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n this so-called “De- have detected incipient problems cade of the Environ- before they had progressed to poment,” the environ- tential disasters. And in still other ment is in serious cases, timely research has made it trouble. All measures possible to prevent or ameliorate show that environ- problems. mental destruction is The federal government provides increasing (I). In habitats through- much of the research funding in out the world, biological diversity is such fields as high-energy physics, being lost at unprecedented rates, health, and space research. It is also with some estimates indicating that a major funder of environmental re20-25% of Earth’s species may besearch. But there bas been little come extinct in the next few de- analysis of how the federal funds for cades. There is a reasonable proba- environmental research are distribbility that a global warming of uted among the various funding 3-5 O C will occur in our lifetimes. agencies and sectors performing the The ozone layer over the Northern research. There is no source that Hemisphere is thinning much faster provides an overview of the envithan previously estimated, an effect ronmental problems that are being correlated with increasing atmos- studied with these funds. We bepheric concentrations of chlorine lieve that obtaining information monoxide, a breakdown product of about federal expenditures of funds chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). All for environmental research is a cruthese global problems are exacer- cial step in wisely allocating these bated, or even caused, by our rap- limited resources in the future. We idly expanding human population. have therefore undertaken to proResearch is crucial to addressing vide an overview of federal funding these and other environmental for environmental research for fisproblems. In cal year 1992. many cases, we We have found can recognize the B A R B A R A E . M A N D U L A that many agenproblems but do D A V I D E . B L O C K S T E I N cies are involved, little coordinanot how Committee for the National tion occurs, no to them’ Institutes for the Environment mechanism is in In Other cases’ Washington, DC 20001-4521 nlare fnr settino researrh might W13-936W92/0926-1496$03.00/0 a 1992 American Chemical Society Environ. Sci. Technoi., Voi. 26, No. 8, 1992
overall priorities, and critical research gaps exist. The general mission of an agency largely determines what types of research it can fund. Because of this limitation, major types of environmental research not in the purview of any one agency remain virtually unfunded. Background Describing the environmental research budget is no easy task. Although the government supports a great deal of scientific research, including environmental research, there is not a coordinated research budget. However, data on various aspects of federal research and development (R&D) activities are available (2-7).A report titled Federally Funded Research was recently prepared for Congress ( 8 ) . We collected relevant data about the seven domestic agencies that fund most environmental research, from the federal budget: conversations with agency budget and program staff: agency documents and special computer printouts: and congressionalhearings. We are interested specifically in research, which is generally defined as generation of new knowledge. We do not distinguish between basic and applied research because the distinction is often not relevant when applied to environmental research. When available, we use the agencies’ categorization of what is research, recognizing that this could lead to some inconsistencies when comparing agencies. We include all funding for the Global Change Research Program. We also had to develop a working definition of “environmental research” because it occurs under many labels and no budget function specifically covers it. As seen in the box, our definition focuses on the environment as an entity, and not on the health of people (although the latter is obviously important). We include what are sometimes called the “environmental sciences,” referred to here as the “physical environmental sciences”geosciences, climatology, other atmospheric sciences, oceanography, and related areas. Our definition encompasses environmental biology, in which we include ecology, systematics, and related biological areas. We include environmentally relevant research in economics and social sciences, areas that are particularly poorly funded. We are not including most remediation and energy research. 1498 Envimn. Sci. Technol.. Vol. 26. No. 8. 1992
Definition of environmental research “Environmental research” as used research (included on1 when if here addresses the health of the could mot be separad out of a environment, as opposed to health broader category). of humans. It includes the following: If excludes the following: physical environmental sciences human health, (oceans, atmosphere, earth), direct energ research * biotic resources, ecos stems, * cleanup wo and most mitigation * economic and wial &~ctors.and research, and * pollution effects, some mitigation development. f
Overview of federal budget The total federal budget for FY 1992 is nearly $1.5 trillion (2,5)(see Figure 1). Of this amount, only $220 billion is available for discretionary domestic spending. Spending on R&D totals $75 billion, about 5% of the federal budget, with defense R&D accounting for $44 billion and nondefense R&D for $31 billion (Figure 2). Within the defense R&D budget, almost $40 billion is for development. Of the nondefense R&D, $21.3 billion goes for research; about $12.3 billion of that is for basic research. The $31 billion in nondefense R&D is divided among a number of spending categories, or budget functions (Figure 3). The biggest piece (33%) is for health. Environmental research is spread among several of the functions: energy; general science; and other, which includes natural resources, the environment, and agriculture.
