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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 6
February 2008
Bill Brennan in line to become #2 at NOAA
WASHINGTON, DC – The White House has nominated Bill Brennan, who served as commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in the late ’80s and early ’90s, to become the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) deputy administrator.
If confirmed by the US Senate, Brennan would become the number-two ranking official within NOAA, answering directly to Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher Jr., the head administrator. NOAA is the parent agency of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Weather Service, the National Ocean Service, and other marine-related branches of government.
After earning a doctoral degree and running his own marine consulting firm following his DMR tenure, Brennan moved from Maine to Washington in 2002 when he was appointed by President Bush to serve as NOAA’s deputy assistant secretary of commerce for international affairs. He currently works on global ocean and environmental issues and international fisheries affairs.
In addition, Commerce Sec. Carlos Gutierrez and Energy Sec. Sam Bodman recently designated Brennan to serve as acting director of the US Climate Change Science Program, which NOAA describes as “the interagency program that coordinates and integrates scientific research on changes in climate and related systems.” In this role, Brennan works with 13 federal scientific agencies to integrate planning and budgeting of federal climate and global change activities.
Lautenbacher, who was in Antarctica to help dedicate a new South Pole observatory station, passed along high praise for Brennan in a Jan. 11 e-mail message to NOAA personnel.
“One of my first actions when I return is to personally congratulate Dr. Bill Brennan on his nomination by the President to be NOAA’s next assistant secretary,” wrote Lautenbacher.
“Bill has been a trusted adviser and valuable colleague for over five years. … (His) background in environmental sciences and ocean policy will continue to be an asset to NOAA in his new position, and I’m hoping for a quick confirmation process,” the vice admiral said.
If confirmed, Brennan would replace James Mahoney, who resigned as NOAA’s deputy administrator in April 2006 for health reasons.
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