The FY 22 President’s Budget, the details of which were released in early June, included an increase of $33.25 million over FY 21 enacted appropriations, of which $29 million would support the regional coastal observing systems operated by the 11 IOOS Regional Associations.
If enacted, the budget would support:
- $15m for Fostering Ecological Resilience Through Conservation Action
- $10m for Advancing Coastal Modeling and Prediction
- $4m for Coastal Moorings for Ecosystem Monitoring
Biden is requesting almost $7 billion for NOAA in the upcoming fiscal year, about $1.5 billion more than the previous year. The increased funds would support the agency in investing in ecological restoration and community resilience, achieving the Biden Administration’s offshore wind expansion goals, integrating equity across NOAA, investing in observational infrastructure, and measuring, predicting, and adapting to the impacts of climate change.
What happens next: Congress takes the President’s budget request into consideration, but at the end of the day, Congress holds the purse strings, and the appropriations committees have their own priorities. The House has begun consideration of their funding bills and will debate, or “mark up”, NOAA’s funding bill on July 12 and 15. The Senate Appropriations Committee is just finalizing taking input from each Senate office before they turn to writing their own funding bills. Another wrench in the system is the new Community Project Funding (or earmark) process. The House provided a list of all requests for earmarked funds, and the Senate will likely follow suit.
