The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2013 spending plan for NOAA today that includes an amendment to close the Northeast Regional Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service in Gloucester and move the bulk of fisheries management, administration and law enforcement to Silver Spring, Md.
Federal lawmakers from Massachusetts vowed a fight to keep open the NOAA/NMFS office in Gloucester, which was privately developed and built to specs provided by the General Services Administration.
The local building, NOAA's newest and spiffiest regional headquarters among eight, is assessed at nearly $13 million, and pays the city $169,185 a year in Thursday taxes.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.