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U.S. Geological Survey Faces 2.6 Percent Budget Cut in FY 2004 The President's FY 2004 budget request for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) would cut nearly every line item in the agency's budget relative to the FY 2003 enacted level.  Total funding for the USGS would decrease by $24 million or 2.6 percent to $895.5 million in FY 2004[1] (Table 1), which is below both the FY 2003 level and the FY 2002 level.  Funding for R&D sponsored by the USGS would decline by 4.2 percent $545 million in FY 2004, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.    The FY 2004 USGS budget request would cut funding for Biological Research by 0.6 percent, Geologic Hazards and Resources by 5.0 percent, Mapping, Remote Sensing and Geographic Investigations by 9.6 percent, and Water Resources by 3.4 percent (Table 1).   Several programs would receive disproportionate cuts in the FY 2004 budget request.  For example, the Geographic Analysis and Monitoring program would be cut by 24.7 percent or $4.0 million to $12.3 million.  The Mineral Resources program would decline by 22.2 percent or $12.4 million to $43.4 million.  The Toxic Substances Hydrology Program would be cut by 17.7 percent or $2.4 million to $11.1 million.  Congress rejected a proposal in the President's FY 2003 budget request to transfer funding for the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program from the USGS to the National Science Foundation.  As in past years, funding for the Water Resources Research Institutes is eliminated in the FY 2004 request.  Congress restored funding for the Water Resources Research Institutes in FY 2003.   Funding initiatives in the FY 2004 budget request include a $3 million increase to expand invasive species research and develop a model for a national early warning invasive species detection network for land managers.   The budget request also includes a $3 million increase for Science on the Department of the Interior Landscape, an initiative to provide funds for enhanced science support to Interior's bureaus to meet their high priority science needs.   Wrap-up of FY 2003 Appropriations.  When the FY 2003 appropriations process was finally completed, the U.S. Geological Survey received $919.3 million, an increase of 0.6 percent relative to the FY 2002 budget.  However, the final FY 2003 funding level for the USGS is 6 percent above the President's budget request for FY 2003.  Congress continued a pattern of restoring cuts in the President's budget request and (in some years) adding significant amounts of new funding.  In the FY 2003 appropriations process, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee urged the White House Office of Management and Budget to fund key programs in the base budget rather than rely on Congress to restore funding on an annual basis.   Table 1.  U.S. Geological Survey Appropriations           (budget authority in millions of dollars)                                     Change from    Budget Authority   FY 03 Enacted to USGS Activity/Subactivity ($ Millions)   FY 04 Request   FY 20021 FY 20032 FY 2004   Amount Percent   Actual Enacted Request   ($ Millions) (%)               Mapping, Remote Sensing, & Geog. Investigations  133.1 133.2 120.5   -12.7 -9.6%    Cooperative Topographic Mapping 81.0 81.1 74.1   -7.0 -8.6%    Land Remote Sensing 35.8 35.7 34.0   -1.7 -4.7%    Geographic Analysis and Monitoring 16.3 16.4 12.3   -4.0 -24.7%               Geologic Hazards, Resources, and Processes 232.6 233.2 221.6   -11.6 -5.0%    Geologic Hazard Assessments 74.9 75.0 72.8   -2.2 -3.0%    Geologic Landscape & Coastal Assessments 77.9 78.7 79.4   0.7 0.9%    Geologic Resource Assessment 79.7 79.5 69.4   -10.1 -12.7%               Water Resources Investigations  206.4 207.2 200.1   -7.1 -3.4%    Hydrologic Monitoring, Assessm'ts & Research 136.1 136.8 135.6   -1.2 -0.9%    Cooperative Water Program 64.3 64.4 64.5   0.1 0.2%    Water Resources Research Act Program 6.0 6.0 0.0   -6.0 -100.0%               Biological Research  166.2 169.8 168.9   -0.9 -0.6%    Biological Research and Monitoring 133.4 132.1 134.0   1.9 1.4%    Biological Information Management & Delivery 18.9 22.8 20.7   -2.1 -9.2%    Cooperative Research Units 14.0 14.9 14.1   -0.8 -5.1%               Science Support 86.2 85.2 91.5   6.4 7.5%               Facilities 89.4 90.8 92.9   2.2 2.4%                TOTAL 913.9 919.3 895.5   -23.8 -2.6%               Source: The Interior in Brief Fiscal Year 2004 and USGS.           1 Included in the FY 2002 Actual Column are: enacted funding ($914.0 million); Across-The-Board (ATB) reduction (-$0.9 million); and transfer to Water for Cyprus Work ($0.8 million). 2 Included in the FY 2003 Enacted column are: enacted funding ($925.3 million) and ATB reduction    (-$6.0 million)               [1] Changes between FY 2004 and FY 2003 cited in this article may differ widely from those cited in the President's FY 2004 budget request. In this article, changes between the FY 2004 budget request and FY 2003 are expressed relative to the enacted FY 2003 appropriations bills.  In the President's budget request, changes between FY 2004 and FY 2003 are expressed relative to the President's FY 2003 budget request because the FY 2003 enacted levels were not available at the time the President submitted his FY 2004 budget request.  An omnibus appropriations bill containing 11 of the 13 original FY 2003 appropriations bills was passed by Congress on February 13 and signed by President Bush on February 20, 2003, nearly five months after the start of FY 2003.

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