Research activities by agency We estimate the federal government is spending about $2.4 billion
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on environmental research through seven domestic agencies in FY 1992 (Figure 4). (The Department of Defense was omitted from these estimates: most of its environmental research is directed at remediation.) Although our estimates are rough, the total of $2.4 billion is in line with figures suggested by others (9, l o ) . However, this total could vary considerably, depending on exactly what is counted. NASA spends the most ($740 million), while the National Science Foundation (NSF) is second with $630 million. These two agencies account for about half of our estimated total. EPA, often thought of as “the” environmental agency, contributes $120 million, or about 5% of the federal share of environmental research. Much of EPA’s R&D budget is driven by human health, and therefore does not contribute to our estimates. With the exception of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), whose research is almost entirely environmental, other agencies devote less than half their total R&D budget to environmental research (Figure 5).
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FIGURE 3
Nondefense reaerai n&uc
So even in “environmental” agencies like EPA and departments like Interior, environmental research is not a major activity. A brief description of our estimates of environmental research in each agency follows. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This agency’s mission is to support aeronautics and activities related to space exploration. With $740 million in environmental research, this agency makes the largest federal contribution to environmental research. Its Mission to Planet Earth is NASA’s contribution to the Global Change Research Program (GCRF’):this program also accounts for NASA’s entire envi-
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ronmental research budget. ( NASA provides more than half the funding for the GCRP.) A major portion of NASA’s contribution to GCRF’consists of the Earth Observing System, a remote sensing system that will ultimately consist of several satellites, space probes, and platforms to describe and model climate changes over the next two decades. Using data from this system, NASA has correlated ozone loss over the Northern Hemisphere with the presence of chlorine monoxide. NASA’s program also includes some ground monitoring and ecological studies. Approximately $175 million of NASA’s FY 1992 environmental research budget is specifically for research and analy-
sis; most of the rest is for hardware. Most of the work is by contract and by in-house scientists. National Science Foundation. NSF supports basic research at academic institutions in all fields of science, and is also responsible for science education. Its research is organized by discipline, and for some fields it is virtually the only source of federal funds. In addition to a $2 billion research budget in 1992, NSF’s budget contains $500 million for science education [3,5).Nearly all of NSF’s research dollars are granted to academic institutions. Approximately $630 million of the agency’s funding goes for disciplinary research on environmental topics, including $400 million in physical environmental sciences and about $130 million in environmental biology. Most of the remainder supports engineering and Antarctic research. Although small. NSF’S support of $7 miIKon in so1 cia1 and economic research related to global change is worth noting, since it represents a substantial increase over FY 1991 and this research is apparently not funded elsewhere. For FY 1993,NSF has requested $118 million for a multidisciplinary environmental research initiative to encourage research that doesn’t fall within a single discipline (11). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Located within the Department of Commerce, NOAA describes and predicts changes in earth’s oceans and atmosphere; manages our ocean and coastal resources: and carries out activities relating to the National Weather Service. It supports research on weather, climate, oceans, wetlands, and marine fisheries. About two-thirds of NOAA’s $320 million for environmental research is in its Oceanic and Atmospheric Research program. This program includes the Sea Grant program, a matching program under which NOAA makes awards based on peer review to colleges and universities. The remaining one-third of the environmental research is in the National Marine Fisheries Service, focusing on fisheries with commercial importance. A small amount of research (about $10 million) is devoted to coastal ocean science. N O M maintains 11 environmental research laboratories devoted primarily to the physical environment, and about 20 marine fisheries laboratories, where ecological research is performed. Envimn. Sci. Technol.. Vol. 26, No. 8. 1992 1499
