DATE: Saturday, April 26, 1997              TAG: 9704260253

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, staff writer 

DATELINE: HOUSTON                           LENGTH:   35 lines

CONFERENCE URGES FUNDING OF BAD-WEATHER WARNING SYSTEM

Calling planned cuts to the National Weather Service a danger to public safety, the National Hurricane Conference on Friday asked Congress to force a reallocation of funds to the nation's severe weather warning system.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, parent agency of the Weather Service, should ``set this nation's public safety as its highest priority'' and distribute funds consistent with that mission, said the emergency resolution.

It also urged full funding for the National Hurricane Center, which was to have seen its staff cut sharply.

NOAA had told the Weather Service it would see a $27.5 million cut in a $425 million budget that had already been reduced.

Protests from coastal states resulted in a restoration of $715,000 to keep the Hurricane Center fully staffed, but only through the end of the coming hurricane season.

``We want to make sure people understand we're not talking about increasing the overall NOAA budget,'' which already had been increased, said Bob Sheets, a former director of the Hurricane Center. ``We're fiscally responsible.''

The Weather Service is undergoing a $4 billion modernization, the goal of which is to maintain services and improve forecasting while paring the size of the agency. It has already cut from about 300 to 119 the number of offices it operates, and staffing is at 5,000 from a high of 5,700 a few years ago. That is projected to drop to about 4,250 by 2002.

To meet the unexpected call for more budget cuts now, however, the Weather Service has moved to eliminate 120 positions and curtailed everything from training and purchasing spare parts to doing routine maintenance. KEYWORDS: HURRICANE SEASON

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