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| Life Sciences in the FY 2000 Budget
Nadine Lymn and Alison Gillespie, ESA |
| HIGHLIGHTS
INTRODUCTION The breadth of research conducted in the biological sciences is reflected in a variety of federal agencies that support life sciences R&D. Major life sciences programs are found within NSF, USDA, USGS within the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In addition, the Clinton Administration has proposed a new cross-agency initiative aimed at improving scientific understanding of ecosystem responses to various stresses. Created in response to a presidential advisory report calling for more biodiversity research, the budget requests $96 million for Integrated Science for Ecological Challenges (ISEC), which would be shared among USDA ($25 million), USGS ($37 million), NOAA ($15 million), NSF ($8 million), and EPA ($11 million). NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) This agency remains the principal source of federal support of academic non-medical research in biology-related disciplines. Under the President's request, the NSF budget as a whole would increase substantially, by 5.7 percent over the FY 1999 level to $3.9 billion. Of that total, Research and Related Activities (R&RA) would receive a 6.9 percent increase to $3.0 billion (see Table II-7). A key priority within R&RA is research activities associated with the areas of Biocomplexity and the Environment (BE), which totals about $670 million. A centerpiece of this new rubric is $50 million for the Biocomplexity initiative, an interdisciplinary research program that spans multiple time and space scales and levels of biological organization needed for environmental decision making. More information on NSF can be found in Chapter 8. Three categories of research fall under NSF's theme of BE. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics is proposed for $238 million (including $50 million for the Biocomplexity initiative). This program fosters interdisciplinary research in geographically distinct regions, including ecological inventories and watershed investigations. Research activities in Environment and the Human Dimension ($151 million) focus on the role of humans in the environment, and include urban communities research at two urban, long-term ecological research sites. Global Environmental Change research activities focus on understanding physical processes in the environment, including climate modeling, and are proposed to be funded at $282 million in FY 2000.
Two interagency programs that relate to BE activities are the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and Integrated Science for Ecosystem Challenges (ISEC). Within the USGCRP framework of about $187 million (see Table I-10), NSF plans to emphasize carbon cycle research and the influences of global climate change on local and regional level changes in climate. NSF's portion of ISEC, estimated at $8 million, will focus on research related to invasive species, biodiversity, ecosystem productivity, and a host of other areas linking scientific disciplines. Life sciences research is funded primarily through the Biological Sciences Directorate, whose activities range from the study of biological molecules to population and ecosystem research. The Biological Science Activity would increase by 4.5 percent for a total of $408.6 million in FY 2000. Of that amount, Environmental Biology Research Projects would receive $89 million, representing a 4.1 percent increase. The Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis would remain funded at $2 million and Long-Term Ecological Research Sites would grow to $16 million, with continuing emphasis on research on urban communities, microbial systems, and enhanced international collaborations. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (DOI) The Department of the Interior's proposed budget is $8.7 billion, an increase of $832 million from FY 1999. A total of $579 million would go to support the President's $1 billion Lands Legacy Initiative. In the mix is an 18.2 percent increase in Interior's R&D spending. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is slated to receive $838.5 million, an increase of 5 percent over 1999 (see Table II-16). USGS funds interdisciplinary natural sciences research. A key component of USGS funding in FY 2000 is $30 million to address Interior's science priorities. Priorities to be addressed will be identified through a collaborative, annual process, but could include land management issues such as nonindigenous species control and the impacts of grazing and logging on water quality and sensitive riparian habitats. The Biological Resources Division (BRD) of USGS is slated to receive $124.9 million, a decrease of $37.5 million from the previous year. In addition, an increase of $2.4 million has been requested for place-based studies in the Great Lakes, Platte River, Greater Yellowstone, and the Mojave Desert. An increase of $1.1 million is also requested to expand research on environmental stressors in the Pacific Islands and to address hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. An increase of $5.6 million is also included for the expansion of USGS amphibian research, and a separate $1 million is proposed for research on the decline of coral reefs. