House appropriators approved legislation yesterday that includes $5 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill would provide the full amount requested by the White House for NOAA's struggling Joint Polar Satellite System, $916 million.

Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), whose panel approved the legislation by voice vote, said Republican leaders plan to bring the measure to the House floor May 8.

It will be the first piece of fiscal 2013 spending legislation to go before the full House.

The Senate Appropriations Committee finished work on its version of the Commerce-Justice-Science bill last week, a measure that differs on several key points from its House counterpart.

The Senate bill includes $51.9 billion in spending, versus $51.1 billion in the House bill.

The Senate legislation also prescribes a dramatic cure for NOAA's ongoing struggle to contain the costs of its satellite programs and keep them on schedule.

The bill would give NASA the responsibility of paying for and building JPSS probes and other satellites now funded by NOAA, which uses NASA as its procurement agent.

With most of NOAA's satellite activities moved to NASA's accounts, the Senate bill would provide just $3.4 billion for NOAA, far less than the $5.1 billion the agency received this year and the $5 billion set aside by the House bill.