What's New: To receive these updates and announcements by email, manage your subscription, or review the mailing list archive, go to the NCSE List User Form. EPA STAR Funding Restored by House Appropriations Committee July 23, 2004 -- Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would restore full funding for EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) graduate fellowship and research grants programs.  The programs were targeted for deep cuts in the Administration's FY 2005 budget request.  The House bill would increase funding for the STAR programs by $16.2 million, "which fully restores these activities to the fiscal year 2004 level," according to the accompanying committee report.   The Administration's proposal to cut funding for EPA's STAR grant program was surprising in light of a recent National Research Council Report that judged it to be an "excellent" program and concluded, "…[STAR] has provided EPA with independent analysis and perspective that has improved the agency's scientific foundation," and "the STAR program should continue to be an important part of EPA's research program." The STAR graduate fellowship program is the only federal program designed exclusively for students pursing advanced degrees in environmental sciences.  From 1995 to 2001, EPA funded over 800 STAR fellows at 168 colleges and universities.  The STAR fellowship program is highly competitive, with only 7 percent of applicants being awarded fellowships. Addressing the proposed STAR cuts in a March 11, 2004 hearing, Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), Chairman of the House Science Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards, concluded that he had, "not heard a convincing reason today for why the STAR program was cut so dramatically. By all accounts, it is a well-run, competitive, peer reviewed program that produces high quality research. These proposed reductions should not be allowed to take effect."   The House Appropriations Committee also restored $9.2 million of funding for the EPA Office of Environmental Education. The office -- which provides national leadership for environmental education, encourages careers related to the environment, and leverages non-federal investment in environmental education and training programs -- would have been stripped of all funding under the Administration's FY 2005 budget request.   In recent years the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) led a campaign that generated thousands of letters, faxes, emails, and phone calls asking Congress to restore funding for STAR fellowships.  This year NCSE is playing a lead role in restoring funding for both the STAR grant and fellowship programs.  NCSE's testimony in support of full funding for the EPA STAR programs is available online at www.NCSEonline.org.   The EPA budget will not be finalized until the FY 2005 appropriations bill is passed in identical form by the House and Senate and then signed into law by the President.  NCSE has obtained an advance copy of the House appropriations bill and the accompanying committee report.  The full text of both documents will be posted on the NCSE website 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.    ----------------------------------------------------   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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