. We are at the

verge of an era where we need to build more climate satellite instruments that provide the right kinds of accuracy for climate variables, but what we have NOAA provides and uses. We maintain

the depository for all of our climate information at the Climate

Data Center. Basically the Library of Congress for Scientific Information on Climate is maintained inside NOAA. We have the delivery service, weather forecast offices, to provide the products to the

people, to the public, to emergency managers. So we have a, you

might say, sort of a full-service range of activities that we are engaged in.

We also do assessments because of the impact of climate change

on living marine resources and coastal resources where we have,

you know, the legislation that requires us to maintain activities in

those areas for fisheries as we just mentioned.

So we are a full-service climate organization. It is one of our strategic goals, climate change and planning and reacting to climate

change for the future. I have organized the whole NOAA enterprise

into four themes. We have one manager that manages climate services and deals with that whole arena. So we are very much engaged in it from A to Z.

Mr. INGLIS. So for example in the satellites, do you pay for the

satellites that you just mentioned?

43

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Yeah, we pay—I forgot to mention

the NASA role. NASA builds the research satellites and really most

of our climate satellites today are research satellites. And so they

are a one-of-a-kind research instrument that has been put into

place, and they are being used to further our climate records.

NOAA operates and maintains the operational satellites. So we

have a constellation of satellites that ranges from two in a geostationary orbit that are constantly looking at both coasts of the

United States. That is good for hurricanes and severe weather.

And then we have polar orbiting satellites that have an orbit of

90-some minutes that circle the Earth and provide—they are much

lower orbit. They are not 23,000, 22,000 miles, they are down at

500 miles or so; and they provide much of the data that goes into

our models. So those are operational satellites. And the NPOESS

program, which I talked about, is sort of the next generation polar

orbiting satellite.

We are trying to move climate instruments from the research

into operational, and that is part of the issue of the difficulty of

building the NPOESS program, the risk involved in doing that. We

have had to stretch out the movement of those instruments from

NASA satellites to NOAA operational satellites.

Let me stop. Does that help?

Mr. INGLIS. Who pays for the delivery of the satellites into space?

Does NASA do that or do you have to pay them to do that?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. My part of the Commerce Department budget contains the money for the operational satellites. The

research satellites—and we also use that data for weather forecasting—are operated and funded by NASA. So we feed off and

need the Earth-observing part of NASA’s budget to help us with

our climate services and weather services delivery.

Mr. INGLIS. Absent the plus-ups that you hope to get I guess as

this goes through the process, without those, you do all right on the

things you have just been describing or do those get tight as well

as—I know the overhead is particularly tight without—in other

words, the ability to pay staff is particularly difficult without those

plus-ups, right?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. It is but let me say I support the

President’s budget, so we have tried to craft a budget which includes enough money for payroll raises for all of our people. And

so my plea generally to Congress and certainly to the House has

been support the President’s budget. We generally have been reduced. The House mark has generally been reduced for NOAA, not

increased. So that has been part of the dynamic that shapes our

operating from year to year.

But the President’s budget has been crafted. We have tried to

craft a budget that will maintain the services with the right

amount of inflation that funds this year’s increment for these satellites at exactly what is needed, 100 percent; and again, I will

fight for the money for next year and the next year, and I will keep

going until we get these things in place.

We have also included, which I think is very important for this

committee, in the 2007 budget, we have included $19 million to

help return climate sensors to the NPOESS program that we have

had to stretch. Let us not say to the program itself but to find alVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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ternative ways if necessary, put them on other satellites, free-flying

satellites, have other agreements with our international partners

that launch satellites, commercial industries. So we are looking

very hard, and there is money there to ensure that we don’t lose

any data continuity from the sensors that we have had to stretch

out because of the NPOESS development difficulties.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

Mr. INGLIS. You just mentioned something interesting, that is

the international cooperation. I take it a fair amount of the information that you gather is shared with folks around the world? So

actually it is in effect assistance to the rest of the world that we

are providing with weather, is that right? I mean, do we freely

share this information or is it available to the world-wide community?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. We do. We share the information

and we have worked through the World Meteorological Organization for some 80 years to build a network around the world. It is

an example for what I use for a global Earth-observing system of

systems which we are also working on for more areas to be able

to share the information because our weather comes from China

and the Pacific Ocean. In fact, a number of years ago, the Europeans loaned us a satellite when we had one that had difficulty.

We have helped the Japanese when their satellite went down with

one of our older ones that was in orbit. So there is an international

group that looks at trying to maintain a continuous constellation

and weather information because everyone needs it, and we all

benefit from it.

Mr. INGLIS. How dominant are we in that area? I mean, in other

words, does the world depend on us or are we depending on them

or is it mutual or are we the big players or——

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. We are big players, obviously, because the United States is big player on everything. And so NOAA

is a unique concept. The rest of the world has not caught up with

the NOAA idea, yet which is bringing together Earth, atmospheric

and ocean organizations together to provide the interdisciplinary

information for climate change, for ecosystem management, for improving warnings, weather and warnings, and that sort of thing.

But we are dominant in the sense that we are a large agency that

brings together scientific disciplines in a way that other nations

have not done yet. But quite frankly, we need other nations because we can’t observe the weather over Russia the same way they

can or with their geostationary satellite. So that international collaboration is very important and actually existed through the Cold

War.

Mr. INGLIS. So that is a constant updating kind of thing where

we are constantly getting and sharing information, getting it and

sharing it?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. It is constantly being sent to our

data centers and then being made available through internet and

high-speed lines. You can go and look at our center, and you can

look at a composite of all the satellites, and I invite any of the

Members to come over to our operations center. It is in Suitland.

It is not far to go. It is an easy trip. You can look at a composite

45

of all the geostationary satellite data in one shot, you can go to Europe at EUMETSAT and look at it in their headquarters, you can

go to Japan, Meteorological in JAXA, their science space agency

and see similar things. This is an extraordinary—when you look at

all the other international problems we have, this is one that is

very importantly consummated in the right direction.

Mr. INGLIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman LAMPSON. You are welcome. Mr. Baird.

MORE ON THE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE

(NMFS)

Mr. BAIRD. Thank you. I want to go back if I may, Admiral, and

I am not trying to put you on the spot, I am just trying to get some

numbers actually. Do you have available the numbers in terms of

where your budget for permitting personnel will be if it is broken

down that way for this year versus the last couple——

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. We have line items that have that

in there. I don’t have that off the top of my head. I will be happy

to provide you——

Mr. BAIRD. Could you?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER.—the sections where we do permitting and what the, you know, our budget loading is in those areas.

Mr. BAIRD. Right. That would be helpful. And related to that,

how is that line item determined? I mean, does someone look and

say, look, here is what an average human being—not an average

but you have got exceptional people working for you—so an exceptional human being who is processing permits. This is what they

can do, this is the permitting load as we see it now, this is the

shortfall, this is the waiting list, this is the cost. Does somebody

look at that?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. We do that and at the end, given

the allocations that we have we have to make decisions on how

much we can put in each of the areas that are worthwhile spending

money on, and usually this area comes up each year as being one

that needs and I add money to it.