Department of the Interior. This department is responsible for managing and developing land resources. includine minerals. fish. and wildlife. It makges most'of the public lands in the United States. It consists of five major units. Most of Interior's $250 million environmental research is in the U.S. Geoloeical Survev (USGSI and the Fish ;nd Wildiife Service (FWSI, with small amounts in Bureau of Mines. the National P Service, and the Bureau of La Management. According to a US budget analvst, USGS suends ab0 $150 milliln on envirdnmental search, encompassing research lated to earthquakes and volcan as well as water quality, offsh drilline. wetlands. and elob change."Of FWS's $80 millron for environmental research, about $6 million is specifically for endangered species. The Bureau of Mines devotes about $15 million to research to minimize the environmental impact of mining. National Park Service environmental research, about $10 million, is directed toward understanding problems in the national parks. The Bureau of Land Management spends $3 million on research directed to lands they manage. Most of Interior's research is in-house or through cooperative agreements. The Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service have cooperative research units in many universities nationwide. The Deparhnent of Agriculture. USDA oversees all aspects of the U S . agricultural enterprise to ensure that commodities and agricultural products are available. Most agricultural research is funded un der the Agricultural Research Ser vice (ARS) and the Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS). ARS is USDA's in-house research establishment; CSRS includes state block grants and a smaller amount for investigator-initiated grants, the latter of which have increased recently. Because so much of agricultural activities interact with the environment, this department's spending on environmental research was particularly difficult to estimate. USDA budget office staff indicated that the Agricultural Research Service is spending $105 million and the Cooperative State Research Service $65 million for environmental research in 1992.These funds include efforts to learn how to minimize adverse effects of agriculture on soil and water quality. 1500 Envimn. Sci. Technol.. Vol. 26, NO. 8. 1992
w of federal funding for environmental research, 1992,
in millions
rotai: $2.4 bllllon
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The U S . Forest Service is funding about $70 million in forest environment research and in forest protection research for FY 1992.Forest environment research provides information needed to manage forests. Forest protection research deals with impacts of forest fires, insects, climate, and disease on forests; this category includes half of USDA's contribution to global change research. According to the agency, USDA's forest research focnses on basic research, with the private sector expected to support applied research and development. Forest Service research is conducted at regional research stations or in national forests in-house or by contract.
Environmental Protection Agency. EPA was created to mitigate the adverse effects of pollutants on human health and the environment. Most of its $6.5 billion budget goes for regulation and enforcement. After 20 years of focusing primarily on effects of pollutants on human health, the agency is trying to devote more of its efforts to effects of pollution on the environment and to pollution prevention. EPA's Office of Research and Development funds virtually all EPA research. Of a $500-million R&D budget for FY 1992, we estimate about $120 million is environmental research, most of that in ecological processes and effects. This includes almost $30 million for an
search Program is the best example of successful coordination of a major environmental research program among federal agencies. Coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the GCRF' has been effective in increasing communication among 11 agencies, developing a common research agenda, and providing funds for understanding critical problems. However, each agency receives global change research funds out of its own appropriations, and Congress does not appropriate money for the program as a whole. Thus, the whole program can be affected when one agency's contribution is not funded at expected levels.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, which has a goal of monitoring the nation's environmental quality. Much of EPA research takes place at its dozen environmental laboratories. Some analysts might find the $120-million figure low. However, most of EPA's research is related to human health and to chemical monitoring, which we generally do not include in our estimates. Department of Energy. Most of DOE's efforts relate to energy, including nuclear weapons. Our estimates do not include DOE's research related to environmental cleanup and restoration because it is directed towards improved methods of removal rather than towards understanding environmental effects. (Research is a small fraction of the $4 billion DOE is spending in FY 1992 for environmental restoration and waste management, mostly of weapons production sites. This $4 billion is 22% of DOE's total budget for FY 1992.) DOE'S environmental sciences research is under its Biological and Environmental Research program, which also includes the human genome project and other research activities. The environmental res e a r c h p o r t i o n for FY 1 9 9 2 encompasses $75 million for CO, research-which is DOE's contribution to the global change programand $37 million for research on the movement of chemicals and other materials in the atmosphere, in subsoils, in groundwater systems, and between the continental shelf and open ocean. About $7 million is for
