The House Appropriations Committee last week approved FY17 spending legislation for the Department of Commerce, which includes funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA would receive a total of $5.6 billion next year through the House’s FY17 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, a sum that is $185 million below the agency’s FY16 level. The committee report with details about the spending plan said NOAA’s overall climate research budget would be reduced to $128 million – about 20 percent below the program’s current budget of $159 million. Funding for NOAA’s Regional Climate Data and Information program would remain flat at $38 million.
The committee’s targeting of climate research funding was not unexpected, as the panel had earlier released a statement promising that the bill would reduce funding for “lower-priority” climate-related NOAA activities, in favor of directing funds toward weather forecasting capabilities. The full House could consider the appropriations bill in the coming weeks.