Geoscience Policy Monthly Review
march 2014
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budget
FERC and NRC request more funding
In March the federal government’s two main independent energy regulatory agencies, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), requested increases in their budget for fiscal year (FY) 2015.
FERC requested $3.273 million in FY 2015, a 7.4 percent increase over the FY 2014 appropriation. FERC cited office consolidation and the need for increased data and technologies capabilities to effectively monitor energy and utilities markets as justifications for the increase. The request also includes funding for applications processing for natural gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas export facilities and hydropower projects, and increased cyber and energy infrastructure needs. FERC recovers the full cost of its operations through annual charges and filing fees assessed on the industries it regulates. The Commission deposits this revenue into the
Treasury as a direct offset to its appropriation, resulting in no net appropriation.
NRC requested $1.060 billion in FY 2015, a 0.4 percent increase over the FY 2014 appropriation. NRC’s budget focuses on lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima disaster and enhancing mitigation strategies, including seismic and flooding reevaluations and reviewing safety methods. The request includes funding for expenses involved in the decommissioning of power plants in Crystal River, FL, and San Diego County, CA, increasing cyber security of reactors, and creation of strategies for disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high level waste.
Sources: E&E News; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Government Printing Office; Nuclear Regulatory Commission
FY 2015 budget request hearing: DOE Applied Energy
On March 25, the House Committee on Appropriations’ Energy and Water Development Subcommittee held a fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget hearing for Applied Energy Funding at the Department of Energy (DOE). Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-ID) opened by stating that Applied Energy programs, which include Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Nuclear Energy (NE), Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), and Fossil Energy (FE), account for over $3.8 billion of the agency’s total $27.2 billion budget request. He expressed concern over the 15.4 percent reduction to Fossil Energy, and 2.8 percent reduction to Nuclear Energy.
In his testimony, EERE’s Assistant Secretary David Danielson stressed the high rate of return on research and development (R&D) investment in project areas of renewable power generation, energy efficiency, advanced manufacturing, and weatherization programs. These areas represent the largest contributions to the agency’s $2.3 billion request.
Assistant Secretary of NE Peter Lyons outlined his agency’s $863.4 million request, which includes funding for design certification and licensing of commercial small modular reactors (SMRs) and research on dry cask storage of spent nuclear fuel, reactor openings and closings, and continued development of passively safe reactors.
FE’s Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Smith justified his agency’s $711 million request for management of fossil fuels, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), advanced energy systems, and natural gas extraction hazards R&D.
Witnesses also identified several cooperative initiatives between the previously mentioned DOE agencies, including research on supercritical CO2 and integrated energy systems.
Members focused on how federally funded scientific discoveries provide benefits such as jobs for U.S. citizens. Chairman Simpson, however, articulated concerns about the danger of government investments replacing private ventures into energy sector R&D.
Sources: FY 2015 Presidential Budget Request; House Committee on Appropriations
FY 2015 budget request hearing: DOI
On March 25, the House Committee on Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee held a fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget hearing for the Department of the Interior (DOI). Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell testified before the subcommittee, defending her agency’s $11.9 billion request for FY 2015.
The DOI’s budget request includes $1.1 billion for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a 4 percent increase from FY 2014, and $1.1 billion for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a 4 percent increase from FY 2014. The request also includes $753.2 million for conventional and renewable energy programs, a 5 percent increase, $169.8 million for Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a 3 percent increase, and $144.8 million for the Office of Surface Mining, a 4 percent decrease from FY 2014.
USGS plans to prioritize funding increases for climate change adaptation, environmental health impacts, invasive species removal, and earth observations.
The proposal also includes efforts to increase rates for private oil and gas development leases on public lands and a penalty for delays in drilling after a permit has been awarded. According to Secretary Jewell, revenue gained would fund streamlining of the permitting process for such leases.
Sources: FY 2015 Presidential Budget Request; House Committee on Appropriations
FY 2015 budget request hearing: science agencies
On March 26, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing reviewing the Administration's fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget request for science agencies. Witness Dr. John Holdren, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), justified all science agency requests in his opening statement, but committee members focused on funding details for NASA, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) articulated his disappointment in the President’s proposal to cut NASA's budget by $187 million (1.1 percent decrease) from the FY 2014 enacted level of $17.5 billion. Dr. Holdren contended that the NASA request aims to continue investment in the International Space Station (ISS) and Orion missions, and to further development of private sector systems.
Dr. Holdren highlighted the Administration’s proposed Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative, suggesting the $56 billion program, which is separate from the President’s formal budget request, would be self-funded through additional revenue based on spending reforms and closing tax loopholes. According to Dr. Holdren, revenue would be divided equally between defense and non-defense spending, with $5 billion specifically for scientific research and development (R&D). He stated that the Administration would like to work with Congress on reauthorizing the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010.
Sources: FY 2015 Presidential Budget Request; House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; NASA; National Science Foundation