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Month: February 2009

OMB Releases Recovery Act Implementation Guidance to Federal Agencies

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Peter Orszag, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director, has issued guidance (see link below) to federal agency heads on how to implement use of funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The linked memorandum provides the first installment of government-wide guidance for carrying out programs and activities enacted in the legislation. As was explained by NIH Acting Director Raynard King in a briefing yesterday, the memo states that an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability will be required of those receiving funds from the Recovery Act.

The OMB guidance issued yesterday contains action steps that federal agencies must take immediately in order to meet these objectives and to implement the Act effectively. Of particular note, the guidance addresses federal agency requirements to provide spending and performance data to the “Recovery.gov” website. The guidance establishes requirements for various aspects of Recovery Act planning and implementation. These requirements are intended to meet accountability objectives:

  • Funds are awarded and distributed in a prompt, fair, and reasonable manner;
  • The recipients and uses of all funds are transparent to the public, and the benefits to the public are reported clearly, accurately, and in a timely manner;
  • Funds are used for authorized purposes and instances of fraud, waste, error, and abuse are mitigated;
  • Projects funded under this Act avoid unnecessary delays and cost overruns; and
  • Program goals are achieved, including specific program outcomes and improved results on broader economic indicators.

Additional guidance providing further detail and covering a fuller range of items will be issued within the next 30-60 days. As individual agencies issue implementation guidance, the UW Office of Federal Relations will post details to this website.

OMB Recovery Act Guidance to Federal Agencies (click here)

NIH Outlines Spending Plan for $10.4 Billion of Economic Recovery Package Funding

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Today in a briefing at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Acting NIH Director Raynard Kington provided an outline of the plan his agency will utilize to spend the $10.4 billion provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. However, Dr. Kington mentioned many times during the briefing that the details of the plan are still being worked out within NIH and the Office of Management and Budget. NIH plans to obligate the funding provided within two years and does not assume that funding will be added to the base budget.  He added that there will be no across-the-board percentage increases in grants or programs. 
 
Dr. Kington emphasized that use of the economic recovery money would not be business as usual; there will be unprecedented reporting requirements, such as information on economic impact and the number of jobs created and retained as a result of a research grant. 

Dr. Kington described the funding streams in the bill as follows:  

  • $8.2 billion for research activities, of which $7.4 billon is to be allocated across the NIH Institutes, Centers, Divisions, and the Common Fund (which includes cross-cutting activities such as the NIH Roadmap); $800 million will remain in the Office of the Director; 
  • $1 billion for extramural construction, repairs, and alterations through the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR); the review process for construction and renovation projects has not been determined (operating funds will not be provided); 
  • $300 million for shared instrumentation;
  • $500 million for construction and improvements on the NIH campus; and
  • $400 million transferred from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for comparative effectiveness research. 

Research funding will be allocated in three general ways:

  • Funding of grant applications from FY08 and FY09 that were judged to be “highly scientifically meritorious” but not funded.  Among the criteria of the selection process will be whether meaningful progress toward project goals can be achieved with two years of committed funds, rather than the usual four years of funding.  
  • Supplements to existing grants to accelerate and/or expand their work.  This may include added equipment, training positions, and summer jobs for students.  Such additions will not be made by formula, but will be based on scientific opportunity and public health needs.  The new money will not be used to restore cuts made to project proposals during earlier negotiations.  
  • NIH Challenge Grants.  There will be a “reasonable” number of awards made under this new program aimed at supporting cross-cutting research. The Institutes, Centers, and Divisions will have an opportunity to identify areas in which they would like to see applications.  NIH will issue a Request for Applications for the program soon.  

Funding will not be provided in a lump sum, but over a two year period. Given that we are dealing with funds intended to stimulate the nationally economy, geography will be a factor in awarding funding. Additionally, there will be some focus on new investigators and junior scientists. When asked if the grants would have carryover authority, Dr. Kington reminded participants that the money was intended as “a short-term stimulus” and said universities should not ask for money they didn’t think they could spend in two years. Dr. Kington explained that in rare cases, no-cost extensions may need to be granted. However, he also explained that at the end of two years, grants that have not been spent will draw scrutiny by government and result in significant embarassment to the scientific community. Dr. Kington did not give a timetable for the release of further details, but given the two-year timetable for use of funds, he expects details to be laid out in the next few weeks.