Mr. BAIRD. That was part of my question. How important is this?

I can tell you, back home it is very important and I am right there

with you. I agree that money spent in this area is well worth the

effort.

But my friend from Texas was talking about the issue of fish. We

have some interesting harvest dynamics in our State. We spend

hundreds of millions of dollars a year trying to restore enlisted

salmon. And on their way back they get nailed by a host of harvest

activities, some human, some non-human; but we have actually

been working with NMFS on the issue of sea lion predation.

So we have got a marine mammal, which is not in danger in the

case of California, the Sea Lion eating two to three percent, maybe

more, of the return of one dam alone. Three percent of the returning endangered listed species, and we are working actually with

NMFS out in the district to try to address that. We are also working with our sports fishermen back—I don’t know if this applies to

your species but there is a thing called survival boxes that net fisheries use so that when you bring a fish in and it is one of the listed

fish, we actually clip the fins of the hatchery fish so we can distinVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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guish a hatchery fish from a listed natural fish. And if you have

caught a natural fish in your net—really, we don’t use a net on the

commercial or the troll fishery. If you caught a listed fish, you put

it in a little box and the box has circulating cold oxygenated water

and though they look dead when you put them in, they rally and

have a remarkable survival rate after that. And I do not know if

it would apply down where you are at, but it is a pretty astonishing

thing to see.

Anyway, I just want to commend NMFS for working on that. I

think this harvest issue in the Pacific Northwest as we look at

salmon recovery, we are talking about the four H’s as you know,

Admiral.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Yes, sir.

Mr. BAIRD. We talk about habitat, hydro, hatcheries, and harvest. I think harvest has not been looked at enough, not to say that

it hasn’t been looked at, but common sense says if these fish have

managed to survive the rigors of the ocean and they are coming

back and they are laden with 2,000 or 3,000 eggs and they are the

ones that are going to reproduce and that is when we kill them or

we let sea lions kill them, that is a pretty counterintuitive strategy.

It would be like building a neonatal intensive care unit and putting

snipers on the roof so nobody can get in.

If we do all these things to restore habitat, and we ask landowners and farmers and foresters and cities and governments to

improve the cleanliness of our water, the temperature of our water,

the quality of habitat which we do, and then we are not as discriminating as we can be in the harvest, then we are making a

mistake. And I would like to work with you further on that. I hear

folks out there have been very good to work with, but I just wanted

to put that marker down. Anything you can do to continue to increase the personnel so that we have a—I guess at some point I

don’t expect you to do it here, I would like some target in mind of

how long we think the average reasonable project from application

to permit approval should we take and then ask the staffing levels

of your entity, the Corps of Engineers predominantly, because it is

really you two folks who tend to be—Fish and Wildlife a little bit—

but to have some reasonable timeframe that we think we can tell

our consumers this is how long it is going to take to get a permit

so you can plan that and then hire staff and train staff and deploy

staff accordingly. That is what I would like us to do, and then

maybe we can have a dialogue about that.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. I hear you and I will work with

you, sir.

Mr. BAIRD. Thank you, Admiral.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Dr. PIETRAFESA. Mr. Chairman, if I could actually respond to or

make a comment about Mr. Inglis’ question about climate. The

Friends Coalition, which includes the Red Cross by the way, believes that greater investments in climate really need to be made.

For example, the outbreak and spread of infectious diseases that

affect human health is of great interest to the Friends Coalition.

And this is an area where climate and weather delivery systems

can play a very important role both in natural systems like outVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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break of mosquitoes and the migration of birds that can carry diseases and the like. And NOAA is the agency that not only has the

data archive that can be mined to look for some of these relationships, but NOAA has the national radar network that can actually

track, you know, the migrations of birds and insects, believe it or

not. That is data that actually contaminates the data that they

need to use for winds and precipitation, but it actually may be useful for health and spreads of diseases.

So these are areas where NOAA has the capability and the capacity to actually contribute to climate, weather, human health but

for which there is no funding presently. And you know, an investment of $25 to $50 million a year would begin that process. And

NOAA is the agency that the Friends Coalition looks to for climate

information, for climate data and information.

For example, I will turn to another area, sea level. NOAA has

the repositories, and in fact, NOAA is the agency that has maintained the continuous time series of sea level back to the early

1900s around the coastal waters of the United States including the

Great Lakes. And so those data really do establish the sea level

rise, the sea level trend, and the sea level variability record which,

believe it or not, if you don’t know what those overall trends are

and you don’t know how changes in sea level occur from season to

season, you can’t even initialize a surge and inundation model

properly, either off the North Carolina coast when a hurricane is

bearing down or on the Texas coast.

So these climate activities that could be occurring within the

agency are not because once again, the Friends Coalition believes

that the agency is under capitalized.

Mr. INGLIS. Or figure out whether a ship can make it under a

bridge as we were talking the other day. By the way, I assure you

that there are mosquitoes large enough in South Carolina to show

up on radar.

Chairman LAMPSON. I can assure you they are in Texas as well.

Before Mr. Baird left, I was going to make an offer to him that we

each do a little research. He could come down and find out some

of the problems that we face with some of the red snapper problems if he would in turn invite me to come out and find out what

some of the problems are with those steelhead salmon.

Dr. PIETRAFESA. We will be happy to do that, Mr. Chairman.

MORE ON THE NPOESS

Chairman LAMPSON. He might even enlist Mr. Diaz-Balart to

prove that there are differences between Eastern Gulf and Western

Gulf in the quality of fish. Let me go back if I may to a question

about the restriction of NPOESS program. As a result of the NunnMcCurdy restructuring, many sensors vital to monitoring weather

and climate were eliminated. The weather quality data that will be

collected from the remaining NPOESS sensors won’t be precise

enough to meet the needs of climate change monitoring and

science.

You provided us with the January 2007 White Paper that NASA

and NOAA prepared at the direction of Dr. Marburger, the Director

of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. And you told the

Committee last year that NPOESS would be built with the capacity

48

to house all the sensors. The January 2007 White Paper recommended that three sensors be restored to NPOESS. Are these

sensors going to be restored?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. We have been able to, as I mentioned, the allocation within the 2007 budget to put one of the sensors back on the OMPS limb sensor, we believe we can put that

back on right now. We have money to look at how to get the others

on, but at this point we are still doing cost estimates and doing alternatives to be able to handle the replacement or the sustainment

of the sensors that are mentioned in the study that you have that

we turned in to Dr. Marburger.

Chairman LAMPSON. What level of funding is required to develop

it?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. I don’t have a precise number at

this point for it.

Chairman LAMPSON. Could you speculate? Just give me an approximate.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. But over a period of five or six

years, it is probably a total of $300 or $400 million. I mean we are

talking—and maybe more. But it is in the hundreds of millions,

okay, to deal with this over a longer period, not in one budget, but

it is cost-streamed over a period of time to get all of them back into

some position, either on NPOESS or on another bus.

