Senate and House Pass FY ’06 Defense Appropriations Conference Report Which Includes $54.6 Million to Repair Hurricane Damage to NOAA Facilities: On December18th, the House by a vote of 308-106 adopted the Conference Report (109-359) accompanying the FY ’06 Defense Appropriations bill (HR 2863). The bill includes $54.6 million for NOAA to repair hurricane related damage to agency facilities along the Gulf Coast. The Senate adopted the Report by Unanimous Consent on December 21st. The Conferees directed that the funds be used “to repair weather-related facilities and observation platforms, including damaged weather buoys and automated surface weather observation stations, upgrades and enhancements of hurricane forecasting instruments, an additional aircraft for hurricane observations, and temporary operating space and requirements for the damaged fisheries laboratory facility in Pascagoula, MS.” The funding is also intended to cover “upgrades and enhancements of hurricane forecast instruments, and acceleration of storm surge and flood forecasting.” Senate and House Pass FY ’06 Defense Appropriations Conference Report Which Includes $54.6 Million to Repair Hurricane Damage to NOAA Facilities: On December18th, the House by a vote of 308-106 adopted the Conference Report (109-359) accompanying the FY ’06 Defense Appropriations bill (HR 2863). The bill includes $54.6 million for NOAA to repair hurricane related damage to agency facilities along the Gulf Coast. The Senate adopted the Report by Unanimous Consent on December 21st. The Conferees directed that the funds be used “to repair weather-related facilities and observation platforms, including damaged weather buoys and automated surface weather observation stations, upgrades and enhancements of hurricane forecasting instruments, an additional aircraft for hurricane observations, and temporary operating space and requirements for the damaged fisheries laboratory facility in Pascagoula, MS.” The funding is also intended to cover “upgrades and enhancements of hurricane forecast instruments, and acceleration of storm surge and flood forecasting.”
