The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief will defend her agency's plan to emphasize weather satellites in its fiscal 2013 budget proposal in a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday.

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco has said the administration has made "tough choices" in its $5.1 billion spending plan that seeks $154 million more than it is slated to receive this year.

The slight budget increase being sought for NOAA includes 8.7 percent more funding for the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, which would be funded at $2.04 billion.

"Clearly, in this budget, the highest priority has really been a laser-like focus on stabilizing our weather satellite program," Lubchenco said in a recent briefing (E&ENews PM, Feb. 16). "That, coupled with the significant fiscal constraint this year, we were simply unable to accommodate many of the programs that you see slated for reduction or termination."

The budget proposal would support development of the Jason-3 satellite and the planned 2016 launch of another satellite with instruments to provide more timely and accurate weather forecasts, Lubchenco said.

Preserving money for weather satellites meant cuts to other programs that have drawn criticism from outside groups.

The watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility spotlighted proposed cuts to the tsunami warning system, which NOAA said would not affect its ability to alert the public to impending disasters.

"The mission critical operations of seismic detection and warning development and communication systems were prioritized in the budget," the agency said in a response to PEER (Greenwire, Feb. 23).

The environmental group Oceana likewise criticized the budget proposal for underfunding ocean research programs to fight threats of ocean acidification, depleting fish stocks and seafood fraud.

"In short, we'd like to see a bigger bump for healthy ocean management, and this gives the bigger bump to satellites," said Corry Westbrook, Oceana's federal policy director.

Schedule: The hearing is Wednesday, Feb. 29, at 10 a.m. in H-309, the Capitol.

Witness: NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco.