| 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.
|
|
Science, Environment and Policy Report
July-August 2004
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) invites you to participate in the 5th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Forecasting Environmental Changes, to be held on February 3-4, 2005 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC.
The conference will serve as a forum for more than 700 leading scientists, engineers, policy makers, government officials, business executives, and educators to assess our ability to understand and forecast environmental changes and to identify opportunities for improving these capabilities. It will bring together researchers who study environmental conditions and trends with decisionmakers who need that information to guide choices that will affect the quality of the environment.
Participants will apply lessons learned from successful environmental forecasting systems - including examples from meteorology and oceanography - to help design new systems for forecasting ecological changes. They will also address how improvements in ecological forecasting can lead to improvements in environmental decisionmaking.
The opening keynote address will be delivered by James Gustave Speth, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, who will provide a global context for forecasting changes in the Earth's ecological systems. Drawing upon his experience as former Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Founder and former President of the World Resources Institute, and former Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Speth will address opportunities for the United States to assert a leadership role in domestic and international environmental issues.
Issues such as loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use and habitat alteration, invasive species, climate change, and emerging infectious diseases require a means of bringing together the nation's diverse scientific talent - from biological, physical, social, and engineering disciplines. NCSE's conference will serve as a venue for this vital collaboration.
The United States presently spends more than $1 billion per year on monitoring the state of the environment. Yet these efforts have been criticized as uncoordinated, incomplete, incompatible, and inconsistent. Recent advances in sensors and observation systems provide an opportunity for integrated research and observation networks, not only in the U.S. but involving many nations.
The 2005 conference will serve as an outcome-oriented forum with the goal of formulating a vision for the future of environmental monitoring and forecasting. Participants will share recent advances in the ability to forecast environmental changes on a variety of spatial and temporal scales. They will identify needs for improved research, observation networks, information management, education and communication tools and processes that will allow more accurate and timely environmental forecasting.
Registration for NCSE's 5th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Forecasting Environmental Changes will open in the fall. A limited number of complimentary registrations are available to members of the NCSE University Affiliates Program. Please visit www.NCSEonline.org to see pre-conference materials, obtain the latest program updates, and view links to travel and lodging options. Please direct general conference questions to conference2005@NCSEonline.org.
In a shock to the scientific community, the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill on July 22 that would cut the budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF) by $111 million in FY 2005. The House appropriations bill would provide $5.47 billion for the NSF in FY 2005, which is 2.0 percent less than last year's funding level and 5.0 percent less than the Administration's FY 2005 budget request (Table 1).
The House appropriations bill contradicts the NSF Authorization Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-368), which authorizes a doubling of the agency's budget over five years. Instead of increasing NSF's budget toward the doubling path, the appropriations bill would cut the agency's funding for the first time in many years.
The cuts also defy the spirit of a bipartisan letter signed by 157 Members of Congress, which states, "We believe that significant increases in NSF's overall budget are warranted." The letter of June 8, 2004 says, "We are writing to urge you to make the National Science Foundation (NSF) a priority and fund it at the highest possible level in the Fiscal Year 2005 budget." It concludes, "We cannot afford to sacrifice the research and education which current and future generations need to ensure their economic prosperity and domestic security."
Table 1. National Science Foundation Appropriations
(budget authority in millions of dollars)
______________________________________________________________________________________
| Budget Authority
|
| Change from FY 2004
| NSF Program
| (millions of dollars)
|
| to FY 2005 House
|
| FY 2003
| FY 2004
| FY 2005
| FY 2005
|
| Amount
| Percent
|
| Actual1
| Estimate2
| Request3
| House4
|
| ($ Millions)
| (%)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Research and Related Activities (R&RA)
| 4,054.0
| 4,251.4
| 4,452.0
| 4,151.7
|
| -99.6
| -2.3%
| Edu. and Human Resources (EHR)
| 935.0
| 939.0
| 771.4
| 843.0
|
| -96.0
| -10.2%
| Major Research Equipment (MREFC)
| 179.0
| 154.9
| 213.3
| 208.2
|
| 53.3
| 34.4%
| Salaries and Expenses
| 189.0
| 218.7
| 294.0
| 250.0
|
| 31.3
| 14.3%
| National Science Board
| 3.0
| 3.9
| 4.0
| 4.0
|
| 0.1
| 1.9%
| Office of Inspector General
| 9.0
| 9.9
| 10.1
| 10.1
|
| 0.2
| 1.7%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| TOTAL
| 5,369.0
| 5,578.0
| 5,745.0
| 5,467.0
|
| -111.0
| -2.0%
|
___________________________________________________________________________
Source: NCSE analysis of VA, HUD, Independent Agencies appropriations bill and accompanying report as approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 22, 2004.
Notes:
1 FY 2003 Actual as provided by NSF
2 FY 2004 Estimate as provided by House Appropriations Committee
3 President's budget request for FY 2005
4 FY 2005 House refers to funding levels as approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 22, 2004. The cut in the R&RA account would be $73.7 million after adjusting for a transfer of $26.0 million from R&RA to the Salaries and Expenses adjusting for a transfer of $5.5 million from EHR to the Salaries and Expenses account. account. The cut in the EHR account would be $90.5 million after
Other highlights regarding the National Science Foundation from the House appropriations bill and accompanying report are provided below:
- The Research and Related Activities (R&RA) account would receive $4.15 billion, a cut of $99.6 million or 2.3 percent relative to FY 2004. The cut in this account would be $73.7 million after adjusting for a transfer of $26.0 million from R&RA to the Salaries and Expenses account. Under the House bill, no funds would be provided for the proposed new class of Science and Technology Centers in FY 2005.
- The Education and Human Resources (EHR) account would receive $843 million, a cut of $96.0 million or 10.2 percent relative to FY 2004. The Math Science Partnership (MSP) would be cut by $56.7 million. The House Appropriations committee rejected the Administration's proposal to transfer this program from EHR to R&RA.
- The Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction account would receive $208.2 million, an increase of $53.3 million or 34.4 percent relative to FY 2004. The House bill would provide initial funding of $30.0 million for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and $47.3 million in continued funding for EarthScope. Responding to a National Research Council recommendation to revise plans for the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the House bill would provide $6 million for continued planning and design of NEON from the R&RA account but no funds for construction in FY 2005. (See the following article for a more detailed account of the provision to fund NEON planning and design.)
The NSF budget will not be finalized until the FY 2005 appropriations bill is passed in identical form by both chambers and signed into law by the President. Although the federal fiscal year begins on October 1, Congress may not complete action on the FY 2005 funding measure until after the November elections.
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) is working with other scientific organizations to increase funding for NSF when the appropriations bill is considered by the full House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. For further information, contact Craig Schiffries, Director of Science Policy, National Council for Science and the Environment.
On July 22, 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). This provision is included in the appropriations bill that would provide funding for NSF in FY 2006 (see above article).
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. (9/14/04-- Now available: bill, committee report)
On July 22, 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. (9/14/04-- Now available: bill, committee report)
Congress is poised to resume consideration of key legislation that could lead to the most profound changes in U.S. ocean policy in 35 years.
The recent introduction of several U.S. ocean policy reform bills in the House and Senate (Table 2) was spurred by a draft report issued by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy entitled, "An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century," that expresses an urgent need for major changes in the management of U.S. coastal and marine resources. Embraced by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) as "a bold new vision for exploring, managing and protecting our oceans," the congressionally mandated report is widely viewed as the first comprehensive analysis of U.S. ocean policy in over three decades.
Responding to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy's call to action, Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) introduced one of several "Big Oceans Bills" (BOBs) -- the National Ocean Policy and Leadership Act (S. 2647) -- which would adopt an ecosystem-based approach to ocean and coastal management, codify the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's mission and authority in an "organic act," streamline NOAA's management structure, and improve interagency coordination. On July 22, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy issued a revised draft report that reflects comments from 37 governors and 5 tribal leaders. Sen. Hollings reflected these comments in his bill by emphasizing the need for greater involvement of regional and local authorities in ocean a
|
