Geotimes Home | AGI Home | Information Services | Geoscience Education | Public Policy | Programs | Publications | Careers
Before Congress left Washington and took its August recess, it voiced some
strong words against the president's budget proposals that would have reduced
or eliminated funding for key geoscience agencies and initiatives. Passing appropriations
legislation that restores funding for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the
House of Representatives and Senate made it clear in the accompanying report
that they would not tolerate future cuts to Department of the Interior science
programs.
"Officials at the Office of Management and Budget [OMB] seemingly believe
that the Department of the Interior no longer needs science on which to base
natural resource policy decisions. This is not the position of the Congress
as articulated in previous Interior bills," states the House Report 107-564.
"The Committee strongly urges the Department and OMB to continue to fund
these critical science programs in the base budget in future years." The
Senate report language contained similar sentiments about the need to fund the
work of the USGS, noting its broad constituency of public support.
In the House appropriations bill, funding for the USGS would total $928 million,
a close to 7 percent increase over the president's request. The Senate request
was similar, calling for $927 million. Overall, the House and Senate bills provide
USGS geologic programs $235 million and $239 million respectively, with an emphasis
on mapping.
Released in February, President Bush's budget for fiscal year 2003 had proposed
large funding cuts for USGS water research programs, including a transfer of
the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program (Toxics) into the National Science Foundation
(NSF). At the time, John Marburger, Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy, explained that the OMB treated Toxics as a program that supported science
but was somewhat outside the mission of the USGS.
Congress, however, strongly objected to that idea. It not only rejected the
proposed Toxics transfer, but also gave USGS water programs a total of $210
million in both the Senate and House bills, an 18 percent increase over the
Bush administration's request. In response, the OMB wrote that they were "disappointed
that the [Appropriations] Committee ignored the proposed transfer of $10 million
for toxic hydrology research funding from the U.S. Geological Survey to the
National Science Foundation."
The House and Senate bills also increase funding to the National Water Quality
Assessment Program and keep funding about level from last year for the other
water programs.
Similarly, congressional appropriations committees expressed disapproval of
proposed cuts to the Department of Energy. The House and Senate committees recommended
a near doubling of funding for natural gas exploration over the budget request,
and increased funding for the Office of Fossil Energy. "More than [$93
million] in programmatic increases above the budget request were necessitated
by the Department's proposed early termination of valuable research projects,
many of which, in the opinion of the Committee, are central to our Nation's
energy security," states the Senate report.
The House bill would provide $664 million to the fossil energy program and the
Senate version would give $641 million. Funding for petroleum research, however,
still came in at less than half of last year's allocation. Neither branch of
Congress has passed DOE appropriations.
While the full House of Representatives passed the Interior appropriations bill
on July 17, the full Senate left for recess before voting. When Congress returns
to session this fall, the full Senate will vote on its version of the bill and
then the two branches will come together to forge a compromise. The new fiscal
year begins Oct. 1.
Read the stories at the links below for more background information and for
more on other appropriations votes.
Lisa M. Pinsker
Links:
AGI Government Affairs
Bush budget would reshuffle geoscience,
Web Extra, Feb. 5
USGS water research threatened, Geotimes,
April, 2002
Senate boost NSF geoscience funding,
Web Extra, July 26
|
Geotimes Home | AGI Home | Information Services | Geoscience Education | Public Policy | Programs | Publications | Careers |