Constituent Relations

FY 2014 Budget Request: OAR Overview

For FY 2014, NOAA requests a net increase of $82,474,000 and 14 FTE from the FY 2014 base level for a total of $472,435,000 and 769 FTE for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) after an increase of $1,934,000 and 0 FTE to restore programs affected by the reprogramming of the FY 2012 Spend Plan.

The OAR base budget ($389,961,000 and 755 FTE) is organized into four sub-programs under the Operations, Research, and Facilities (ORF) account. FY 2014 request amounts and change from FY 2014 base for these sub-programs are given below:

Climate Research: $188,840,000 (+ $45,337,000)
Weather and Air Chemistry Research: $81,624,000 (+ $11,899,000)
Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Research: $179,806,000 (+22,515,000)
Innovative Research and Technology: $11,786,000 (+$2,694,000)

The FY 2014 Request for the OAR Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction (PAC) account is $10,379,000. This is a requested increase of $29,000 from FY 2014 base level. OAR PAC includes the following sub-program:

System Acquisition, which includes NOAA's investments in Research High Performance Computing.

Note about the FY 2014 Baseline
As a point of note, the FY 2014 budget is built off of the FY12 Spend Plan. The FY14 Budget does not take into account the FY 2013 appropriation passed last month, or the FY13 President’s request. The budget also relies on an extrapolated extension of a previous FY13 stopgap funding measure for comparison. The firmest yardstick against which to measure proposed spending may be fiscal 2012 spending — although that is two budget cycles back. Adding to the difficulty, the fiscal blueprint assumes that the $1.2 trillion sequester, which took effect March 1, did not occur and will not continue.

For more details about the FY 2014 President’s Budget for NOAA, please visit the NOAA Budget Office website: http://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/nbo/. The NOAA FY 2014 Blue Book is now available on the NOAA web site.

NOAA Research FY 2013 Budget

On March 26th, the President signed H.R. 933, the "Consolidated and Furthering Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013." The funding includes $390,638,000 for OAR, not including the 5.1 percent sequester or 1.9 percent rescission. Spend plans are under development.

National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan Released

The White House has released the National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan. The plan translates the National Ocean Policy into on-the-ground actions and focuses on better manage the ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources; developing and disseminating sound scientific information that local communities, industries, and decision-makers can use; and collaborating more effectively with State, Tribal, and local partners, marine industries, and other stakeholders.

Draft NOAA 5-year Research & Development Plan Available for Public Comment

The NOAA Research Council has released the draft NOAA 5-Year Research and Development Plan for public comment. This Plan charts the course for R&D at NOAA from 2013-2017 in support of the agency's four long-term goals: Climate, Weather, Oceans, and Coasts. Your comments help us to shape the final plan that will guide the future of the NOAA R&D enterprise. Please submit comments through the NOAA Research Council website by June 3, 2013.

NOAA Science Advisory Board Final NOAA R&D Portfolio Review Report

The NOAA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Research and Development Portfolio Review Task Force has released its final report on NOAA's research and development (R&D) portfolio, "In the Nation's Best Interest: Making the Most of NOAA's Science Enterprise." The SAB R&D Portfolio Review Task Force's charge was to consider both portfolio and management of NOAA R&D and provide enough detail to inform budget prioritization or organizational changes.

The importance of NOAA's world class science will only increase in the future and reviews like this are critical for ensuring that NOAA continues to meet its mandates in the years to come. Thank you to those who took time to review the report and provide input on the future of NOAA's R&D enterprise.

OAR Constituent Update Calls

OAR Assistant Administrator Dr. Robert Detrick will hold quarterly OAR Update calls for constituents. Please email oar.constituents@noaa.gov or call Mary Ann Kutny at 301-734-1153 to be added to the invitation list for these calls.

NOAA Research networking group on Linked In

Join NOAA Research on LinkedIn. We have created a new NOAA Research Group on LinkedIn to allow members to network with other NOAA Research partners and supporters across disciplines, organizations and industries.

Constituent Roundtables

Constituent involvement is essential to OAR's success as we strive to define our priorities and align them with the NOAA Five-Year Research Plan. The purpose of this series of Roundtables is to solicit input from key constituents to ensure OAR's priorities reflect the needs of our current and future partners and customers.

For summaries of past roundtables, please click the links below.

Silver Spring Roundtable
On July 26, 2012, Dr. Detrick hosted a constituent roundtable discussion on the "Future Direction of NOAA Research" where participants provided input on the future direction of NOAA's research enterprise. The discussion focused on the role of research and development in achieving NOAA's mission, research opportunities, and the importance of partnerships.

Summary of Silver Spring Roundtable | Participant List

Year