Chairman LAMPSON. Why would we not include a request for

that in the 2008 budget, knowing that Congress has really pushed

for this and wanted it to be done?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. I don’t believe we have the fidelity

to come up here and support nickel by nickel how that money

would be spend and give you an honest plan that we would stand

up and say this is going to work. We need to do the work we are

doing now which is to provide alternatives and look at the cost of

various—and have a good estimate, an independent cost estimate

of what it would take to do this.

Chairman LAMPSON. Waiting three, four, five years? Think we

will be able to have it?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. I plan to do it this year. We plan

to have assets of alternatives in the next few months.

Chairman LAMPSON. But would we be able to have it almost certainly in the fiscal year 2009 budget?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. It is my goal to try to do that, yes.

Chairman LAMPSON. As we wait longer, what kind of estimate

might you guess that it is going to cost additional because of the

time differential and can we speed it up and save money? And

would that be wise for us to do?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. I am all for speeding it up as

quickly as possible. Part of the issue is to not incur the risk. The

reason they are not on there today is not because we do not want

the sensors or the data, it is because of the risk in building a satellite and having something that will work, that will pass the test,

and will be launched on time.

So we have the issue of ensuring that we don’t increase the risk

to the program in terms of cost and schedule, and given that we

meet that, then I absolutely agree that we should do it as effiVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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ciently and as rapidly as technically feasible. We should do it efficiently. I am all for it.

WATER MONITORING PROGRAMS

Chairman LAMPSON. Okay. Let me just squeeze one more question in, and then I am going to turn this over to the Ranking Member on the Science Committee. Recently, and it has probably been

two years, maybe two-and-a-half years ago, a tragic event occurred

down in southeast Texas when a dentist was launching a boat I

think in Galveston Bay and fell, scraped his leg and it got infected

by an organism called Vibrio vulnificus. It is a bacteria. Lumped

in together with other organisms, we consider it to be harmful

algal bloom organisms and he died from that infection within about

seven or eight days.

With respect to our water monitoring programs, are coastal waters monitored year round or are the monitoring programs restricted to particular times of the year, fishing seasons, peak recreation seasons when people are swimming?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. A lot of those monitoring systems

are operated or connected to an EPA network, and I am really not

the right guy to tell you exactly how that goes. But we, in NOAA,

worry continuously about the health generally of harmful algal

blooms and potentially other life-threatening organisms that live in

the water. So we use satellites to help monitor the color, we have

used our radars and our weather information, and we actually now

put out harmful algal bloom forecasts for the Gulf of Mexico, for

Florida, and we are looking to move that into the Texas area in

this next year. We believe it is a very important area. There is $9

million for harmful algal blooms in our request, and we look to expand our ability to provide early warning and actually try to in the

future pinpoint where they come from and do something to help

mitigate them.

Chairman LAMPSON. It would be hugely——

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Very important.

Chairman LAMPSON. A life-threatening situation.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. It goes to what Dr. Pietrafesa

mentioned about health and the atmosphere and the ocean. They

are directly related.

Chairman LAMPSON. Very good. I will recognize Mr. Hall, the

Ranking Member on the Science Committee. My friend from Texas.

Mr. HALL. That is the way it is when you are in the minority,

nothing works.

Chairman LAMPSON. I knew that. I knew all about that.

NEW PROGRAMS

Mr. HALL. I thank you for working with us last year on the National Integrated Drought Information System Act. The NIDIS program authorized by that law is going to lessen the economic and

environmental devastation caused by drought by equipping our

farmers and water resource managers with the tools they need to

prepare for and respond to drought situations. With improved monitoring and forecasting, our economy is going to be spared what we

think to be billions of dollars in drought-related damages every

50

day. NIDIS was a result of a close collaboration between NOAA

and university scientists and State and natural resource managers.

It is an excellent example how small investment in environmental

monitoring and prediction, I think it is around $4 million in your

fiscal year 2008 budget request, can have an enormous benefit to

the Nation.

Do you have similar programs in the pipeline that would address

other pressing needs? If so, describe a few of them.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. First of all, let me thank you for

your help and your work in passing the NIDIS bill. It was extremely valuable to us because we have been working with the

western governors for a number of years on trying to build the kind

of a program that would be very useful for the Federal Government

and the States. We also have worked hard locally with air quality

monitoring.

Air quality is very important. We now have been able to provide

air quality forecasting for the whole country, and that began in the

similar partnerships with our research universities, with support

from this committee, and work with the EPA and local jurisdictions. We are working from ozone forecasts now into particulate

forecasts, or aerosols. That is very important for asthma and other

types of respiratory issues that people have. It will also help us

manage our air quality in various places because we will be able

to tell where it is coming from, where it is going, and what the concentrations might be. So air quality is very important to us.

I mentioned the harmful algal bloom issue, looking at health

along our coasts. We have, for the first time, the Administration

did put some money in the Human Health Initiative for oceans

which the Congress has been a strong supporter of and we look forward to working with Congress this year with that program.

We are looking at improving our ability to monitor wildfires and

provide better information to the people who fight those fires. We

are looking at a better carbon network, and we just put something

called a carbon tracker on our website built out in Boulder which

will allow everyone to take a look at where is the carbon in our air.

It is experimental. We haven’t got a full network yet, but we are

building the tools to help provide information to individual citizens

as well as policy-makers.

So those are a few of the things we are working on, sir.

Mr. HALL. I am sure they help you in monitoring and forecasting

and helping to plan that can really be meaningful. We went

through just a terrible drought there in East Texas this last time,

the worst certainly in my memory and my memory is longer than

anybody’s in here. We were very pleased to finally get this bill

through, finally to get the President to sign it. The one farmer

called me and said, ‘‘Well, now, can you make it rain?’’ This bill

does everything short of that, but it plans for it.

You know, no woman in here and very few of you men remember

the ’30s, but in the ’30s during the—from ’30 to ’40, I was a paperboy and I delivered papers. But I read my papers, and I read about

the weather. It seemed like I was always concerned about the

weather. I watched radio then a lot. I watched WRR radio, it was

all we had. But we had a professor on there, I think Dr. Archer,

but I am not sure what his name was; but he would tell us what

51

the weather was every day because he had a new breakthrough. He

had, of all things and nobody else in the world I guess had one,

a sling cyclometer. And man, that was up to date. And he would

say what the weather was going to be at 6:00 every morning. I

would be back in after delivering my papers, and I would watch

him on radio. And I would listen to him. And there was a guy up

in Paris, Texas, about 80 miles on up northeast or 60 miles, something like that, he would listen to him and predict just the opposite

every year, and he was right about 80 percent of the time.

So I don’t know if getting all this equipment is good or bad, but

it is great to have that information and it is great to see the years

ahead and see how much it is going to benefit them. And I thank

both of you for your work and your report and for being here today,

and I thank this Chairman for calling this meeting. I yield back.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. Thank you, sir.

Mr. HALL. I don’t have to turn it off.

HURRICANE FORECASTING

Chairman LAMPSON. Thank you, Mr. Hall. It is always a pleasure. I certainly did not mean to slight you along the way, Dr.

