NOAA Updates Fees for Specialized Environmental Data Services
Published Date: 4/14/2026
Rule
Summary
NOAA is updating its fee schedule starting May 14, 2026, for special access to certain environmental data and products. Most people still get tons of NOAA data for free, but if you need extra special services or offline access, you might see some new fees that better match the cost of providing those services. This change helps NOAA keep delivering awesome data while covering the growing costs of managing it all.
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Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 3 costs, 2 mixed.
Geomagnetic Model Fees Rise Substantially
NOAA raised the High Definition Geomagnetic Model price from $26,714.00 to $29,539.00 and the High Definition Geomagnetic Model—Real Time price from $34,793.00 to $38,405.00, effective May 14, 2026. Buyers of these products will face increases of several thousand dollars per product.
New NOAA Fee Schedule Effective Date
NOAA adopted an updated fee schedule for special access to certain environmental data and products that takes effect May 14, 2026. The new fees apply to listed services provided on or after May 14, 2026, except for products and services covered by a subscription agreement in effect as of May 14, 2026 that extends beyond that date; those subscriptions keep the prior fees until renewal or the agreement's earliest amendment date.
Several Large Products No Longer Offered
The schedule indicates some products are no longer offered due to lack of public interest—these include "Offline Satellite, Radar, and Model Digital Data (average unit size 1 terabyte)", "Single Orbit OLS & Subset" (and additional orbits), and "Global Nighttime Lights Monthly Composite—one satellite" as marked with an asterisk. These items are not being offered going forward.
Higher Price for Data Posters
NOAA increased the price of a data poster from $15.00 to $25.00 starting May 14, 2026. If you buy a poster from NOAA's NCEI after that date, you will pay $10 more than before.
Smaller Fees Reduced for Consultations and Handling
NOAA lowered several smaller user fees effective May 14, 2026—for example, Non-Digital Order Consultation drops from $14.00 to $8.00, Digital Order Consultation from $34.00 to $24.00, Order Handling/Quality Check from $26.00 to $22.00, and the online-store CD-ROM/DVD copy from $39.00 to $36.00. These reduced charges apply to those specific services.
Miscellaneous Small Price Changes Across Items
Several other listed fees change by small amounts as of May 14, 2026—for example, Department of Commerce Certification increases $168.00 to $170.00, General Certification $146.00 to $148.00, NEXRAD color prints $29.00 to $30.00, Satellite Image Product $82.00 to $85.00, and Conventional CD-ROM/DVD $104.00 to $107.00. Some items (e.g., Paper Copy $11.00 and Rush/Super Rush fees) remain unchanged.
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