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Noaa national weather service caught in a ‘budgetary ponzischeme’
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and itsembattled head Dr. Jane Lubchenco are again the target of criticismafter the director of the National Weather Service, Jack Hayes,resigned abruptly on Memorial Day weekend. An environmental watchdog [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] group, Public Employees for EnvironmentalResponsibility (PEER), informed the Washington [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] Post when it learnedthat Hayes had been replaced and the story has since been widelyreported. An internal investigation has uncovered ongoing financialirregularities at the weather service, according to a NOAA memo. Infiscal 2012 alone, up to $35 million may have been"reprogrammed," the term employed by NOAA to describewhat has taken place, the memo said.
"This is a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul," saidJeff Ruch, executive director of PEER, a national organization offederal, state and local employees who work in the environmentalfield. Structural deficits were built into the National WeatherService budget according to Ruch. "They were using appropriated funds to backfill generaloperations in a sort of budgetary Ponzi scheme," he said. A 60-page report produced by NOAA found that, for at least the pasttwo years, the agency has [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] been shifting appropriated funds from anumber of its designated programs and using them to cover otherexpenses and to help avoid employee furloughs, according to Ruch. Using appropriated funds for any purpose other than what isintended is a violation of the Anti Deficiency Act and that is acrime, he said.
Full story here =============================================================== According to credible sources, the scuttlebutt is [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] that NOAA may beforced to put up to 5000 employees on a two week furlough , and that there are [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] expectations of charges being filed. At the National Weather Service Employees Organization website , they say that NOAA Leadership s Mismanagement of Funds Results in Furloughs of all [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] NWS Agency Employees (June 7, 2012) The National Weather Service has proposed tofurlough all agency employees for 13 working days in FY [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] 2012 due toa $26 million dollar budget shortfall. The NWS notified NWSEO todayabout the furloughs and included a Reprogramming Fact Sheet . From that sheet: As a result of [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] a recent investigation, the Department determinedthat there were insufficient funds in the Local Warnings andForecast program to fully pay all labor costs for National WeatherService (NWS) employees in FY 2012. The Administration s plan isto avoid furloughs of National Weather Service employees, whichcould cause significant impact to forecast and warning operations.As a result, the Department of Commerce has submitted areprogramming package to reprogram funds within NOAA to supportongoing weather forecasting operations at NWS.
In order to providethe NWS with the appropriate amount of time to plan its operationsfor the remainder of the year, the Administration will work withCongress with a goal of executing the reprogramming before July 1that [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] would cover operations and avoid furloughs. There's no mention of taking funds away from climate programs($346 million FY2012). Given a choice between climate andforecast/warnings programs, I'll take forecast/warningsprograms every day of the week and twice on Sunday, and I'llbet the public will too. They go on to say: National Weather Service employees are paying for the mistakes ofthe agency s leadership, said NWSEO President Dan Sobien. Their misguided [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] plan to furlough all agency employees is anotherexample of the short-sighted thinking that has put them in suchdire straits.
(More) This looks really bad, it appears they have a real mess on theirhands. PEER is getting involved too, saying: NOAA should not be allowed to self-investigate and exonerate itspolitical leadership, stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch,pointing out union claims that budget juggling was needed to avoidneedless furloughs of NWS employees. We do not know whetherfaithful public servants are being scapegoated to divert [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] attentionfrom colossally dysfunctional management. And then there's the internal investigative report theywon't [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] release citing "privacy concerns". Soundfamiliar? Maybe they can get advice from the Pacific Institute onhow to CYA while withholding reports the public wants to see.
- Anthony.
Posted:September 15, 2012Comments:Views:7
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