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House Panel Approves Funding for NEON Planning and Design
July 23, 2004 -- Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would provide $6 million for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue planning and design of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON).
NEON will be a continental scale research instrument consisting of geographically distributed infrastructure. According to NSF, "NEON will transform ecological research by enabling studies on major environmental challenges at regional to continental scales. Scientists and engineers will use NEON to conduct real-time ecological studies spanning all levels of biological organization and temporal and geographical scales."
The President's FY 2005 budget request for the National Science Foundation included $12 million in its Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) account to begin building NEON and $4 million in its Research and Related Activities account for planning. Responding to a National Research Council recommendation to revise plans for NEON, the House Appropriations Committee provided $6 million for planning and no funds for construction in FY 2005.
Excerpts from the House Appropriations Committee report are provided below:
Research and Related Activities
"Within the amounts provided, $6,000,000 is for continued planning and design activities for the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The National Research Council's (NRC) review of the NEON program, while endorsing a NEON-like concept, found that further refinement and more detailed implementation plans were necessary to maximize the benefit from this investment. NSF is expected to consider and incorporate the Council's recommendations as it continues planning and design activities, particularly the NRC's recommendations to strengthen partnerships and collaborations with other Federal agencies. The Committee believes such collaborations are critical to maximize the use of existing observatory networks in order to avoid redundancy of Federal research dollars and reduce the overall cost of the NEON project."
Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction
"The Committee does not recommend funding for the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) project within this [Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction] account but instead has included funding for continued planning and design within the Research and Related Activities account. The recommendation is based on the NRC's recent review of the project that concluded that a refined focus and a more detailed implementation plan are required."
The NSF budget will not be finalized until the FY 2005 appropriations bill is passed by the full House and the full Senate, reconciled by a House-Senate conference committee, approved in identical form by both chambers, and signed into law by the President.
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) has obtained an advance copy of the appropriations bill and the accompanying committee report that would provide funding for the National Science Foundation. The full text of both documents will be posted on the NCSE website (www.NCSEonline.org) when they are filed in Congress.
Update: September 14, 2004 -- The House Appropriations bill, HR 5041, and accompanying committee report are now available to the public.
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Craig Schiffries, Ph.D.
Director of Science Policy
National Council for Science and the Environment
1707 H Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: 202-530-5810
Email: Schiffries@NCSEonline.org
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