Government
Congress approves 12% rise in R&D funding R&D funding for fiscal 1981 totals $31.4 billion, only 1 % less than the Administration requested; DOD programs receive biggest boost
Budget-cutting fever was supposedly rampant in the last session of the 96th Congress, but that can't be proved by examining the totals contained in the fiscal 1981 R&D funding bills that Congress finally enacted only two and a half months after the fiscal year began. Total R&D funding is a scant 1% less than the Administration requested and, at $31.4 billion, represents an increase of 12% over fiscal 1980 appropriations. While all are getting an increase, some agencies, as usual, did better than others. But unless the incoming Administration does a very good job of getting the economy under control, only the Defense Department can expect to keep well ahead of inflation. The other R&D agencies will continue to fall behind. Congress did quite well by DOD, setting its fiscal 1981 R&D budget at just over $16 billion, an increase of 19%. That total includes such bigticket items as $1.5 billion for the MX missile, $300 million for a new strategic bomber, $246 million for the space shuttle, and $65 million for the Trident II missile. DOD's basic research programs received a 15% increase to $576 million. The Navy's defense research sciences program is up 14% to $225 million; that of the Air Force up 14% to $125 million; the Army's up 10% to $125 million; and the Defense agencies up 26% to $101 million. Although funding for basic research was increased substantially, it was increased by less than each service wanted, except in the case of the defense agencies. The Department of Agriculture got the next biggest R&D budget increase, up 10% to about $620 million, actually 3% higher than requested. USDA's agricultural research budget presents a good example of just how
involved Congress' Appropriations committees can get in deciding how much money should be spent on what. The budget earmarks $1 million for research on the effects of the Mount St. Helens, eruptions on agriculture, $25,000 for sugarbeet disease research, and $30,000 for pickle research. It also includes nearly $157 million for basic agricultural research and $500,000 for research on guayule. USDA's cooperative research budget of $186 million contains $17 million for special research grants, $16 million for competitive research grants, and $10.7 million for cooperative forestry research. Next comes the National Science Foundation whose overall budget is up 8% to $1.1 billion, while its re-
search and related activities budget is rising 9% to nearly $988 million. The budgets for five of NSF's research programs were set at the amount requested. That means that funding for mathematical and physical sciences increases 15% to about $260 million; astronomical, atmospheric, earth, and ocean sciences 9% to $236 million; biological, behavioral, and social sciences 7% to $178 million; Antarctic programs 9% to $60.4 million, although most of the increase is earmarked for keeping up with rising fuel costs; and the ocean drilling program 13% to $22 million. At press time House-Senate conferees had reached agreement on a continuing resolution that provides funds for agencies for which no appropriations bill was passed, a cate-
Congress gives federal R&D agencies less than they wanted but still allows 1 2 % budget rise 1981
$ Millions
Final appropriations
Budget request
%
Change change from 1980 request appropriations 1980-81
$16,018,7 $16,475.6 - 3 % Defense 4 7,033.4 6,774.0 Air Force 4,862.9 - 0 . 1 Navy 4,861.2 Army 3,086.8 3,234.5 - 5 1,302.7 - 4 1,254.6 Defense agencies 0 42.1 42.1 Director test and evaluation 0.4 5,541.2 NASA 5,517.6 0.7 R&D 4,396.2 4,364.5 1,033.2 - 0 . 4 1,030.0 Research and program management 120.0 - 4 115.0 Facilities NIH 3,490.4 6 3,$86.4 3,358.1 3,314.2 1 Energy 2,268.7 0.8 Energy supply R&D 2,249.9 Fossil energy R&D 687.6 3 711.4 376.7 0.3 378.0 General science and research 1,074.0 NSF 1,076.1 0.2 0.5 992.8 987.9 Research and related activities 75.7 10 83.2 Science education 5.0 5.5 - 9 Science activities overseas 872.5 877.8 - 0 . 6 Commerce 1 759.4 751.7 NOAA 11.31 121.1 - 7 Science and technical research 620.4 600.5 3 USDA 399.8 4 Agricultural research 414.4 3 201.0 195.1 Cooperative research 5.0 5.6 •- 1 1 Science activities overseas 270.4 - 6 EPA R&D 253.5 $31,426.9 $31,620.5 - 1 % TOTAL
$13,412.1 4,941.9 4,537.4 2,853.3 1,037.0 42.5 5,244.8 4,092.5 996.2
19% 37 7 8 21 -1 6 7 3
156.1 3,429.4 3,320.0 2,245.1 733.0 341.9 991.8 904.1 82.2 5.5 821.6 722.4 99.2 566.8 373.3 189.0 4.5 237.6 $28,024.1
-26 8 1 1 -3 10 8 9 -2 -10 6 5 14 10 11 6 11 7 12%
Dec. 22, 1980 C&EN
17
Fill a Staff Position on Caoitol Hill Two ACS Congressional Fellowships Available To Begin Fall 1981 The objectives of the fellowship program are: • To provide an opportunity for scientists to gain firsthand knowledge of the op erations of the legislative branch of the federal government, • To make available to the government an increasing amount of scientific and technical expertise, and • To broaden the perspective of both the scientific and governmental com munities regarding the value of such scientific-governmental interaction.
