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HISTORY < >I llll coMMirill ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



as resource people Most of the participants in the Boulder workshop 

 were private sector meteorologists, weather service users, and experts 

 from the academic community. Alexis J. Hoskins furnished valuable 

 staff assistance in insuring the success of the workshops. 



The experience was a healthy one. It enabled many new ideas to 

 surface, and old problems among agencies to help solve themselves. By 

 getting away from the formal atmosphere of a committee hearing, 

 everything came out on the table. Brown, always an innovator, was 

 delighted with the results of the workshops. All too frequently the 

 measuring rod for congressional success is whether legislation is passed 

 and in that sense NOAA's organic act was not developed and enacted 

 in 1979. Yet richer dividends resulted from the time and effort invested. 

 The channels of free and frank communication were opened, there 

 arose a new understanding and appreciation of different missions and 

 different points of view, the yeast of new ideas germinated, and what 

 were once glacial jurisdictional problems began to melt. Perhaps the 

 most exciting result of the workshops was the fact that NOAA and 

 the administration started making proposals to the subcommittee 

 to do some of the things which had been concluded they ought to do. 

 As described by Spensley: 



It was a feedback of some of the things that came out of those workshops. 



EPA AUTHORIZATION IN 1978 



By 1978, the subcommittee had reached a level of sophistication 

 in assessing the programs of EPA. Also, the parliamentary situation 

 was smoother in 1978. Up to that year, the Senate had authorized 

 R. & D. for EPA in a fragmented fashion, tied to the numerous acts 

 which constituted different programs, from safe drinking water to 

 toxic substances. But by 1978, the Senate had agreed to include all 

 EPA R. & D. in one bill. 



Brown was also able to report to the full committee on March 14, 

 1978: 



The EPA in the past has been troubled by a lack of credible research and develop- 

 ment. Our subcommittee has gone into some of the problems in the past during our 

 oversight activities, and has pointed out some of the difficulties in the research 

 program. 



We feel that as a result of the committee's activities and the aggressive leadership 

 of the new administration, the EPA research and development program is showing 

 signs of improvement and we hope to be able to continue that improvement with the 

 authorization levels contained in this bill. 



Brown told the committee that although the President had asked for 

 an increase of 12 percent for the entire EPA operation, he was dis- 

 appointed with the R. & D. recommendations: 



The research and development budget got the short end of the stick in these 

 nmendations, with only a one percent inctease. 



