IB10018: Research and Development Funding: Fiscal Year 2000

Michael E. Davey, Coordinator

Resources, Science, and Industry Division

October 15, 1999

CONTENTS

• SUMMARY
• MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
• BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
• Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Department of Defense (DOD)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• The National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Department of Commerce (DOC)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Department of the Interior (DOI)
• Department of Transportation (DOT)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Discretionary Spending Caps and R&D Funding

MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

On February 1, 1999, President Clinton unveiled his FY2000 R&D budget, proposing to cut R&D spending by 1% to $78.242 billion. For the first time since the late 1970s, the President has requested more for civilian R&D ($39.761 billion) than for defense R&D ($38.481 billion). below the President's request. Congress passed and the President signed H.J.Res. 68, which will keep agencies that have not had FY2000 appropriations bills enacted operating until October 21. Essentially, the resolution allows agencies to spend at FY1999 levels until their respective appropriations bills are passed.

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

The FY2000 budget request for research and education in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is $2,001 million, a $50.1 million increase (2.6%) over the FY1999 estimate of $1,950.9 million (see Table 1). Several highlights are outlined in the FY2000 request. The budget includes support for the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems. The Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 authorized the establishment of a program for competitively awarded research and education grants. The grants are to focus on emerging issues related to food production, environmental quality and natural resources, and farm income including enhanced economic viability of small-scale farmers. Increased support has been provided for research and extension needed by agricultural producers to address the immediate and long-term needs resulting from global climate change. Also, added support is proposed for research on developing a greater understanding of the impacts of nutrition on human health, with a focus on the role of nutrition in preventing cancer, bone loss, and heart disease. Funding is proposed for the construction of selective human nutrition laboratories. Increased support for competitive grants, including support for the Future Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative, will be offset by decreases in formula funds and non-competitive projects. Other priority areas in the FY2000 request include biological pest control, sustainable ecosystems, and emerging plant and animal diseases.

The USDA conducts in-house basic and applied research. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the lead federal agency for nutrition research, operating five major laboratories focused primarily on this type of research. Other ARS laboratories focus on efficient food and fiber production, preservation of genetic resources, development of new products and uses for agricultural commodities, development of effective biocontrols for pest management, and support of USDA regulatory and technical assistance programs. The ARS has 103 research laboratories throughout the United States and abroad. The FY2000 request provides $836.9 million for ARS, $51.5 million above the FY1999 level. There are plans to redirect approximately $35 million from several existing programs to fund higher priority research. ARS reports that the majority of its facilities constructed prior to 1960, have become functionally obsolete. The FY2000 request for ARS proposes an additional $44.5 million for buildings and facilities. It is mainly directed at seven priority ARS laboratories and bring them up to current health and safety standards.

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) distributes funds to universities and organizations that conduct agricultural research. Funding is distributed to the states through competitive awards, formula funding, and other means. The FY2000 CSREES request is $943.4 million, an increase of $24.2 million (2.6%) above the FY1999 estimate. Support in FY2000 for formula distribution to the state agricultural experiment stations (and other eligible institutions) through the Hatch Act is $153.7 million, a decrease of $26.8 million from the FY1999 estimate. Funding for the 1890 institutions (historically black colleges and universities) through the Evans-Allen formula also decreases, from $29.7 million in FY1999 to $27.7 million in the FY2000 request. Several special grants and construction projects, which target local concerns, are proposed for reductions. The request proposes $200 million for the National Research Initiative (NRI) Competitive Grants Program, a 67.6% increase over the FY1999 estimate. The proposed increase for the NRI will provide additional investments in biotechnology and animal and plant genetics, animal waste management, and value added agricultural commodities. The FY2000 request for extension programs, proposed at $401.6 million, also reflects a redirection of support for several high priority initiatives.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has been proposed at $100.6 million in the FY2000 request, $3.4 million below the FY1999 estimate. Effective October 1996, the NASS assumed total responsibility for conducting the Census of Agriculture, previously done by the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce. The reduction in FY2000 from the previous year results primarily from the cyclical funding needs of the census. The Economic Research Service (ERS) is the principal intramural social science research agency in USDA. The ERS, proposed at $55.6 million in FY2000, will support five priority issues -- food safety, commodity market analysis, global climate change, electric utility deregulation, and information for small farmers.