Pietrafesa, with all my questions seem to be going to Admiral

Lautenbacher. But I certainly appreciate both of you participating,

and I did have a question about the role that NOAA’s National

Hurricane Center played that I would like to ask of you. Obviously

it has played a critical role during the devastating ’05 hurricane

season, but how can hurricane forecasting be improved to better

warn the public of such disasters? Obviously it is not going to be

that piece of equipment that Mr. Hall was just referring to, but can

we make it better and is the budget adequate to achieve the improvements in hurricane forecasting that we would all like to see

happen?

Dr. PIETRAFESA. I do not think the budget is adequate, but

NOAA, I would have to compliment the agency and the Admiral for

the efforts that the agency has put forward. For example, the new

P3 that is coming on line will allow another degree of freedom in

terms of being able to make more measurements. It turns out the

stepped microwave frequency sensor that has been deployed over

the last year or last several hurricane seasons has shown that the

winds that are blowing just above the surface of the ocean are in

fact very different than the winds aloft. And those winds are the

winds that are actually driving the wave field and also driving the

surface currents. And if one is going to do an adequate job well in

advance four to three to two days to one day out of a hurricane

making landfall, one really must know what the wind field is like

and the wave field that it is driving along with the current field.

And you have to know not only the speeds and directions of the

wind, but you have to understand the asymmetries that are built

into each one of these vortices, these hurricane vortexes. There is

no symmetric hurricane. They are antisymmetric which means that

they have a very unusual configuration around their eye and beyond where the radius of maximum winds occurs. And that is an

advance that has occurred through NOAA efforts.

Now, that data then needs to be assimilated into the hurricane

weather research forecast model and into the surge and inundation

52

and flood models that ensue. So that is an activity that NOAA is

moving towards, but once again, we believe that they are undercapitalized in that area. The observing network that is out there,

once again, NOAA is building out. It is still in the process of building that system out, but that system has to be more complicated

than it was in the past. We now understand that the water and

the air, the atmosphere and the ocean and the gulf waters and the

loop current and the eddies that are shed, the warm core rings, and

on the east coast of the United States it is the filaments, the Gulf

Stream filaments, those systems exchange heat, mass, and momentum, between the two. They are interactively coupled in real time.

For example, Katrina went through nine stages of change. She

went from a zero to a one up to a five and back down to a three

when she finally beached herself.

So if you are an emergency manager or if you are in charge of

evacuating folks, the models now are capable of actually getting

down to resolution of 100 feet special resolution on land in terms

of where and when the inundation is going to occur; but if you

don’t have the forcing, the wind fields, correct and you don’t know

that that event is going to de-intensify, you are going to get it

wrong. You know, if you are going to evacuate areas and put everybody on the highway at the same time going in one direction, and

you have got four lanes and you have to station highway patrol at

the on and off ramps to make sure that nobody is getting on in the

wrong direction, you have to have the best information possible,

and NOAA can provide that but not yet.

So the mathematical architectures are there, the new hurricane

weather research forecast model is there, the interactive coupling

with the ocean system models has advanced to the point where we

are actually running one in my own shop. But it requires more investment and research, and so the short answer is NOAA is still

undercapitalized in this area, but it is moving in that direction.

Chairman LAMPSON. Excellent. I think those are more examples

of just how we do get a return on the monies that we do invest.

I think it is critically important that we push ourselves to make

those things happen.

I know what kind of money was expended in life just in evacuating some towns that ultimately didn’t have to evacuate. Probably

the people who were best off were those who got frustrated, unfortunately, and went back home and sat the storm out. But then that

is the wrong message to send to other people. Many stories that we

have read about people who couldn’t make the trip from wherever

they started to wherever they were going ended up dying in the

process or at the end of it and very tragically so.

So it is a great opportunity for us to push as hard as we can possibly push to make some of these things happen when we know

that the technology exists.

Mr. Diaz-Balart, you have been awfully quiet over there. Can we

impose upon you for some words of wisdom or questions? Push it

and it will come on. Now try.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Actually, I was

going to follow up on your question, Mr. Chairman. Doctor, you

gave a very good explanation. I represent parts of Miami and Dade

County and parts of Collier, so the ratings for the National HurriVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
53

cane Center broadcast during hurricane season in the part of the

State that I represent far exceed the NFL’s. It is the thing to

watch. There has been incredible progress on the accuracy of where

a hurricane is going to strike. But as far as the strength of the hurricane, obviously, that is where we have some weakness.

Doctor, when you were giving this explanation, how far are we?

We have the same type of really significant advances in the ability

to track where a hurricane is going to land, and the advances there

have been just incredible. How far are we to be able to really be

able to forecast, you know, the strength of a hurricane when it is

going to land? Is it just a funding issue, is it a technology issue,

is it a little bit of both?

Dr. PIETRAFESA. It is both. As I said, the new stepped microwave

system is really an important new technological advance that has

been introduced into the capabilities area, and NOAA is now flying

that in real time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I know it is not a fair question but is there

a——

Dr. PIETRAFESA. Well——

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Can we say within two years, five years we are

going to have—is there any way to do that, any guess?

Dr. PIETRAFESA. Yeah, actually the NOAA Science Advisory

Board actually put together at the request of the Admiral an external review panel that looked into that issue specifically about could

we make advances in hurricane intensity forecasting, and what

kind of time period are we looking at. And we are looking at a fiveyear period of time with significant investments in that area. You

know, it is a half-decade. The mathematical tools are on the shelf.

But it takes people once again and it takes putting together partnerships, both from NOAA itself, from within the agency, and from

without the agency. So you have got to join the expertise. You have

got to leverage the expertise of the academic community that is external to the agency. And it turns out there are not a lot of hurricane modelers and hurricane technologists in the United States. It

is a very small community of scientists and engineers. But they are

capable and are willing to work together to create this capability

and really looking at the order of a half-decade which is a very

short time. But it is going to take, you know, the several tens of

millions of dollars per year of investment to get this done.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Also, Mr. Chairman, on a separate note I represent, as you know, the Everglades; so with all due respect, my

mosquitoes are bigger than yours.

MORE ON INSUFFICIENT FUNDING

Chairman LAMPSON. I don’t know if I would know the difference.

I have been chewed on by them too many times in my lifetime.

Even Mr. Hall can remember some big mosquitoes in East Texas.

Last question I will ask, unless others have some desire to wrap

up, the impact of NOAA’s tight budget. It has got to have some impact on the ability to fund both extramural research and to do

some of the in-house research that is necessary to really do the

kinds of things that are necessary.

Would you comment on the impact of that, Dr. Pietrafesa?

54

Dr. PIETRAFESA. Well, given NOAA’s present budget from the

perspective of the external community, NOAA is doing the best job

it can to maintain the services that it provides presently. But in

the face of, you know, increases in salaries and having to pay for

turning lights on and off, you know, it is really stretched. And so

we understand that when push comes to shove, it is the external

activities that are most likely to be cut. So while we understand

that, it is difficult for us to accept that, the external community,

because if you look at the leveraged assets, both intellectual and

physical assets that the external community brings to the table,

there is an enormous amount of people power and intellectual

power and compute power and technological power that the external community brings to the table. And the external community

has got a long and rich tradition of partnering with the agency

which has, in fact, led to many of the advances from research to

operations to applications that we have experienced.

But in fact when the Weather Forecast Office at the Raleigh/Durham Airport—I come from Raleigh, North Carolina—was moved to

the NC State Campus, within two years, NOAA headquarters gave

that Weather Forecast Office an award called a NOAA Unit Citation Award; and that Citation Award recognizes outstanding research and then transitioned from creating new research tools to

moving them to new operational forecast tools. Papers were published, papers were given at conferences, but the point was that the

forecasts that were emanating from that office improved so dramatically that NOAA headquarters gave that forecast office this

award. And that is an award for advances for research and operations which is very unusual. It was the first forecast office to ever

receive that award.

It shows what can be done if you put NOAA scientists and staff

together with the external community and you leverage the assets.

You challenge the external community, you become engaged, you

engage them in interesting problems, and you bring students to the

table. And in fact, that ensures that NOAA will have the workforce

that it is going to need for the future when you engage students.

And that is one issue we are seriously concerned about is that

when external funds are cut, the first to go are the students. And

so you compromise the future of this agency, the scientific and

technological excellence of the agency because the workforce that

could become engaged, that would become engaged is lost. And so

that is a serious issue.

Chairman LAMPSON. Thank you. Mr. Hall.

WATER CONSERVATION

Mr. HALL. I want to talk about the future and conservation, and

this may be wild and crazy but it has been something that has

been on my mind for a long time and maybe you could give us some

advice on it or guidance. But we have to start conserving our

water. If we are not going to get the rain as we predict them or

as we expect them where over the last 50 years or something. How

unreasonable is it to think that we ought to be studying, create

some kind of a study today, maybe not a paid study but a study

of maybe two people from your agency, two from some other, that

would be unpaid that would meet maybe four times a year or quarVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
55

terly to talk about the future; and I am thinking in terms of—

Texas is a typical State, I guess. Every state has its own variances

of mountains and hills and tributaries and all that. But Texas has

mountains that get water. It goes down, trickles down, gets finally

to one of the tributaries and then to the ocean and washes away.

How unreasonable is it to think in terms of one day, when I say

this as a good bottle of water costs as much as a good bottle of beer

now and you got to go to really thinking about the value of water,

but how unreasonable is it to have a million-dollar subterranean

tanks in the desert at the foot of the hills or in strategic places to

capture this water and not let it go all the way down to the sea?

Too expensive now to do it but there was a time when it was too

expensive to put an escape module in the NASA vehicle, but we are

going to put one in there now with the deaths and the losses we

have. If we have a different day and time and the rains come at

a different time or they don’t come or they do come but not with

more time between them, why not capture that water and keep it?

Think about it and have somebody study it, and I won’t be here

and none of us in this room will be here when you will ever need

something like that; but someone is going to be here to think in

terms of studying and maybe have huge underground tanks to collect that water and not let it go off to the sea. How impractical is

that?

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. I agree——

Mr. HALL. I don’t want to get put away for recommending something like that or people getting a net after me.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. I would have to go with you if you

got put away because I think you are right on.

Mr. HALL. But somebody ought to be studying that.

Vice Admiral LAUTENBACHER. And I agree. I asked my staff

when I took over to give me their top 10 problems for the environment for the future. Forget what we do, forget our budget, tell me

what are problems are. And when I tabulated that, water. And so

that is why we have in NOAA now, weather and water. Water is

one of our four major themes, and we are trying to work the problem you talked about, the watershed management down to the

ocean. How do we deal with that? And my crazy idea is that we

are going to need a water distribution system at some point. So

that would include tanks, it would include pipes, it would include

pumps. I mean, we are going to need water. I agree with you, and

I think we all need to start thinking about the future and how we

deal with water. It is a precious commodity.

Mr. HALL. I have even thought about it at my home. I put a

2,000 gallon tank at the back of my home at the end of my series

of garages there, and you would be surprised at how much water

comes off of your roof. It goes into that tank, and then for the

swimming pool in front, I have a 450-gallon tank, it catches it. It

will save about $100 a month there with filling it up with evaporation things for the pool. It makes sense, and I think some day

everybody will have that.

I had a little guy come out from the city about three weeks ago.

I was watering on a day when it wasn’t my day to water, and that

is kind of embarrassing, you know. But one of my neighbors, and

I got a few Democratic neighbors there that will call in on me every

56

now and then; and you know, my wife and I are fighting too loud

or we are having arguments or something. But I was watering out

there on Friday, and that guy’s calendar said it was Monday, you

know. And he came up to me and said, ‘‘Congressman, I sure hate

to come out there;’’ and I said, ‘‘Well, what is the problem?’’ He

said, ‘‘Well, you are not supposed to be watering.’’ I said, ‘‘Well, I

think I have a right to be watering.’’ He said, ‘‘Congressman, you

don’t have a right to be watering, and my dad is going to kill me

if I have to give you a ticket.’’ Anyway, he went on and on like that

a little bit. Pretty soon I said, ‘‘I tell you I am different than other

people.’’ He said, ‘‘Congressman, you are not any different to us,

now. You are just Ralph Hall down here but you have to comply

the same rules that everybody else does.’’ I said, ‘‘Well, here.’’ I

handed him my hose. He wouldn’t take it. And I made him take

it, and I said, ‘‘Now, come on, follow this hose.’’ He followed it back

around the house and got up to the tank there where it was my

tank, my water that I was watering with. He said, ‘‘God, I was

never so glad to see anything. I thought I was going to have to go

home and tell my dad I had given you a ticket.’’

I think everybody is going to—I am thinking about going into

that business of putting those in and let people pay them out. The

Chairman and I may put that together.

Chairman LAMPSON. Is that——

Mr. HALL. Need a bunch of money, but I have got the idea, he

ought to furnish the money for it.

Chairman LAMPSON. Would that be considered new technology?

Mr. HALL. Well, not terribly new but it makes sense and keeps

you from getting a ticket, too. I probably would have been watering

whether it was my day or not.

Dr. PIETRAFESA. Mr. Hall, you raise a very interesting point. You

are a man of deep wisdom. Of every quart of water on this planet,

if you just take all the water on this planet and fit it into a quart,

there are only four drops of that water that is available for our use,

fresh water, only four drops. And of those four drops, only one is

available on land, on the surface of land. So that is how precious

that supply of water actually is. So you know, if you would use that

analogy. So you have really hit on a key, key issue, availability of

fresh water in the future. So we must manage our water resources,

you know, in a very, very careful way.

So when we alter the environment and we pave the natural environment, particularly the coastal environment over, and we go from

having a system that can absorb the water at a 100 percent level

and retain the fresh water as fresh water lenses under the Barrier

Island, and we allow it then—once we pave it over, we go from a

100 percent capability of retaining the water to down to a five percent. And we give it up, and we shouldn’t do that. We need to have

better management of our water systems, our coastal systems and

our land-based systems, and we must pay more attention to the

availability of fresh water.

