AAAS R&D Funding Update June 29, 2001-

House Restores Funding to Proposed DOE Energy R&D Cuts

Go to: Table. FY 2002 DOE R&D in House Appropriations PDF version of this document Related documents: AAAS Report XXVI: Research and Development FY 2002 (President's Request for FY 2002) Chapter 9: The Department of Energy in the FY 2002 Budget - Michael S. Lubell, APS

(This analysis is part of a series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates on the FY 2002 congressional appropriations process. This analysis includes information on House appropriations for the Department of Energy. The complete series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates, including continually updated analyses of R&D by agency in FY 2002 appropriations, is available on the AAAS R&D Web Site (http://www.aaas.org/spp/R&D) in the "FY 2002 R&D" or the "What's New" sections.) The FY 2002 appropriations process is now underway, and recently the House of Representatives approved its versions of two appropriations bills providing funding for the Department of Energy (DOE). On June 28, the House approved its FY 2002 Energy-Water appropriations bill (HR 2311), which funds most of DOE. Earlier on June 21, the full House approved its FY 2002 Interior appropriations bill (HR 2217), which funds the remainder of DOE. Together, the two bills would provide $7.7 billion for DOE's R&D programs, $25 million or 0.3 percent less than FY 2001 but a substantial $321 million above the request (see Table). R&D in DOE's three mission areas of energy, science, and defense would all remain nearly level with FY 2001, but the House would restore funding to the Bush Administration's proposals to dramatically cut DOE's energy R&D investments. Both the Energy-Water and Interior bills would provide far more for nondefense discretionary programs than the budget request in a strong dissent from the Administration's proposals to cut dramatically federal investments in energy and natural resources-related programs. The Energy-Water bill's $23.7 billion total is only $148 million above FY 2001, but is nearly $1.2 billion more than the Administration requested for its mix of DOE and civil works programs. Similarly, the House Interior bill's total of $18.9 billion for the Department of the Interior, some DOE programs, and other agencies would be only slightly more than FY 2001 but $800 million more than the request. Such relative generosity will not come easily, however: both Congress and the Administration are currently committed to keeping all discretionary spending to $661 billion in FY 2002 (4.0 percent above FY 2001), which could necessitate steep cuts in later House appropriations bills. The total FY 2002 DOE budget would be $20.1 billion in the House bills, an increase of 2.6 percent spread relatively evenly between the defense and nondefense sides of DOE (see Table). About two-thirds of the DOE budget goes to defense-related activities involving the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and related environmental clean-up costs. The House bill would provide $13.9 billion for DOE's defense activities (up 2.6 percent; see Table). DOE's nondefense programs would also increase slightly compared to FY 2001, but would increase dramatically compared to the request. Within this mix, DOE's R&D programs would fare slightly worse than the overall DOE budget. Total DOE R&D would be $7.7 billion in the House plan, a slight 0.3 percent dip from FY 2001, with a slight increase for energy R&D (up 0.1 percent) and slight cuts to science R&D (down 0.6 percent) and defense R&D (down 0.3 percent). The slight increase to energy R&D compares favorably to the DOE budget request, which called for a 28.3 percent cut in DOE's energy-related R&D. Although energy policy has been much in the news recently because of gasoline price hikes, brownouts in California, and the release of a controversial Bush Administration National Energy Policy, the House Energy-Water bill does little to address short-term energy needs. The report for the bill states that "the Department of Energy's energy technology programs are not designed to provide immediate relief for the energy crisis." Instead, the report states that DOE's energy R&D investments are designed to help address U.S. long-term energy needs through the development of future technological solutions. While the Bush Administration proposed drastic cuts in many of DOE's energy R&D programs, the House would generally keep funding at FY 2001 levels. While the Administration requested a 30.8 percent cut in Renewable Energy Resources R&D, the House appropriation would allow for a modest 1.0 percent increase over FY 2001 to $331 million. The House bill chides the Bush Administration for failing to articulate a clear rationale for the proposed budget cuts, and for failing to coordinate the budget request with its own National Energy Policy. At the same time, the House expresses concern over the lack of good metrics to link past federal investments in renewable energy R&D with new power sources. In the House Interior bill, Fossil Energy R&D would increase 6.9 percent to $423 million, a far cry from the requested cut of more than 25 percent. The request would have reduced funding for several fossil energy areas such as oil and gas by as much as 50 percent, offset somewhat by an increased emphasis on coal research. The House plan would keep funding for most fossil fuels at close to FY 2001 levels, while at the same time providing additional funds for coal technologies. The House would also boost Energy Conservation R&D by 1.1 percent to $446 million, a sharp contrast to a proposed 28 percent cut. The overall Energy Conservation account climbs by 15.4 percent to $941 million because of significant boosts to two non-R&D grants programs, the weatherization assistance program and the state energy grants program. The only energy R&D program to decline significantly in the House plan would be Nuclear Energy R&D, down 24.7 percent to $61 million. In