On October 1, the House approved H.R. 1906, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Appropriations Bill, FY2000 (Conference Report, H.Rept. 106-354). The conference agreement provided a total of $1,937.9 million for research and education in FY2000, $63.1 million less than the Administration's request, and $13 million less than the FY1999 estimate. Included in the total is $834.3 million for the ARS, an amount slightly below the request of $836.9 million. Conference activity continued the FY1999 level of support for those research projects that had been proposed for termination in the Administration's request. No funding was provided for contingencies. An additional $52.5 million was provided for buildings and facilities in ARS. The House had zero funding for facility construction, while the Senate had provided $52.5 million. The CSREES is funded at $910.6 million, $32.8 million below the request and $8.6 million below the FY1999 estimate. Competitive grants, proposed at $200 million in the request, were provided $119.3 million in the conference agreement. Special research grants, however, did receive increase support. Conferees provided $63.2 million; the Administration had requested $5.1 million. The Economic Research Service and the NASS were funded at $65.4 million and $99.4 million respectively.

Table 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture FY1998-FY2000
($ millions)

a. The total for ARS excludes trust funds and support for Counter Drug Research and Development and for Anti-Drug Research and Related Matters.

b. Higher education includes payments to 1994 institutions and 1890 Capacity Building Grants program.

c. Program totals may reflect set-asides (non-add) or contingencies.

d. Disaggregated program data not yet available .

Department of Energy (DOE)

For FY2000, DOE requested $7.85 billion (Table 2) for civilian and defense R&D, an increase of 5.7% over the FY1999 appropriation. For civilian programs, the request is $4.45 billion, 6.6% above FY1999, while for defense programs R&D the request was $3.40 billion, 4.7% above FY1999. The Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, FY2000 (H.R. 2605, H.Rept. 106-336), approved by Congress, provides $6.70 billion for DOE R&D programs within its jurisdiction. Incorporated in the recommendation were significant reductions for contractor travel and a reduction of Laboratory Discretionary Research and Development funding, from 6% to 4% of all laboratory spending. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported the Interior appropriations bill (S. 1292, S.Rept. 106-99), which recommends $918.8 million for DOE R&D programs in that bill's jurisdiction. The version of that bill passed by the House (H.R. 2466, H.Rept. 106-222) appropriates $842.1 million for those programs.

A major element of the DOE budget request is the Climate Change Technology Initiative (CCTI), which primarily consists of the Solar and Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation R&D programs. This initiative, which first appeared in the FY1999 budget request, is aimed at developing technologies to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide from U.S. energy use. A concern that has been expressed by many is that DOE appears to be for funding projects that are leading to commercial products, a function best left to the private sector. Others, however, argue that the research supported by these programs will not be done by the private sector alone and that it is critical to the nation's energy future. Congressional action to date would result in an appropriations 19% to 20% below the request for the two programs. Most of the reduction takes place in technology development areas, which the Congress stated should be supported by nonfederal funding to the extent possible.

The primary element of DOE's national security R&D request is the stockpile stewardship program aimed at developing the science and technology to maintain the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of nuclear testing. The main focus of the program is the development of computational capabilities that can simulate the weapon explosion and perform other important computations. For FY2000, DOE requested $341.0 million for this element, the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI)/Stockpile Computing, 12.2% above the FY1999 appropriation. The final appropriation for FY2000 is 1.6% below the request for the Stockpile Stewardship program and includes a $25 million reduction in the ASCI request. Recent revelations by DOE that the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a large laser now under construction that is to be used to enhance understanding of weapon's physics, is significantly over budget. As a result, Congress directed DOE to develop and certify a new cost and schedule by June 1, 2000, or prepare an estimate of termination costs.

For the Science programs, DOE requested an increase of $116.9 million over FY1999 or about 4.3%. While the net increase consists of many individual increases and decreases, by far the largest changes are for two items. DOE asked for an increase of $84 million for continued construction of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and $70 million for an initiative for scientific simulation (SSI). The former is to be a major user facility providing a new source of neutrons for a wide variety of research goals. The latter is designed to develop very high speed computational capability for use in simulating complex physical and biomedical problems. While both of these efforts have much support in the scientific community, the extent of the increase requested for these two activities would be to leave funding for the rest of the DOE Science research somewhat lower than FY1999. Congress appropriated $135.8 million for the SNS for FY2000, $78.2 million below the request but $5.8 million above FY1999. No funds were appropriated for the SSI. The conferees expressed strong support for the supercomputing programs at DOE, however, and directed it to prepare a comprehensive plan and budget for its non-defense supercomputing activities over the next 5 years.

Table 2. DOE R&D Budget
($ millions)

^A For FY1997, Congress approved a rescission of $2.1 million; for FY1998, $101 million; and for FY1999, $40 million. For FY2000 DOE is requesting a deferral of $256 million. A deferral of $156 million is being recommended by the Senate Appropriations Committee and one of $256 million was approved by the House.