AAU Details Higher Education and Research Provisions of Economic Recovery Package

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The Association of American Universities (AAU) has prepared a grid (link below) that details the final higher education and research provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The grid breaks funding out by agency account, and also provides a comparison of the House and Senate bills that led to the final conference agreement. As has been mentioned, we will be soliciting information from the federal agencies on exactly which programs — within the accounts detailed — will be impacted by the funding provided in the package.

AAU Economic Recovery Package Funding Chart (click here)

President Signs Economic Recovery Package as Agencies Prepare

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Today, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As previously discussed on this site, the legislation provides critical funding for research and student aid. Additionally, assistance is included for state governments so that they are able to lessen the severity of cuts to education and other critical services.

At present, the federal agencies are preparing details on their plans to implement the provisions of the package. For example, on Wednesday February 18th, NIH will hold a public briefing to provide details on its planned use of $10 billion provided in stimulus. Preliminary reports indicate that NSF and NIH will fund existing applications at higher rates as opposed to issuing many new RFPs. The Office of Federal Relations will provide agency and program specific information as it is made available, likely over the course of the next week.

Brookings Institution Releases Energy R&D Proposal

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Last week, the Brookings Institution released a proposal to establish a network of regional energy discovery and innovation institutes (e-DIIs). According to the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, the e-DIIs would support the overarching goals of renewing America’s economy, promoting energy independence, and addressing climate change. Cities that are currently leaders in innovation, like Seattle, would serve as natural fits for an e-DII. The regional centers would be funded through the Department of Energy and operate as hubs of a distributed research network, linking the nation’s top scientists, engineers, and research facilities. The proposal, Energy Discovery-Innovation Institutes: A Step toward America’s Energy Sustainability, was drafted through a collaborative effort led by James Duderstadt, president emeritus at the University of Michigan. The central idea put forward in the proposal joins the nation’s major research universities with federal and corporate research and development laboratories. More specifically, the e-DIIs would:

  • Foster partnerships to pursue cutting-edge applications oriented to research among multiple participants and disciplines;
  • Develop and rapidly transfer highly innovative technologies into the marketplace; 
  • Build the knowledge base and human capital necessary to address the nation’s energy challenges; and 
  • Encourage regional economic development by spawning clusters of nearby start-up firms, private research organizations, suppliers, and other complementary groups and businesses.

According to the working group that assembled the proposal, the federal government should establish several dozen eDIIs at an annual cost of $6 billion or up to $200 million per competitively awarded eDII. The group anticipates that federal investments would be augmented by funding from academia, state governments, and industry. The February 9th rollout of the Brookings’ proposal, attended by leaders froma academia, industry, and government, demonstrated the widespread recognition of the need for increased federal investments in energy research and development.  Panelists and presenters included: William Bates, Council on Competitiveness; John Denniston, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Billy M. Glover, Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Peter McPherson, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; Michael Shellenberger, Breakthrough Institute; Howard Berke, Konarka Technologies Inc.; William Harris, Science Foundation Arizona; Jeffrey Wadsworth, Battelle Memorial Institute; Keith W. Cooley; NextEnergy; E. Gordon Gee, The Ohio State University; Michael Crow, Arizona State University, and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

The Obama administration has clearly stated a desire to increase federal investments in energy research and development. The recently passed stimulus package includes $2 billion for related research activities and serves as an example of the focus that we can expect from administration. However, the funding level proposed in the Brookings proposal remains a heavy lift. In the coming days and weeks, we can expect to get a sense of how feasible the Brookings plan is, as federal agencies begin to detail exactly how they plan to spend the billions of dollars of research funding contained in the economic recovery package, and as a Fiscal Year 2010 budget request is finalized and presented to Congress in the spring.

A full transcript of the event, audio/video recordings, and presentations are available on the Brookings website (click here).