UNOLS Ad-hoc Committee to Address the Impact of Budget Reductions
on Fleet Operations
An Ad-hoc committee of Marcia McNutt (Chair), Eileen Hofmann, and Denis Wiesenburg
has been formed by the UNOLS Council to address the budget concerns identified
in Larry Clark's (NSF) letter dated 2/25/05 and make recommendations. A copy
of Larry Clark's Letter is available at <http://www.unols.org/meetings/2005/200503cnc/200503cncap03.pdf>.
The ad-hoc committee will work to develop a plan for ship lay-ups or retirements
that will fit the budget realities and minimize impact on funded scientific
programs. With input from the Ship Scheduling Committee, the UNOLS Office, and
Agency representatives, they will:
- Determine a best estimate of the UNOLS fleet utilization based on funded
science by class, by region/season, by special requirements.
- Estimate the ship operation funding from all sources. Evaluate the probability
of NOAA funds and additional Navy funds.
- To the extent that the funds available do not meet the operational needs,
develop a plan for ship lay-ups that will fit the budget realities and minimize
impact on funded scientific programs. This plan should take into consideration
longer term issues such as the impact of retirements versus lay-ups or the
various forms of lay-ups ("ready to go" versus mothballed) and funding
prospects in the out years (Observatories). Marine Superintendents and Directors
should be asked to recommend a lay-up process. The cost of lay-up scenarios
should be provided.
- Prior to submittal of the plan (both short-term and long-term), the ad-hoc
committee's recommendations shall be circulated to the UNOLS Operator Institutions
for review and comment. The ad-hoc committee will consider all comments and
revise the recommendations, as they see appropriate.
- Submit the plan for approval by the UNOLS Council. The plan should provide
the following:
- A short-term recommendation to address the 2006 budget shortfall. Recommendations
for ship lay-ups should include a 3-year lay-up rotation schedule. The
short-term recommendation should be provided to the UNOLS Council by June
1st.
- The plan should also provide long-term scenarios (3 years) for ship
lay-ups and retirements. Recognizing that future budget projections are
unavailable, various scenarios should be developed to address the possibility
of level and declining budgets. The costs and operational impacts associated
with the various scenarios should be articulated in the plan.
- Lastly, the plan should define a process for annual evaluations to
ensure that fleet size and composition is appropriate to meet budget projections
and funded ship time demands.
- Long-term recommendations and the process for annual evaluations should
be provided to the UNOLS Council by August 31st.
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