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NOAA "blindsided" by Obama administration's proposal to move it to Interior Department

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  • NOAA "blindsided" by Obama administration's proposal to move it to Interior Department

    http://www.agu.org/pubs/pdf/2012EO040003-op.pdf
    Eos, Vol. 93, No. 4, 24 January 2012
    Draft U.S. Ocean Policy Plan Precedes Proposal
    to Move NOAA to Interior Department

    The Obama administration?s ambitious
    plan to protect oceans was released on
    12 January, just 1 day prior to the administration?s
    apparently unrelated announcement
    of a proposed governmental reorganization
    that would move the National Oceanic and
    Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from
    the Department of Commerce to the Department
    of the Interior.
    The proposed NOAA
    move is part of a larger administration proposal
    to consolidate six federal agencies
    that are focused on business and trade into
    one department. The action is contingent
    upon congressional approval.
    The proposal to move NOAA to the Interior
    department has prompted a variety of
    reactions, with some considering it common
    sense to group agencies dealing with natural
    resources in the same department. Others
    have charged that the proposed move
    could blunt NOAA?s leading role in protecting
    oceans, among other concerns.

    [snip]
    NOAA?s Proposed Move
    During a 13 January briefing, Jeff Zients
    of the White House Office of Management
    and Budget said that all of NOAA would be
    moved to the Interior department under the
    administration proposal. ?As part of the specific
    proposal that would be developed once
    we have consolidation authority, the appropriate
    integration of NOAA into the Interior
    department would be carefully worked
    through.?
    Sarah Chasis, director of the Natural
    Resources Defense Council?s Ocean Initiative,
    said the proposed move for NOAA was
    ?a side issue? in the proposed reorganization,
    with the principal focus being on business
    and trade agencies. Chasis told Eos that
    while the draft implementation plan is a positive
    and important step forward for ocean
    stewardship, the proposal to move NOAA
    to Interior is troubling.
    She said NOAA currently
    plays an important role in checks and
    balances with Interior, which has responsibility
    for extractive offshore oil and gas
    activities. ?Making sure that [NOAA is] free
    to weigh in in a way that?s not squelched or
    unduly influenced by the extraction goals of
    [Interior] is really important,? she said, adding,
    ?We need to focus on implementing the
    National Ocean Policy plan. There are so
    many important things to be done, and reorganization
    takes a lot of time and effort and
    diverts from policy and implementation.?

    Jeb Berman, director of government relations
    with the National Marine Sanctuary
    Foundation, said NOAA was ?blindsided? by
    the reorganization announcement and had
    not been informed about it until the prior
    evening.
    Berman told Eos that moving the
    entire agency to Interior ?creates so much
    bureaucratic headache and would require
    NOAA to take its eye off the ball for a significant
    period of time. And even though
    they?ve fixed some of the oil/gas problems
    recently at [Interior], it?s still the agency
    that?s directed to lease expeditiously.? He
    added, ?Now, if some pieces of NOAA were
    integrated into existing resource management
    functions at [Interior], that could
    potentially make sense.?
    [snip]
    As Eos
    went to press, NOAA had not made any public
    comments regarding the proposed reorganization,
    despite attempts by Eos to solicit
    agency comments.
    For more information about the draft
    National Ocean Policy Implementation
    Plan, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/ administration/eop/ oceans/implementationplan.
    The public comment
    period is open through 27 February 2012.
    ?Randy Showstack, Staff Writer
    _____________________________________________

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