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Commerce, Justice & Science: Eliminating Government Waste, Fraud and Abuse at Commerce Department
9 February 2011
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science held the first of two hearings on Wednesday, 9 February 2011, on eliminating government waste, fraud, and abuse. Testimony was presented by Todd Zinser, the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce. Mr. Zinser and subcommittee members addressed several issues relating to NOAA and NIST.
Chairman Wolf (R-VA10) opened the hearing by stressing the subcommittee “wants to know where there can be savings, and, in an open spirit, wants to hear from the Department. Much like a family sitting around a kitchen table, how do we [find savings] and maintain the sciences?” Rep. Fattah (D-PA2), the Democratic ranking member, stressed that the committee has always operated in a bipartisan manner, and that the goals of the committee are bipartisan.
Mr. Zinser presented three areas that present major challenges to Commerce concerning NOAA and NIST: NOAA's Environmental Satellite Programs, NOAA and NIST's construction programs under the Recovery Act, and effectively balancing NOAA's goals of protecting the environment and supporting the fishing industry (more information can be found in the Inspector General's annual report, Top Management Challenges Report).
Currently, NOAA is transitioning from the failed National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) to the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). There is still major concern that a gap in data coverage may occur before the JPSS can be launched (for more information on NPOESS and JPSS, see “The Future of NPOESS” Science Policy Alert). Another NOAA satellite program, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) has experienced cost overruns (now at $7.7 billion), reduced performance capabilities, and delays. GOES-R is not at as critical a stage as JPSS, which must run on-schedule to avoid gaps in coverage. The GOES program already has satellites in orbit and there is a low risk of coverage gaps.
Reps. Wolf, Fattah, and Culberson (R-TX7) expressed concern over the cost overruns. Reps. Wolf and Culberson were particularly concerned that there have been no management changes in the GOES program because of its budget and scheduling problems, and that no one has been directly fired because of the failed NPOESS. Rep. Fattah suggested that Commerce conduct a cost-sharing analysis to see if private weather companies could share some of the costs associated with the environmental satellites. Rep. Culberson suggested that DOD may have pulled out of the project because civilian satellite programs are unreliable, and further suggested that part of the failure may lie with unions.
Reps. Wolf, Culberson, and Austria (R-OH7) all stressed the importance of eliminating duplicate programs. Rep. Wolf stated that the subcommittee is looking to combine activities, but not eliminate them because climate issues are very important. Further, Rep. Wolf stated that the subcommittee wanted to protect NASA and asked if there was any overlap between NOAA and NASA on climate issues. Rep. Culberson suggested that NASA should take over NOAA's satellite operations, and that the committee should look at combining some NOAA activities with the Coast Guard.
The hearing concluded with Mr. Zinser stressing that Commerce is currently prioritizing its programs to look for savings and eliminate duplicate programs from within and is interested in stepping up oversight of NIST's construction grants, which have mostly be given to universities. Reps. Wolf and Fattah suggested that more oversight employees need to be assigned to NOAA's major satellite programs since they represent a significant portion of Commerce's budget.