House and Senate Appropriators have completed work on separate
versions of the legislation funding the National Science Foundation for
FY 2003. While final resolution of next year's budget was put off until
at least the later part of November, the numbers are very good news. The
House bill would boost the foundation's budget by 12.8%, while the
Senate bill calls for an 11.8% increase. Of particular note in the House
bill are specified 15% increases for the Physics subactivity, the
Engineering Activity and the Geosciences Activity. The committee also
rejected proposed program transfers to NSF, and included extensive
language about the Astronomical Sciences program.
The NSF-related language in the House committee report (107-740) is
extensive, and may be viewed in full at http://thomas.loc.gov/ What follows
are the numbers for both the House and Senate versions of the
VA/HUD/Independent Agencies Appropriations bill, and selected passages
from the House report. See FYI #89 (http://www.aip.org/enews/fyi/2002/089.htmll)
for information on the Senate bill.
TOTAL NSF BUDGET: The House bill provides an increase of $614.4
million, or 12.8%, to $5,422.94 million. The Senate bill provides an
increase of 11.8%.
RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES: The House bill provides an increase
of $551.7 million, or 15.3%, to $4,150.0 million. The Senate bill
provides an increase of 14.8%.
EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES: The House bill provides an increase of
$35.6 million, or 4.1%, to $910.6 million. The Senate bill provides an
increase of 8.3%.
MAJOR RESEARCH EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES: The House bill provides an
increase of $20.7 million, or 14.9%, to $159.5 million. The Senate bill
recommends a reduction of 42.9%.
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT LANGUAGE:
OVER-ALL NSF:
"The Committee is strongly supportive of the National Science
Foundation and committed to its mission of providing national leadership
and federal financial support of research as the basis for scientific
and social advancement for the nation and for the entire world. This
commitment is reflected in the substantial 13 percent increase provided
in this bill for the NSF for FY 2003.
"As Congress, the executive branch and the American people begin to
consider a multi-year build-up of financial support for the NSF,
however, the Committee also believes that a review of the agency's
organizational, programmatic and personnel structures is appropriate and
can provide assurance to the public that the agency is positioned to
maximize the opportunities which increased funding can create. The
Committee has allocated $1,000,000 . . . for a contract with the
National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to conduct such a
study. The Committee expects this contract to be awarded no later than
December 31, 2002.
"Without prejudicing the outcome of this NAPA review, the Committee
is concerned about the following issues:
"Organizational and program structure. Over the last decade the NSF
has evolved into a very complex and multi-layered system of
directorates, sub-directorates and programs each with its own leadership
and budget. . . ."
"The balance between field driven and NSF driven science priority
setting. Second, but clearly related, the Committee believes that this
review should consider whether the NSF's approach to its stewardship
mission creates the proper balance between necessary and appropriate
levels of agency leadership of NSF sponsored science and the need to
ensure that this research remains principally investigator initiated
work. A corollary question is whether the structure of NSF and
management control of its priority setting methodologies have negatively
influenced the balance between NSF initiatives and appropriate resource
allocations for core science investments."
"The underlying principal around which NSF was founded and which the
Committee believes is still the pedestal upon which the success of
America's taxpayer supported research rests is that both the choice of
research priorities and the choice of individual projects should flow
principally from practicing scientists in the field as expressed through
organized systems of advice and through external peer review. The
Committee believes that it is appropriate to review whether the balance
of power in setting research priorities is the appropriate one or
whether NSF has become too directive in managing its research
portfolios.
"Role of the National Science Board . . . . Recent Congressional
action has highlighted, however, the concerns about the relationship
between the Board and the agency and its Director and in particular the
issue as to how independent the Board is able to operate given its
dependence on the Agency for financial support and personnel . . .
."
RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES:
"Except as specifically noted herein, in allocating the increases
provided by the Committee, the Foundation should give the highest
priority to increasing research opportunities for investigator initiated
research in the core scientific disciplines . . . . "
"From within the Engineering Directorate, the Committee is concerned
that researchers are reaching the physical limits of current
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology and
that this will have significant implications for continued productivity
growth in the information economy . . . . "
"Under the Geosciences Directorate, the Committee has not recommended
approval of the budget request to transfer to the NSF the [EPA]
Environmental Education program . . . the [NOAA] National Sea Grant
Program . . . or the [USGS] Hydrology of Toxic Substances program . . .