^b For FY1998 and FY1999, an additional $44.3 million and $47.9 million, respectively, was approved for solar and renewable energy research to be funded by the Basic Energy Science (BES) program. For FY2000, that BES-funded request is $47.1 million, the amount approved by Congress.

^c The House adopted amendments reducing fossil energy R&D by $80.3 million from the amount recommended by the House Appropriations Committee.

^d Does not include funds from the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation bill awaiting conference.

^e Includes $31.8 million in contractor travel and general reductions that have not yet been assigned to the individual programs. It is likely that such reductions will be prorated.

^f The Conferees directed $64.8 million in general and contractor travel reductions and directed savings to the weapons activities programs of which stockpile stewardship is about 50%. Because those reductions have not been assigned to the various programs, the amount for stockpile stewardship has not been adjusted in this table.

Department of Defense (DOD)

Although the Administration added $112 billion to DOD's 6-year budget plan (this includes $89 billion in new funds plus additional resources made available by better than anticipated rates of inflation and other economic assumptions), the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) program did not share in the increase. The Administration is requesting $34.4 billion for RDT&E for FY2000. This is a drop of $2.2 billion over last year's budget authority and almost $3 billion below the total obligational authority available in FY1999. The RDT&E budget projects relatively flat funding (between $34 billion and $35 billion) for the next 6 years. FY2000 support for the Science and Technology (S&T) program (consisting of the first three budget activities listed in the bottom half of Table 3) drops 5% last year's appropriation. In particular, the Air Force S&T budget is reduced by roughly $85 million, primarily in its 6.2 program. Part of that cut will result in personnel reductions. Major modernization programs are proceeding (the Army's Comanche and Crusader, the Navy's F-18 and next generation carrier, the Marines V-22, the Air Forces F-22, the Joint Strike Fighter).

The Administration requested $2.9 billion in ballistic missile defense RDT&E for FY2000, about $900 million below last year's funding (when including the $700 million in FY1999 emergency funding added in last omnibus appropriation bill). The Administration requested $836 million for National Missile Defense. The 6-year budget anticipates an NMD deployment decision in 2000 and adds $6.6 billion in NMD funding, including some procurement funds for long-lead-time items in the out-years. The Administration, however, has modified its 3-plus-3 strategy. That strategy stated that should a positive decision to deploy a NMD be made in 2000, deployment could begin in 2003. The Administration now suggests that it is wiser to begin initial deployment in 2005, using the extra two years to reduce risks. Meanwhile, on October 2, the NMD interceptor successfully intercepted a target reentry vehicle in space. The BMD budget also reinstated support for Engineering and Manufacturing Development of the Theater High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) system (requesting $577 million in EMD funding for FY2000). The Administration proposed that THAAD, however, compete directly with the Navy Theater Wide system (requesting $326 million for FY2000) by combining the two into a single program in FY2002. After failing six consecutive missile intercept tests in March, THAAD successfully intercepted a target missile June 10 and again on August 2.

The Senate approved its defense authorization bill May 27 (S. 1059, S.Rept. 106-50). The House Armed Services Committee reported its defense authorization bill (H.R. 1401, H.Rept. 106-162) on May 19. The conference committee filed its report (S. 1059, H.Rept. 106-301) on August 5. The House approved the bill on September 15. The Senate approved it on September 22, and the President signed it on October 5. The conferees authorized $36.3 billion for RDT&E, this includes an increase of $447 million for S&T above the Administration's request. The bill adds back some of the Air Force S&T cuts. The bill authorized $3.2 billion for BMD RDT&E. The conferees disagreed with the Administration's recommendation to combine THAAD and the Navy Theater Wide System. They did agree to accelerate THAAD EMD, allowing the Secretary of Defense to forgo further flight tests in the DEM/VAL phase and to apply unused DEM/VAL funds to EMD.

The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its defense appropriations bill May 25 (S. 1122, S.Rept. 106-53). The bill appropriates $36.5 billion for RDT&E including $7.8 billion for S&T (an increase of $489 million over the Administration's S&T request). The bill adds back some of the Air Force S&T cuts. The bill also increases BMD RDT&E $512 million above the Administration's request. This includes an additional $200 million for NMD and an additional $50 million for Navy Theater Wide. The bill eliminates THAAD EMD funding, saying that no money can be spent on EMD until the THAAD Dem/Val phase of the program is completed. Any Dem/Val funds left over, however, can be used toward EMD at that point.

