Environmental▼News NSF budget could double over five years On December 19, President Bush signed a law that could double the total National Science Foundation (NSF) budget over the next five years to $9.8 billion. Environmental research should benefit from designated priority areas, such as ecology and pesticide reduction. Although the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 provides guidance for the increases, NSF does not yet have actual funding for the current fiscal year (FY ‘03) and will still be required to request appropriations from Congress annually. The Bush administration was widely criticized last year for continuing a plan to double the budget for the National Institutes of Health, but not for NSF. According to the Executive Management Scorecard that accompanied the president’s budget proposal this
support set the bar to double the budget over five years and proposed a 14.5% increase. Despite strong bipartisan support for the doubling, the final vote was delayed until Congress and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) amended the legislation to satisfy White House objections. NSF has proven to be a very productive agency, but “arbitrary doubling is not a good budget practice,” says Amy Call, OMB spokesperson. We are looking for performance and results, she adds. Therefore, according to the final bill, continuing on the doubling path in FY ‘06 and FY ‘07 will require an OMB evaluation and is “contingent on a determination by Congress that [NSF] has made successful progress toward management goals” specified in the
In early FY ‘03 appropriations discussions, Congress rejected the proposed shifting of three environmental programs to NSF. Transferring the SeaGrant Program from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Toxic Hydrology program from the U.S. Geological Survey, and an environmental education program from EPA accounted for half of the 3.6% increase to R&D funding in the initial FY ‘03 budget proposal (Environ. Sci Technol. 2002, 36, 132A). In the authorization, Congress made it clear that plant genome projects are a funding priority and promoted programs such as studying ecological implications of genetically engineered plants; creating renewable feedstocks for alternative energy production; exploring genomic applications that reduce the need for fertilizers, pes-
The National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 This legislation provides budget guidance for the next five years, but fiscal years (FYs) 2006 and 2007 are contingent upon evaluation by the White House Office of Management and Budget and congressional approval. Appropriations will still be required each year, and the FY ‘03 budget is not final. Budgeted authorization amounts are given in millions of dollars.
NSF account
Research and related activities Education and human resources Major research equipment and facilities construction Salaries and expenses National Science Board Inspector General Total
Budget request FY ‘03
Authorization FY ‘03
FY ‘04
FY ‘05
FY ‘06
FY ‘07
$3783.21 908.08
$4155.69 1006.25
$4799.82 1157.19
$5543.79 1330.77
— —
— —
126.28 210.16 — 8.06 $5035.79
172.05 191.20 3.50 7.70 $5536.39
211.18 210.32 3.85 8.47 $6390.83
258.88 231.38 4.25 9.32 $7378.34
— — — — $8519.78
— — — — $9839.26
Source: National Science Foundation.
year, NSF was the only government agency to earn high marks, primarily for its peer-reviewed grant funding process and efficient use of federal money (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 134A). Nevertheless, President Bush’s initial proposal for FY ‘03 increased NSF’s budget by only 5% to $5 billion. The House of Representatives countered with an 11.9% increase, but last summer strong Senate
scorecard. The 108th Congress will start the appropriations process again in January with the figures they proposed at the end of the last session, says Kei Koizumi, director of R&D budget policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. However, he questions if NSF will be a high enough priority for the President to actually match Congress’s proposed increases.
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ticides, and herbicides; and transferring plant biotechnology to developing countries. Other priority initiatives include remote sensing, geospacial technology, and environmental nanoscale research. Appropriations for specific projects at NSF for FY ‘03 will not begin until the new Congress convenes in January, says David Stonner, NSF spokesperson. —RACHEL PETKEWICH
