Senators grilled the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over proposed cuts to a suite of programs -- everything from tsunami buoys and ocean acidification monitoring to fisheries research and coastline mapping -- at a Commerce subcommittee hearing yesterday.

After mention of each program cut, Administrator Jane Lubchenco repeated her mantra of the tough choices the agency had to make to keep the fiscal 2013 budget request to $5.1 billion while still funding expensive satellites that form the foundation of severe weather warnings.

"We put a very high priority on saving lives and property," Lubchenco told the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) raised several concerns about how cuts would affect her coastal state and marine-dependent economy, including a $250,000 cut to ocean acidification monitoring that helps the shellfish industry modulate water flows through fisheries, as well as a $4.6 million cut to the tsunami warning program.

"Cutting back on science that is important for jobs and the economy can't be substituted," Cantwell said. "So we are going to make sure if there are shortfalls as it relates to science that are protecting jobs and protecting lives, we are going to make sure they get addressed."

Lubchenco agreed the ocean acidification monitoring program was "one of those choices I'm not happy about."

However, she said tsunami warnings for Washington and other coastal states are not at risk due to funding cuts. Special funding is expiring to maintain a series of buoys that provide more refined wave information that would be "nice" to have, "but it's not something we think is going to seriously jeopardize our ability to warn communities," Lubchenco said.

Lawmakers also quizzed Lubchenco about the "party boat" scandal, in which NOAA purchased a $300,000 boat for law enforcement but instead used it for personal onboard barbecues and cruising around the Puget Sound.

Lubchenco said the "appalling" incident occurred before her watch but that she has overseen a complete overhaul of the National Marine Fisheries Service's law enforcement division and was prohibited from commenting further on personnel issues by privacy laws.

"I would love more than anything to talk about some of the things we have done, but that is an area we cannot talk about," Lubchenco said. "We have gone to extraordinary lengths to make things right."

Another highlight from the hearing came during opening statements, when Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) made a special appearance at the subcommittee hearing to declare his vehement opposition to President Obama's proposal to transfer NOAA from the Commerce Department to the Interior Department (Greenwire, Jan. 13).

"I can't live with the thought of NOAA being moved to the Department of the Interior," Rockefeller said. "I don't know whose idea it was; I don't know how to stop it. But I am going to do everything I can to make sure it does not happen."