Mr. HALL. The Chairman and I may set up a study for something, to look at it and study it for a while and then maybe get

some people from different agencies that would give some times

quarterly to start a plan and start thinking in terms of that because I think it is important.

57

I yield back my time. Thank you.

Chairman LAMPSON. Thank you, Mr. Hall. I think it is tremendous. And I remember as a kid the cistern that was at my grandparents’ house, and I know that my grandmother would never

wash her hair with anything other than rainwater that had been

captured.

Mr. HALL. You know, out front there we had that same cistern.

We had a stock tied around the faucet there. That was to catch the

wiggle worms that came through there. And we finally wised up

and just poured a little coal oil on top and that killed the mosquitoes when they laid the eggs. So we were innovative even back in

1910.

Chairman LAMPSON. Well, see, there we could be. Thank you. I

think this has been fascinating. Thank you both for coming to us

today, and before I close I want to say that obviously your testimonies have been very thoughtful and insightful and most helpful.

If there is no objection, the record will remain open for additional

statements from Members and for answers to any follow-up questions the Committee may ask of the witnesses.

Without objection, it is so ordered. This hearing is now adjourned. Thank you all.

[Whereupon, at 3:48 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

(59)

Appendix 1:

ANSWERS TO POST-HEARING QUESTIONS

60

ANSWERS TO POST-HEARING QUESTIONS

Responses by Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr. (U.S. Navy, Ret.), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Questions submitted by Chairman Nick Lampson

Q1. There are increasingly problems associated with harmful algal blooms (HABs)

in our coastal areas including more events of greater duration and intensity. In

the FY 2008 budget, the Administration’s requested funding for this program is

less than current appropriated levels. What specific activities that are now funded will be eliminated if the HAB program is funded at the requested level?

A1. The President’s FY 2008 budget provides approximately $8.9M on research re- lated to harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia. This $8.9M provides the tools

necessary for managers to respond and predict HAB and hypoxia events such as

those affecting the New England, Florida, Pacific NW and California coasts as well

as the Great Lakes every year. HAB and hypoxia events threaten human health,

kill marine animals, impact fisheries, and cost millions of dollars each year. In addition, the FY 2008 President’s budget provides $20M for near-term priorities projects included in the report Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the

United States in the Next Decade: An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy. These funds will be used in part to develop in situ sensors for rapid

detection of pathogens, harmful algae and their toxins in coastal areas. Also, an increase is requested for Gulf of Mexico Partnerships. This funding may be used to

support coastal communities in their efforts to address harmful algal blooms and hypoxia events through competitive grants.

Q2. NASA develops sensors that generate new data streams that NOAA begins to incorporate into their operational missions. Some of the current examples of NASA

satellites that are improving our forecasting abilities are the Tropical Rainfall

Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Quick Scatterometer (QuickSCAT) satellite

used in tropical storm forecasting. However, there is still a serious problem providing a smooth transition from research to operations for instrumentation that

proves useful in improving weather forecasting and climate monitoring. What is

being done to address this problem?

A2. NOAA and NASA have a long history of collaborating on Earth observation systems. Many of the sensors that fly on NOAA’s geostationary and polar-orbiting operational environmental satellites are based on technology developed by NASA to satisfy NOAA operational requirements.

NASA and NOAA mission coordination was further strengthened with the December 2005 formation of the NASA–NOAA Joint Working Group on Research and Operations (JWG). This team, formed in response to Section 306(a) of the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, provides strategic oversight of NASA–NOAA collaborative

activities and facilitates the formation of specific mission transition teams.

NOAA and NASA have other collaborative interactions such as:

• NASA–NOAA Executive Roundtable: At the Executive level, a program of

conducting ‘‘Roundtable’’ meetings has been reinstituted. These meetings are

jointly led by the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information

Services and the Director of the NASA Earth Science Division.

• Program Management Councils: Both NASA and NOAA have executive-level

Program Management Councils (PMCs). These councils provide a regular

forum for senior management review of major satellite development activities.

NOAA has formally included NASA as members of its Program Management

Council. NASA has similarly asked senior NOAA individuals to participate in

relevant NASA Program Management Council meetings.

• Data Assimilation: NOAA and NASA currently collaborate on algorithm development commensurate with hardware development through the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation.

• Staff Rotations: Ongoing coordination between NASA and NOAA is being facilitated by the exchange of staff.

NOAA acknowledges the value of collaboration with NASA, to more efficiently

transition appropriate research capabilities into operations. NOAA has requested

the National Academy of Sciences to provide additional scientific recommendations

on how best to approach this issue, in response to the February 2007 report from

the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council entitled ‘‘Earth

61

Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the next Decade and

Beyond.’’

Question submitted by Representative Brian Baird

Q1. Please provide the proportion of full time equivalents (FTEs) devoted to permitting at the National Marine Fisheries Service for the proposed FY 2008 budget,

as well as for the previous four years.

A1. National Marine Fisheries Service issues many different types of permits (e.g.,

commercial fishing, MMPA, ESA) from offices around the country. Within NFMS

there is not a specific group of employees that exclusively issues permits. Of those

employees working to issue permits, that task only represents a portion of their

time and job responsibilities, making explicitly answering this question difficult.

NMFS may be better able to address this question regarding a specific type of permit, please let us know.

Questions submitted by Representative Bob Inglis

Q1. Your budget request includes an increase of $2 million for research to improve

predictions of hurricane intensity. What type of work will that money support?

When could we expect to see that research translate into changes in operational

hurricane forecasting and warnings? In the past, NOAA has had a hard time

translating research findings into operational advances. Does NOAA have a

plan for using the results of this research effort to improve operational hurricane

forecast products?

A1. In the past 10 years NOAA has made major strides in improving (reducing) its

hurricane track forecast errors—but has made less progress in improving its hurricane intensity and related inundation forecast skill. The $2.0M increase will be used

to support research aimed at improving NOAA’s ability to forecast hurricane intensity and provide better information for emergency managers and the public. Specifically, the money will be used to research physics of intensity change in tropical cyclones, flux and sea spray, and to develop applications for tropical cyclone forecasting.

NOAA is committed to maximizing the value of its research and ensuring successful transition of research to application. We have taken and continue to take steps

to ensure the bridge between research and operations is appropriately identified and

resourced. This commitment is demonstrated by NOAA’s adoption of a Transition

of Research to Application policy and implementation procedures, the development

of an inter-agency Tropical Cyclone Research Plan (www.ofcm.gov), and a Hurricane

and Related Inundation Plan. NOAA research is annually reviewed to assess readiness for transition. A Joint Hurricane Testbed already in place at the National

Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center evaluates competitively chosen candidate technology of deemed value to hurricane forecasting. After research produces

results, NOAA’s process for transitioning them into forecast operations requires

multiple steps to ensure the value and quality of changes. This usually takes a minimum of two years.

Examples of NOAA research successfully transitioned into forecast operations include a statistical-dynamical intensity model, Rapid Intensification Index statistical

models for the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, improvements to the Geophysical

Fluid Dynamics Laboratory model that significantly increased its track and intensity forecast skill, and radiometrically-derived surface wind speed data (i.e., the

Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer) taken from hurricane hunter aircraft.

