House Report 106-987 - MARINE RESEARCH AND RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1999

[House Report 106-987]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

106th Congress Rept. 106-987
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session Part 2

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PARTIAL NOAA PROGRAMS AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1999

_______

October 25, 2000.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______

Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following

R E P O R T

[To accompany H.R. 1552]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 1552) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2000
and fiscal year 2001 for the Marine Research and related
environmental research and development program activities of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the
National Science Foundation, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Partial NOAA Programs Authorization
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

(a) In General.--For purposes of this Act, the term--
(1) ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
(2) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Commerce.
(b) Marine Research.--For the purposes of this Act, the term
``marine research'' does not include--
(1) fisheries research, assessment, and management;
(2) acquisition of hydrographic survey data; or
(3) navigation services.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE.

SEC. 4. OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM SUPPORT.

(a) Operations, Research, and Facilities.--There are authorized to
be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to carry out the oceanographic and marine
research activities of Program Support $73,887,000 for fiscal year 2000
and $73,887,000 for fiscal year 2001, to remain available until
expended.
(b) Administration and Services.--Of the amounts authorized under
subsection (a), $62,868,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $62,868,000 for
fiscal year 2001 shall be for Administration and Services, of which--
(1) $19,573,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $19,573,000 for
fiscal year 2001 shall be for Executive Direction and
Administration;
(2) $712,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $712,000 for fiscal
year 2001 shall be for Systems Acquisition Office;
(3) $41,583,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $41,583,000 for
fiscal year 2001 shall be for Central Administrative Support;
and
(4) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $1,000,000 for fiscal
year 2001 shall be for Historically Black Colleges and
Universities.
(c) Aircraft Services.--Of the amounts authorized under subsection
(a), $11,019,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $11,019,000 for fiscal year
2001 shall be for Aircraft Services.
(d) Independent Audit of Aircraft Services.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, using available
funds, enter into appropriate arrangements with an independent
external auditor capable of providing an audit to determine
whether outsourcing of aircraft services is a more cost-
effective alternative to in-house operation of aircraft in
meeting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
aircraft requirements of the conduct of marine and atmospheric
research and related environmental research and development
activities, and for other data and mission needs.
(2) Auditing procedures.--
(A) In general.--The audit under paragraph (1) shall
be conducted in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards.
(B) Access to information.--The Secretary shall
provide the independent external auditor the
information such auditor requires to conduct the audit
under paragraph (1). The independent external auditor
may inspect any records of and have access to personnel
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
to obtain such information.
(3) Report of the results of the audit.--Not later than 180
days after the initiation of the audit required by this
subsection, the independent external auditor shall submit a
report concerning the results of the audit to the Committee on
Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Science, Commerce, and Transportation of the Senate.

SEC. 6. FACILITIES.

(a) Operations, Research, and Facilities.--There are authorized to
be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to carry out the Operations, Research, and
Facilities oceanographic and marine research activities required to
carry out Facilities Maintenance and Repairs and Environmental
Compliance $5,717,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $5,717,000 for fiscal
year 2001, to remain available until expended.
(b) Facilities Maintenance and Repairs.--Of the amounts authorized
under subsection (a), $1,818,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $1,818,000
for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Facilities Maintenance and Repairs.
(c) Environmental Compliance.--Of the amounts authorized under
subsection (a), $3,899,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $3,899,000 for
fiscal year 2001 shall be for Facilities Environmental Compliance.

SEC. 7. INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.

The Administrator shall make available through the Internet home
page of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the
abstracts relating to all research grants and awards made with funds
authorized by this Act. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
require or permit the release of any information prohibited by law or
regulation from being released to the public.

SEC. 8. REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.

Notwithstanding section 3302 (b) and (c) of title 31, United States
Code, of the amounts received by the United States in settlement of, or
judgment for, damage claims arising from the October 9, 1992, allision
of the vessel ZACHARY into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration research vessel DISCOVERER, $349,000--
(1) shall be retained as an offsetting collection in the
Operations, Research and Facilities account of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(2) shall be deposited into that account upon receipt by the
United States Government; and
(3) shall be available only for obligation for National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marine services.

SEC. 9. ABOLISHMENT OF CHIEF SCIENTIST POSITION.

(a) Abolishment of Position.--The position of Chief Scientist of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is abolished.
(b) Termination of Reorganization Plan Provision.--Subsection (d)
of section 2 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall
have no force or effect.
(c) References.--Any reference in any other Federal law, Executive
order, rule, regulation, delegation of authority, or document to Chief
Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is
deemed to refer to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
(d) Clerical Amendment.--Section 5316 of title 5, United States
Code, is amended by striking ``Chief Scientist, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.''.

Amend the title so as to read:

A bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2000
and fiscal year 2001 for the oceanographic and marine research
activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and for other purposes.

Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of H.R. 1552, as reported by the Committee on
Resources, is to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2000
and fiscal year 2001 for oceanographic and marine research
activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and for other purposes.

