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Senate Advances CJS and Interior-Enviornment Appropriations Bills

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations committee marked up the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) Appropriations bill and the Interior-Environment Appropriations bill. The CJS bill funds OSTP, NASA, NSF, NOAA, and NIST among others. Interior-Environment Appropriations bill funds the NEH, NEA, EPA Office of Science, and the US Geological Survey. Highlights of the two bills are provided below.

Summary: FY 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee Mark

2009 Enacted: $57.7 billion
President’s Request: $64.7 billion (including overseas contingencies)
Subcommittee Mark: $64.9 billion (including overseas contingencies)

The Subcommittee mark totals $64.9 billion in discretionary budget authority for fiscal year 2010, $7.27 billion above fiscal year 2009, excluding supplemental funding provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009.

Priorities for the bill include:
(1) Keeping America safe from terrorism and violent crime;
(2) Investing in America’s scientific infrastructure to create new technologies and new jobs; and
(3) Ensuring a timely and accurate 2010 Census

(2.) Investing in America’s scientific infrastructure to create new technologies and new jobs:

  • Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) – The bill provides $6.15 million for OSTP, equal to
    the budget request.
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – The bill provides $18.68 billion for NASA,
    $903 million above the Fiscal Year 2009 level and equal to the President’s request. The total funding
    includes $3.16 billion for Space Shuttle operations; $2.27 billion for Space Station operations; $3.5 billion
    for development of the next generation Crew Launch Vehicle and Crew Exploration Vehicle and Cargo
    Launch Vehicle; $4.5 billion for science; and $507 million for aeronautics research.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) – The bill provides $6.9 billion for NSF, $426 million above the
    Fiscal Year 2009 enacted level. The total includes $5.55 billion for research, $122 million for research
    equipment and facilities; and $857 million for education activities. The MREFC account, which supports the Oceans Observatories Initiative (of which UW is a partner), is provided $122 million -almost $5 million above the budget request.
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – The bill provides $878.8 million for NIST,
    which is $59.8 million above the Fiscal Year 2009 level enacted level and $32.7 million above the
    President’s request. The bill provides $69.9 million for the Technology Innovation Program (TIP), equal
    to the President’s request. The bill also includes $124.7 million for the Hollings Manufacturing
    Extension Partnership (MEP) Program, equal to the President’s request. Funding TIP and MEP are
    consistent with the recommendations of the America COMPETES Act.
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – The bill provides more than $4.77
    billion for NOAA, $407 million above the Fiscal Year 2009 level and $299 million above the President’s
    budget request. The Committee bill includes: $551 million for the National Ocean Service; $980 million
    for the National Weather Service; $872 million for the National Marine Fisheries Service; $1.2 billion
    for satellite programs; and $430 million for Oceanic and Atmospheric research, including climate
    science.
  • Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) – The bill continues the policy of providing PTO with full access to
    fees collected from inventors, estimated at $1.9 billion for Fiscal Year 2010.
  • National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) – The bill provides $39.9
    million for NTIA, including $20 million for the Public Television Facilities Planning and Construction
    (PTFPC) grant program, equal to the President’s request.

Summary: FY 2010 Interior, Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Mark

2009 Enacted: $27.579 billion
2010 Request: $32.325 billion
Subcommittee Mark: $32.1 billion

Overall, the 2010 Interior appropriations bill totals $32.1 billion in non-emergency discretionary spending. That amount is $4.5 billion, or 16%, above the equivalent 2009 enacted level, and $225 million, or 0.7%, below the president’s request.

Water Infrastructure and Environmental Protection Needs

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The bill provides $10.19 billion for EPA, which is $2.5 billion, or 33%, above the 2009 non-emergency level. The bill includes the following EPA priorities:

  • $843 million for science and technology programs, an increase of $53 million, or 7%,
    above the 2009 level.

Bolstering our public land management agencies: The bill provides a total of $6 billion for basic operations at National Parks, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges and on Bureau of Land Management lands, an increase of $350 million, or 6% above the fiscal year 2009 level.

US Forest Service (USFS) – The bill provides $5.29 billion, an increase of $552 billion, or 12%, above the 2009 non-emergency level. Funding within the Forest Service, including:

  • $1.56 billion for operations of national forests and grasslands, an increase of $47 million, or 3%, above the 2009 level. That amount includes: $145 million for law enforcement operations to combat the epidemic of drug cultivation on public lands
  • $338 million for forest products funding
  • $290 million for recreation programs
  • 513 million for capital improvement and maintenance activities, an increase of $18 million, or 4%.
  • $307 million for forestry research activities, an increase of $11 million, or 4%.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – The bill provides a total of $1.145 billion for the BLM, an increase of $106.0 million, or 10.2%, above FY 2009. The bill includes funding to carry out Federal responsibilities on public lands in the western states. Funds for BLM include:

  • $965.7 million to manage recreation, resource protection, habitat conservation,
    and energy production on public lands, including an increase of $16.1 million for
    environmental studies and rules for renewable wind and solar power production.
  • $67.5 million, an increase of $26.5 million, to protect wild horses on the range.
  • $15.8 million to inventory and clean up abandoned mine sites
  • $15 million to respond to the challenges of climate change in the West.
  • $5 million for a 21st Century Youth Conservation Corps

US Geological Survey (USGS) – The bill provides a total of $1.044 billion for the Survey, an increase of $60.5 million, or 5.8%, above the fiscal year 2009 level. This increase will expand the work of the Survey to better support DOI land management agencies, as well as other federal agencies, state, tribal and local governments. Increases
include:

  • $22 million for expanded global climate change research;
  • $5 million to enhance the National Streamgage Network;
  • $3 million for renewable energy research;
  • $4.1 million for Arctic ecosystems research.

Other public programs:

National Endowment for the Arts/National Endowment for the Humanities – The bill includes a total of $161.3 million for both the NEA and the NEH, an increase of $6.3 million above the 2009 enacted level for each agency.