the Science account, the House would provide $2.9 billion for R&D, an $18 million or 0.6 percent cut that would nevertheless be slightly above the request. Most Science programs would receive funding close to FY 2001 funding levels. Fusion Energy Sciences would receive $245 million for R&D in FY 2002, the same as this year. Both the High Energy Physics (up 0.6 percent to $706 million) and Nuclear Physics (up 0.3 percent to $356 million) programs would edge up slightly. The Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) would decline by 1.6 percent to $163 million. Within the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program, the House would provide $291 million in funding for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), the same as the request and 4.8 percent more than FY 2001. The BES appropriation also includes funds to create several regional nanoscale science centers in partnership with universities, as part of the multi-agency Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology initiative. The only major cut in the Science account would be to the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program, which funds DOE's contribution to the Human Genome Project. BER would decline $35 million or 7.4 percent to $446 million, slightly above the request, because neither the House nor the Administration would renew numerous FY 2001 congressionally designated projects. On the defense side, most of DOE's R&D is funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which was created two years ago by Congress in response to national security concerns and allegations of espionage at DOE weapons laboratories. NNSA began operations on March 1 of last year, and is designed to be a semi-autonomous agency within DOE with its own command structure separate from the rest of DOE. NNSA is responsible for $6.6 billion, or roughly a third, of the total DOE budget in FY 2001, and the request for FY 2001 was $6.8 billion, an increase of 2 percent. The House would trim the request down to $6.7 billion (up 0.4 percent from FY 2001). NNSA funds almost half of DOE's total R&D, $3.3 billion out of a $7.7 billion portfolio in FY 2001. Maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile is one of DOE's major defense responsibilities, and since the U.S. banned nuclear testing DOE has relied on science to ensure the continuing reliability and safety of U.S. nuclear weapons. DOE's major R&D program in that effort is in Weapons Activities. The House would provide $2.4 billion for Weapons Activities R&D in FY 2002, a 0.4 percent increase. This program funds most of the R&D at the three weapons labs (Los Alamos and Sandia in New Mexico, Lawrence Livermore in California) which are responsible for the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile. Within the account, the House would cut funding for Advanced Simulation and Computing (formerly the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI)), an effort to develop the next generation of computer processing technologies to better model nuclear explosions. The program would receive $638 million, down 14.6 percent from this year, because of House concerns over schedule slips in the DOE program, concerns about duplicating private private investments, and concerns that the defense program may duplicate investments in the ASCR program on the nondefense side. Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) would receive $248 million, an increase of 6.1 percent. DOE hopes to use ICF technologies to simulate nuclear explosions. The National Ignition Facility, the major facility for the ICF effort, would receive the requested $245 million for construction in the House plan, despite continuing concerns that the project may fall further behind schedule and over budget. The Interior and Energy-Water bills now move to the Senate. The Senate Interior bill, drafted on June 28 but unavailable at press time, is expected to contain funding levels for Fossil Energy and Energy Conservation similar to the House version, rather than the deep cuts proposed in the Administration's request. The Senate Energy-Water bill is expected to more generous to DOE's defense programs than the House or the request because of the strong support of Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM), ranking member of the Senate Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee, for the weapons labs funded through the programs. The Senate bill may also provide more funds for the Science account than the House or the request. While the Senate Interior bill was drafted on June 28, the Senate Energy-Water bill will be delayed until after a week-long Fourth of July congressional recess. - June 29, 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

Table. Department of Energy
House Action on R&D in the FY 2002 Budget
(budget authority in millions of dollars)

AAAS estimates based on FY 2002 appropriations bills. Includes conduct of R&D and R&D facilities.
FY 2001 and FY 2002 request figures based on OMB R&D data and supplemental agency budget data.
Figures are rounded to the nearest million. Changes calculated from unrounded figures.
1/ Does not reflect previously appropriated funds in this program, nor rescissions and deferrals. True budget authority in this account is as follows: $9 million FY 2001 (after $95 mil. Transfer to Fossil Energy), and $82 million FY 2002.
2/ Does not include program direction, waste management, and other non-R&D costs.
3/ Inertial Confinement Fusion.
June 29, 2001 House-approved figures. These appropriations reflect amendments on the House floor.

Department of Energy Budget
(budget authority in millions of dollars)

Source: Department of Energy budget justification and FY 2002 appropriations bills.
DOE appropriations only (does not include offsets and other mandatory).
Excludes deferrals of funds in Clean Coal Technology and other deferrals.
June 29, 2001 House-approved figures. These appropriations reflect amendments on the House floor.