183 



Tlie Office of the Federal Coordinator 

 coordinates meteorological programs only. It 

 is not authorized to coordinate all environ- 

 mental programs. It has no authority to di- 

 rect the actions of other Government agen- 

 cies. It has been able to inaugurate a policy 

 of sharing facilities and to forestall the es- 

 tablishment of duplicate facilities in many 

 cases. It also has formulated comprehensive 

 Federal plans in many critical weather oper- 

 ating services. In addition, an Interdepart- 

 mental Committee for Atmospheric Sciences 

 coordinates basic research in meteorology, re- 

 porting to the Federal Council for Science 

 and Technology. 



The Committee on Ocean Exploration and 

 Environmental Services is charged with de- 

 veloping a Federal Plan for Marine Envi- 

 ronmental Prediction and to see that the plan 

 is carried out. The Committee is not in a posi- 

 tion to propose any changes in statutory 

 responsibilities but will seek to coordinate 

 projects and plan programs. 



The Commission finds that the scattering 

 of responsibilities among many Federal 

 agencies continues to cause funding and man- 

 agement difficulties. 



There are three overall categories of Fed- 

 eral funding for the marine environmental 

 monitoring and prediction services : 



• For the collection, processing, and dis- 

 semination of ocean measurements that are 

 not collected in connection with meteoro- 

 logical services 



• For associated meteorological and ocean- 

 ographic data collection and processing 

 that are essential for ocean observations 

 and forecasts, but that are also collected 

 to meet more general, nonmarine needs of 

 the national civil and militai-y weather 

 services 



• For specialized marine weather data col- 

 lection and processing that are to meet 



the exclusive need for support of marine 



activities. 



Approximately $175 million is spent an- 

 nually to provide these services. 



The most important products of the system 

 at this time are weather analyses and fore- 

 casts, warnings of severe storms and tsu- 

 namis, tidal predictions, and sea state reports. 

 Operationally useful forecasts are provided 



A sinf/le, national environmental 

 )iionitoriiiff and prediction system 

 irould provide data and predietions 

 dcserihinp large area cliaracteristics 

 of the ocean, and atmospherie 

 environments. ESSA meteorologists 

 prepare to release a Kytoon ( top 

 photograph ), and teehnicians service 

 a Navy Nomad bnoy. 



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