Geoscience Policy Monthly Review
june 2018

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budget

House and Senate pass appropriations legislation funding FY 2019 Energy and Water Development

June 28, 2018

In June 2018, the House and Senate consecutively passed the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R. 5895) to make progress on the appropriations process before the fiscal year (FY) 2019 deadline of September 30, 2018. The bill, dubbed a “minibus”, combines three appropriations bills: Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019; Legislative branch Appropriations Act, 2019; and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019.

While the House version passed on a near party line vote (235 to 179) on June 8, the Senate’s amended version passed by a vote of 87 to 9 on June 25. Both versions of the bill include increased funding for the Department of Energy (DOE); however, the total funding and distribution among programs as well as the additional legislative proposals – known as riders – differ between the chambers’ bills. On June 28, the House named conferees – members of Congress who will negotiate final language – to work with Senate conferees, yet to be named, on reconciling the versions passed by each chamber.

More FY 2019 appropriations bills are slated to be considered in July, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowing to shorten the Senate’s August recess to proceed with appropriations legislation and nominee confirmation.  

Sources: E&E News; Library of Congress; The Hill.

Senate Appropriations Committee approves NSF, NOAA, NASA, NIST, and OSTP funding

June 14, 2018

A month after the House Committee on Appropriations approved the Science Appropriations Act of 2018 (H.R. 5952), the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved their Commerce, Justice, and Science fiscal year (FY) 2019 appropriations bill. Similar to the House bill, the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 (S. 3072; S. Rept. 115-275) would increase funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) compared to FY 2018 levels, but decrease funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The committee-approved bill provides $8.1 billion for NSF, which is $301 million more than the amount provided in FY 2018. This includes $6.49 billion to support Research and Related Activities, which encompasses research activities of the Geoscience Directorate (GEO). The committee directed NSF to maintain core research at levels no lower than FY 2017 and continue pursuing the 10 Big Ideas using the increase in appropriations for FY 2019. The committee encouraged NSF to transfer the USArray monitoring stations to the U.S. Geological Survey and to brief the committee on future plans to maintain access to marine seismic research following the divestment of the R/V Langseth. The Committee approved $249 million for Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction, including support to complete construction of three Regional Class Research Vessels and to continue the Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization for Science project. The Education and Human Resources account would increase by $13 million.

The Senate FY 2019 appropriations bill would fund NOAA at $5.48 billion, a smaller reduction of $426.4 million compared to the $750 million cut approved by the House committee. The bill includes $588 million for the National Ocean Service (NOS), an increase of $23 million. The committee expressed concern with NOAA’s slow progress in reducing the backlog of hydrographic survey work, especially in the Arctic. The bill would increase funding of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and Marine Debris programs by $1 million each and directed an additional $2.5 million to the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. It provides nearly flat funding at $549 million for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), but preserves many programs targeted for elimination in the President’s FY 2019 request. The bill would appropriate $100 million more than the President’s requested amount of $1.74 billion for the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). Similar to the House, the Senate committee rejected the administration’s proposal to decrease staff at the National Weather Service (NWS) and eliminate NOAA’s Office of Education.

The committee approved an increase of $587 million for NASA with overall funding at $21.3 billion. The bill would increase funding for NASA Science by $179 million, and the Earth Science sub-account would receive an increase of $10 million instead of cutting the program as proposed by the administration. Similar to the House report language, the committee directed NASA to follow recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences Earth Science and Applications from Space Decadal Survey report. The committee recommended $162.4 million for Landsat 9 to maintain a 2020 launch, $161 for the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem mission, and $10 million for the Climate Monitoring Program. The bill would increase NASA Education funding by $10 million compared to FY 2018 in order to educate and inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators. The bill funds NIST at $1.04 billion, which is a decrease of $161 million from FY 2018 levels, but a slight increase compared to previous fiscal years. The National Space Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) would receive flat funding as requested by the administration.

Sources: Library of Congress; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Institute of Standards and Technology; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Science Foundation; U.S. Senate, Committee on Appropriations; White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Lawmakers discuss the future of the International Space Station

June 6, 2018

In response to President Donald Trump’s request to terminate direct federal funding to the International Space Station (ISS) by 2025, lawmakers in the House and Senate held several hearings to discuss the future of the ISS.

The Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness held the first in a series of two hearings on May 16. The hearing, titled “Examining the Future of the International Space Station: Administration Perspectives,” focused on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) perspectives on the feasibility of transitioning the ISS into a partially commercial operation by the year 2024. In 2017, the NASA Transition Authorization Act (S. 442) was signed into law, authorizing federal funding for the ISS through 2024, with direction for NASA to pursue international, commercial, and intragovernmental means of ISS logistics, thus alleviating the need for complete federal funding. However, NASA Associate Administrator William Gerstenmaier testified that industries will not be ready to take on ISS investments, or other low earth orbit (LEO) projects and partnerships, by 2025. According to NASA officials, with over $100 billion already devoted to the construction and maintenance of the ISS since its inception, the facility can remain functional until at least 2028. Subcommittee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) indicated that there is bipartisan congressional support for continuing federal support for the ISS and its premature cancellation would be a waste of the significant investment made by taxpayers.

On May 17, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing titled “America’s Human Presence in Low-Earth Orbit,” which reflected conversations that took place during the Senate hearing. Representative Brian Babin (R-TX-36), chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, stated that the United States should maintain an LEO presence to support the nation’s future journeys to the moon and deep space. Other witnesses expressed their agreement with Representative Babin and further discussed the options for both partial and full transition to commercial usage of the ISS. Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX-1) recognized that, due to budget constraints, lawmakers would be required to make tough cuts to certain programs such as the ISS to enable these space exploration missions to take place, although he agreed that LEO is essential for these missions and for continued scientific research.

The second Senate subcommittee hearing, titled “Examining the Future of the International Space Station: Stakeholder Perspectives” was held on June 6. At this hearing, ISS stakeholders shared their perspectives on the proposed 2025 termination date and discussed the value and current state of research in LEO. Witnesses from the Boeing Company and Axiom Space testified that prematurely cancelling the ISS in 2025 would be devastating for scientific advancement, jobs, and the potential of commercial research in LEO. Cynthia Bouthot, a representative from Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, explained that businesses would be hesitant to commit to projects or partnerships if the termination date is unclear.

Sources: Library of Congress; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; U.S. Senate, Committee on Science, Commerce, and Transportation.

House and Senate committees approve FY 2019 Interior-Environment appropriations bills

June 14, 2018

Both the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies approved their fiscal year (FY) 2019 appropriations bills to fund the Department of the Interior (DOI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other agencies. The House bill (H.R. 6147; H. Rept. 115-765) directs $1.23 billion to DOI, an increase of $64.5 million compared to FY 2018 enacted levels, and the Senate bill (S. 3073; S. Rept. 115-276) provides an increase of $30 million to DOI for a total of $1.20 billion.

While the Senate provides flat funding for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at $1.15 million, the House bill includes $19 million above the FY 2018 enacted level for USGS in FY 2019. Under Core Science Systems, both the House and Senate bills would provide funding increases for the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), with a proposed increase of $1.5 million from the House and $1.8 million from the Senate. For the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP), the Senate provides flat funding while the House would provide $1 million more in FY 2019 funding, directing the USGS to improve information on karst systems. Within the Mineral Resources Program, the new Three Dimensional mapping and Economic Empowerment Program (3DEEP) would receive $10.6 million from the House and $7 million from the Senate to improve the topographic, geological, and geophysical mapping of the United States. While the House bill matches the president’s request to fund Energy Resources at $25.9 million, the Senate would increase the program’s funding to $34.7 million in FY 2019. Both committees would preserve the Environmental Health Mission Area and provide full funding for the development of Landsat 9. The House bill would provide a $12.5 million increase and the Senate would provide a $2.5 million increase for the streamgage network. Both bills decrease funding for the Earthquake and Volcano Hazards programs compared to FY 2018 enacted levels – considering that the steep budget increases provided by Congress for those programs last year were intended to be a one-time occurrence – but the FY 2019 bills would still provide higher funding than appropriated in previous fiscal years to continue support for Earthquake Early Warning, Seismic Networks, and EarthScope USArray. The House would also provide a $150,000 increase to the Landslide Hazards program for post-wildfire debris flow hazard assessments and early warning, although the program would receive flat funding at $3.5 million from the Senate.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would receive an increase of $55 million from the House bill and $11 million from the Senate bill for FY 2019. The House committee rejected the administration’s proposal to consolidate accounts within Management of Land and Resources; however, the Senate bill accepted those proposed changes while maintaining funding of the programs at the FY 2018 enacted levels. The National Park Service would see an increase of $50 million from the House and $33 million from the Senate. Additionally, both bills would provide an increase for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management at approximately $180 million and would decrease funding for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

While the Senate bill once again proposes flat funding for the EPA, the House bill would decrease EPA funding by $100 million in FY 2019. The Forest Service would receive an increase of $364 million from the Senate and $197 million from the House. The Smithsonian Institution would maintain the same level of funding as last year from the Senate, but would receive an increase of $12 million from the House.

Sources: Library of Congress; U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations; U.S. Senate, Committee on Appropriations.