President George W. Bush has sent his FY 2002 budget "blueprint" to
Congress. It appears that the administration is requesting a 1.4%
increase in FY 2002 total spending for general science, space, and
technology, which roughly translates to the budgets for the National
Science Foundation, NASA, and the DOE Office of Science.
The actual increase is somewhat unclear because of an error in one of
the tables in this two hundred page document. NASA aeronautics funding
was included in the wrong budget category, which made the total request
for the general science, space, and technology line appear much larger
than it actually is.
The Office of Management and Budget is now reworking these figures.
It appears that the Bush Administration is requesting a total increase
of $300 million for NSF, NASA, and DOE science, from $20.9 billion in FY
2001 to $21.2 billion in FY 2002.
The budget blueprint does not provide many numbers for individual
programs (those numbers will be in a large submission that will go to
Congress in April.) The following is what the blueprint states about
S&T programs covered in FYI. The numbers following each quotation
are the page number from the submission that can be viewed here.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY:
For the department, funding would be reduced 3.0%. No funding is
specified for the Office of Science. The document does state:
"Strengthen Stockpile Stewardship: The Stockpile Stewardship Program
maintains our nuclear arsenal. The program is an essential safeguard
to our national security and is in significant need of reform and
repair. The budget increases funding for activities in this area by
five percent to approximately $5.3 billion." (107) The blueprint
states: "Management in general, and contract management in particular,
have consistently been listed by the General Accounting Office as high
risk activities. Project and contract management have also been listed
by the Inspector General as top management challenges. DOE intends to
achieve significant savings in 2002 from restructuring and
reevaluating the performance of major projects across the Department
including environmental management and science projects." (108)
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION:
The administration requested an increase of $56 million over the
current year level of $4.426 billion. (Last October, Congress approved
a $529 million increase in the NSF budget for the current fiscal
year.) Directorate and program levels are not given. The document does
state that the budget "provides approximately $1.5 billion for new
research and education awards in 2002, to fund nearly 10,000 new
competitively reviewed awards." (159) "Increases graduate stipends for
the Graduate Research Fellowships, the Graduate Teaching Fellowships
in K-12 Education, and the Integrative Graduate Education and Research
Traineeship programs." (159) Regarding a new program, the document
states: "Provides $200 million to begin the President's Math and
Science Partnership initiative to provide funds for States to join
with institutions of higher education in strengthening math and
science education in grades K-12." (159) "As part of the Math and
Science Partnership initiative, $110 million is redirected from
existing NSF education programs toward the initiative's $200 million
level in 2002." (160) Under a section entitled Redirected Resources,
the document states: "The 2001 enacted level for NSF included a number
of earmarked and lower-priority projects. While the majority of
projects must be assessed on their merits through an extensive review
process, many of these projects do not face such scrutiny and often
address lower-priority areas or needs. The 2002 Budget does not renew
funding for these projects, saving $45 million." "The budget also
better focuses facility project resources by maintaining commitments
for the Large Hadron Collider, the Network for Earthquake Engineering
Simulation, and Terascale Computing Systems. Facility project spending
will be reduced by $13 million, reflecting no new starts of major
facility projects in 2002." (160)
The chapter on NSF also states: "Reorganize Research in Astronomy
and Astrophysics: NSF and NASA provide more than 90 percent of Federal
funds for academic astronomy research and facilities. Historically,
NASA has funded spaced-based astronomy and NSF has funded ground-based
astronomy, as well as astronomy research proposals. Several changes
have evolved which suggest that now is the time to assess the Federal
Government's management and organization of astronomical research. NSF
and NASA will establish a Blue Ribbon Panel to assess the
organizational effectiveness of Federal support of astronomical
sciences and, specifically, the pros and cons of transferring NSF's
astronomy responsibilities to NASA. The panel may also develop
alternative options. This assessment will be completed by September 1,
2001." (161) Other language was included on page 161 regarding a
process to determine the correct grant size and enhancing NSF's
management of large facility projects.
NASA:
NASA's budget would increase 2.0% over 2001. Regarding space
science, the document states: "To ensure successful execution of
programs already underway, two projects with a very large escalation
in cost, the Pluto-Kuiper Express and Solar Probe missions, will not
be funded. To support a potential, future sprint to the planet Pluto
before 2020, additional funds will be directed to key propulsion
technology investments. The budget funds a more robust Mars
Exploration Program and provides critical technology funding to
support future decisions on high- energy astrophysics missions." (156)
A separate section on Earth Science states: "NASA has worked with the
National Academy of Sciences to develop future Earth Science research
priorities and, based on these priorities, has developed plans for the
second generation of Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites. NASA's
outyear plan for these satellites has been underfunded in recent
years, but the budget will provide a five-percent increase in 2002 for
a science-driven EOS Follow-On program while discontinuing
low-priority remote sensing satellite and environmental application
projects to ensure that EOS priorities can go forward." (156)
Regarding the space station, the document states: "To
address...unprecedented cost growth and ensure that the program
remains within the five-year budget plan, the President's 2002 Budget
will include important decisions regarding the funding and management
of the program while preserving the highest priority goals: permanent
human presence in space, world-class research in space, and
accommodation of international partner elements." (155)
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE R&D:
"The budget proposes a $2.6 billion initiative ($20 billion over
five years) to fund R&D of new technologies. Among areas in which
new investment might be made include: leap-ahead technologies for new
weapons and intelligence systems; improvements to the laboratory and
test range infrastructure; technologies aimed at reducing the costs of
weapons and intelligence systems; efforts, such as counter- terrorism
and counter-proliferation that are focused on countering
unconventional threats to national security; and funding to continue
research, development, and testing of a missile defense program."
Funding for 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 S&T programs is not specified. (100)
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
The departmental budget would increase 11.5%, or $4.6 billion, to
$44.5 billion. The Eisenhower professional development program is not
cited, but would appear to be covered by the following statement: "To
restore local control, the President proposes to consolidate many
Federal programs within five flexible categories, allowing States to
direct funds towards major priorities." (41) Under Higher Education,
the document states: "The budget also includes a mandatory-spending
higher education initiative: expanding the existing teacher student
loan forgiveness program to provide greater benefits for math and
science teachers." (104)
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM:
The blueprint states: "The budget also suspends funding for the
Advanced Technology Program (ATP), which supports research and
development activities of private firms, pending a reevaluation of
this program. New ATP awards would not be made in 2001 or 2002, though
support for ongoing programs would be continued using reprogrammed ATP
funds from 2001." (96)
Future FYIs will include additional blueprint language on the
rationale behind this budget, and reaction to it.
