Scoop: NOAA operations impaired by Commerce chief's approval mandate
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A meteorologist monitors weather activity at NOAA's Center for Weather and Climate Prediction in Maryland. Photo: Michael A. McCoy/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A Commerce Department requirement to have Secretary Howard Lutnick approve many NOAA contracts or extensions is slowing the agency's operations to a crawl, current and former NOAA staff tell Axios.
Why it matters: The requirement of Lutnick's approval on contracts and extensions over $100,000 also is having ripple effects for contractors around the country as some contracts expire or are canceled because the time to review them has elapsed.
- It's also raising the possibility that high-priority, previously-awarded contracts will be canceled or modified, depending on Lutnick's views.
Six current and former NOAA staff described dozens of contracts currently awaiting Lutnick's sign-off, with only a tiny fraction having been reviewed so far.
The other side: The department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zoom in: As severe thunderstorms rumbled along the East Coast on Monday, the National Weather Service faced the possibility of losing its ability to bring satellite and observational data into forecast offices in a timely manner, starting at midnight, current and former NOAA staff told Axios.
- Most spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak with the news media or fear retaliation.
- The department had yet to sign off on an extension to a contract for Raytheon to maintain and help upgrade the software system that powers every Weather Service forecast office nationwide.
- Known as the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System, or AWIPS, the system is the primary way that forecasters access weather data from satellites, radars, surface station observations and computer models.
If the contract was to expire — even temporarily — the AWIPS help desk would stop functioning. Data flowing to NWS offices, particularly satellite and observational information, could be subject to delays, two NOAA sources familiar with the matter told Axios.
- This could jeopardize the timely issuance of extreme weather watches and warnings.
- Forecasters would have been operating on a time delay, which could cost lives during severe weather outbreaks.
The intrigue: Even though a contract extension was signed a few hours before midnight, it rattled nerves among some inside and outside the agency.
- They said other NOAA contracts, such as one for satellite operators, have only been approved at the last minute, while others have gotten stuck in the process and led to contractor layoffs.
- Additional significant contracts, such as those for a new weather satellite, are likely to come up for review under this rule.
Contract reviews are affecting NOAA's offices, with a notice going out Tuesday that facilities services — including changing lightbulbs and adjusting the thermostat — have been suspended at NOAA headquarters' buildings in Silver Spring, Md.
What they're saying: "This is outrageously inefficient," Rick Spinrad, NOAA's administrator during the Biden administration, told Axios.
- "Secondly, I understand that the recommendations for approval are being vetted by newly replaced political appointees with zero technical experience," Spinrad said.
- "This is clearly an effort not aimed at efficiency, but rather at erosion of mission."
Between the lines: Raytheon won a $17.8 million last year to maintain and upgrade AWIPS, with options for contract extensions along the way.
- The company's involvement in AWIPS also extends to the start of the system two decades ago, and a 10-year, $269 million contract signed in 2017.
- Right now, each extension to this contract and others must be approved piecemeal.
- This is also affecting organizations NOAA funds for research, such as cooperative institutes in Colorado and Florida, among other contracts.
Scientists that staff NOAA's Hurricane Hunter flights often include several experts from these cooperative institutes, so funding hiccups could affect those operations that are considered critical to high stakes storm track and intensity forecasts.
- In addition to AWIPS, NOAA has several big-ticket items that have come down to the wire because of the $100,000 spending threshold.
- This includes procuring new C-130 Hurricane Hunter aircraft to replace its current aging fleet; moving agency IT operations to the cloud; and building and deploying expensive new weather satellites, each of which involve private sector contractors.
- A new, cloud-based version of AWIPS is in the works via a separate contract, as well.
Zoom out: The AWIPS close call also comes shortly after the agency laid off about 800 probationary employees, most of which were then rehired and placed on administrative leave pending the result of court cases.
- Further cuts of up to 1,000 employees are being planned, depending on the number of early retirements at NOAA.
What's next: Tornado season is just getting underway, and hurricane season begins on June 1.
