170 



STRIINCTHENINC. THE ll*D INFRA-TTRllCniRI- 7 J 



THb U.S. GliOLOGICAL SURXtY 



The US( iS has operated quiic autonomously within the Department of the 

 Interior. Over the years it has developed a reputation for excellence in its 

 monitoring and research activities. USGS is responsible for gathering infor- 

 mation and conducting analyses of land resources, minerals and energy re- 

 sources, and geologic hazards. It is also responsible for studies in surface 

 water and groundwater assessment and protection, toxic and nuclear sub- 

 stances hydrology, acid rain, and climate change hydrology. USGS is a key 

 plaver in the federal government's Global Change Research Program, con- 

 tributing to the effort to understand natural earth processes and the impacts 

 of human activities on eanh systems. It is also a leader in the development 

 of information systems using advanced computer technologies. For example, 

 it recently produced a prototype interactive CD-ROM science journal on 

 the Arctic that has been widely acclaimed as a research and communications 

 tool.*" About $567 million was spent on environmental R&D in the USGS 

 in 1992.. 



All of this work would continue in EMA. The 1879 charter of USGS 

 sees forth its mission as the "classification of the public lands and exami- 

 nation of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the 

 national domain."'" Today, more than 90 percent of the USGS program 

 budget is devoted to monitoring activities in its National Mapping Program, 

 Geologic Investigations, and Water Resources Investigations Divisions. 



The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 



NOAA was established by President Nixon in 1970 at approximately the 

 same time, and in the same manner, as the Environmental Protection 

 Agenq'." The creation of NOAA had been recommended by the Stratton 

 Commission, an independent panel of scientific experts assembled by Con- 

 gress in the late 1960s to review the present and future needs of marine 

 affairs, induciing oceanography, marine resources, ocean engineering, and 

 education. Although the Commission had advised that it be an indepen- 

 dent agency, two of the larger existing organizations that were brought to- 

 gether to form NOAA were located in the Depanment of Commerce, and 

 it was ultimately placed there. 



NOAA's Missiot/ 



NOAA's general mission is to monitor the global environment, predict en- 

 vironmental changes, and provide the public with environmental informa- 



