NOAA: $5.5 billion FY 2015 budget request promotes environmental intelligence

The proposed budget will enhance public safety and community resiliency to weather and climate disasters. It also makes smart investments in critical infrastructure and innovative science to better position NOAA for the future and continues efforts to strengthen the agency’s oceanic and coastal programs, its internal and extramural programs, all while maintaining strong fiscal discipline. The budget proposal supports vital NOAA missions and environmental priorities under the Commerce Department’s Open for Business Agenda.

“NOAA is one of the most valuable service agencies in the U.S. government,” said Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “We make science matter for millions of Americans thanks to the environmental intelligence from our network of earth observations, weather and climate forecasts, and assessments of marine life. We live on an ever changing planet, and our products and services help people live well and safely.”

The 2015 budget focuses on three areas:

• Investing in mission critical infrastructure: NOAA is the only federal agency with the responsibility to provide timely and accurate weather, water, ocean, climate, and ecosystem forecasts. Accordingly, this budget includes an additional $222.7 million to launch new polar and geostationary satellites and ensure essential information technology and physical infrastructure is in place to support NOAA’s Weather Ready Nation initiative and atmospheric and coastal monitoring programs.
   
• Strengthening scientific innovation: Developing the latest technological advancements and promoting an understanding of our planet is essential to keep NOAA products and services viable and invaluable to the American public. An increase of $40.6 million is proposed to advance electronic monitoring and next generation fisheries stock assessments, continue improvements to our weather products, and fund research and development related to drought, sea level rise, extreme heat, and climate impacts on living marine resources.
   
• Providing services to enhance community resilience: Last year, seven weather and climate related events caused more than $1 billion in damages. NOAA’s environmental intelligence is vital in preparing communities for the next disaster. This budget includes an additional $47.2 million to promote public safety and marine ecosystem health, enable sustainable economic activity, and strengthen coastal communities. Improvements include the expansion of coastal inundation tools that will enable better flood warnings and improved ecological forecasting for better detection of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia.

Budget requests for NOAA’s five offices include:

• National Ocean Service (NOS): NOS is making critical investments in products, services and capabilities that will improve the resilience of the nation’s coasts. In FY 2015, NOAA requests $496.2 million, an increase of $20.6 million over the 2014 enacted.
   
• National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS): NMFS provides science-based conservation and management services of the nation’s living marine resources and their habitat. It also promotes sustainable commercial fisheries. In FY 2015, NOAA’s budget request includes $887.2 million, which is $65.7 million below the 2014 enacted due to a $75.0 million decrease for one-time fisheries disaster funding.
   
• Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR): OAR provides NOAA’s research foundation for understanding our planet’s complex systems and integrates those efforts through its network of laboratories and external research and science partners. In FY 2015, NOAA requests $462.2 million, an increase of $35.4 million over the 2014 enacted level.
   
• National Weather Service (NWS): NWS is the nation’s official voice during life threatening weather events and provides warnings to communities nationwide, including specialized forecasts every day for public aviation, marine transportation, space weather, and river flooding. NOAA’s FY 2015 request is part of a broader effort to help the NWS deliver more efficient, responsive, and advanced operations to communities around the country. The proposal will align the NWS budget to both function and performance. It includes $1.06 billion, a decrease of $3.9 million from the 2014 enacted level.
   
• National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS): NESDIS is responsible for the procurement, launch and operation of the Nation's civil operational environmental satellites, and manages three National Data Centers that house and provide easy access to the world's largest archive of global environmental data from both satellite and in situ sources. Funding in FY 2015 totals $2.2 billion, an increase of $164.8 million over the 2014 enacted level.

In addition to its discretionary budget submission, NOAA includes investments in the Administration’s Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative ($180 million) as well as in its Climate Resiliency Fund ($75 million). More specifically, NOAA seeks funds to sustain observations and data gathering capabilities by constructing a NOAA ocean survey vessel; improve climate models and predictions so that scientists can better anticipate the impacts of future climate variability and change; and provide competitive grants to communities to improve coastal resilience to severe weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions. 

For more information on specific investments in the FY 2015 budget request, please refer to the individual line office chapters or tables in the NOAA FY 2015 Blue Book.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our other social media channels.