(The complete series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates,
including continually updated analyses of R&D by agency in FY 2000
appropriations, is available on the AAAS R&D Web Site (http://www.aaas.org/spp/R&D)
in the "FY 2000 R&D" or the "What's
New" sections.)
The Senate Appropriations Committee has drafted an
FY 2000 VA-HUD appropriations bill (S 1596) that would give increases
to R&D programs in the National Science Foundation (NSF) and provide
the requested amounts for most programs in the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) and the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). Both the House and the Senate would provide more than the Administration
request for EPA, which would represent a cut from the FY 1999 funding
level. The EPA budget would fall 3.5 percent in the Senate plan, down
$269 million to $7.3 billion, but this would be $115 million more than
the agency had requested. EPA's R&D would decline 3.4 percent
to $646 million, just $1 million more than the agency request (see
Table).
As the October 1 start of FY 2000 approaches, Congress
is struggling to draft the 13 appropriations bills within discretionary
spending caps that are forcing sharp cuts to domestic discretionary
programs. The discretionary spending caps, enacted in 1997, require
FY 2000 discretionary spending to be nearly $20 billion below FY 1999
funding levels. The FY 2000 VA-HUD bill, the 12th
bill to be drafted by the Senate, totals only $70 billion in discretionary
budget authority, nearly $3 billion below the FY 1999 level and $5 billion
below the amount needed to keep pace with inflation. The total was originally
even lower, but the Appropriations Committee added funds to the VA-HUD
bill by raiding the Labor-HHS bill's allocation. As a result, the unlucky
Labor-HHS bill, the only bill yet to be drafted in both the House and
the Senate, now has an allocation that is nearly $12 billion below the
FY 1999 funding level, a level that could require cuts of almost 20
percent for its programs. Even the revised allocation of $70 billion
was insufficient for the Senate, and an extra $4.2 billion was found
at the last minute by funding some housing programs with FY 2001 rather
than FY 2000 funds.
Within the $70 billion total for the House VA-HUD bill,
the House made clear its priority for veterans' programs and increased
funding by nearly $2 billion, putting even more pressure on other programs
in the bill. As a result, the other agencies funded in the bill, including
EPA, NASA, and NSF, face steep cuts (see the August
6 R&D Funding Updates for information on House appropriations
for these three agencies). The Senate, although faced with the same
total, put a higher priority on science programs and, aided by the extra
$4 billion in FY 2001 funds, managed to meet the President's request
for all three agencies. (Please see the NSF
and NASA Funding Updates for information on
proposed Senate appropriations for R&D in these agencies.) The EPA
budget declines in the Senate bill, but EPA would receive more than
it had requested. The Senate proposed appropriation of $7.3 billion
would be $115 million more than the request of $7.2 billion, but compared
to FY 1999 funding levels it would represent a 3.5 percent decline (see
Table). The House would appropriate just
$14 million less than the Senate.
EPA's R&D, mostly funded in the Science
and Technology account, would total $646 million, nearly the same
as the request and a 3.4 percent cut from FY 1999. Most research programs
would be funded at the requested levels, but to make room for $29 million
in congressionally designated projects in the S&T account the Senate
would trim $20 million from the request for R&D in the Climate
Change Technology Initiative (CCTI), and $9 million from three other
projects. CCTI is a multi-agency initiative to address global warming
through partnerships with locally based organizations, research on energy
efficient technologies, and tax incentives for energy efficiency. Global
change research would receive $23 million, up from $17 million in
FY 1999.
In the overall EPA budget, the Senate bill would add
$412 million to the requested amount for State and Tribal Assistance
Grants, bringing the total to $3.3 billion, still $157 million short
of the FY 1999 level. Most of this money goes to state and local governments.
For Environmental Programs and Management, which funds most of
EPA's operating expenses, the Senate bill would provide $1.9 billion,
nearly the same amount as FY 1999 but $162 million less than EPA had
requested. Within the account, the Senate would reduce the request for
CCTI programs by $94 million. Between this account and the S&T account,
CCTI funding would total $102 million, less than half the request of
$216 million and down from the FY 1999 level of $110 million. The Superfund
program would be cut $98 million below the FY 1999 funding level, for
a total of $1.4 billion. Superfund also funds R&D on hazardous substances
managed by EPA's Office of Research and Development paid for out of
a $38 million transfer to the Science and Technology account. Within
the Superfund account, EPA would transfer approximately $35 million
to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) for
its research activities related to hazardous substances. The House bill
would provide similar amounts to the various EPA accounts.
Both the House and Senate bills contains a legislative
provision, carried over from last year's EPA funding bill, that would
prohibit EPA from implementing actions called for under the U.N. Kyoto
Protocol, which has not been submitted to nor ratified by the Senate.
The Senate VA-HUD bill is scheduled for floor debate
this week. The House approved its version of the bill on September 9.
If the Senate approves the bill this week, the two versions will head
to a House-Senate conference, but the conference report is unlikely
to be completed and approved by both chambers before October 1. Continuing
resolutions are likely to provide temporary FY 2000 funding for EPA
and the other agencies until the final VA-HUD bill is signed by the
President. The Clinton Administration has issued a veto threat over
the funding levels in the House bill, so the ultimate fate of the bill
may depend on whether its funding levels are closer to the House or
the Senate figures. If the conference report is delayed, or if the President
vetoes the final bill, the final funding levels for VA-HUD, and therefore
for EPA programs, will most likely be determined in an omnibus appropriations
bill.
- September 21, 1999
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
