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Dept. of the Interior R&D in FY 2008 House Appropriations PDF
version of this document Main
R&D in the FY 2008 Budget Page
Supplemental
Materials: "USGS R&D Falls
Again in 2008 Proposal," AAAS R&D Funding Update on R&D in the
FY 2008 Interior Budget AAAS Analysis
of R&D in the FY 2008 Budget -
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R&D in Interior’s lead science agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), would climb 6.6 percent
or $37 million to $602 million in the latest House appropriation for 2008, in
contrast to a requested cut (see Table). -
In addition to restoring funding to requested cuts in mineral resources R&D
and water R&D programs, the House would add $10 million in new money for USGS
climate change research. -
R&D in the Department of the Interior would gain 6.9 percent to $678 million,
reversing a downward trend in Interior R&D funding for six of the last seven
years. USGS R&D in FY 2008 House Appropriations On
June 7, the House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY 2008
Interior-Environment appropriations bill (HR 2643) providing funding for the Department
of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
and other natural resources and environment programs. The full House is expected
to debate and approve the bill the week of June 11. The House bill contains nearly $28 billion in 2008 discretionary spending,
$1.2 billion more than the current year but nearly $2 billion more than the President’s
request for a cut in these programs. The
Department of the Interior manages most of the publicly owned lands in the United States, from the national park system to Indian lands
to publicly owned mines. R&D to support Interior’s land management responsibilities
would total $678 million in the House’s appropriation for FY 2008, like the overall
Interior bill an increase over 2007 (up 6.9 percent) in contrast to a requested
cut (see Table). The
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is the
primary sponsor of R&D in Interior. USGS is one of the leading federal sponsors
of earth sciences research, along with the Department of Energy, the National
Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Within the earth sciences, USGS is particularly important in geological hazards
research, including research on earthquakes and volcanoes. USGS is also a leading
sponsor of water resources research and biological research. While the FY 2008
budget proposes substantial increases for key physical sciences research programs,
the President’s budget proposes $975 million for the earth sciences-oriented USGS
budget, a cut of $13 million from the 2007 level after adjusting for emergency
appropriations enacted at the end of May. But the House would add $58 million
to the request for a total USGS budget exceeding $1.0 billion (see Table).
USGS
R&D totals $$602 million in the FY 2008 House appropriation, an increase of
$37 million or 6.6 percent instead of a requested cut (see Table). Just over
half of the USGS budget is devoted to R&D activities, with the remainder going
for science support, data gathering and dissemination, facilities operations,
mapping, and natural hazards reduction. R&D funding would increase in all
four USGS research divisions instead of requested cuts for three out of four,
and the House would also add $10 million in new funding for climate change research.
(For details of the FY 2008 request for Interior R&D, see Chapter
12 of AAAS Report XXXII: R&D FY 2008
or the March 7 AAAS R&D Funding Update on Interior
R&D.) The
Geologic Hazards, Resources, and Processes Division would see its R&D funding
increase 5.0 percent in the House instead of falling by 7 percent, in a repeat
of an annual ritual in which USGS proposes to cut the mineral resources program
nearly in half but the House intervenes to keep funding at current levels. As
in past years, the House Interior bill strongly disagrees with USGS’ rationale
that minerals research could be funded by the private sector, and reaffirms the
federal role in minerals research with restored funding of $52 million instead
of the $30 million request. In another earth sciences-related division, Geographic
Research would increase $3 million to $47 million in the House plan. Water
Resources R&D would increase $2 million to $128 million in the House plan
instead of a requested cut. USGS puts forward its perennial proposal to eliminate
federal funding for the water resources research institutes for a savings of $5
million, but as in past years the House would reject the proposal and would preserve
the federal role in these cooperatively funded institutes, at a funding level
of $6 million in 2008. The Cooperative Water Program would decline slightly to
$63 million. This program supports the collection of basic hydrologic data, studies
of specific water-resources problems, and hydrologic research through USGS partnerships
with state governments and other entities. There would be a slight increase for
the National Water Quality Assessment
Program (NAWQA) to $65 million; NAWQA is charged with monitoring the nation’s
water quality, and its data are used by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and many state regulatory agencies. The remaining water
portfolio would mostly stay flat. USGS biological research programs would increase
$11 million to $187 million. The
House would add $10 million to the USGS budget specifically for climate change
research (see Table) for “vital research efforts of
Survey scientists related to various aspects of global climate change,” according
to report language accompanying the Interior bill. Although details are sketchy,
the funds would presumably be distributed among the four USGS research divisions.
 Figure 1. (click on the image for
PDF) Other Interior Agencies Although
USGS is the primary science agency in Interior, four other Interior bureaus also
fund R&D (see Table). These include funds for minerals and mining research
in the Minerals and Management Service (MMS), wildfire prevention research in
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), water resources research in the Bureau of
Reclamation, and R&D for the Florida Everglades restoration and other park-related
projects in the National Park Service. R&D funding for all four agencies would
increase in the House bill. Impacts of the FY 2008 Interior Budget Although
physical sciences research would be a high priority in the FY 2008 budget request,
environmental research funding would decline along with other domestic programs.
But House appropriators have already signaled that environmental science will
be a key priority, especially in the area of climate change, and that they will
try to reverse recent budget trends. The FY 2008 increase for Interior R&D
in the House appropriation would be a small break from recent trends, in which
Interior R&D has declined in real terms for six of the last seven years (see
Figure 1). Interior R&D has declined sharply since FY 1994, primarily because
of the elimination of the Bureau of Mines in FY 1996 and the merging of the former
National Biological Service into USGS in the mid-1990s. After a large increase
in FY 2000, Interior R&D has been mostly flat since then, resulting in steady
losses after adjusting for inflation. 84 percent of Interior’s R&D is performed
in-house, with only 8 percent performed at universities and colleges. Industries,
state governments, and nonprofits combined perform the remaining 8 percent of
Interior R&D. Outlook
and Next Steps The
full House is expected to debate and approve the Interior-Environment bill within
the next week; although many amendments are expected and several will be approved,
they are unlikely to affect the R&D totals significantly. The Senate Appropriations
Committee is expected to mark up its version of the bill by mid-July. Congress
will try to send a final version of the bill to President Bush before the October
1 start of FY 2008. The President has threatened to veto any 2008 appropriations
bill that exceeds his request, as the House version does by $2 billion, so the
bill may have a long way to go before its funding levels become final. -
June 13, 2007
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program
1200 New York Avenue,
NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 326-6607
AAAS R&D Web site: http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd
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