What's New: To receive these updates and announcements by email, manage your subscription, or review the mailing list archive, go to the NCSE List User Form. Return to Page 1 White House Releases R&D Budget Priorities for FY 2006 On August 12, the Bush Administration released a memorandum outlining federal budget priorities for research and development in FY 2006.   The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the joint memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies to provide guidance as they prepare their FY 2006 budget requests.   The OSTP-OMB memorandum emphasizes that the "combination of finite resources and a multitude of new research opportunities requires careful attention to funding priorities and wise choices by agency managers."  The Administration encourages the vigorous evaluation of existing federal programs and cautions that any new high-priority programs that are proposed will be offset by the elimination or reduction of less effective or lower priority programs.   The memorandum identifies several R&D investment criteria that the Administration will use to evaluate future budget requests.  Among the criteria identified are those that best meet the Administration's larger goals of improving homeland security, national health, energy independency, and job growth. Additionally, all R&D programs must meet the Administration's standards of "relevance, quality and performance." Interagency R&D Priorities.  The Administration identifies six interagency R&D areas that will receive priority in the FY 2006 budget.   The Administration's top concern is homeland security.  The memorandum states, "Winning the war on terror and securing the homeland continue to be the highest of national priorities.  Agencies should pursue an R&D investment strategy that closes remaining vulnerabilities and minimizes the emergence of new ones…"  The memorandum goes on to discuss five other priorities for interagency R&D: networking and information technology; nanotechnology; the physical sciences; biology of complex systems; and climate, water and hydrogen.  The final two priorities are closely linked to the environmental sciences.   Regarding the "biology of complex systems," the memorandum says: Agencies should target investments toward the development of a deeper understanding of complex biological systems through collaborations among physical, computational, behavioral, social, and biological researchers and engineers.  These collaborations will yield new ways of collecting and analyzing data allowing for the exploration of the living world across all levels of biological organization, both spatially and temporally. The discussion of the "climate, water, and hydrogen R&D" emphasizes that investment in global climate change science and technology is "critical for achieving sustained economic growth while ensuring energy security and a healthy environment."  It calls for agencies to implement the 2003 Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.  The memorandum cites the "highly successful intergovernmental Earth Observation Summit in July 2003," which "resulted in the commitment to develop a coordinated 10-year plan for global Earth observations."   Additionally, the "ability to measure, monitor, and forecast the U.S. and global supplies of freshwater is another high-priority concern."  This forecasting ability should be developed and coordinated by agencies through the National Science and Technology Council to "ensure an adequate water supply for the Nation's future."   Finally, the President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, including "research outside of the subset of activities currently counted as part of the Initiative," is considered a high priority R&D.  In the area of developing hydrogen fuel, particular attention is given to lowering hydrogen fuel cost, creating efficient storage of hydrogen fuel, and producing affordable hydrogen fuel cells.  The full text of the OSTP-OMB memorandum on Interagency Research and Development Priorities for FY 2006 can be accessed at: http://www.ostp.gov/html/m04-23.pdf      Appropriations Status Report The House of Representatives has passed 11 of the 13 appropriations bills that would provide funding for the federal government in FY 2005, which begins on October 1, 2004 (Table 3).  The Senate has passed one of the FY 2005 appropriations bills.  One of the appropriations bills has been reconciled by a House-Senate conference committee, approved in identical form by both chambers, and signed by the President.  Only the House has begun consideration of the appropriations bills that would provide funding for the National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Table 3.  Status of FY 2005 Appropriations Bills1 Name of Bill (Bill Number)2 Major R&D Agencies House Vote Senate  Vote Conference Report President Signed (Public Law) Printed House Vote Senate Vote Defense (HR 4613, S 2559) DOD 6/22/04 6/24/04 7/21/04 7/22/04 7/22/04 8/5/04 VA-HUD NSF, EPA, NASA             Labor-HHS NIH, Education             Energy-Water (HR 4614) DOE 6/25/04           Commerce-Justice (HR 4754) NOAA, NIST 7/08/04           Interior (HR 4568) USGS, NPS, BLM, MMS, FS, DOE/FE 6/17/04           Agriculture (HR 4766) USDA 7/13/04           Foreign Operations (HR 4818) AID 7/15/04           Military Construction (HR 4837, S 2674)   7/22/04           Transportation-Treasury  DOT             Legislative Branch (HR 4755, S 2666)   7/12/04           District of Columbia (HR 4850)   7/20/04           Homeland Security (HR 4567, S 2537) DHS   6/18/04           Notes: 1Source: http://thomas.loc.gov/  2The full text and status of these bills and the accompanying committee reports can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/  Ohio State President Karen Holbrook Joins NCSE Board of Directors   Dr. Karen A. Holbrook, President of The Ohio State University, has joined the Board of Directors of the National Council for Science and the Environment.  Dr. Holbrook has an extensive academic career spanning over three decades, as well as a history of leadership and excellence in the fields of medicine and biological structure. Dr. Holbrook came to Ohio State from the University of Georgia, where she served as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, as well as Professor of cell biology.  Previously Dr. Holbrook served as Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Florida.  Her academic career began at the University of Washington, where she was associate dean for Scientific Affairs and professor of biological structure and dermatology.   Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles and participated extensively in the activities of professional and honorary societies, including the AAAS, where she is a member of the Board of Directors and Fellow; the American Association of Universities; the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; and the Association of American Medical Colleges.   Dr. Holbrook earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1963 and 1966, respectively.  She earned a Ph.D. in Biological Structure from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1972 and pursued postdoctoral training in the Department of Dermatology.         New Congressional Research Service Reports Available Online NCSE continues to expand its popular collection of environmentally-focused Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports.  These are scientifically accurate, nonpartisan documents prepared by CRS for the U.S. Congress.  Recent additions and updated reports in NCSE's searchable online archive include: Environmental, health, and safety tradeoffs: a discussion of policymaking opportunities          Environmental protection issues in the 108th congress          Mercury in the environment: sources and health risks          Safe drinking water act: implementation and issues          Energy efficiency: budget, oil conservation, and electricity conservation issues          Selected environmental provisions in the energy bill           Alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles: issues in Congress          Legal issues related to proposed drilling for oil and gas in the arctic national wildlife refuge          Mining on federal lands          Agricultural biotechnology: the U.S.-EU dispute          Endangered species: difficult choices          Soil and water conservation issues More than 1,200 CRS reports are available in NCSE's National Library for the Environment at www.NLEonline.org.     Upcoming NCSE Meetings ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Save the Dates 5th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Forecasting Environmental Changes Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington, DC February 3-4, 2005   6th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Energy for a Sustainable and Secure Future Washington, DC January 26-27, 2006 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________     Sources for articles in this report include:  Energy and Environment Daily, EPA, House Appropriations Committee, Library of Congress, NCSE, NOAA, NSF, The Ohio State University, U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Yale University. Editor: Craig Schiffries Contributors: Craig Schiffries, Mary Shockley, and Jeremy Katzen   Return to Page 1 [top]

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