Congress Limits DOD's Funding for NPOESS Until the President Submits a New Plan

The conference version of the DOD authorization bill (H.R. 2647, sec. 913) directs the President to “develop a strategy for the management and funding” of NPOESS by DOD, NOAA and NASA. It requires that the strategy include program requirements, a management structure, and a funding profile for each of the three agencies’ participation in the program. Until the President submits the plan, DOD is not permitted to obligate or spend 50% of the FY2010 funding provided for NPOESS in the bill. The President also must submit an implementation plan for the strategy, and DOD is not permitted to obligate or spend another 25% until that is submitted.

The conferees provided the requested $396.6 million for the program, but not the additional $80 million that the Senate had recommended.

In report language accompanying the bill, the conferees say that they are “deeply concerned” about NPOESS, and offer mild criticism of how the White House is handling the issue: “Although the approach to resolving the NPOESS issues adopted by the Executive Office of the President will take longer than the conferees would like to see, the conferees acknowledge that there are many issues to be resolved.” They also “express their strongly held view that this program has suffered greatly from the past management approach” and that once a new approach is determined, everyone should “stick with the plan.”