GOVERNMENT
1989 R&D Appropriations Higher for Most Federal Agencies Many units fare well in budget bills, although cuts are planned in defense research, agricultural R&D, and a number of specific line items Janice R. Long, C&EN Washington
Moving swiftly compared with previous years, the House has passed all of the fiscal 1989 appropriations bills. These bills are the vehicles used to tell federal departments and agencies just how much money they actually have to spend in any given fiscal year. As set by the House, total federal R&D spending in fiscal 1989 will be down slightly from current levels, primarily because of a 9%, $3.6 billion, cut in defense R&D spending. Funding for the Strategic Defense Initiative will be held to $3.2 billion, $1.3 billion less than the Administration asked for and $400 million less than is currently being spent on the program. The House version of the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, H.R. 4781, also provides $35 million for high-temperature superconductivity research; $100 million for SEMATECH, a joint semiconductor manufacturers' research project; and $95 million for DOD's University Research Initiative. That's an increase of $10 million over current funding levels. However, DOD won't be able to spend the university money, at least for a while. The bill states that "the Secretary of Defense shall award the funds made available under this act for the University Research Initiative Program on the basis of competition," and that "none of the funds may be obligated or expended 16
July 4, 1988 C&EN
until the Appropriations and Armed Services Committees of the House and Senate approve a plan submitted by the Secretary of Defense to provide for broader geographic distribution of funds under such program in comparison to the distribution of such funds during fiscal 1986 and 1987." Funding for the next largest federal R&D funding agency—the National Institutes of Health—is provided in the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill, H.R. 4783. Under the provisions of that House-approved spending plan, NIH gets a budget increase of 8%, or $510 million, to $6.9 billion. Funding for NIH's Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome research programs is up 26%, or $120 million, to $588 million. Funding for the Institute of General Medical Sciences, which funds the lion's share of NIH's academic chemistry research, is up 9% to $623 million. The NIH appropriations bill includes $4.1 million for investigatorinitiated research projects. That amount represents an increase of 10% over current funding. However, contrary to its custom in previous years, the Appropriations Committee did not tell NIH how many new projects to fund with the money. The committee said it no longer believes that the number of projects is an accurate measure of the volume of research being supported. The committee also noted that NIH's 1989 budget request assumes a 13% decrease in the number of new research project grants and a 10% decrease in the number of noncompeting projects. The committee says it found this unacceptable and told the NIH director to
try to address the problem while still maintaining the total number of projects above the 1988 level in 1989. The biggest R&D program increase allowed by the House, 28%, is for the National Aeronautics & Space Administration, which gets approximately $4 billion in the Department of Housing & Urban Development-Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill, H.R. 4800. Despite the large increase, NASA's total R&D budget is still $280 million less than the Administration wanted. The Appropriations Subcommittee on HUD-Independent Agencies was told fairly late in the budget process that because of scorekeeping adjustments agreed to in the 1989 budget resolution, its budget allocation had to be reduced $439 million. So the subcommittee had to go back to the drawing board. It had originally allocated $902.4 million for the space station. But because of the new budget constraints it decided to defer funding of $450 million of space station funds. Those monies will now become available only if the next President submits a special message to Congress indicating that he intends to proceed with the use of the money and the development of the space station program. If the message is not received by April 15, 1989, the program will be terminated. Meanwhile, NASA will have about $60 million per month to spend on the space station program in the first six and one half months of fiscal 1989. Funding for the Department of Energy's R&D programs is up 3% to $3.9 billion. However, funding to support research and technical analysis is down 6% to $610 million. Within that category, funding for
