Agency Adrift

A lack of legal standing has limited the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's ability to conduct business. Here are some examples:

• NOAA can't buy, install, or maintain telephones, even though it must use them to disseminate crucial information for hurricane prediction and disaster relief.
• It was not authorized to participate in a collaborative research program with a consortium of federal, state and university organizations to create the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, S.C.
• Some NOAA programs can enlist volunteers and others cannot. The agency can secure helpers to clean up marine sanctuaries, but is prevented from using mariners to help update nautical charts.
• NOAA is prohibited from hosting receptions and dinners at international conferences. NOAA's administrator couldn't play host at February's Third Earth Observation Summit in Brussels, even though he was a co-chair.
• NOAA can't directly fund its regional Fishery Management Councils.