An Act to provide for surveying the coasts of the United States. This initial legislation led to the formation of the United States Coast Survey.
[Act of Feb. 10, 1807, Sess. II, ch. 8, 2 Stat. 413-14 (1807)]
 

Upon the principles of the determination of Salaries, or Compensations in a Republican Government.
An Essay by Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler,
Founder and First Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey

Report on the History and Progress of the American Coast Survey Up to the Year 1858
The Report of the Committee of Twenty of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the first major report of an outside scientific organization on the operation of an American science agency.

Joint Resolution to authorize the Secretary of War to provide for taking meteorological Observations at the military Stations and at other Points in the Interior of the Continent, and for giving Notice on the northern Lakes and Seaboard of the Approach and Force of Storms. This resolution led to the formation of a Weather Service under the United States Army Signal Service.
[Act of Feb. 9, 1870, Sess. II, Res. 12, 16 Stat. 369 (1870)]
 

Joint Resolution for the Protection and Preservation of the Food Fishes of the Coast of the United States. This resolution established the office of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries.
[Act of Feb. 9, 1871, Sess. III, Res. 22, 16 Stat. 593-94 (1871)]
 

An Act to increase the efficiency and reduce the expense of the Signal Corps of the Army, and to transfer the Weather Service to the Department of Agriculture. This act established the Weather Service as a civilian Bureau.
[Act of Oct. 1, 1890, Sess. I, ch. 1266, 26 Stat. 653-55 (1890)]
 

Roots of the NOAA Corps
History of how the NOAA Corps was formed.

Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1965 established the Environmental Science Services Administration within the Department of Commerce.
[Reorg. Plan No. 2 of 1965, 3 C.F.R. xxx (1965), reprinted in 5 U.S.C. app. at 1517 (1994), and in 79 Stat. 1318-20 (1965), and in 30 Fed. Reg. 8819-xx (1965)]
 

Stratton Commission Report. Under the chairmanship of Julius A. Stratton, the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources investigated a broad array of marine problems, then made recommendations in the form of Our Nation and the Sea. A Plan for National Action.
[Our Nation and the Sea. A Plan for National Action. Report of the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources. United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 305 pp., January 1969]
 

Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 established the Environmental Protection Agency and set forth the components of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and described its role in improving the understanding of marine resources.
[Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1970, 3 C.F.R. xx (1970), reprinted in 5 U.S.C. app. at 1551-56 (1994), and in 84 Stat. xxxxxxx (1970), and in 35 Fed. Reg. xxxxxxxx (1970)]
 

Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 established the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[Reorg. Plan No. 4 of 1970, 3 C.F.R. xx (1970), reprinted in 84 Stat. 2090-93 (1970), and in 35 Fed. Reg. 15627-30 (1970), and reprinted with amendments in 5 U.S.C. app. at 1557-61 (1994)]
 

Executive Order No. 11564 transferred certain functions from the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation to the Secretary of Commerce as part of the implementation of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970.
[Executive Order No. 11,609, 3 C.F.R. xx (1970), reprinted in 1970 U.S. Code Cong. and Admin. News 6296, and in 35 Fed. Reg. 15801 (1970)]
 

Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 as amended. Last date amended 1986.
[Reorg. Plan No. 4, 5 U.S.C. app. at 1557-61 (1994)]