House votes to trim federal R&D funding % change $ Millions
1989I Appropriation Request
iAppropriation
1988
Defense $35,644.5 $38,157.1 $39,263.2 12,945.7 13.092.7 12.211.7 13,092.7 12,211.7 Tactical programs 7.390.7 6.524.6 6.046.7 6,524.6 Strategic programs 5.433.7 6.507.3 5,072.3 Advanced technology development 4.882.2 4,469.8 4,478.6 Intelligence & communications 4,285.4 4.051.2 3,825.5 Defensewide mission support 3,293.7 3.275.7 Technology base 3,277.3 NIH 6,862.5 6,802.1 6,352.3 3,274.2 NASA R&D 4,166.7 4,446.7 Energy 3,941.4 3,725.0 3,835.6 Energy supply R&D 1,761.3 1,805.9 1,816.3 648.5 Supporting research 610.5 611.8 & technical analysis Fusion 335.0 343.0 360.0 327.0 338.2 Environment 359.0 Nuclear 323.2 351.9 347.0 147.6 157.6 123.2 Renewable resources Weapons R&D 969.4 964.4 959.5 635.4 General science and 737.9 706.9 research Fossil energy R&D 357.4 327.0 167.0 115.4 97.4 Conservation R&D 80.8 NSF 1,885.0 2,050.0 1,717.0 1.578.0 1,453.0 Research & related 1,603.0 activities Science education 171.0 156.0 139.2 136.0 124.8 Antarctic program 141.0 150.0 Science & technology — — centers Commerce 1,326.7 1,222.4 1,254.8 NOAA 1.181.9 1,064.4 1,110.0 1,181.9 144.8 144.8 NBS 158.0 Agriculture 992.8 958.8 1,037.7 598.5 Agricultural Research 568.6 572.0 Service 303.7 Cooperative State 284.3 257.5 Research Service Forest Research 139.9 129.3 135.5 EPA R&D 352.2 367.2 374.8 TOTAL $55,211.8 i!S57J36.9 Î57J36.9 !&57.087.0
vs. request
-7% -1 -7 -22
Appropriation vs. 1988
-9% 6 -18 -7
0
-8
-11
-6
0 1 -6 6 -2 0
-1 8 28 3 -3 -6
-5 -9 -8 28 1 4
2 -3 -7 7 1 16
114 43 -8 -2
9 18 10 9
10 -4
23 9
—
—
9 11 -8 4 -1
1 16 0 -4 -5
10
-6
8 -2 -4
3 4 -3
Note: All numbers are estimates. Source: Congressional documents
chemical sciences operating expenses is up 3% to $135 million, but funding for materials sciences is up a bare 1% to $174 million. Funding for DOE's university research support programs is up 40% to $425.8 million. However, funding for university research instrumentation is held constant at $6 million. The House provided only $100 million of the $363 million that the Administration had requested for the Superconducting Super Collider in the belief that construction should
not be initiated until the new Administration has had an opportunity to evaluate the project. The budget constraints on the HUD subcommittee took their toll on the National Science Foundation's budget, which is also funded under H.R. 4800. The bill provides $1.6 billion for NSF's research and related activities, an increase of 9% over current funding levels, and $171 million for science education, an increase of 23%. That's not too bad, especially when it's compared with
what NSF was seeking or might have had. The HUD subcommittee decided not to provide the five-year, $150 million appropriation NSF had requested to fund its new science and technology centers program. It also did not provide money to fund the $85 million academic research facilities renovation program provided for in NSF's fiscal 1989 authorization bill. Both of these actions were later endorsed by the full Appropriations Committee and later the House. At the Department of Commerce, funding for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration is up 16% to $1.2 billion, whereas funding for the National Bureau of Standards, as provided by the Appropriations Committee, would be essentially frozen at the fiscal 1988 level of $145 million. NBS money wasn't actually in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill, H.R. 4782, because its fiscal 1989 authorization bill hadn't been approved before the appropriations bill was acted on. The Department of Agriculture has the only civilian R&D program that is being cut. It's down 4% to $993 million, primarily because the building and facilities budget for the Agricultural Research Service, which is set at $58 million this year, was cut to $11 million in fiscal 1989. Other recommendations in the department's appropriations bill include a big rise in funding for the Cooperative State Research Service, which includes increases in funding for groundwater quality research and for the 1890 land grant colleges. The bill does, however, cut the service's competitive grants program, leaving just $29.4 million, a $12.9 million reduction. The House action, of course, is just the first step in the appropriations process. The Senate must also act on the bills. But if the appropriations bills already reported for floor action in the Senate are any indication, the final R&D budget for fiscal 1989 will be higher, not lower, than what the House has allowed. D July 4, 1988 CAEN
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