AAAS R&D Funding Update July 26, 2001-

Senate Adds $1 Billion to DOE R&D Request

Go to: Table. FY 2002 DOE R&D in Senate Appropriations PDF version of this document Related documents: "House Restores Funding to Proposed DOE Energy R&D Cuts," AAAS R&D Funding Update June 29 (House appropriations for DOE R&D)   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.) Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate approved its versions of two appropriations bills providing funding for the Department of Energy (DOE). On July 19, the Senate approved its FY 2002 Energy-Water appropriations bill (S. 1171), which funds most of DOE. Earlier on July 12, the full Senate approved its FY 2002 Interior appropriations bill (HR 2217), which funds the remainder of DOE. The House approved its versions of these two bills in June. Together, the two Senate bills would provide $8.4 billion for DOE's R&D programs, $641 million or 8.3 percent more than FY 2001; the Senate would add nearly $1 billion to the steep cuts in DOE R&D proposed by the Bush Administration (see Table). R&D in DOE's three mission areas of energy, science, and defense would all increase, though the largest increases would go to DOE's defense R&D investments. The total FY 2002 DOE budget would be $21.3 billion in the Senate bills, an increase of 8.9 percent with an emphasis on DOE's defense activities (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 Senate would provide $15.1 billion for DOE's defense activities (up 11.6 percent; see Table). DOE's nondefense programs would also increase compared to FY 2001, and would increase dramatically compared to the request. The House would provide $20.1 billion for DOE in FY 2002, less than the Senate but well above the FY 2001 and FY 2002 request funding levels (for details of House appropriations for DOE, please see the June 29 AAAS R&D Funding Update; for details of R&D in the DOE FY 2002 request, please see Chapter 9 of AAAS Report XXVI: R&D FY 2002). DOE's R&D programs would share in the gains to the total DOE budget. Total DOE R&D would be $8.4 billion in the Senate plan, a substantial increase of $641 million or 8.3 percent that would be nearly $1 billion more than the Administration request and $666 million more than the House. There would be increases slightly above the rate of inflation for energy R&D (up 4.5 percent) and science R&D (up 3.0 percent), and large increases for defense R&D (up 14.1 percent). The 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. The Senate plan also compares favorably to the House, which would cut science and defense R&D and provide level funding for energy R&D. While the Bush Administration proposed drastic cuts in many of DOE's energy R&D programs, both the House and Senate would generally keep funding near FY 2001 levels, with the Senate providing large increases for selected programs. While the Administration requested a 30.8 percent cut in Renewable Energy Resources R&D, the Senate would boost funding by 16.7 percent over FY 2001 to $383 million, $156 million above the request. The House would keep funding level with FY 2001. Nuclear Energy R&D would climb 11.6 percent in the Senate Energy-Water bill in contrast to steep cuts proposed by the House and the Bush Administration. The Senate bill offers strong support to the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative, which supports competitively awarded research grants on nuclear energy issues. In the House's version of the 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 Senate would provide slightly less than the House with $407 million, but would follow most of the same priorities for a 2.7 percent increase over this year's funding. 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 Senate would provide slightly less with $437 million, just shy of the current-year funding level but $121 million more than the request. In the Science account, the Senate would provide $3.0 billion for R&D, an $89 million or 3.0 percent increase that would be above both the request and the House bill. Most Science programs would receive funding slightly above FY 2001 funding levels; the language accompanying the bill expresses regret that tight fiscal constraints prevent the Senate from offering more funds. Fusion Energy Sciences would receive $245 million for R&D in FY 2002, the same as this year. Both the High Energy Physics (up 1.9 percent to $715 million) and Nuclear Physics (up 3.5 percent to $367 million) programs would edge up slightly. The Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program 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 the House and 4.8 percent more than FY 2001. The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program, which funds DOE's contribution to the Human Genome Project, would increase $9 million or 1.8 percent to $490 million. 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. The Senate would boost the total NNSA request up to $7.6 billion (up 15.1 percent from FY 2001). The Senate has traditionally been far more supportive of NNSA activities than either the House or the White House. 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 Senate would provide $2.8 billion for Weapons Activities R&D in FY 2002, a substantial 18.8 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 Senate would boost 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 $772 million, in contrast to cuts proposed by DOE and the House. The National Ignition Facility, the major facility for the ICF effort, would receive the requested $245 million for construction in the House and Senate plans, despite continuing concerns that the project may fall further behind schedule and over budget. The Interior and Energy-Water bills now move to House-Senate conference committees. The committees are unlikely to meet until after the August congressional recess. Because the House and the Senate have both rejected the Administration's deep cuts in DOE's energy R&D, it seems likely that energy R&D will end up funded at least the FY 2001 level. Science R&D funding may be squeezed by the availability of funds in the Energy-Water bill, while the level of defense R&D funding will depend on whether the Senate's generosity or the House's relative tight-fistedness will prevail in conference. - July 26, 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
Senate 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.
July 26, 2001 Senate-approved figures. House figures reflect House-approved appropriations.

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.
FY 2001 figures adjusted to reflect rescissions and supplementals in the FY 2001 supplemental appropriations bill.
July 26, 2001 Senate-approved figures. House figures reflect House-approved appropriations.