Areas receiving little support The federal government is spending environmental research money primarily on global change and the physical environment. However, research on ecosystem functioning several important areas are receiving little support. We have identiand response. Much of the DOE's environmental research takes place fied the following such areas from our budget analyses and researcher at its laboratories. responses to questionnaires (unGeneralization of findings published data). Social sciences related to the enFederal funding for environmental research has increased during vironment. This broad area inthe past decade, most rapidly in the cludes various interactions between humans and the environment such 1990s. This recent increase has been steepest in the atmospheric as urban ecology and impact of popsciences (12) (Figure 6). The social ulation growth on the environment. sciences component is less than $10 It encompasses natural resource million. A more detailed analysis economic studies, and research on shows that the social sciences com- effective methods to involve people ponent is about $30 million, at least in protecting their own resources. half of which goes for economics re- These types of interdisciplinary search (K. Gramp, personal commu- studies appear especially difficult to fund under current agency misnication). Almost all the increase in envi- sions. Regional geographic studies that ronmental research in the past few years is attributable to the GCRP,be- integrate physical and biological gun in 1990 after passage of the Glo- environmental studies with the hubal Change Research Act. It is one of man environment. Monitoring and ecotoxicology refive presidential research initiatives in 1993. The GCRP is funded at $1.1 search, especially in developing bibillion in FY 1992, and the Presi- ological indicators of environmendent's budget proposes $1.4 billion tal change. Most federal monitoring for FY 1993 (13). This program is and toxicology research is aimed at the current umbrella for much envi- protecting human health. Research that focuses on ecosysronmental research, encompassing tems and habitats, rather than on 40% of our estimate of the federal environmental research budget in one or a few species. NSF funds baFY 1992. Most of the global change sic research. However, most of the research budget is for the physical federal funding in this area is for apenvironment-climata modeling, plied research done by the Departeffects of CO,, ozone depletion, and ments of Commerce (NOAA), Inteinteractions between oceans and at- rior (Fish and Wildlife Service),and mosphere. However, a lot of other Agriculture (Forest Service). Conseresearch projects, from monitoring quently, most of the species studied of bird populations to research in have commercial value in agriculforestry, are included under the um- ture, forestry, hunting, and fishing. The Sustainable Biosphere Initiabrella of the GCRP. We believe the Global Change Re- tive represents an effort by a scienEnviron. Scl. Technol., Vol. 26,No. 8. 1992 1501
tific society-the Ecological Society of America-to set a national ecological r e s e a r c h a g e n d a for t h e 1990s (241. Long-term broadly applied research. Despite the need, few federal agencies can afford to stick with long-term s t u d i e s i n t h e face of shifting priorities a n d competing demands. Most agency research is relatively short-term and focuses on specific needs of t h e sponsoring agency. With a IO-year lifetime, the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program was the longest federal environmental research project to date. Environmental policy. T h e government funds very little research to evaluate the effectiveness of its policies in addressing environmental problems. Training programs. The next generation of environmental scientists receives training u n d e r v a r i o u s forms of federal support: basic, disciplinary research t h r o u g h N S F grants; specific narrowly focused projects through Fish and Wildlife Service cooperative units and from USDA cooperative grants; Sea Grant programs a d m i n i s t e r e d t h r o u g h NOAA; and training at NASA a n d DOE laboratories. There is concern that a relatively small proportion of federal funds for environmental research go to academia and that few students are being trained broadly to look at environmental issues in an integrated fashion. Conclusions Based o n this admittedly rough analysis of federal funding for environmental research, we come to the following conclusions: Environmental research accounts for less than 5% of federal R&D spending. There is no overall agenda, prioritization, or accounting system for federal e n v i r o n m e n t a l research. Many agencies fund some environmental research, related to their own mission and needs. T h e Global Change Program is the exception to the general lack of coordination in environmental research. This program has led to an infusion of funding into environmental research, t h e efforts have been well coordinated among agencies, and significant scientific findings have been obtained. Many critical areas are badly underfunded, especially long-term problem-oriented research incor1502 Environ. Sci. Technol.. Vol. 26. No. 8,1992
