Experts and lawmakers urge quick reauthorization of Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System

Members of the House Natural Resources subcommittee and scientific witnesses urged reauthorization of the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System during a hearing on HR 2294.

Dr. Steven Howden, director of the Hydrographic Science Research Center at the University of Southern Mississippi, told the panel IOOS is "one of the most cost effective, impactful federal programs supporting our ocean, coast, and Great Lakes." He detailed cases in which regional observing assets informed life-saving decisions: "In 2005, just eight months after we deployed our first ocean observing buoy off the coast of Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina hit. Our buoy was one of the only systems that survived and kept sending out vital wind data in real time as other infrastructure had failed," Howden said.

Howden and other witnesses described IOOS as a federated system that combines NOAA certification with regional public-private partnerships to deliver data to the National Weather Service, the Coast Guard, emergency managers and industries such as fisheries and shipping. He said low-power ocean gliders and high-frequency radar surface-current measurements help improve hurricane intensity forecasting and search-and-rescue response. "These gliders are cost effective and capable of helping NOAA's National Hurricane Center improve intensity forecast by up to 50 percent," he testified.

Several members expressed concern about administration budget proposals and staffing moves that could weaken regional IOOS capabilities. The acting deputy director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noted staffing actions at Interior but said the Service supports reauthorizing programs that provide public access to coastal science. Members asked for follow-up detail about how the administration plans to maintain regional observing networks if core federal funding is cut.

Witnesses and lawmakers stressed the program's practical benefits to commerce. Howden explained precision navigation and surface-current information used by port pilots can change operational margins measured in inches of under-keel clearance; he said those inches can represent substantial economic value for certain cargo types.

The subcommittee did not mark up the bill at the hearing. Members signaled bipartisan support for reauthorization and asked for additional written materials and agency responses to questions on workforce and funding before further action.