Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere

The under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, or USC(OA), is a high-ranking official in the United States Department of Commerce and the principal advisor to the United States secretary of commerce on the environmental and scientific activities of the department. The under secretary is dual hatted as the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the Commerce Department.

United States Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere
Incumbent Rick Spinrad since June 22, 2021
Formation	October 3, 1970
First holder	Robert M. White
Website	www.noaa.gov

The under secretary is appointed by the president of the United States with the consent of the United States Senate to serve at the pleasure of the president. The current under secretary is Rick Spinrad. He was nominated by Joe Biden on April 22, 2021, confirmed on June 17 and sworn in on June 22, 2021.^[1]

Overview

As the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Under Secretary oversees the day-to-day functions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as laying out its strategic and operational future.^[2]

Components of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the Administrator oversees include the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Ocean Service, National Weather Service, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Marine and Aviation Operations, and the NOAA Corps.^[2]

With the rank of Under Secretary, the USC(OA) is a Level III position within the Executive Schedule^[3] Since January 2023, the annual rate of pay for Level III is $195,000.^[4] The Under Secretary ranks fifth in the line of succession for the office of Secretary of Commerce.^[5]

History

The position of Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries Program Authorization Act of 1985. The position was created to serve as the Administrator of NOAA. It also created an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to serve as Deputy Administrator of NOAA.^[6] William Evans was the first person to have the title of Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. The position of Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was created earlier by the Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970.^[7]

During the Donald Trump administration, the agency never had a confirmed leader. Trump first nominated former AccuWeather CEO Barry Myers to serve as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere on Oct 12, 2017. His nomination was returned to President Trump by the Senate on January 3, 2018,^[8] resubmitted on January 8, 2018, returned again on January 3, 2019,^[9] and resubmitted again on January 16, 2019.^[10] In November 2019, Myers withdrew his nomination, citing health concerns.^[11] A month later, Trump nominated Neil Jacobs, then the acting administrator, to be the 11th administrator.^[12] Though Jacobs had Senate confirmation hearings in May 2020, he was never confirmed, in part because of the so-called Sharpiegate incident.

Reporting officials

Officials reporting to the USC(OA)/Administrator include:

• Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Conservation and Management/Deputy Administrator
• Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction/Deputy Administration
• NOAA Chief Scientist
• Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere
• Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Operations
• Assistant Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service
• Assistant Administrator, National Ocean Service
• Assistant Administrator, National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service
• Assistant Administrator, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
• Assistant Administrator, National Weather Service
• Assistant Administrator, Program Planning and Integration

Officeholders

From 1970 to 1988, the head of NOAA was the NOAA Administrator. Starting with Bill Evans in 1988, that person held the title of Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.

  Denotes an Acting Administrator of NOAA

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Tenure	President serving under
1		Robert M. White	October 3, 1970	July 13, 1977	3 years, 310 days		Richard Nixon
					2 years, 164 days		Gerald Ford
					174 days (6 years, 283 days total)		Jimmy Carter
2		Richard A. Frank	July 13, 1977	January 20, 1981	3 years, 191 days
-		James P. Walsh	January 20, 1981	June 10, 1981	141 days		Ronald Reagan
3		John V. Byrne	June 10, 1981[13]	November 15, 1984	3 years, 158 days
4		Anthony J. Calio	November 15, 1984	October 4, 1985[13]	323 days
			October 4, 1985	September 15, 1987	1 year, 346 days (2 years, 304 days total)
-		J. Curtis Mack II	September 15, 1987	March 31, 1988	198 days
5		William Eugene Evans	March 31, 1988	August 7, 1989[14]	295 days
					199 days (1 year, 129 days total)		George H. W. Bush
6		John A. Knauss	August 7, 1989 [14]	February 26, 1993	3 years, 166 days
					37 days (3 years, 203 days total)		Bill Clinton
-		Diana Josephson	February 26, 1993	May 28, 1993	91 days
7		D. James Baker	May 28, 1993[15]	January 20, 2001	8 years, 206 days
-		Scott Gudes	January 20, 2001	December 10, 2001[16]	324 days		George W. Bush
8		Conrad C. Lautenbacher	December 10, 2001[16]	October 31, 2008	6 years, 326 days
-		William J. Brennan	October 31, 2008	March 19, 2009	81 days
					58 days (139 days total)		Barack Obama
9		Jane Lubchenco	March 20, 2009	February 28, 2013	3 years, 345 days
10		Kathryn D. Sullivan	March 1, 2013	March 6, 2014	1 year, 5 days
			March 6, 2014	January 20, 2017	2 years, 320 days (3 years, 325 days total)
-		Benjamin Friedman	January 20, 2017	October 25, 2017	278 days		Donald Trump
-		Timothy Gallaudet	October 25, 2017[17]	February 25, 2019[18]	1 year, 123 days
-		Neil Jacobs	February 25, 2019[18]	January 20, 2021	1 year, 330 days
-		Benjamin Friedman	January 20, 2021	June 22, 2021	153 days		Joe Biden
11		Rick Spinrad	June 22, 2021[19]	Present	3 years, 130 days

References

1. "Richard W. Spinrad sworn in as NOAA administrator | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration". www.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
2. "NOAA Home Page - Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.) Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator". Retrieved September 24, 2007.
3. "US CODE: Title 15,1503b. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; duties; appointment; compensation". Retrieved September 24, 2007.
4. "Salary Table No. 2023-EX". Retrieved December 19, 2023.
5. "Executive Order on Succession at the Department of Commerce". Retrieved September 24, 2007.
6. "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries Program Authorization Act of 1985". Retrieved 25 April 2018.
7. "REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 4 OF 1970". Retrieved 25 April 2018.
8. "PN1099 — Barry Lee Myers — Department of Commerce". U.S. Congress. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
9. "PN1364 — Barry Lee Myers — Department of Commerce". U.S. Congress. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
10. "PN68 — Barry Lee Myers — Department of Commerce". U.S. Congress. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
11. "White House pick to lead NOAA withdraws nomination, citing health concerns". The Washington Post. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
12. Hotakainen, Rob (18 December 2019). "Trump nominates acting NOAA leader to be permanent chief". Science Magazine. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
13. "Trump Lags Predecessors in Naming Science Agency Leaders". American Institute of Physics. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
14. Knauss, John A. (Winter 1989). "Memorandum for all NOAA Staff" (PDF). The National Cooperative Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2018.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
15. Lawrence, Richard (31 May 1993). "CLINTON EXPECTED TO NAME GARTEN TO COMMERCE POST MANY KEY SLOTS REMAIN UNFILLED". Retrieved 24 April 2018.
16. Miller, David. "CONRAD LAUTENBACHER IS THE NEW NOAA ADMINISTRATOR". Retrieved 25 April 2018.
17. "TODAY TIDBITS: OCTOBER 29, 2017". Retrieved 4 July 2018.
18. Samenow, Jason (26 February 2019). "NOAA delays launch of 'next generation' weather forecast model and names new acting head". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
19. "Richard W. Spinrad sworn in as NOAA administrator". Retrieved 14 May 2024.