Applications should be submit ted by January 30, 1981 to: Dr. Annette T. Rosenblum Department of Public Affairs American Chemical Society 1155—16th St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036
Applications consist of a letter of intent, resume, and two letters of reference. The letter of intent should include a description of the applicant's experience in publicoriented projects in which scientific or technical knowledge was used as a basis for interaction and a statement that tells why they have applied for the Fellowship and what they hope to accomplish as an ACS Congressional Fellow. The resume should describe the candidate's educa tion and professional experience and in clude other pertinent personal informa tion. Letters of reference should be so licited from people who can discuss not only the candidate's competence but also the applicant's experience in publicoriented projects. Arrangements should be made to send the letters of reference directly to ACS. For further information call (202) 872-4383.
18
C&ENDec 22, 1980
gory in which the National Institutes of Health fell. Under the agreement NIH's budget will also be up 8% to $3.7 billion, about 6% more than the Administration requested. The Environmental Protection Agency had wanted a 13%, or $32.8 million, increase for its R&D pro grams. Congress gave the agency a 7% increase to $254 million. That amount includes $8.4 million for acid rain re search, $2.6 million for Great Lakes research, $1.9 million for groundwater research, and $900,000 for cold cli mate research. The House had di rected that the $12.2 million shortfall from the budget request come out of the agency's anticipatory research programs, but in the end, Congress left it up to the EPA administrator to decide which programs would not get increases. The National Aeronautics & Space Administration's R&D budget also will be up 7% to $4.4 billion. (Its overall budget will be up 6% to $5.2 billion.) Congress took the unusual action of setting*definite spending ceilings for nine NASA programs, including the space shuttle, the spacelab, and the gamma ray obser vatory, because of the major cost overrun problems these programs are experiencing. It directed NASA to contract with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences to provide the agency with ongoing, independent project review. Congress said it would approve no major program changes proposed by NASA unless an ΝΑΕ panel concurred with those changes. Meanwhile, at the Commerce De partment, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's bud get is up 5%, slightly more than re quested, to $759 million. The science and technical research budget, which covers the National Bureau of Stan dards and the National Technical Information Service, among others, is up 14% to $113 million. For the Department of Energy, which used to see its R&D budget rise by leaps and bounds, Congress has approved an increase of only 1% to $3.4 billion. The big loser is nuclear fission where the budget has been cut 18% to about $675 million, but fossil energy R&D is also down 3% to $733 million. Among the winners are solar, for which the budget is up 21% to $557 million, and basic energy research, whose budget is up 12% to $244 mil lion. Within that category, funding for material sciences is up 12.5% to $87.7 million and funding for the chemical sciences is up V .4% to $60.7 million. In addition, university re search support is up 15% to $7.8 mil lion. D
Federal Alertnew regulations This listing covers noteworthy regulations appearing in the Federal Register from Nov. 10 to Dec. 5. Page numbers refer to those issues. PROPOSED Environmental Protection Agency—Pro poses standard methods for determining data on substances tested under Toxic Sub stances Control Act; comments by Jan. 21, 1981 (Nov. 21, page 77332). Proposes to withdraw ammonia from list 6f chemicals considered toxic pollutants; ef fective Dec. 1 (Dec. 1, page 79692). Occupational Safety & Health Administra tion—Proposes regulation of occupational exposure to pesticides during manufacture or formulation processes; comments by Jan. 31, 1981 (Dec. 2, page 80078). FINAL Environmental Protection Agency—Sets particulate emissions standards for ammo nium sulfate manufacturing plants; effective Nov. 12 (Nov. 12, page 74846). Establishes list of 80 hazardous waste streams from chemical plants, with reasons why they are hazardous, as required by Re sources Conservation & Recovery Act, ef fective Nov. 19 (Nov. 12, page 74884). Promulgates rules that will prevent impair ment to or improve the visibility of U.S. wil derness areas; effective Jan. 2, 1981 (Dec. 2, page 80084). Establishes interim rule designating wastes generated in pipelines as not being hazard ous wastes under RCRA until they are re moved from the pipeline; effective Nov. 19 (Dec. 4, page 80286). Nuclear Regulatory Commission—Estab lishes rules to cover specific licensing re quirements for storage of spent nuclear fuel in independent fuel storage facilities; ef fective Nov. 28 (Nov. 12, page 74693). NOTICES U.S. Regulatory Council—Publishes Cal endar of Federal Regulations; contains summary of upcoming important federal regulations (Nov. 24, page 77702). Environmental Protection Agency—Re quests comments on two reports on factors affecting uptake or cadmium by food plants grown in soil treated with cadmium-con taining wastes; comments by Jan. 2, 1981 (Nov. 18, page 76147). Offers groundwater protection strategy to protect and gather information on U.S. groundwater; comments by Feb. 18, 1981 (Nov. 24, page 77514). Announces availability of water quality cri teria documents for all 64 priority toxic pol lutants as required by Clean Water Act (Nov. 28, page 79318). Announces availability of draft document to support upcoming regulation on used-oil disposal and recycling; comments by Jan. 19, 1981 (Dec. 5, page 80561).