The House Appropriations Committee reported its defense appropriations bill (H.R. 2461, H.Rept. 106-244) on July 20. The bill appropriates $37.2 billion for RDT&E, an additional $2.8 billion above the Administration's request, but still below last year's appropriations. The House bill also includes $8.2 billion for S&T, or $800 million more than what the Administration requested. The bill restores funding those programs eliminated in the Air Force's S&T budget, but eliminates funds for the space-based radar for which the Air Force had cut other programs. The bill does not substantially add to BMDO RDT&E and provides less funding for NMD than requested by the Administration. The bill also eliminates THAAD EMD funding but increases support for Dem/Val activities.

Appropriations conferees agreed to a bill after some consideration, focused primarily on differences over funding F-22 procurement. The conference report (H.Rept. 106-371) was reported October 8. The House approved the conference report October 13. The bill funds RDT&E at $37.6 billion, $3.3 billion more that what the Administration requested. This includes $1 billion more in S&T funding. Air Force S&T funding was also increased, not only above the Administration's request, but also above last year's total obligational authority. Reduced funding for the space-based radar was retained. The conference report provided $3.2 billion in BMD RDT&E funding. NMD was funded at the Administration's request. THAAD EMD was provided $45 million.

Table 3. Department of Defense RDT&E
($ millions)

Source: Department of Defense Budget for Fiscal Years 2000. RDT&E Programs (R-1). February 1999. House and Senate Reports. FY1997 figures comes from the 1998 R-1 and may not reflect latest adjustments.

a. Includes only BMD RDT&E. Does not include procurement and military construction.

b. Includes funds for Developmental and Operational Test and Evaluation.

c. Totals may not match due to rounding.

d. The authorization conference report included a general reduction of $167 million due to improved economic conditions to be distributed evenly across all program elements. This reduction is not included in the activity total but is included in the account total.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

For FY2000, NASA requested $8.076 billion for R&D, a 1.2% decrease from the FY1999 appropriations level (Table 4). Increases were sought for the International Space Station, Space Science, and Earth Science Enterprises, while the request for Aero-Space Technology is substantially lower than approved in FY1999. The House (H.R. 2684, H.Rept. 106-286) appropriated $7.527 billion, 6.8% below the request and 7.9% below the FY1999 level. The Senate Appropriations Committee (S. 1596, S.Rept. 106-161) recommended appropriation of the full request. In the NASA FY2000 authorization act the House (H.R. 1654, H.Rept. 106-145) authorized $8.116 billion for R&D while the Senate Commerce Committee (S. 342, S.Rept. 106-77) recommended authorization of $7.876 billion.

The major activity within NASA is the International Space Station (ISS). For FY2000, NASA asked for an increase of 7.7% in ISS funding. The principal reasons are Russia's growing problems in meeting its commitments, concern about the availability of a ISS crew return vehicle in the event of emergencies, and the need to rebuild ISS reserves. The House approved a $100 million reduction from the request, expressing concern about the station's cost growth, and directed NASA to increase its efforts for commercial participation in the ISS. The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended the full ISS request for FY2000.

NASA requested $5.425 billion for Science, Aeronautics, and Technology (SAT) for FY2000, 4.7% below the FY1999 level. Increases were sought for Space and Earth Sciences, while a large reduction was requested for Aero-Space Technology. The latter resulted from NASA's decision to terminate the high-speed and advanced subsonic research. The House approved a reduction of $449 million for the SAT programs, nearly all of which would take place in Space and Earth Sciences. The House argued that cuts in Space Science would not cause significant harm because they were directed at parts of the program that had experienced rapid growth in recent years. For Earth Sciences, the House noted that some of the cuts were for projects early in the development stage. It also cut funding for the Earth Observing System Data Information Systems, which the Committee noted had not yet yielded significant results despite costing $1.6 billion to date. The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended funding the full request for SAT. It did, however, recommend reducing the request for Space Science by $120 million. The Committee recommended that advanced space transportation funding be increased by $100 million for the request and Academic programs by $20 million.

An emerging concern for NASA is reusable launch vehicle (RLV) technology development because of the age of Shuttle fleet. It will be necessary to secure a new generation RLV or carry out major upgrades on the Shuttle within the next few years. NASA hopes that a new RLV will be a private sector operation with NASA as one of the customers. Because of the importance of an RLV to NASA, however, it must provide a substantial amount of the development funds. The House approved funding the full request for FY2000. The $100 million added to the request by the Senate Appropriations Committee was done to help NASA accelerate its efforts to develop low-cost access to space.

