Members press to restore NOAA weather and climate labs, warn of degraded warnings and buoy maintenance
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Summary
Lawmakers from storm‑prone and coastal districts said cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service—plus staff losses and deferred buoy maintenance—will reduce forecasting accuracy and public safety; markup debate produced a bipartisan manager amendment protecting NOAA labs.
Several representatives from coastal and disaster‑exposed districts urged the committee to reverse cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service during the CJS markup, saying cuts and earlier administration actions already have reduced staff and delayed maintenance of forecasting assets such as weather buoys and radars. Representative Chellie Pingree (ME) described a chain of declining support and longer buoy service intervals from annual to three‑year service windows and said that 600 NOAA positions and 57 National Weather Service positions had been lost in prior actions; she warned that fewer observations and gaps in buoy data harm fishermen, mariners and emergency managers. Representative Henry Cuellar and others supported targeted language in the manager’s amendment directing NOAA to maintain facilities and capabilities and pilot real‑time flood detection for high‑risk rural areas; the committee adopted a bipartisan amendment to prohibit closure or consolidation of NOAA labs and cooperative institutes and to protect specific capabilities. Members cited life‑safety consequences and economic impacts for fisheries, aviation, and agriculture in their districts.