Environmental Science Services Administration
Seal of the Environmental Science Services Administration in black and white
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Flag of the Environmental Science Services Administration
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | July 13, 1965 |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Dissolved | October 3, 1970 |
| Superseding agency | |
| Jurisdiction | United States federal government |
| Headquarters | Rockville, Maryland |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | U.S. Department of Commerce |
| Child agencies | |
The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission was to unify and oversee the meteorological, climatological, hydrographic, and geodesic operations of the United States. It operated until 1970, when it was replaced by the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The first U.S. Government organization with the word "environment" in its title, ESSA was the first such organization chartered to study the global natural environment as whole, bringing together the study of the oceans with that of the both the lower atmosphere and the ionosphere. This allowed the U.S Government for the first time to take a comprehensive approach to studying the oceans and the atmosphere, also bringing together various technologies – ships, aircraft, satellites, radar, and communications systems – that could operate together in gathering data for scientific study.
In May 1964, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Science and Technology, Dr. Herbert Holloman, established a special committee to review the environmental science service activities and responsibilities of the United States Department of Commerce. Committee members included the Director of the United States Weather Bureau, Dr. Robert M. White (1923–2015); the Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Rear Admiral Henry Arnold Karo (1903–1986) of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps; the Director of the National Bureau of Standards, Allen V. Astin (1904–1984); and a panel of scientists from industry and academia. The committee′s goal was to consider ways of improving the Department of Commerce′s environmental science efforts by improving management efficiency and making the provision of environmental science services to the public more effective. The committee′s work resulted in its recommendation that the Department of Commerce consolidate various scientific efforts scattered within and between the Weather Bureau, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and National Bureau of Standards by establishing a new parent agency – the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) – which would coordinate the acitivities of the two subordinate activities and bring at least some of their efforts together into new organizations that focused scientific and engineering mission support for shared areas of inquiry.
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