Table 4. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
($ millions)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Separate House and Senate appropriations bills for FY2000 funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies have been passed by the Senate (S. 1650, S.Rept. 106-166) and reported by the House Appropriations Committee (H.R. 3037, H.Rept. 106-370). The Senate bill includes a $2 billion increase for NIH (12.8%), for a total funding level of $17.613 billion. The House committee approved a total funding level for NIH of $16.935 billion, an increase of about $1 billion over the President's request and about $1.32 billion (8.5%) over FY1999 funding (see Table 5). Both bills include additional funding for NIH activities in the appropriation for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund in the Office of the Secretary of HHS. The Administration had requested a 2.1% increase for NIH for FY2000, $319 million above the comparable FY1999 appropriation, for a total budget of $15.933 billion. In the request, each of the institutes and centers was proposed for a 2.4% increase, while the Buildings and Facilities account dropped nearly 25% because of completion of the Clinical Research Center construction funding. FY1999 funding for NIH was finalized at $15.612 billion in the omnibus appropriations act (P.L. 105-277, "Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999," October 21, 1998), which incorporated the FY1999 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations act. The final appropriation was an increase of $1.99 billion (14.6%) over FY1998; an additional $40 million advance appropriation for FY2000 was provided for the construction project. Increases received by NIH from Congress in the previous two appropriations were 6.8% for FY1997 and 7.1% for FY1998.

For the past two years, many advocates for medical research have been urging Congress to double the NIH budget (increase it by 100%) over the 5-year period from FY1998 to FY2003, an effort that would require increases of about 15% per year. Advocates hoped that the large increase given to NIH in the FY1999 appropriation would be considered a "downpayment" on this effort and would be repeated in FY2000. The Administration, however, in explaining the request for only a 2.1% increase, referred to its original FY1999 proposal to increase the NIH budget by only 48% by FY2003. HHS budget documents indicated that with the large increase from Congress in FY1999, the smaller request for FY2000 still left the NIH budget on track for reaching the Administration's original goal. According to HHS, the request also responded to concerns expressed by the science community in recent years about restoring the balance between funding of health research and support of other scientific disciplines. The FY2000 Budget Resolution (H.Con.Res. 68, H.Rept. 106-91) included "Sense of the Senate" language indicating an assumption that there would be "a continuation of the pattern of budgetary increases for biomedical research" (sec. 328). Continued congressional deliberations about maintaining existing spending caps had, however, cast doubt on how substantial increases for NIH could be achieved. The agency's final appropriation will likely not be known until resolution of all FY2000 appropriations issues.

In their reports, the committees noted that their allocations of funds across the NIH institutes and centers were guided primarily by the distribution recommended by NIH. In its budget documents, NIH discussed a number of new initiatives that are underway with the FY1999 money, all of which it plans to continue in FY2000 and beyond. Details are available on NIH's website at http://www4.od.nih.gov/ofm/policies/page1.htm. These activities, and selected new initiatives for FY2000, address four broad "research themes" across all institutes and centers: exploitation of genomic discoveries (DNA sequencing, identification of disease genes, development of animal models, bioinformatics); interdisciplinary research (engaging other scientific disciplines in medical research); reinvigoration of clinical research (strengthening clinical training, research centers, clinical trials); and elimination of health disparities (among ethnic and socioeconomic subgroups in the United States, and premature mortality and disability in developing countries). No specific funding levels were mentioned for these "theme" areas. In addition, seven "Areas of Research Emphasis" that offer particularly promising opportunities in many institutes were identified for increases: the biology of brain disorders, including neurodegenerative disorders; new approaches to pathogenesis (disease origins and development); new preventive strategies against disease; new avenues for development of therapeutics; genetic medicine; bioengineering, computers, and advanced instrumentation; and health disparities.

Both the request and the bills continued NIH's emphasis on support of extramural research, particularly basic research, through independent investigator-initiated research project grants. A record number of projects would be supported, with the Senate report specifying that approximately 10,000 new and competing awards (900 more than last year) would be made. The request would have funded 17% fewer such grants. Amounts for other funding mechanisms, such as research training and intramural research, were not specified by the committees. AIDS funding was once again proposed for consolidation in a single account for the Office of AIDS Research (OAR). Since FY1996, Congress has preferred to appropriate AIDS funds to the institutes and centers; OAR then distributes the funds consistent with the AIDS research plan that OAR coordinates.

No comprehensive reauthorization legislation for NIH has been enacted since 1993, although several expired authorities were extended in measures that passed at the end of the 105^th Congress. Hearings have been held in the last few years on NIH priority-setting and resource allocation, including disease-specific funding, on coordination of NIH research across institutes, on scientific advances, and on clinical research issues. Research priority setting, especially opportunities for public input, have been of particular interest, and NIH has a new Council of Public Representatives which serves as an advisory committee to the director. For further information on NIH, see CRS Report 95-96, The National Institutes of Health: An Overview.

