Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved
its version of an FY 2002 Commerce-Justice appropriations bill that
would reduce the Department of Commerce's R&D programs. The bill
would curtail Commerce R&D by 9.4 percent or $113 million for a
total of $1.1 billion (see Table). Commerce's
two major R&D agencies-the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-would
fare differently under the House bill. NOAA R&D would rise by 2.5
percent, or $18 million above FY 2001, while NIST R&D would fall
by 24.1 percent, some $101 million below the FY 2001 level. However,
this seemingly dramatic reduction in NIST R&D is almost exclusively
due to the proposed elimination of the controversial Advanced Technology
Program (ATP).
NOAA performs R&D related to its mission of environmental
stewardship of coastal and marine environments and the atmosphere to
ensure sustainable economic opportunities. IT plays a key role in research
on the topics of climate change, weather, and fisheries. The House
bill would provide for modest increases-ranging from 1.6 to 8.9 percent-across
several NOAA R&D accounts, including those in the National Ocean
Service (NOS); Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR); the National
Weather Service (NWS); and the National Environmental Satellite, Data
and Information Service (NESDIS). Only the National Marine Fisheries
Service would see its R&D spending decline, by 2.7 percent. Interestingly,
the House bill would allocate $3 million for the continuation of the
NESDIS Regional Climate Centers program, which had been proposed for
elimination by the Bush Administration. In the committee report that
accompanies the legislation, the Committee cites the value of these
centers as repositories for historical environmental data and encourages
the Bush Administration to request adequate funding in future years
for their maintenance.
In accord with the request of the Bush Administration,
the House bill calls for the termination of NIST's Advanced
Technology Program (ATP). Started by the first Bush Administration
but promoted as a key technology initiative by the Clinton Administration,
the ATP is an extramural research grants program to provide precompetitive
cost-shared R&D support for promising market technologies. The House
has repeatedly voted to terminate the program, but the Senate and the
Clinton Administration had managed to preserve it in past budget struggles.
Many Republicans regard the ATP as "corporate welfare," a
subsidy to industrial firms that unnecessarily funds research private
firms could and should support. The Administration requested only $13
million for ATP in FY 2002, only enough to close out previously awarded
grants and pay for administration costs, with no funds for R&D in
FY 2002.
With the termination of ATP R&D, therefore, total
NIST R&D would fall by 24.1 percent, or $101 million, to $319 million.
However, the main NIST R&D activity-Scientific and Technical
Research and Services (STRS), which funds intramural research at the
NIST laboratories-would rise by a substantial 11.5 percent ($31
million). The House would fund most NIST laboratory programs at or above
the requested levels of the Bush Administration, and would provide an
additional $9 million for two congressionally designated projects. The
other NIST R&D program, Construction of Research Facilities, would
fall by the requested $14 million to $21 million in FY 2002 because
of the completion of major construction projects in FY 2001. The non-R&D
Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a program to operate
a nationwide network of extension centers to disseminate better manufacturing
technologies to small- and medium-sized manufacturers, would receive
$107 million, up slightly from FY 2001.
R&D in the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) would fall from $51 million to $21 million in
FY 2002 because of a reduction in Technology Opportunity Grants from
$46 million back down to the FY 2000 level of $16 million. These grants
fund the development of innovative information technology systems to
Americans in under-served communities.
The Commerce-Justice bill now heads to the House floor,
where it is expected to win quick approval. The fate of the ATP now
rests with the Senate; although the Senate has joined with the Clinton
Administration in supporting the program in past years, it is unclear
whether the Democratic Senate will stand alone in support of the program
against the Bush Administration and the House in this year's appropriations
process.
- July 18, 2001
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program
American Association for the Advancement of Science
1200 New York Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 326-6607
science_policy@aaas.org
http://www.aaas.org/spp/R&D
