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NCSE Testifies in Support of Funding for NSF, USGS and EPA STAR
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) testified before the House and Senate in support of appropriations for several key science agencies in March and April 2004. Speaking before the House Appropriations panel that has jurisdiction over the National Science Foundation and Environmental Protection Agency, NCSE Director of Science Policy Craig Schiffries said, "Federal investments in environmental R&D must keep pace with the growing need to improve the scientific basis for environmental decisionmaking." NCSE's testimony in support of increased environmental R&D at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is summarized below.
Environmental Protection Agency. NCSE urges Congress to reject drastic budget cuts proposed for competitive research grants and graduate fellowships administered by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program. The FY 2005 budget request would cut the STAR research grants program by approximately 30 percent, from an estimated $92 million in the FY 2004 enacted appropriations bill to $65 million in the FY 2005 budget request. It would also cut the STAR graduate fellowship program by 33.5 percent, from $9.17 million in FY 2004 to $6.1 million in the FY 2005 budget request. As Rep. Vernon Ehlers, Chairman of the House Science Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards, has said, "These proposed reductions should not be allowed to take effect." We ask Congress to provide at least $100 million for the STAR research grants program and at least $10 million for the STAR graduate fellowship program.
Deep budget cuts in EPA's STAR program have been proposed less than one year after the National Academies issued a laudatory report, The Measure of STAR, which concludes that the program supports excellent science that is directly relevant to the agency's mission. According to the report, the STAR program has "yielded significant new findings and knowledge critical for regulatory decision making." The report says, "The program has established and maintains a high degree of scientific excellence." It also concludes that the EPA STAR program complements research supported by other agencies and leverages its resources through partnerships, stating "The STAR program funds important research that is not conducted or funded by other agencies. The STAR program has also made commendable efforts to leverage funds through establishment of research partnerships with other agencies and organizations."
The EPA STAR research program compares favorably with programs at other science agencies. According to the National Academies report, "The STAR program has developed a grant-award process that compares favorably with and in some ways exceeds that in place at other agencies that have extramural research programs, such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences."
National Science Foundation. NCSE recommends a 15 percent increase in funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), bringing the agency's budget to $6.41 billion in FY 2005. This action is necessary to put the agency on track to double its budget in five years, in accordance with the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-368), which was passed by Congress and signed by the President less than 18 months ago. This legislation recognizes the critical connection between science and the long-term economic strength of the nation.
NCSE emphasizes the need for increased funding for NSF's Environmental Research and Education portfolio, especially the priority area on Biocomplexity in the Environment. Given that the National Science Board has identified environmental research and education as one of NSF's highest priorities (see article above), funding for the ERE portfolio should grow at least as rapidly as the total NSF budget. In the FY 2005 budget request, funding for the agency's environmental research and education portfolio would decrease by 0.2 percent. The lagging growth of the Environmental Research and Education budget relative to the total NSF budget in recent years raises serious concerns about its status as one of the agency's "highest priorities." NCSE encourages Congress to support more investment in this important area of research.
The President's budget request would increase overall funding for NSF by 3.0 percent to $5.75 billion in FY 2005. Of the $167 million in new funding, 45 percent would be devoted to a management initiative that would provide more staff for NSF and improve the security of its computer systems. Under the FY 2005 budget request, funding for most of the disciplinary directorates, such as Biological Sciences and Geosciences, would increase by only 2.2 percent, only slightly more than the expected rate of inflation.
U.S. Geological Survey. NCSE urges Congress to appropriate $1 billion for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in FY 2005, an increase of 6.6 percent over FY 2004. USGS science impacts every citizen in the nation by providing critical knowledge on natural hazards, freshwater, geological and biological resources, and mapping. The 6.6 percent increase propose by NCSE would restore damaging cuts in the USGS budget request, provide full funding for "uncontrollable" cost increases, and allow for modest investments in a few high priority areas that would pay dividends to homeland security, economic development, natural resources management, natural hazards mitigation, and other critical national needs.
The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy cites USGS funding cuts as a factor in the inadequacy of the nation's water quality monitoring network. According to the Commission's draft report (see below), "National [water] monitoring has been greatly reduced, particularly in coastal areas, due to funding cuts at USGS and many partner agencies. The USGS National Streamflow Information Program has eliminated a number of streamgages… Funding cuts have also affected USGS's water quality monitoring programs, resulting in reductions in the number of sampling sites and sampling frequency."
Under the FY 2005 budget request, funding for the USGS would fall by $18.2 million or 1.9 percent to $919.8 million in FY 2005. After accounting for transfers of existing funds to the agency's new Enterprise Information account, funding for Water Resources would decrease 4.2 percent, funding for Geology would decrease 3.9 percent, funding for Biological Research would decrease 2.3 percent, and funding for the Geography (formerly Mapping) would decrease 1.7 percent. These proposed budget cuts would impair the ability of the USGS to achieve its important mission.
The full text of NCSE's congressional testimony is available online at
http://www.ncseonline.org/SciencePolicy/page.cfm?FID=1964. For more information please contact Dr. Craig Schiffries, Director of Science Policy at schiffries@NCSEonline.org or 202-530-5810.
Craig Schiffries and Amanda Brewster
National Council for Science and the Environment
1707 H Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: 202-530-5810
Email: policy@NCSEonline.org
Web: www.NCSEonline.org
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