Table 5. National Institutes of Health (NIH)
($ millions)

Source: H.Rept. 106-370 or H.R. 3087, and S.Rept. 106-166 on S. 1650,

^aFY1999 column is comparable for Clinical Center formula adjustment among institutes/centers, and for transfer from OD to National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. It reflects transfer of $4.967 million out of NIH under the Secretary's 1% transfer authority, but does not reflect transfers among institutes/centers under the Director's transfer authority. It also does not reflect rescission of $10.230 million in administrative and travel funds under P.L. 106-51, Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee and Emergency Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loan Act of 1999 (August 17, 1999).

^bAll columns, transfers not included: $9.5 million to National Institute on Drug Abuse from Office of National Drug Control Policy, and $27 million to National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for diabetes research (from Balanced Budget Act of 1997 for FY1998-FY2002).

^cFY2000 does not include funding for NIH appropriated to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund in the Office of the Secretary: $29.233 million (House) and $46 million (Senate).

^dFY2000 amounts include $40 million advance appropriation from FY1999 appropriation.

The National Science Foundation (NSF)

The FY2000 request for the National Science Foundation (NSF) is $3,921.5 million, a 6.8% ($250.3 million) increase over the FY1999 estimate of $3,671.2 million. (See Table 6). The FY2000 request is part of the Administration's commitment to basic research, as outlined in the "21^st Century Research Fund." The request includes significant investments in several priority areas, including biocomplexity in the environment ($50 million) and in new and comprehensive approaches to education and workforce development ($475 million). At the suggestion of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, the NSF has been designated as the lead agency for an initiative on information technology that involves six federal agencies. NSF's FY2000 request provides $146 million for the Information for the Twenty-First Century (IT²) initiative. The investment will support research in areas such as software systems, high-end computing, and terascale computing systems. In addition, IT² builds on the NSF's current investments in Knowledge and Distributive Intelligence (KDI) and other information technology-related activities.

Table 6. National Science Foundation
($ in millions)

Included in the FY2000 request is $3,004 million for Research and Related Activities (R&RA), 8.4% ($234 million) above the FY1999 level of $2,770 million. R&RA funds research projects, research facilities, and education and training activities. The NSF has placed an emphasis on funding rates for new investigators and on increasing its efforts to address grant size and duration. The R&RA includes an activity created in FY1999 -- Integrative Activities (IA). IA provides support for cross-disciplinary research, major research instrumentation, intellectual infrastructure, and the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI). (The STPI includes what previously was named the Critical Technologies Institute). The FY2000 request for IA is $161.2 million.

Research project support in the FY2000 request totals $2,316 million, an increase of 8% over FY1999. Support is provided individuals and small groups conducting both disciplinary and cross-disciplinary research. Included in the total for research projects is support for centers, proposed at $284 million. Research facility support in FY2000 is $744 million. NSF supports a variety of individual centers and centers programs. A total of $25 million will support a new class of Science and Technology Centers to explore interdisciplinary research activities. Funding for the Engineering Research Centers will increase by $6 million and funding for the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers will increase by $4 million. The support for centers will provide $30 million to initiate Information Technology Centers. These particular centers will explore such areas as broadband tetherless communications, performance-engineered systems, and research directed at increasing the physical and mental capabilities of individuals.

The Major Research Equipment (MRE) account is proposed at $85 million in FY2000, a 6.3% decrease ($5.7 million) from the FY1999 estimate. The MRE, established in FY1995, supports the construction of major research facilities that are at the "cutting edge of science and engineering." Projects supported by this account include terascale computing systems ($36 million), construction funds for the Large Hadron Collider ($15.9 million), completion of the design and development phase of the Millimeter Array ($8 million), initial investments in the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation ($7.7 million), the modernization of the South Pole Station ($5.4 million), and funding for the reconfiguration of the Polar Support Aircraft ($12 million).

The FY2000 request for the Education and Human Resources Directorate (EHR) is $678 million, a 2.4% increase ($16 million) above the FY1999 estimate. Support at the various educational levels in the FY2000 request is as follows: precollege, $358 million; undergraduate, $115 million; and graduate, $81.9 million. Support at the precollege level includes investments in two new activities, the National Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Digital Library (NSDL) and the NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education. Support for the NSDL is to further improve the quality, quantity, and comprehensiveness of internet-based educational resources. The Teaching Fellows program will support graduate and undergraduate science and mathematics majors as content resources for teachers in K-12 classrooms.

On September 9, 1999, the House approved H.R. 2684, VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY2000 (H.Rept. 106-286). A total of $3,636.8 million was provided the NSF in FY2000, $284.7 million below the Administration's request and $34.4 million below the FY99 estimate. Included in the total is $2,768.5 million for R&RA, $56.5 million for MRE, and $660 million for the EHR. Report language proposed funding levels for each directorate and activity within the R&RA. The IT², a major information technology initiative of the Administration, was funded at $35 million, $111 million below the request.

