United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was established in the Department of Commerce by Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 (84 Stat. 2090), effective October 3, 1970. It consolidated the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior and agencies formerly under the abolished Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) of the Department of Commerce, and others.

The Coast and Geodetic Survey, formerly under ESSA, became the National Ocean Survey, October 9, 1970, and the National Ocean Service in 1983. The Weather Bureau, also under ESSA, became the National Weather Service on October 9, 1970. The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries by January 1971, had been redesignated the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Marine Sport Fishery Program of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Department of the Interior became a part of the National Marine Fisheries Service. The U.S. Lake Survey, formerly under the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, was redesignated the Lake Survey Center, and subsequently abolished, June 30, 1976.The National Oceanographic Data Center, formerly under the Department of the Navy was subordinated, along with the National Climatic Center and the National Geophysical Data Center to the Environmental Data Center (subsequently designated the Environmental Data and Information Service, then the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service). The Office of Sea Grant Programs of the National Science Foundation became a staff office of NOAA. The National Data Buoy Project of the U.S. Coast Guard became a component of a NOAA staff office for environmental systems as did the Marine Minerals Technology Center, formerly under the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior.

The principal functions of NOAA were authorized by 15 USC 9 (National Weather Service),33 USC 17 (National Ocean Survey), and 16 USC 9 (National Marine Fisheries Service). NOAA''s mission was to explore, map, and chart the global ocean and its living resources and to manage, use, and conserve those resources; to describe, monitor, and predict conditions in the atmosphere, Sun, and space environment; to issue warnings against impending destructive natural events; to assess the consequences of inadvertent environmental modification over several scales of time; and to manage and disseminate long-term environmental information.

Among its principal activities, NOAA reported the weather of the United States and its possessions and provided weather forecasts to the general public; issued warnings against such destructive natural events as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and tsunamis; and provided services in support of aviation, marine activities, agriculture, forestry, urban air-quality control, and other weather-sensitive activities. NOAA also monitored and reported all non-Federal weather modification activities conducted in the United States.

NOAA conducted an integrated program of management, research, and services relating to the protection and rational use of living marine resources and their habitats, and protected marine mammals and endangered marine species. The NOAA Administrator served as the U.S. representative to the International Whaling Commission. It prepared and issued nautical and aeronautical charts, provided the Nation''s geodetic surveys, and conducted broad research programs in marine and atmospheric sciences, solar-terrestrial physics, and experimental meteorology, including weather modification. NOAA also predicted tides, currents, and the state of the oceans; conducted research and development aimed at providing alternatives to ocean dumping; and developed national policies in the areas of ocean mining and energy.

NOAA provided satelliteobservations of the environment by operating a national environmental satellite system; and conducted an integrated program of research and services relating to oceans and inland waters, the lower and upper atmosphere, the space environment, and the Earth to increase understanding of the geophysical environment. NOAA acquired, stored, and disseminated worldwide environmental data through a system of meteorological, oceanographic, geodetic, and seismological data centers.

NOAA administered and directed oceanic research programs by providing grants to institutions for marine research, education, and advisory services, developed a system of data buoys for automatically obtaining and disseminating marine environmental data; and promoted the development of technology to meet the needs of the marine community.