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) The President has proposed $645 million in R&D funding for EPA (see Table II-17), a 3.5 percent decrease from the previous fiscal year. Of this total, research on Ecosystems Assessment and Restoration is slated for $118.5 million. Under Research to Detect Emerging Risk Issues, EPA proposes to spend $0.9 million for work on a new Endocrine Disruptor Strategy. This strategy seeks to integrate toxicology and ecology to investigate the extent to which environmentally relevant exposures to chemicals are producing adverse effects in humans and wildlife species. In addition, a new line item has been added to the research budget for Coastal Environmental Monitoring, to be funded at $6.5 million. The agency's ecosystems protection research is organized into four main areas: ecological monitoring, process and modeling, risk assessment, and risk management and restoration. The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) budget would increase slightly this year to $33.9 million. EMAP, which specifically seeks to overcome the data gaps for measuring aquatic ecosystem health, will include the development of survey designs focusing on arid, alpine and grassland watersheds in western states. EPA's portion of the U.S. Global Change Research Program is proposed to make a significant jump of 37 percent to reach $22.8 million. The research will examine potential consequences of climate change for human health and ecosystems in three regions: the Mid-Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) The FY 2000 NOAA request of $2.6 billion reflects an increase of 13 percent over FY 1999. Of that, $105 million in new funding will be derived from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to fulfill the environmental mandates outlined in the Lands Legacy Initiative. The agency's proposed R&D budget stands at $600 million, which is the same amount allocated in FY 1999. The FY 2000 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) request is $584.7 million. Of that amount, $51.6 million will go toward the purchase of four acoustically quiet vessels for the NMFS research fleet. The Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) request of $292.6 million includes $6.7 million for the Climate and Global Change Program. Of that amount, $0.4 million has been designated for hypoxia research and $0.2 million for research related to the Aquatic Nuisance Species and Non-Indigenous Species Act aimed at controlling invasive species in U.S. waters. The National Undersea Research Program (NURP), which conducts undersea research in fisheries habitats, coral reef ecosystems, and fisheries management issues, is to be funded at $9 million in FY 2000. Under the National Ocean Service (NOS), NOAA is requesting $2 million to strengthen the protection of U.S. coral reefs by expanding research on the major causes and consequences of coral reef damage. The Department also requests $1 million for ocean exploration and an additional $1 million to help fund the Administration's South Florida Interagency Ecosystem Restoration Initiative. Within the request, $22 million is proposed to support the Administration's Clean Water Initiative, including $9 million marked for research on the control of harmful algal blooms. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA) Under USDA's Natural Resources and Environment Mission, the budget of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) would increase by $266 million over FY 1999 to $1.6 billion. NRCS' budget also includes $12 million for soil studies on carbon data. The total program level of $3.4 billion proposed for the Forest Service is $82 million above the FY 1999 level. The FY 2000 request proposes $235 million for the Forest Research budget, a 19 percent increase$38 million more than in FY 1999. This increase includes the cross-agency research programs of the Integrated Science for Ecosystem Challenges initiative ($14 million, of which $5 million would go toward invasive species research), $5 million for the Global Change initiative, and $5 million for research related to effective land management planning. The Forest Service is also requesting $870 million for watershed protection and restoration programs, a 14 percent increase over FY 1999. The FY 2000 budget for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA's principal in-house physical and biological research agency, includes a $51 million net increase for ARS research programs to $837 million. Federal research focus areas in ARS include biological pest control, sustainable ecosystems, and Administration initiatives such as the Climate Change Technology Initiative and the Carbon Cycle Science Program. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) budget proposal for FY 2000 totals $1.1 billion. The National Research Initiative (NRI), USDA's primary competitive grants program, would receive a dramatic 68 percent increase over FY 1999 to $200 million, an increase of $81 million. This significant proposed increase reflects greater emphasis on a host of research areas, including environmental, that affects agricultural production. Also included under CSREES is $16 million for competitive research, education, and extension grants to improve water quality. Focusing on such water quality issues as hypoxia and harmful algal blooms, this amounts to a $3 million increase over the FY 1999 appropriated level. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) would receive $1.46 billion under the President's request, an increase of $45 million over the FY 1999 budget. The primary mission of the Earth Science program within ESE, for which research funding is proposed at $276 million, is to foster interdisciplinary understanding of the Earth system. Focal points include U.S. and world forests, grassland, and agricultural regions. Gravitational Biology and Ecology, part of NASA's Life and Microgravity Science and Applications, would receive $38.6 million, $2.3 million less than FY 1999. Gravitational Biology and Ecology includes research exploring the combined effects of gravity and other environmental factors on biological systems. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) Although DOE's R&D request is increasing this year by 7.1 percent, the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) account is scheduled for a 5 percent decrease (see Table II-11). The BER account is slated to receive $411 million in FY 2000. All BER research programs will be affected by this change. Life Science research is slated for $164 million (a 7.2 percent decrease), Environmental Processes for $134 million (a 14.5 percent increase), and Environmental Remediation $66 million (a 2.4 percent decrease). | |