On October 7, the conferees agreed to fund NSF at $3.912 billion, or $242 million above FY1999. Of that amount, $2.996 billion is for research and related activities, a 7% increase over FY1999. The conferees approved $105 million for information technology research and $50 million for biocomplexity. EHR will receive $696.6 million, a $34.6 million increase over FY1999. The MRE account is funded at $95 million, $10 million more than requested. Both the House and Senate approved the conference report.

Department of Commerce (DOC)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

For FY2000, the President has requested a total of $2.48 billion in budget authority for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Of that amount, $554 million is for R&D, down from an estimated $577 in FY1999. The NOAA budget for FY2000 would fund many new Presidential initiatives for Protection of the Environment and Research and Development advances for the 21^st Century, including Ocean 2000, Natural Disaster Reduction (begun FY1999), and Climate in the 21^st Century. These three new initiatives would total $378.8 million. The Administration requested $253 million for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), $18.9 million for the National Weather Service, and $8 million for the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS). The Senate Appropriations Committee has recommended $319.9 million for OAR in FY2000 (S.Rept. 106-76). NOAA's request for R&D also includes activities related to the White House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) interagency research, which includes the U.S. Global Change Research Program and High Performance Computing, and new for FY2000, an Integrated Sciences for Ecosystems Challenges (ISEC) initiative. House appropriators (H.R. 2466, H.Rept. 106-222) approved $547 million, and the Senate (S. 1292, S.Rept. 106-99) $675 million for NOAA R&D.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The Administration has requested $735 million in R&D for The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in FY2000. This reflects a 15% increase in NIST's budget primarily due to proposed changes in support for ATP and construction. Scientific and Technical Research and Services (STRS) would receive $289.6 million and Industrial Technology Services (ITS) would be funded at $338.5 million, including $238.7 million for the Advanced Technology Program (21% above FY1999) and $99.8 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Financing for construction at the laboratory would increase 88% to $106.8 million thereby allowing for improvements in facilities that are now 30 to 45 years old. The major portion of funds would be used to build the Advanced Measurement Laboratory.

In S. 1217, as passed by the Senate on July 22, 1999, appropriations for NIST total $742 million for FY2000, a 16% increase over the previous year. This funding includes $288 million for the STRS account and $336.3 million for ITS, of which $226.5 million is for the Advanced Technology Program and $109.8 million is for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. These figures represent an additional 15% in support for ATP and 3% more financing for MEP. Funding for construction of research facilities would more than double to $117.5 million. H.R. 2670, the appropriations bill passed by the House on August 5, 1999, supports NIST at $436.6 million, a decrease of 32% from its FY1999 budget. The major portion of this decrease is due to the absence of support for the Advanced Technology Program. Of the total, $280.1 million would fund STRS activities, the same amount as the previous fiscal year. The $99.8 million for ITS finances the Manufacturing Extension Partnership; no funding is provided for ATP. The report to accompany the House bill states that ". . .the program has not produced a body of evidence to overcome those fundamental questions about whether the program should exist in the first place." Construction would be funded at $56.7 million, of which $44.9 million is for the Advanced Measurement Laboratory.

Department of the Interior (DOI)

The Department of the Interior's budget proposal for FY2000 includes $737 million for R&D. This represents a 5.6% increase above the $698 million estimated for FY1999 (see Table 7). Both the House ($729 million) and Senate ($712 million) appropriators provide less funding for R&D (H.R. 2466 and S. 1292) than the President's request but more than FY1999 levels. The U.S. Geological Survey is the primary science and research arm of the DOI. The proposed R&D increase for USGS is due to a one time accounting adjustment of $45.1 million in its Science programs, as well as $62.2 million in R&D facilities for, "uncontrollable costs and an increase for technical adjustments related to the budget restructuring." Absent this technical adjustment, funding for USGS's three major areas of R&D, Geological Hazards, Resources and Processes ($199 million, House 210 million, Senate $246 million)), Water Resources Investigation ($173 million, House $185 million, Senate $216 million), and Biological Research ($125 million, House $137 million, Senate $160 million) are proposed to decline 19% below FY1999 estimated levels. DOI has proposed $48 million for Integrated Science to be spent on scientific support for the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. Both the House and Senate bills denied funding for this program, with the House noting that such a program should already exist among Interior's science activities. The House passed H.R. 2466 on July 14, maintaining the committee's R&D numbers. The Senate incorporated S. 1292 into the House bill and approved its version of H.R. 2466 on September 23.

