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Congressional Research Service
Updated March 20, 2019
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
FY2019 Budget Request and Appropriations
The mission of the Department of Commerce (DOC)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) is to understand and predict changes in weather,
climate, oceans, and coasts; to share that information with
others; and to conserve and manage coastal and marine
ecosystems and resources. NOAA's work is divided among
six line offices: National Environmental Satellite, Data, and
Information Service (NESDIS); National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS); National Ocean Service (NOS); National
Weather Service (NWS); Office of Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research (OAR); and Office of Marine and
Aviation Operations (OMAO). NOAA also has an overall
Mission Support function.
Congress generally funds NOAA in the annual Commerce,
Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations act.
Congress provides NOAA with discretionary and
mandatory appropriations. Discretionary appropriations
support two broad categories of spending-operations,
research, and facilities (ORF) and procurement, acquisition,
and construction (PAC)-as well as a variety of fisheries
funds. Mandatory appropriations are generally a small
percentage of total NOAA appropriations and are disbursed
to a variety of funds, such as fisheries programs and NOAA
Corps Commissioned Officers benefits. This CRS product
examines ORF and PAC discretionary funding for FY2019
and potential issues for Congress, such as issues related to
grant programs, the agency's plans for future weather and
environmental satellites, and its policies regarding space
commerce.
FY20 19 Funding
The Administration requested a total of $4.75 billion in
discretionary direct obligations for ORF and PAC for
FY2019, including $4.56 billion in new appropriations.
(See the notes to Table 1 for a description of direct
obligations and new appropriations.) House and Senate
committees each reported a FY2019 Commerce, Justice,
Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill (H.R.
5952 and S. 3072), but neither received floor consideration
prior to the end of the 115th Congress. Both bills would
have provided more funding in direct obligations to NOAA
than it requested for FY2019 but less than the FY2018
enacted amount ($6.00 billion).
After several continuing resolutions and an agency
shutdown, Congress enacted P.L. 116-6, which provides
$5.54 billion in direct obligations and $5.35 billion in new
appropriations to the agency for FY2019. Both enacted
direct obligations and enacted appropriations for NOAA
ORF and PAC have generally increased since FY2008
(appropriations shown in Figure 1). Since FY2008, the
PAC subaccount has fluctuated between 22% and 32% of
total enacted direct obligation levels, with the ORF
subaccount comprising the remainder of the total funding
(68%-78%).
Figure I. NOAA ORF and PAC Requested and
Enacted Appropriations, FY2008-FY20 I 9
(nominal $ in billions)
$7.0
$2.0
a NOAA Requested Appropriations N Congress Enacted Appropriations
Source: Congressional Research Service, from NOAA budget
justifications and congressional explanatory statements.
Note: Amounts do not include supplemental appropriations,
rescissions, or sequestration.
Issues for Congress
According to NOAA's FY2019 budget justification, the
FY2019 budget prioritized core government functions and
supported the Administration's priorities to reduce the
impacts of severe weather and water events and increase the
sustainable contributions of [U.S.] fishery and ocean
resources.
Proposed Program Funding Changes
For FY2019, the Administration proposed increases to 21
subactivities totaling over $55 million. It also proposed the
reduction or elimination of 65 subactivities totaling over $1
billion. Proposed reductions or eliminations to subactivity
grants, subsidies, and contributions (GSC) budget line items
totaled more than $340 million between the FY2019 base
level and the FY2019 budget request (Table 1). The GSC
budget line provides funding to nonfederal entities, such as
states, universities, and the private sector, through grants
and competitive research opportunities. Activities proposed
for termination included NMFS Prescott Marine Mammal
Rescue Assistance grants, NOS Coastal Zone Management
grants, NWS National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program
grants, OAR's National Sea Grant College Program, and
the Educational Partnership Program for Minority Serving
Institutions program under Mission Support.
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