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Congress Adds $482 Million for Environmental R&D in FY 2003
Congress added approximately $482 million in federal funding for environmental R&D above the amount requested by the President in FY 2003, according to an analysis of the federal budget conducted by the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The President's FY 2003 budget request would have cut total funding for environmental R&D by $116 million or 1.5 percent relative to FY 2002. Congress restored cut funds and added an additional $366 million above the funds appropriated in FY 2002, bringing total federal funding for environmental R&D to $7.9 billion in FY 2003 (Table 1). This congressional action is the result of such factors as strong support from key members of Congress and input from the scientific community, including NCSE.
Eight federal agencies account for more than 95 percent of federal funding for environmental R&D. Among the top eight agencies, four were slated for decreases in funding for environmental R&D in the President's FY 2003 budget request (Table 1). At the conclusion of the FY 2003 appropriations process, only the Department of Energy received a cut in funding for environmental R&D relative to FY 2002.
Congress increased funding for environmental R&D above the level proposed in the President's FY 2003 budget request for every science agency except the Smithsonian Institution (Table 1). Agencies that received the largest percentage increases relative to the FY 2003 budget request include NOAA (13.1 percent), National Institutes of Health (12.9 percent), U.S. Department of Agriculture (12.3 percent), and Department of Energy (9.9 percent).
Congress plays a crucial role in determining the level and growth rate of federal funding for environmental R&D. Without congressional action on the budget requests, federal funding for environmental R&D would have declined in both FY 2002 and FY 2003.
Despite the increases appropriated by Congress, federal funding for environmental R&D grew at approximately one-third the growth rate of federal funding for total R&D in both FY 2002 and FY 2003. In FY 2003, federal funding for environmental R&D increased by 4.9 percent relative to FY 2002, while total R&D increased by 13.8 percent to $117.3 billion. In FY 2002, although Congress added $888 million in federal funding for environmental R&D above the President's budget request, the appropriated funds represented only a 4.4 percent increase relative to the previous year, while total R&D increased by 13.5 percent to $103.7 billion (see the February 2002 issue of the Science, Environment and Policy Report).
Table 1. Environmental R&D by Federal Agency
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| (budget authority in millions of dollars)
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|  |
| Environmental R&D
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| Change
| Agency
| ($ millions)
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| (percent)
| | | | |
| FY 2002
| FY 2003
| FY 2003
|
| FY02 Actual to
| FY03 Request to
| FY02 Actual to
|
| Actual
| Request
| Enacted
|
| FY03 Request
| FY03 Enacted
| FY03 Enacted
| |
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| NASA
| 1,628
| 1,628
| 1,708
|
| 0.0%
| 4.9%
| 4.9%
| Department of Energy
| 1,840
| 1,649
| 1,813
|
| -10.4%
| 9.9%
| -1.5%
| National Science Foundation
| 1,062
| 1,164
| 1,177
|
| 9.7%
| 1.1%
| 10.9%
| Environmental Protection Agency
| 592
| 617
| 643
|
| 4.2%
| 4.4%
| 8.7%
| Department of Defense
| 400
| 471
| 498
|
| 18.0%
| 5.7%
| 24.7%
| Department of Commerce - NOAA
| 677
| 605
| 684
|
| -10.6%
| 13.1%
| 1.1%
| Department of the Interior
| 623
| 608
| 627
|
| -2.4%
| 3.1%
| 0.7%
| U.S. Department of Agriculture
| 504
| 473
| 531
|
| -6.3%
| 12.3%
| 5.2%
| National Institutes of Health
| 81
| 74
| 84
|
| -7.7%
| 12.9%
| 4.1%
| Department of Transportation
| 68
| 67
| 71
|
| -2.1%
| 6.3%
| 4.1%
| Smithsonian Institution
| 40
| 41
| 41
|
| 3.8%
| 0.0%
| 3.8%
| | | | | | | | | TOTAL
| 7,541
| 7,425
| 7,907
|
| -1.5%
| 6.5%
| 4.9%
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| | Source: AAAS/NCSE estimates based on OMB data for R&D in the FY 2003 Budget, agency budget documents,
| and information from agency budget offices.
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For further information, please contact Craig Schiffries at Schiffries@NCSEonline.org.
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