According to a report from the Department of Commerce’s Inspector General, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) weather satellites could be vulnerable for the next 29 months due to construction delays.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on June 2 to assess drought conditions and water challenges in the western United States.

With the passage of a new bill, the state of Maryland will not allow hydraulic fracturing until October 1, 2017.

On May 21, the Senate Appropriations Committee allocated $30.01 billion to the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies to cover funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Forest Service, and other agencies for fiscal year (FY) 2016.

On May 12, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR) held a hearing to consider the American Mineral Security Act of 2015 to increase support for minerals science, information, and forecasting within the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Program.

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May 2015

​Budget

A list of notices from the federal register for May 2015 from agencies including the Department of the Interior, USGS, NOAA, NASA, and more.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) opened its new National Water Center on The University of Alabama campus on May 26.

The Department of the Interior announced on May 20 that $50 million from the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART grants will be sent to 12 drought-stricken states for water reclamation and reuse facilities, recycling and desalination programs, and water and energy infrastructure and efficiency initiatives.

On May 20, the House passed the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act (H.R.1561) which would fund the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) research on storm forecasting and early warning systems.