Department of Transportation (DOT)

The Department of Transportation requested a total of $841,477,000 for research and development (R&D) during FY2000, an increase of $306,490,000, or about 57% over the previously enacted $534,987,000 for FY1999. The largest R&D increase was targeted for Federal Highways, which requested $531,371,000, up 106% from the FY1999 enacted level of $257,579,000. The Federal Aviation Administration request $181 million for R&D, a $22 million increase over FY1999. Under the guidelines established by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA21), House and Senate appropriators have had to work within concisely defined budgetary boundaries. Consequently, funding for some R&D programs will be protected while others may not be. The Senate (S. 1143, S.Rept. 106-55) has proposed to reduce the President's request for the Transportation R&D account, recommending an estimated 637 million for R&D in FY2000. The House bill (H.R. 2084, H.Rept. 106-180) proposes to spend $654 million for theses activities. Congress approved $645 million for transportation R&D (H.Rept. 106-355), a 20% increase over FY1999.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The FY2000 request of $642.5 million represented a 3% decrease when compared to current year funding of $660.0 million. Research funds of $37.3 million would be transferred from the Superfund account to the Science and Technology (S&T) account. The S&T account incorporates elements of the former Research and Development account (R&D, also called extramural research) as well as EPA's in house R&D and technology efforts. A continuing issue has been the quality of the science upon which EPA bases its regulations, criteria, and programs for issues ranging from fine particles to endocrine disrupters to climate change. The House Committee on Science on May 26 ordered to be reported H.R. 1742, which authorized appropriations for EPA's Office of R&D and Science Advisory Board of $504.0 million for FY2000 and $519.9 million for FY2001, and $37.3 million for FY2000 and $38.4 million for FY2001 Superfund activities. The House Science Committee also ordered to be reported H.R. 1743, which authorized appropriations for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation Science and Technology $124.2 million for FY2000 and $128.0 million for FY2001, and for EPA's work in the Climate Change Technology Initiative, $105.8 million for FY2000 and $109.0 million for FY2001. On September 9, the House passed the VA/HUD appropriations bill (H.R. 2684) approving $645.0 million for the FY2000 S&T account, which included a transfer of $35.0 million from the Hazardous Substance Superfund account, to the S&T account. On September 16, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved S. 1596, recommending a total of $642.5 million for EPA S&T, of which $38.0 million is transferred from the Superfund account. The conferees (H.Rept. 106-379) approved $645 million for science and technology.

Table 7. R&D Budgets of Preceding Federal Agencies
($ millions)

Discretionary Spending Caps and R&D Funding

In 1997 Congress enacted discretionary spending caps with the goal of achieving a federal budget surplus by FY2002. Although CBO estimated a $160 billion dollar surplus in FY2000 (from mandatory funding, Social Security, Medicare, etc., and $14 billion for on-budget spending), Congress has decided to maintain the discretionary funding caps for FY2000. As indicated in the corresponding graph, Congress approved discretionary spending levels in FY1999 that exceeded the caps by about $25 billion. Of that amount, $21 billion was declared "emergency spending," thus, not counting against the cap, and $4 billion approved as "forward funding" spending, which counts against the FY2000 cap.

The President's proposed $555 billion in discretionary spending for FY2000 which exceeds current discretionary spending caps by $17.8 billion. The Administration has proposed $17.8 billion in revenue offsets, which includes $8 billion from new tobacco revenues, to comply with the caps. Congress has rejected this approach, vowing to keep discretionary spending within the caps. Since R&D makes up 14% of all discretionary spending, and given other competing discretionary programs, such as defense, education and housing, R&D would face significant cuts below FY1999 levels if Congress complies with the caps. In order to match funding for nondefense discretionary programs at FY1999 levels ($277 billion) Congress (based on their FY2000 budget resolution) would have to add about $20 billion to non-defense discretionary funding for FY2000.

Representative Sensenbrenner introduced H.R. 2086, the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act (NITRD) , a bill to fund long term information technology research and permanently reauthorize the federal R&D tax credit. Unlike the Administration's IT² initiative, the Science Committee's NITRD proposal would authorize $4.8 billion for IT research over 5 years, in six agencies (NSF, DOE, NASA, NIST, EPA and NOAA) under the committee's jurisdiction. It appears that the Administration's IT² initiative provides funding only in FY2000. The NITRD bill would nearly double federal support for IT research focusing on long term basic research with priority areas addressing high-end computing, software, and network stability. For FY2000 the proposal would provide $874.2 million for the six agencies involved. However, given congressional desire to keep discretionary spending within existing budget caps, it's not clear how the appropriations subcommittees will respond to this initiative. (See CRS Issue Brief 95051, The National Information Infrastructure: The Federal Role.)

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