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News and updates

House Passes Oil Spill Bill, Senate Struggle Will Continue in Fall

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House Passes Oil Spill Bill

 Before adjourning for the August recess, the House of Representatives passed an oil spill response bill, HR 3534, the  Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2010 (CLEAR Act). The House bill removes the $75 million cap on economic liability reimbursement for offshore oil spills, restructures the Department of Interior’s offshore drilling regulatory functions, and bolsters mandatory funding for research and development. The bill calls for a program of research, development, and risk assessment to address technology and development issues, associated with exploration for, and development and production of, energy and mineral resources on the outer Continental Shelf, with the primary purpose of informing its role relating to safety, environmental protection, and spill response.

The House bill also establishes an Ocean Resources Conservation and Assistance Fund (ORCA) that would be used to provide grants to coastal states and Regional Ocean Partnerships and the Regional Coordination Councils for activities that contribute to the protection, maintenance, and restoration of ocean, coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems.

 Grants would also be available for coastal states to improve their oil spill response planning, and for the implementation and operation of an Integrated Ocean Observation System (IOOS). The University of Washington is a key partner of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), which is 1 of 11 regional components of IOOS

  Continue reading “House Passes Oil Spill Bill, Senate Struggle Will Continue in Fall”

Murray Amendment Advances Crucial State Funding

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The Senate today passed a crucial amendment that will help states avoid education job losses, and provides desperately needed Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) payments to states . The FMAP/Teacher Jobs Bill passed the senate on a vote of 61-39 and will now be sent to the House where most expect it to pass and then sent to the President for his signature. The Amendment, which was attached to the Aviation Safety and Investment Act of 2010, will send more than $26 billion in aid to states and its costs are fully offset, largely due to spending reductions made in other areas. Patty Murray, was a driving force behind this bill and worked to achieve a solution that would draw bipartisan support.

The legislation provides $16.1 billion for FMAP, and will keep the level of federal Medicaid assistance (which was increased by a minimum of 6.2% in the Recovery Act) consistent for the next 6 months and then gradually decrease the contribution level for the following 6 months. The amendment will also provide $10 billion for additional support to local school districts to prevent imminent layoffs. Nationwide it is estimated that this fund will help to save the jobs of nearly 140,000 educators.

If the legislation passes the House, the State of Washington would realize approximately $546.3 million in FMAP funds. The bill will also prevent the layoffs of up to 3,000 teachers within our state and allow the State legislature to avoid conducting a costly special session. In the words of Senator Murray, “This amendment will allow Washington State to avoid layoffs, service cuts, or tax increases—and it will make sure our children don’t walk through the schoolhouse doors this September to larger class sizes and fewer subjects”.

In an uncommon move, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the House back from its August recess to vote on the measure. They are expected to take up the issue next Tuesday the 10th.

FY11 Appropriations Update

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***Updated 8/5/10

House and Senate Appropriations committees and subcommittees made substantial movement in their consideration of FY11 appropriations bills during the monthy of July. However, concerns over the federal deficit combined with the associated election year politics have cast a shadow over the appropriations process. Although appropriations bills will continue to advance through committee, it remains unlikely that most will receive consideration by a full chamber before the November congressional elections. The chart below captures budget items of interest to the UW and the broader higher education/research community. We will update the chart as the process unfolds.

Figures in millions of dollars

Approps. Bill Agency Program FY10 Final FY11 PBR* FY11 UW Rec.** FY11 House Comm. FY11 Senate Comm.
Agriculture Agriculture Agriculture and Food Research Initiative

263

429

429

 

310.1 
    McIntire-Stennis

29

29

35

 

 
CJS NSF Agency

6,926

7,424

7,424

7,400

7,350
    Education and Human Resources  

892

892

 

892
    Research and Related Activities

5,617

6,019

6,019

 

6,000
    MREFC

117

165

165

 

155
  NOAA Agency

 4,737.0

5,550

5,605

 

5,550
    Sea Grant

 63.0

65

77

 

63.1 
    OAR

 449.1

465

465

 

449
    NMFS, Fisheries Research and Management 

191

183

193

 

