May 5, 2014 — Full funding for the NOAA lab on Pivers Island near Beaufort is included in a bill that the full House Appropriations Committee will take up on Thursday, U.S. Reps. David Price and Walter Jones announced on Monday.
President Barack Obama’s 2015 budget request had proposed closing the lab despite its decades of contributions to marine science. The lab is the only government facility between New Jersey and Miami studying Atlantic fish populations.
It’s also part of a hub of ocean science research that also is made up of university marine science labs nearby.
The appropriations bill for Commerce, Justice, science and related agencies includes the funding for the lab, and the full committee is likely to accept it.
The Senate Appropriations Committee also will have to approve.
Read the full story at the Raleigh News and Observer