62

ANSWERS TO POST-HEARING QUESTIONS

Responses by Len Pietrafesa, Associate Dean, Office of External Affairs; Professor of

Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Physical and Mathematical

Sciences, North Carolina State University

Questions submitted by Chairman Nick Lampson

Q1. In your testimony you describe the Friends of NOAA coalition as comprised of

a diverse group of organizations that all benefit from NOAA’s products and services. The coalition is relatively recent in its formation. Please provide a few examples to illustrate the breadth of membership in the coalition with a few examples of the services and applications of NOAA’s work that are important to this

community. What do the diversity of the coalition and the NOAA services they

utilize tell us about the future workforce the agency needs to provide these services?

A1. The Friends of NOAA Coalition was formed in 2006 in an effort to bring together a cross section of the diverse communities supported and benefited by the

products, services and resources provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA). The coalition’s purpose is to inform policy-makers about

the importance of NOAA to the health and well-being of this nation on a variety

of levels. Today, this ad hoc coalition consists of over 40 different organizations including the Shipbuilders Council of America, the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, the Reinsurance Association of America, the National Marine

Sanctuary Foundation, the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, the Alliance for

Earth Observations, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the National Association of Marine Laboratories, the Red Cross and The Weather Channel.

A complete list of members of the coalition can be found at its website: http://

www.friendsofnoaa.org.

Let me provide a few examples that demonstrate the value of NOAA’s outcomes

that ultimately benefit the Nation and its citizens. The data and forecasts provided

by the National Weather Service provide lifesaving information to assist State and

local officials prepare for and respond to severe weather events such as tornadoes

and hurricanes. Hundreds of thousands of residents of the gulf coast are alive today

due to the accuracy of the NOAA’s National Weather Service forecast for Hurricane

Katrina. This forecast was based on the transitioned results of prior research conducted over several decades. For NOAA to continue to develop ever more precise

and accurate life saving forecasts will require a strong and continuing investment

in the Nation’s weather enterprise, which includes among other issues: applied research; technology development; high performance computing; applications; and education and training, including public education and outreach.

According to the Department of Commerce, preliminary estimates of the potential

economic benefits from new investments in regional coastal ocean observing systems

in U.S. waters are in the billions per year, estimated largely in terms of increased

economic activity and social surplus realized as a result of improved information

about coastal marine conditions. Albeit, it is my opinion that more and better observations of both the atmosphere and the coastal ocean at every observing site will

greatly improve weather forecasts not only over the coastal ocean but also over land.

For example, the forecasts of the spawning or further intensification of extra-tropical cyclones, also known as nor’easters, and the amounts and types of precipitation,

could be greatly improved by the availability of air-sea data from a more ambitious

observing network along the eastern seaboard from Charleston to Lewes. The data

would be assimilated in real time into interactively coupled ocean-atmosphere models. How much in savings to the economy would this advanced capability result in?

The savings would likely be in the many tens of billions per year as commerce and

transportation and other societal benefits are derived. Both NOAA and its regional

coastal partners are heavily invested in the continued development of this network

of coastal observing systems that will, over time, contribute enormous economic benefits and better information to mitigate against the loss of lives and property.

Finally, the kinds of data, forecasts, and environmental predictions provided by

NOAA such as long-term weather forecasts and regional climate change projections—are of vital importance to the insurance industry as they routinely assess

risk and provide financial protection against future unplanned events to private citizens, State and local governments, and industry.

NOAA must continue to provide ever more accurate environmental information to

meet the needs of its stakeholders, such as those in this coalition. To do so will require the development of an ever more sophisticated and technically trained workVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
63

force, a workforce capable of integrating a vast and diverse amount of data and information and turning it into a form that can be readily used and depended upon

by federal, State and local policy officials.

Ouestions submitted by Representative Bob Inglis

Q1. In your testimony you state that there is a need for both public and private support of Earth observations. What would you recommend the balance should be

between publicly and privately funded Earth observing efforts? What types of observations should be public, what type private?

A1. Basic, raw observations of Earth are a ‘‘common good’’ that support many efforts for the public good, including education, research, and protection of life and

property. They also support a great many industries and commercial efforts. Thus

the government has a valid responsibility to provide these basic observations. More

specialized observations for particular applications could be supported by the private

sector, but they will understandably want to make a profit and hence will hold the

observations proprietary.

In practice, the private sector can perform all of the measurement functions currently undertaken by the public sector, and in many cases the private sector can

do these more effectively than the public sector. That said NOAA should take the

lead on weather and climate observations. But private industry might implement

the measurements according to NOAA, for example NWS, criteria and standards;

because industry may be able to make such observations at reduced cost to the government at no sacrifice in quality (examples of existing practices include lightning

data). Of course, these data that private industry might collect cannot be proprietary and must be publicly available in real time.

Improvements in our Earth observing system required to support higher-resolution modeling and warnings might best be implemented by public-private consortia

for at least two reasons. The public sector does not have the financial or personnel

resources to go it alone, and those dense/more comprehensive (e.g., finer scale land

or coastal ocean observing networks) will serve many applications apart from public

safety and so should the costs should be shared among the private and public sectors.

Freeing the public sector from all of the responsibilities of observations (by including industry) will enable the public sector to focus greater effort on its core activities

(e.g., data assimilation and nowcasting in support of forecasts, watches and warnings and of climate). The Oklahoma Mesonet is an example of a very successful public-private observing network. The coastal areas are ripe with like opportunities.

(65)

Appendix 2:

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FOR THE RECORD

66

STATEMENT OF DR. BRAXTON C. DAVIS

DIRECTOR, SCIENCE AND POLICY DIVISION

OFFICE OF OCEAN AND COASTAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPT. OF HEALTH

AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: As Director of the Science and Policy Division of the South Carolina Coastal Zone Management Program, which is carried out by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management in the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC–OCRM), I appreciate the

opportunity to provide testimony on the importance of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in South Carolina. Having formerly held a research faculty position at the University of South Carolina, I hope that I can offer

some insights on the support that NOAA provides in both coastal research and

coastal management settings.

As you may know, South Carolina’s eight coastal counties have a substantial impact on the economy of the State and the lives of its citizens. The resident population of the eight coastal counties in 2005 was approximately one million (nearly

a quarter of the State’s total). These counties support over $40 billion in economic

output annually. Tourism and related industries lead the economic markets in

coastal South Carolina, and are supported by significant and accessible natural resources, including over 150 miles of sandy beaches, 500,000 acres of salt marsh, and

substantial local fisheries. Commercial shipping and port activities add more than

$9.4 billion annually in statewide personal income.

South Carolina’s coastal areas are experiencing rapid population and economic

growth. The Myrtle Beach area experienced a 36.5 percent population growth in the

1990s and was recently ranked the 13th fastest growing area in the Nation. In the

Charleston region, the population is expected to grow by almost 50 percent over the

next two decades with the development of 113,000 new homes in planning stages

and/or under construction. Since 1990, Beaufort and Jasper Counties grew at a rate

of 40 and 35 percent, respectively, and are expected to continue to expand at this

pace based on approved developments. Tourism and other industries along the coast

are also expected to increase substantially.