. Each of these programs works well within its current framework and the
Committee has not been convinced that such transfer as proposed in the
budget submission will either enhance the individual programs or benefit
the ongoing programs of the Foundation."
"Within the additional funds made available for the Mathematical and
Physical Sciences directorate, the Committee expects the Foundation to
allocate funds on a basis which provides a high priority for astronomy,
including individual investigator grants, and sufficient resources to
begin development of important new projects recommended in a recent
National Academy of Sciences 10-year plan for astronomical science
activities. In addition, the Committee's recommendation for the
Astronomical Sciences activity includes $5,000,000 above the budget
request for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) program,
$4,300,000 above the budget request for the National Optical Astronomy
Observatories (NOAO), $2,000,000 above the budget request for the
National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC), and no less than the
budget request of $4,000,000 for the Telescope Systems Instrumentation
Program (TSIP). The Foundation is expected to aggressively continue its
program, begun in fiscal 2001, of upgrading on a priority basis its
astronomical facilities and equipment.
"Also within Mathematical and Physical Sciences, the Committee's
recommendation includes the budget request of $181,870,000 for
Mathematical Sciences and not less than $225,000,000, a 15% increase
over the fiscal year 2002 funding level, for Physics programs."
"For the Office of Polar Programs (OPP), an increase of $18,260,000
above the budget request has been provided to enhance the ongoing
research effort as well as to provide additional necessary resources for
operations, research support and logistics, and science and research
grant support . . . . "
MAJOR RESEARCH FACILITIES CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT
(MREFC):
"The Committee's recommendation includes the budget requests of
$9,720,000 for the Large Hadron Collider, $13,560,000 for the George E.
Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation, $30,000,000 for
construction funding of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)
aperture-synthesis radio telescope, and $6,000,000 for additional
construction requirements necessary to meet enhanced capacity needs at
the new South Pole Station.
"In addition the Committee is recommending $25,530,000 as the final
installment necessary to complete development of the High-performance
Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER), and
$24,700,000 for continued research and development of the IceCube
Neutrino Detector Observatory in Antarctica. This project, building on
the successful AMANDA demonstration, is designed to more fully develop
knowledge of the origins of the universe as well as the fundamental
nature of physical matter using its unique polar telescope. This device
will allow scientists to measure, quantify and analyze neutrino
particles and their role in these basic questions of science. The amount
provided for fiscal 2003 will support continued development,
acquisition, pre-construction, testing and logistics support necessary
to facilitate IceCube's large-scale construction and deployment.
"Finally, the Committee has provided $40,000,000 for first year
funding for the new EarthScope project instead of $35,000,000 as
requested in the budget submission, and $10,000,000 for support of the
Terascale Computing System and the Distributed Terascale Facility (also
known as ``Teragrid''), instead of $20,000,000 as proposed in the budget
request.
"With regard to EarthScope, the five-year budget projections of this
important project initially called for lesser funding requirements in
the first, fourth, and fifth years of the project and dramatically
increased funding in years two and three. In an attempt to provide a
relatively level funding profile for the life of the project, the
project's sponsors have developed an alternative request which provides
$40,000,000 in year one, $42,000,000 in year two, $40,000,000 in year
three, $39,000,000 in year four, and $37,000,000 in year five. In
addition to the obvious benefits such level funding will bring to the
annual appropriations process, the sponsors have suggested this new
approach brings the added benefits of achieving significant cost savings
over the long-term operation and maintenance of the facility, and
providing higher quality data through the acquisition of instrumentation
with uniform technical characteristics.
"With regard to support of the two new terascale facilities . . .
$10,000,000 in fiscal 2003 and $10,000,000 in fiscal year 2004."
"The Committee's recommendation does not include funding for the new
National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) project as requested in
the budget submission. This decision, made without prejudice to the NEON
project, allows the Committee to use its limited MREFC resources to
fully fund ongoing projects as well as begin funding for one new
research effort, the EarthScope project."
EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES:
"The Committee's recommendation includes the following program
levels: Math and Science Partnership, $160,000,000; Educational System
Reform, $40,250,000; EPSCoR, $86,000,000; Elementary, Secondary and
Informal Education, $177,440,000; Undergraduate Education, $155,600,000;
Graduate Education, $128,380,000; Human Resource Development,
$95,710,000; and Research, Evaluation and Communication, $67,200,000. .
. . "
