Last Updated:
February 28, 2007

GCRIO Program Overview

Library 
Our extensive collection of documents.

Privacy Policy

Archives of the
Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 1, NUMBER 4, OCTOBER 1988

NEWS...
FEDERAL COORDINATION BILL APPROVED

Item #d88oct1

In late September 1988 the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved a bill, S. 2614, that would mandate federal agencies to develop and implement a 10-year interagency global change research plan, and would improve the coordination of present agency research on that topic. Such research is coordinated by the Committee on Earth Science. Chaired by Dallas Peck of the U.S. Geological Survey, it is part of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (FCCSET) that was created by 1976 legislation. The Committee on Earth Science is following the general approach set forth in a recent major report by NASA's Earth System Sciences Committee (see Global Climate Change Digest, REPORTS/OF GENERAL INTEREST, July 1988), which advocates building on the existing agency research programs. S. 2614 would strengthen that interagency coordination to create a stable framework for long-term research, and provide government officials and citizens with information to make informed choices.

The bill would require FCCSET to oversee the development of the 10-year research plan on global warming and ozone depletion in cooperation with federal agencies such as NASA, NOAA and the National Research Council. It would establish national goals and priorities, define the role of each agency involved by building on existing programs, review each agency's budget, and submit an annual progress report to Congress. The plan neither authorizes nor requires any new federal spending. It was introduced in July 1988 by Committee chairman Senator Earnest Hollings (D-SC). For further information contact staff member Penny Dalton, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, 508 Dirksen Office Bldg., Washington DC 20510 (202-224-4192).