182.2 
    Integrated Ocean Observing System

34

21

53

 

27 
  NASA Science Mission

4,469

5,006

5,006

4,700

5,000
    Aeronautics Research Mission

501

1,152

1,152

 

904.6 
    Education

182

184

184

205.2 

 
  NIST Technology Innovation Program

 69.9

80

80

 

70
    Manufacturing Extension Program

 124.0

130

130

 

130
Defense Defense 6.1 Basic Research

1,882

2,000

2,082

 

 
Energy & Water Energy Office of Science

4,904

5,121

5,121

4,900

5,012
    ARPA-E

0

300

300

220

200
    Innovation Hubs

66

107

107

 

 
    RE-ENERGYSE

0

55

55

 

0 
Interior-Environment USGS USGS

1,112

1,133

1,133

1150 

 
  USGS Geologic Hazards, Resources and Processes

250

253

253

 

 
  NEH NEH

168

161

204

170 

 
  NEA NEA

 167.5

161

204

170 

 
  EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR)

61

87

87

 

 
  Agriculture Forest Service Discretionary

5,315

5,377

5,377

 

 
    Forest and Rangeland Research

308

322

355

 

 
Labor-HHS Education Pell Grant Discretionary

17,495

23,162

23,162

23,162

 
    TRIO Programs

 853

853

1,000

 

868.1 
    Federal Work Study

980

980

1,280

 

980 
    GEAR UP

323

323

400

 

323.2 
    Javits Fellowship Program

 9.7

10

16

 

9.6 
    GAANN

 31.0

31

41

 

31 
    International Education and Foreign Lang. Studies

 125.9

126

133

 

 
  HHS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

511,034

493,759

511,034

 

 
  HRSA Nursing Workforce Development

150

150

168

 

 
  HRSA Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry

54

54

61

 

 
  NIEHS/ Superfund Research Initiative

79

82

89

 

 
Interior
  NIH Agency

 31,087

32,007

32,007

32,007

32,007
    National Children’s Study

–

194

194

 

 
Mil-Con-VA VA Medical and Prosthesis Research Programs

 581

590

700

 

 
State-Foreign Ops. USAID Educational & Cultural Exchanges Programs

635

633

861

635 

 654.2

*President’s Budget Request (PBR)

**FY11 UW Recommended Appropriation Level

Federal Energy and Defense Cooperation

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At a White House Forum on Energy Security yesterday, US Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Defense to accelerate clean energy innovation and enhance national energy security. 

Among other things, the MOU demonstrates both agencies commitment to reducing security and energy vulnerabilities through improved efficiencies and displacement of fossil fuels with on-site renewable power generation.  This will cover efforts in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency, fossil fuels, alternative fuels, efficient transportation technologies and fueling infrastructure, grid security, smart grid, storage, waste-to-energy, basic science research, mobile/deployable power, small modular reactor nuclear energy, and related areas.

The Department of Energy is the lead Federal agency responsible for the development and deployment of advanced energy technologies, yet the Department of Defense will need to invest in many of these same energy technologies as well as other energy technologies which may be unique to the Department of Defense’s operational requirements.  Partnering with the Department of Defense provides the Department of Energy the opportunity to accelerate the deployment of its technologies and expertise to help address the critical economic and energy security needs of the United States and to promote scientific and technological innovation.

This MOU builds on already strong cooperation between the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, and will broaden collaboration on clean energy technology research, development, and demonstration.

The MOU can be found at http://www.energy.gov/news/documents/Enhance-Energy-Security-MOU.pdf.  You can watch the White House forum on-line at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/28/clean-energy-and-national-security (length: 2 hours, 45 minutes).

Dept. of Energy Launches Blog

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Last week, the Department of Energy launched a blog, along with new accounts on Facebook and Twitter. Secretary Chu provided the vision for these new tools in his inaugural blog post: “Our goal is to use the Energy Blog and our other social media outlets to show you who we are, what we do, and why it matters to you, while allowing you to connect with us in new and creative ways. That’s not a promise for the future; that’s a commitment we’re putting into action today…”

Department of Energy Blog