The U.S. Senate recently
drafted its versions of two appropriations bills providing funding for
the Department of Energy (DOE). On July 24, the Senate Appropriations
Committee approved its FY 2003 Energy-Water appropriations bill (S.
2784), which funds most of DOE. Earlier on June 27, the Committee approved
its FY 2003 Interior appropriations bill (S 2708), which funds the remainder
of DOE. Together, the two bills would provide $8.7
billion for DOE’s R&D programs in FY 2003, $379 million or 4.5 percent
more than FY 2002; the Senate would reverse the proposed cuts to DOE
R&D proposed by the Bush Administration, especially for energy R&D
(see Table). R&D in DOE’s
three mission areas of energy, science, and defense would all increase,
with the smallest increase going to the science mission.
The total FY 2003 DOE budget
would be $22.4 billion in the Senate bills, an increase of 5.5 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 $15.8 billion for DOE’s
defense activities (up 5.9 percent; see Table).
DOE’s nondefense programs would also increase compared to FY 2002.
DOE’s
R&D programs would share in the gains to the total DOE budget. Total DOE R&D would be $8.7 billion in
the Senate plan. There would
be increases slightly above the rate of inflation for science R&D
(up 2.5 percent) and larger increases for defense R&D and energy
R&D (both up 5.7 percent). All would be greater increases than the
request, especially energy R&D which was proposed for an 11 percent
cut. (For details of R&D in the FY 2003 request,
please see Chapter 9
of AAAS
Report XXVII: R&D FY 2003). The House has approved its Interior
bill, but has not drafted an Energy-Water bill yet.
While the Bush Administration
proposed cuts in many of DOE’s energy R&D
programs, the Senate
would provide large increases for selected programs. While the Administration
requested a modest 2.8 percent increase for Renewable Energy Resources R&D, the Senate would boost funding
by 16.7 percent over FY 2002 to $410 million, $49 million above the
request. The Senate would add funds across the board to programs in
this account, including research on hydropower, solar, geothermal, hydrogen,
wind, and electric energy storage systems. In a separate account, Nuclear
Energy R&D would fall 14.8 percent to $82 million, although this
would still be above the even steeper requested cut.
In the
Senate Interior bill, Fossil Energy R&D would increase 8.3
percent to $545 million, a dramatic reversal from the requested cut
of 17.3 percent. The request would have reduced funding for several
fossil energy areas such as oil and gas by as much as 50 percent, and
even the Administration priority of coal research would have taken a
hit. The Senate plan would keep funding for most fossil fuels at close
to FY 2002 levels, while providing additional funds for coal technologies.
The Senate would cut Energy Conservation R&D by 1.1 percent
to $459 million, a sharp contrast to a requested 10.9 percent cut. Although
the overall Energy Conservation account would show a slight increase,
the additional funds would go to non-R&D state energy and weatherization
assistance grants programs.
The Senate report accompanying
the Energy-Water bill offers praise for DOE’s
Science programs, and stresses their importance
for the U.S.
physical sciences and engineering enterprise. The report states, “Investment
in the physical sciences and engineering plays a critical role in enabling
U.S.
technological innovation and global economic leadership” and describes
how the Office of Science contributes to that leadership. But despite
the warm words, the Senate could only provide a modest increase in Science
R&D to $3.1 billion, $75 million or 2.5 percent above the FY 2002
level. Most Science programs would receive funding slightly above FY
2002 funding levels. Fusion Energy Sciences would receive $259
million for R&D in FY 2003 (up 4.8 percent). The High Energy Physics (up 2.4 percent to $730 million) and Nuclear Physics (up 7.9 percent to $387
million) programs would also increase. Within the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program, the Senate would provide $225
million for the Spallation
Neutron Source (SNS), the same as the request, within a total BES
program budget of $1.0 billion (up 4.5 percent). The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program would be the only
program within Science to fall (down 6.9 percent to $531 million), but
only because the Senate would not renew over $60 million in FY 2002
congressional earmarks. The BER appropriation would be $27 million more
than the request, with increases for the Genomes to Life ($47 million,
up from $22 million in FY 2002) and Low Dose Radiation Research ($25
million, up from $17 million) programs.
The Genomes to Life program funds biological research on the
genomic structures of microbes that could have a positive impact on
DOE’s cleanup and environmental missions.
The Low Dose program funds research on the human health effects of low
levels of radiation.
On the defense side, most
of DOE’s R&D is funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which was created
three 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 budget up to $8.3 billion (up 8.9 percent
from FY 2002). The Senate has traditionally been more supportive of
NNSA activities than either the House or the White House because of
the patronage of Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM), ranking member of
the Energy-Water subcommittee. New Mexico
is home to two of the three major NNSA laboratories (Los
Alamos and Sandia; the other is
Lawrence Livermore in California).
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 $3.0 billion for Weapons Activities R&D in
FY 2003, a substantial 9.1 percent or $254 million increase. This
program funds most of the R&D at the three weapons labs which are
responsible for the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. Within the overall
increases, the Senate would cut funding for Advanced
Simulation and Computing, an effort to develop the next generation
of computer processing technologies to better model nuclear explosions,
to $704 million (down 1.9 percent). The Senate report notes with concern
the recent announcement that a Japanese supercomputer has demonstrated
far better computational performance for research than any NNSA computer,
and demands a reevaluation by the National Academy of Sciences of NNSA’s
computing strategy. The Senate
is also critical of NNSA efforts on the National
Ignition Facility, although the Senate would provide the requested
$214 million for continued construction. The project is behind schedule
and over budget, and the Senate report warns NNSA not to downscale the
project or its performance targets.
The Interior and Energy-Water
bills now move to the Senate floor for expected approval by the full
Senate. Approval may come the week of July 29, though one or both bills
could be delayed because as many as 10 appropriations bills will be
ready for floor debate that week. If delayed, the Senate will consider them after a month-long August
recess. The full House approved its version of the Interior bill
on July 17, but the House Appropriations Committee will not draft its
Energy-Water bill until September.
- July 26, 2002
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/rd
(new URL)
