Congress Votes on Sea Grant Appropriation, Reauthorization

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Ocean voted unanimously last month to reauthorize the National Sea Grant College Program Act. The House Science Committee asked for “subsequent referral” on the bill and “marked up” the bill with minor modifications.

House Resolution 3389 calls for renewal of the national Sea Grant program for five years at $75 million annually and is now awaiting introduction on the floor and a vote by the full House. The bill adds an additional $15 million to be focused on research into nonindigenous species and oyster disease breakouts in the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Current authorization of the national program expires at the end of fiscal year 2003.

The process is also ongoing in the Senate, where reauthorization and appropriation bills are expected to be introduced later this spring.

Congress also has been considering budget appropriations for fiscal year 2003. The Sea Grant appropriations bill calls for $57.5 million for core operations, plus an additional 4.9 million for research on non-indigenous species and oyster disease.

An effort by the Bush administration to move Sea Grant funds from the National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the National Science Foundation has met with little support in either the House or the Senate.

Wisconsin Sea Grant director Anders W. Andren said he is pleased with the congressional support of the program.

”Sea Grant is well regarded in the House and the Senate,” he said.

Andren added, however, that fiscal challenges posed by the war on terrorism and the ensuing realignment of national priorities will make 2003-05 particularly tough budget years. In response to these new initiatives, Andren says Wisconsin Sea Grant is exploring contributions it can make to national security as it applies to the Great Lakes.

While Sea Grant enjoys an excellent reputation in Congress, the House Science Committee said that the program should be more competitive.

”The national Sea Grant network is in the process of strengthening the competitive aspect between programs,” said Andren, who serves on the Sea Grant Association allocations committee. “Programs have to grow, but growth should be based on scientific merit and healthy competition.”

Overall, Andren believes the prognosis for Wisconsin and the national program is excellent.

- Jill D. Ladwig

Last updated 18 April 2002 by Karl
All contents copyright 2001 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute

http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/Communications/news/LD_stories/2002/Reauthorization.html