Background and Need for Legislation

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
conducts research, monitoring, assessments and other studies on
a variety of ocean, fisheries and coastal topics to support its
oceanographic, environmental prediction and marine resource
management functions. Lacking an Organic Act for the agency,
some of NOAA's work is authorized under permanent statutory
general and some is authorized in free-standing statutes for
specific periods of time. Several efforts have been made over
the last five years to enact annual NOAA authorization measures
for those programs that are carried out under permanent general
authorities, but none of these efforts have succeeded. H.R.
1552 authorizes appropriations for a large portion of NOAA's
oceanographic activities for fiscal years 2000 and 2001.
H.R. 1552 was referred to both the Committee on Science and
the Committee on Resources for consideration of the provisions
that fall within each committee's jurisdiction. The Resources
Committee has jurisdiction over ``oceanography'' and the
Science Committee has jurisdiction over ``marine research''
under Rule 10 of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
Therefore, oversight jurisdiction for some NOAA programs is
shared by the two Committees. Other programs, such as
navigation services and fisheries research and management, fall
exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Resources Committee.
H.R. 1552, as introduced, included authorization of several
NOAA programs under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Committee
on Resources. H.R. 1552 as reported by the Committee on
Resources removes the programs under its exclusive
jurisdiction. The bill as reported contains authorizations only
for those programs with shared committee jurisdiction, and
restores funding for these programs to the levels in the
Administration's fiscal year 2000 budget request. Table 1
summarizes the funding levels and programs authorized in the
bill as reported from the Committee on Resources.

Committee Action

H.R. 1552 was introduced on April 26, 1999, by Congressman
Ken Calvert (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Science and additionally to the Committee on Resources. Within
the Committee on Resources, the bill was referred to the
Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans. On
March 18, 1999, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the fiscal
year 2000 budget for NOAA, which includes the programs
authorized in this bill. On May 6, 1999, the Subcommittee met
to mark up the bill. Subcommittee Chairman Jim Saxton (R-NJ)
offered an amendment to remove from the bill authorizations for
activities that fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the
Committee on Resources, move the Coastal Ocean Program to the
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, create a new ocean
observation activity line item, and restore funding for the
remaining programs to the fiscal year 2000 Administration
request levels. The amendment was adopted by voice vote. The
bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the
Full Committee by voice vote. On June 30, 1999, the Full
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. Subcommittee
Chairman Saxton (R-NJ) offered an amendment to eliminate the
position of Chief Scientist within NOAA, allow NOAA to be
reimbursed for costs incurred due to an accident involving one
of its ships, and return the Coastal Ocean Program to the
National Ocean Service. The amendment was adopted by voice
vote. The bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported
to the House of Representatives by voice vote.

Section-by-Section Analysis

Section 1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Partial NOAA Programs
Authorization Act of 1999.

Section 2. Definitions

The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the term
``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Commerce. For the purposes
of this Act, the term ``marine research'' does not include
hydrographic surveys, navigation services or fisheries
research, assessment, and management.

Section 3. National Ocean Service

Section 3 authorizes $38,806,000 in appropriations for
oceanographic and marine research activities carried out by the
National Ocean Service under the Operations, Research and
Facilities account during each of fiscal years 2000 and 2001.
These activities include authorizations of $14,055,000 for
Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment, $19,430,000 for
the Coastal Ocean Program and $5,321,000 for non-hydrographic
Acquisition of Data. This section retains the Administration's
request for the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab at
$6,085,000 and reduces the authorization for Acquisition of
Data to $5,321,000 to reflect the needs for non-hydrographic
data acquisition. Acquisition of hydrographic data is
authorized separately in the Hydrographic Services Improvement
Act (Public Law 105-384).

Section 4. Oceanic and atmospheric research

Section 4 authorizes $68,100,000 in appropriations for
oceanographic and marine research activities carried out by the
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research under the
Operations, Research and Facilities account during each of
fiscal years 2000 and 2001. These activities include
$24,000,000 for Marine Environmental Research, $15,000,000 for
the National Undersea Research
Program, $14,100,000 for Ocean Observations, and
$15,000,000 for Acquisition of Data. The Ocean Observations
line is a new authorization which consolidates existing ocean
observing activities into a single unit. These activities are
currently funded in several places under the Office of Oceanic
and Atmospheric Research. The funding levels authorized in this
section reflect the amounts in the fiscal year 2000
Administration request and an increase for the ocean
observations activity line.

Section 5. Program support

Section 5 authorizes $73,887,000 for NOAA's Program Support
activities in each of fiscal years 2000 and 2001. These
activities include $19,573,000 for Executive Direction and
Administration, $712,000 for Systems Acquisition, $41,583,000
for Central Administrative Support, $1,000,000 for Historically
Black Colleges and Universities, and $11,019,000 for Aircraft
Services. These authorizations reflect the levels in the
Administration's fiscal year 2000 request. This section also
requires the Secretary to contract with an independent,
external auditor to evaluate whether the use of private
aircraft to carry out NOAA's oceanographic activities is a more
cost effective alternative to in-house maintenance and
operation of aircraft.

