On November 13th, UW signed onto a letter circulated by the Michael J Fox Foundation to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The letter opposes the Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule, which would require raw data to be made publicly available when it is used to formulate new regulations. UW is joined by over sixty other higher education institutions, associations, and research organizations in opposing these rule changes. There are many instances, especially in the health sciences, when making raw data publicly available would be infeasible or harm the confidentiality of research subjects. Therefore, this rule could limit the quality of data used in the regulatory process, as only data which could be made publicly available would be utilized.
Category: Clean Energy
First “Minibus” Signed Into Law
As expected, President Trump signed into law earlier today the first “minibus” appropriations package for FY2019, a measure that combines the Energy and Water, Veterans Affairs-Military Construction, and Legislative Brach Appropriations Bills.
Congress and the White House must still agree on nine more bills for FY2019.
First “Minibus” Expected to be Signed Today
Barring any last minute changes, the first “minibus” spending package for FY2019 is expected to get signed into law today. The measure combines the Energy and Water, Veterans Affairs-Military Construction, and Legislative Branch appropriations bills.
The Senate cleared earlier this week the Labor-HHS-Education and Defense package, which the House is expected to take up sometime next week.
The sides chambers are also currently negotiating over a four-bill minibus that includes the agriculture, interior, financial services, and transportation-housing bills.
Details of Energy and Water Spending Bill Available
Details contained in the conference report for the FY2019 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill are now available.
As noted previously, the bill would support the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science at approximately $6.59 billion. The office is currently funded at $6.26 billion and the Trump Administration requested $5.39 billion. If passed and signed into law, the measure would fund a number of programs of interest housed at the Office of Science in the following manner:
- Advanced Scientific Computing Research– $935.5 million ($810.0 million in FY2018 and $899.0 million requested from Administration)
- Basic Energy Sciences– $2.17 billion (FY2018: $2.09 billion; request: $1.85 billion)
- Biological and Environmental Research– $705.0 million (FY2018: $673.0 million; request: $500.0 million)
- Fusion– $564.0 million, including $432.0 million for research and $132.0 million for ITER (FY2018: $410.0 million for research and $122.0 for ITER; request: $265 million for research and $75 million for ITER)
- High Energy Physics– $980.0 million (FY2018: $908.0 million; request: $770.0 million)
- Nuclear Physics– $690.0 million (FY2018: $684.0 million; request: $600.0 million)
The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy account would be funded at $2.38 billion under this bill. It is currently funded at $2.32 billion and the Administration requested $695 million for FY2019.
The conference report is available here.
Agreement Reached on First FY2019 Minibus
As October 1, the start of FY2019, approaches, House and Senate negotiators have agreed to a compromise on the first package of spending bills. The first “minibus” includes the FY2019 Energy and Water Development, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch Appropriations Bills.
The text of the compromise bill is available here. The text of the conference report, which contains additional details, is provided here.
Included in the $147.5-billion package is $6.59 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, which is an increase of $325 million above the current level. The agreement would also provide $366 million for the DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, an increase of $13 million, or 3.7 percent. The DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy account would see an increase of $57 million for a total of approximately $2.4 billion.
While the timing could slip a bit, the Senate could take up the measure as soon as Thursday, with the House following suit on Friday.
Discussions are currently underway on two other minibuses, one of which is a combined package of the defense and health and education bills.