Congress has appointed money for the National and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) to dramatically increase its survey and charting program. Under the Appropriations bill, NOAA’s navigation services will receive $120.2 million for Fiscal Year 2001, representing a total increase of $24 million over Fiscal Year 2001. The increased funding is in part due to the hard work of a coalition of maritime interests including AWO. A section of the bill which specifically drew focused attention from AWO and its members is the appropriation of $4.3 million for Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC). This allows NOAA to move forward with what the agency describes as “the next-generation navigational tool.” This is the first time there has been specific funding provided by Congress for ENC development.