Recognizing the importance of the Nation’s coast, in 1972, Congress enacted the

Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The Act establishes a voluntary federalState partnership to encourage states to develop and implement programs to manage their coastal communities and resources in a comprehensive and balanced manner. The CZMA provides both monetary and other incentives for participating

states. South Carolina entered into the CZMA partnership thirty years ago when

the state enacted the SC Coastal Zone Management Act of 1977 to establish a comprehensive program ‘‘to protect and enhance the State’s coastal resources by preserving sensitive and fragile areas while promoting responsible development in the

eight coastal counties of the State.’’

The SCDHEC–OCRM accomplishes this mission through direct regulation of developments and alterations in marine and intertidal areas of the coast, including estuaries, marshes and beach/dune systems; and through certification of other State

and federal permits for consistency with approved coastal policies. The agency also

assists local governments with coastal planning issues and improvement projects.

Our new Science and Policy Division seeks to better integrate coastal science into

management decisions and policies, and works very closely with other NOAA-funded

state partners, including the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, North InletWinyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), and the ACE Basin

NERR.

Priority Coastal Management Issues

To demonstrate how our state and NOAA are working together on coastal and

marine issues, I would like to share with you several on-the-ground experiences and

examples.

Some of the most pressing issues associated with the rapid growth along South

Carolina’s coast are the associated impacts on coastal water quality. As watersheds

become increasingly developed, fresh groundwater supplies are declining, and wastewater and surface runoff are delivering increased nutrient loads, bacteria, pesticides, herbicides, and even pharmaceuticals to rivers, estuaries, and near-shore

waters. NOAA plays a key role in our ability to understand, predict, and respond

to these water quality concerns. Our program has interacted closely with the NOAA

Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) in Charleston, where tools are developed to protect coastal ecosystems by understanding environmental indicators and how they reVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:37 Sep 23, 2007 Jkt 034014 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 C:\WORKD\E&E07\032207\34014 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1
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late to human health issues. For example, HML has examined the impacts of increased urbanization on water quality in tidal creek systems in SC. In addition, the

NOAA Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research

(CCEHBR), also based in Charleston, is testing emerging environmental contaminants in our region, including new pesticides, herbicides, and pharmaceuticals to

predict their effects on marine life and habitats.

Emerging regional components of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (the

Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System, Caro-COOPS; the Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program, CORMP; and the Southeast Atlantic

Coastal Ocean Observing System, SEACOOS), have also assisted SC researchers

and managers in responding to an unusual water quality event along the Myrtle

Beach Grand Strand that occurred in 2004. By partnering with the NOAA-funded

IOOS community in our state, we now have real-time, continuous monitoring of

water quality conditions at several piers along the Grand Strand, and we are beginning to understand the conditions that led to an unprecedented, large-scale fish

stranding that year.

South Carolina is also vulnerable to the impacts of major hurricanes, which have

impacted our coast on the order of once every twelve years. As evidenced by the

2005 hurricane season, these storms can be devastating in terms of lives lost and

economic impacts. As a researcher with the University of South Carolina, I collaborated with a research team who, with NOAA funding, worked to develop improved

information products for SC emergency managers based on state-of-the-art storm

surge modeling. These refined model projections for the SC coast demonstrate that

significant flooding will occur even in Category 3 hurricane scenarios, and are now

being tied to community vulnerability studies. Also with NOAA support, our research team partnered with local Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) to integrate realtime offshore observations from our subregional IOOS components with the latest

observations, forecasts, and warnings of the NOAA National Weather Service

(www.weather.gov/carolinascoast).

South Carolina is beginning to view many of the issues facing our coast through

the lens of climate change, given the serious implications of the potential for an increase in the rate of sea level rise and changes in our regional climate. NOAA provides data that are critical to understanding climate variability and change, and the

NOAA Climate Change Program has increased its focus toward providing data and

research support for coastal states seeking to adapt to changing coastal climates and

sea level rise. In South Carolina, the Charleston-based NOAA Coastal Services Center (CSC) is providing our coastal management program with critical spatial data

and technical support in our initial efforts to address ongoing and future shoreline

changes. We also appreciate the leadership that NOAA’s CSC is providing to enhance community ‘‘resiliency’’ to potential impacts of climate change.

Research and Information Needs

In addition to the support described above, we have continuing science needs related to NOAA’s future planned activities. First, a wide variety of marine and coastal data collection efforts have been undertaken over the past several decades, but

they are sometimes difficult to discover, access and/or merge for a comprehensive

understanding of environmental health and resource trends. In attempting to manage the cumulative impacts of often small-scale developments and alterations, it is

critical that state resource agencies have integrated, synthesis products from NOAA

that are easy to use and clearly define data limitations, changes in methodologies

or scales, and ongoing data gaps. In particular, the ecological histories of specific

coastal areas are often not well documented; and spatial data such as coastal topography, bathymetry, and habitat maps are at times disconnected or available at irregular intervals.

In a related matter, it is often difficult to fund and maintain basic environmental

monitoring at appropriate spatial and temporal scales for resource planning and

management. For example, little is known about short- and long-term water quality

trends in near-shore marine and coastal waters outside the boundaries of our National Estuarine Research Reserves. Some of the basic questions about the status

and trends of our coastal resources remain difficult to assess. The development of

the Integrated Ocean Observing System promises an increased density of marine observations, and the potential for integration and expansion of existing local, State,

and federal monitoring programs, which we feel are equally important.

NOAA’s FY 2008 Budget Proposal

Sustained and robust funding for NOAA is critical to South Carolina’s coasts. The

President’s budget requests $3.8 billion, an increase of $131 million over last year’s

budget. The budget proposes increases for numerous programs important to South

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Carolina and other states, including regional ocean observing systems, mapping and

charting, implementation of the Ocean Research Priorities Plan, regional ocean

partnerships, and the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program. While I

applaud this increase in funding, particularly given these tight fiscal times, the

President’s budget still falls short of what Congress appropriates to NOAA each

year. The shortfall puts programs at risk and hampers the ability of current programs to keep pace with emerging priorities and inflation.

Conclusion

State coastal zone management programs play a key role in the coordination of

federal, State, and local activities that affect our coast. We are striving to leverage

existing funds and programs through new partnerships, but we have considerable

and ongoing responsibilities for managing coastal resources and protecting the public from coastal storms and other hazards. NOAA currently supports nearly half of

SCDHEC–OCRM’s annual operating budget, and this funding, along with the

science and technical support that NOAA provides, is vital to our coastal program

and to those of many other coastal states and territories. State coastal programs

should not be considered as stakeholders of NOAA—we consider ourselves part of

NOAA and look forward to continued support from Congress for the priority areas

identified in NOAA’s FY 2008 budget proposal.

Thank you again for the opportunity to help inform the Committee about NOAA’s

vital role is assisting our state in managing natural resources and reducing the impacts of coastal hazards. I would be happy to respond to any additional questions

that you may have.

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