A collage of typical climate and weather-related events: floods, heatwaves, drought, hurricanes, wildfires and loss of glacial ice. (Image credit: NOAA)
“The Biden-Harris Administration recently released its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2023, which includes strong support for NOAA‘s mission and goals. This level of funding signals the Administration's support of NOAA as the authority on climate data and information. The FY 2023 budget will allow NOAA to scale our efforts to deliver accurate climate products and services to all Americans by building on our research, forecasts, and observations," said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D.
“While the release of the President’s FY2023 Budget is one step in the federal budget process, the proposed funding is a down payment in building the Climate Ready Nation we urgently need. I’m ready to begin a new fiscal year that will enhance our agency’s ability to protect lives, livelihoods, and lifestyles.”
Find details, statistics and other information in NOAA's Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Summary (Blue Book).
NOAA’s FY23 Proposed Budget
For FY 2023, NOAA requests a budget of $6,884,137,000 in discretionary appropriations, an increase of $1,444,339,000 from the FY 2022 Continuing Resolution. This budget increase will allow NOAA to engage a broader scope of decision-makers from the federal to the local level and allow them to implement climate resiliency and adaptation measures. Additionally, NOAA will be able to help invigorate new sectors of our economy through enhanced climate, satellite, and ocean data, as well as ensure that all communities are able to utilize and benefit from our products and services.
Develop and Deliver Climate Products and Services
In FY 2023, NOAA requests an additional $350.4 million to implement Executive Order (EO) 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Funding will support an earth system approach to expand NOAA’s role in providing authoritative climate products and services. NOAA’s work directly impacts communities across the nation and around the globe, from supporting climate-resilient communities to improving forecasts and response to climate-related natural disasters. In FY 2023, NOAA will strengthen core research capabilities to develop and deliver data, tools, and services. We will improve our understanding of climate change on time scales beginning at two weeks through the next several decades. We will build on this understanding to improve precipitation and sea level rise forecasts, and identify impacts of climate change on fisheries, protected species, and living marine resources to improve management.
Economic Development
NOAA will continue to foster environmental stewardship and sustainable economic development, with a particular focus on the New Blue Economy, which is new business development framed around an information and knowledge-based approach to support fisheries, transportation, shipping, renewable energy, and recreation. In FY 2023, NOAA requests an increase of $212.5 million in support of the expansion of offshore wind energy, ocean and coastal mapping and charting, and development of key information systems in our weather and space observations infrastructure. These investments will support the Administration’s American Jobs Plan and NOAA’s Climate Ready Nation initiative, by making our infrastructure more resilient, and advancing U.S. leadership in research and development of critical technologies, climate science, and innovation.
Equity and Workforce
The administration’s policies, including those described in EO 13985 on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, direct agencies to integrate equity into the DNA of their organizations—from management, to policies, to service delivery. In FY 2023, NOAA requests $39.2 million to invest in a framework and lay the foundation for successfully integrating equity across the organization by improving capabilities and knowledge sharing, creating and expanding opportunities, and honing service delivery. This will position us to help vulnerable communities better prepare for, respond to, and build resilience against extreme weather and climate disasters.
Satellites
NOAA satellites are a critical component of NOAA’s mission, as well as the security, safety, and prosperity of the Nation. Data from these satellites provide essential support to all segments of the U.S. economy. The FY 2023 request includes significant investments in NOAA’s observational infrastructure. The FY 2023 budget request underscores NOAA’s commitment to making crucial, time-sensitive, and cost-effective investments to ensure that the Nation’s next-generation satellite systems improve capabilities and expand delivery of essential climate, weather, atmospheric, and oceanographic information to meet the evolving needs of the American public. The FY 2023 budget will help NOAA better observe environmental phenomena connected to climate change-related impacts and patterns, and deliver products, information, and climate services to inform decision makers.
Facilities
Safe and modern facilities are vital to support NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship. NOAA’s facilities and infrastructure are vulnerable to the full range of weather and climate impacts. In FY 2023, NOAA requests an additional $102.7 million to ensure the long-term viability of these vital assets to NOAA's mission.
“The next decade is a critical time to address the climate crisis. We have a small window to shift to a carbon neutral economy and hold climate impacts in check. With increased funding to develop and deliver climate products and services, foster environmental stewardship and sustainable economic development, and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within our workforce, partnerships, and communities we serve, we have a once in a generation opportunity. In FY 2023, NOAA will support the whole-of-government effort to address the climate crisis, boost resilience, and promote economic growth by building a Climate Ready Nation,” said Spinrad.