porating social science and environmental biology. This study has examined federal s p e n d i n g o n e n v i r o n m e n t a l research on a rather gross scale. Further efforts could entail looking for duplication of effort a n d finding ways for agency efforts to better complement each other, as well as obtaining more specific information o n types of research being carried out. It would he of interest to d o agency crosscuts to find out h o w much federal funding is going into study of endangered species or specific ecosystems, as examples. An understanding of the distribution a n d use of nonfederal funds for environmental research w o u l d provide a more complete picture of the extent of U.S. financial investment in environmental research. This paper is derived from a talk presented February 10, 1992.in Chicago at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. Partial funding for this study was provided by Grant CR-816240 between the Environmental Protection Agency and Princeton University. and by funds from Princeton University. Acknowledgments We thank Janine Ploetz for providing graphics, and Kris Anderson, Linda Marks, and Jennifer Schlotthauer for doing preliminary analyses of agency environmental research budgets. For useful general discussions, we are grateful to Kathy Gramp and Stephen Nelson of AAAS: Mark Schaefer of the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government: Ralph DeGennaro of Friends of the Earth; and Ray Garant from the American Chemical Society. We take full responsibility for the estimates presented. References (1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
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Worldwatch Institute. State of the World: W. W. Norton: New York. 1991. Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1992: US. Government Printing Office: Washington. DC. 1991. Budget of the United States Government, Fioscal Year 1993: U S Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1992. American Association far the Advancement of Science. AAAS Repori XVi: Research and Development F Y 1992: AAAS: Washington. DC. 1991. Teich, A. H.:Nelson. S. D.: Gramp, K. M. Congressional Action on Research and Development in the FY 1992 Budget: American Association for the Advancement of Science: Washington. DC, 1992. Federal Funds for Research and Development. Detailed Historical Tables: Fiscal Years 1970-91: Science Resources Studies: National Science Foundation: Washington, DC. 1992.
National Science Board. Science and Engineering Indicators-1991; U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington. D C 1991;NSB 91-1. ( 8 ) U S . Congress. Office of Technology Assessment. Federally Funded Research: Decisions for a Decade: US. Government Printing Office: Washington. DC. 1991:OTA-SET-490. (9) Gibbons, D. Presented at NAS Committee on Environmental Research, January 13. 1992.Washington. DC. (10)Schaefer. M. Environment 1991. 33. (7)
16-20.3842. (11) " B u d g e t S u m m a r y , Fiscal Year 1993": National Science Foundation: Washington. DC. 1992. (12) National Science Foundation. Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fisc01 Years 1989. 1990. 1991: Washington. DC. 1991:NSF 90-327. (13)"Our Changing Planet: The FY 1993 U.S. Global Change Research Program": Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences: National Science Foundation: Washington, DC, 1992. (14)"The Sustainable Biosphere Initiative: An Ecological Research Agenda": report from the Ecological Society of America: Bethesda. MD. 1991.
Barbara Mandulo is research director for the Committre for the National Institutes for ihr Environment. Her major interests are science policy and issues affecting women scientists. She has led projects on risk assessment and environmental policy at the National Research Council and has analyzed data on academic research and development for the National Science Foundation. She is editor of the Association for Women in Science Magazine. She received a Ph.D. in biochemistry. and is currently on leave from the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics at EPA.
David E. Blockstein is the executive director ofthe Committee for the National Institutes for the Environment and affiliated with Princeton University. His expertise includes bird conservation, policies to conserve biological diversity, science policy, and minorities in biology. As a Congressional Science Fellow in 1987-88, he prepared the National Biological Diversity Conservation and Environmental Research Act. He received a Ph.D. in ecology and behavioral biology from the University of Minnesota. He teaches ornithology at the University of Minnesota's field biology station and conducts research on forest birds in Minnesota and on endangered birds in Grenada, West indies.