Section 6. Facilities

Section 6 authorizes $5,717,000 for NOAA's Facilities
account for each of fiscal years 2000 and 2001. Activities
authorized under this account include $1,818,000 for Facilities
Maintenance and Repairs, and $3,899,000 for Environmental
Compliance.

Section 7. Internet availability of information

Section 7 requires the Secretary to publish on the Internet
abstracts for all research grants and awards made with funds
authorized under this Act.

Section 8. Reimbursement of expenses

Section 8 requires that $349,000 of the amounts recovered
by the United States, in settlement of or by judgment for
damage claims arising from the October 1992 collision of the
vessel ZACHARY with the NOAA research vessel DISCOVERER, be
used as an offsetting collection and be available only for
obligation for NOAA marine services.

Section 9. Abolishment of the chief scientist position

This section abolishes the statutory references to the
Chief Scientist position at NOAA. This position is currently
vacant. NOAA has recently undergone an agency reorganization,
and does not wish to fill the Chief Scientist vacancy.
References to the Chief Scientist in statutes are deemed to
refer to the Administrator of NOAA.

Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.

Constitutional Authority Statement

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

Compliance with House Rule XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax
expenditures. Enactment of this bill would result in $340,000
in direct spending but any such effect ``would not be
significant'' according to the Congressional Budget Office.
3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on
Government Reform on this bill.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:

U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 5, 1999.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimated for H.R. 1552, the Partial
NOAA Programs Authorization Act of 1999.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark Hadley.
Sincerely
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.

H.R. 1552--Partial NOAA Programs Authorization Act of 1999

Summary: H.R. 1552 would authorize the appropriation of
$187 million in each of fiscal years 2000 and 2001 for certain
marine and environment programs of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The bill also would require
an independent study of savings that could result from
outsourcing aircraft services related to atmospheric and
environmental research. In addition, H.R. 1552 would allow NOAA
to spend, without further appropriations action, the amount
that has been collected by the federal government as a result
of damage claims against the vessel ZACHARY.
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1552 would result in
additional outlay of $373 million over the 2000-2004 period,
assuming the appropriation of the authorized amounts. Because
enacting H.R. 1552 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go
procedures would apply, but CBO estimates that such effects
would not be significant. H.R. 1552 contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs on
state, local, or tribal governments.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
impact of H.R. 1552 on discretionary spending is shown in the
following table. CBO also estimates that allowing NOAA to spend
offsetting receipts from federal claims against the vessel
ZACHARY would increase direct spending by about $340,000 over
the next five years. For the purpose of this estimate, CBO
assumes that H.R. 1552 will be enacted by the end of fiscal
year 1999 and that the amounts authorized will be appropriated
for each fiscal year. Estimated outlays are based on historical
spending rates for these programs. The costs of this
legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources
and environment).

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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
-----------------------------------------------------
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
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Spending Under Current Law:
Budget Authority \1\.................................. 155 0 0 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays..................................... 159 62 19 9 0 0
Proposed Changes:
Authorization Level................................... 0 187 187 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays..................................... 0 119 164 56 22 11
Spending Under H.R. 1552:
Authorization Level \1\............................... 155 187 187 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays..................................... 159 182 183 65 22 11
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\1\ The 1999 level is the amount appropriated for that year for the marine and environmental programs conducted
by NOAA that would be authorized by H.R. 1552.

Pay-as-you-go considerations: The Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act sets up pay-as-you-go procedures
for legislation affecting direct spending or receipts. H.R.
1552 would affect direct spending by allowing NOAA to spend the
sum collected as a result of damage claims against the vessel
ZACHARY, but the amount involved would not be significant.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: This bill
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or
tribal governments. Some of the funds authorized in this bill
would be used to provide grants for research at public
universities.
Previous CBO estimate: On May 7, 1999, CBO transmitted a
cost estimate for H.R. 1552, the Marine Research and Related
Environmental Research and Development Programs Authorization
Act of 1999, as ordered reported by the House Committee on
Science on April 29, 1999. Differences between the estimates
are attributable to differences in the two versions. The
Science Committee's version included funding for programs of
NOAA and the National Science Foundation that were not included
in this version. The Science Committee's version would not
affect direct spending or receipts, however.
Estimate prepared by: Mark Hadley.
Estimate approved by: Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.

Compliance With Public Law 104-4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.

Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets and
existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

SECTION 5316 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE

Sec. 5316. Positions at level V

Level V of the Executive Schedule applies to the following
positions, for which the annual rate of basic pay shall be the
rate determined with respect to such level under chapter 11 of
title 2, as adjusted by section 5318 of this title:
Administrator, Bonneville Power Administration,
Department of the Interior.

* * * * * * *

[Chief Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.]

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