ASME International Capitol Update
January 4, 2002


1.	Appropriation Bills Wrapped Up
	--Energy and NASA FY2002 Appropriated Budgets Detailed

2.	Math and Science Partnerships at Department of Education and NSF
	--Agencies to Work Together to Strengthen Math and Science Education
	
3.	GAO Begins New Investigation into Federal Office of Pipeline Safety
	--Dingell Request to Investigate Resource and Personnel Needs at OPS

4.	Bush Nominates Director for Department of Energy Office of Science
	--Raymond Orbach, Chancellor at UC Riverside, is Named

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APPROPRIATION BILLS WRAPPED UP

When President Bush issued his proposed fiscal year 2002 budget to Congress last April, investment in research and development was not a top priority in most federal agencies.  Eight months and a major terrorist attack later, Congress and the President agreed to put aside their disagreements over funding levels for most federal programs until another day.  

Here is a brief summary of how energy and space research programs fared in the recent appropriations cycle.  Information on funding for research programs at the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Defense will appear in Update next week.

Energy

Funding for energy research and development programs are divided between two appropriations bills - Energy & Water and Interior.  The Energy Committee of ASME's Council on Engineering submitted testimony last spring on the energy programs contained in both bills.  Copies of the testimony are available at:  http://www.asme.org/gric/ps/2001/01-21.html
and http://www.asme.org/gric/ps/2001/01-22.html

The Interior bill provides funding for fossil energy and energy conservation R&D programs.  In its testimony to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the COE Energy Committee recommended several key areas that it believed merited increases above the President's request. 

In all of those areas - carbon sequestration, advanced gas turbines, and fuel cell research - Congress ultimately supported the ASME Committee's recommendations.  For carbon sequestration, the President had requested $20.6 million, the ASME Committee had recommended $29.6 million, and Congress ultimately appropriated $32.1 million.  The President had proposed eliminating the advanced gas turbine program; the Committee had recommended that funding be restored to a level of $30 million, $1.1 million more than in FY 2001.  Congress decided on a level of $18.5 million.  For fuel cell research, the administration had proposed $45.1 million, a reduction of $7.2 million from the FY01 level.  The ASME Energy Committee had recommended $61.1 million, and Congress appropriated $58.1, which was higher than either the House or the Senate had recommended in their individual bills.

In the Energy & Water appropriations bill, renewable energy research funding was set at $396 million which, while $40 million less than the Senate bill, was $20 million above the House-passed number, $120 million above the President's request, and $21 million above current levels.

Nuclear Energy Research received $250.5 million, which is $27 million more than the President's request, but $9 million less than current levels.  The Nuclear Energy Research Initiative received $32 million, which is $19.2 million more than the President requested, $15 million more than the House version, but $6 million less than the Senate recommended and $3 million less than the ASME Energy Committee recommendation.  The Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization Program received $7 million, which is $2 million more than the President's request, the House bill, and current levels, but $2 million less than the Senate bill, and $3 million less than the Energy Committee recommended.

DOE science programs were funded at $3.2 billion, an increase of $73.2 million over the budget request and $52.7 million above fiscal year 2001.  High energy physics was funded at the request level of $716.1 million.  Nuclear physics also was funded at the request level of $360.5 million.  Biological and environmental research received $527.4 million, an increase of $84.4 million over the request. Funding for basic energy sciences was set at $1 billion, a decrease of $1 million from the request, although that total includes full funding for the Spallation Neutron Source.  The Advanced Scientific Computing Research Initiative was allocated $158 million, a decrease of $5 million from the request.  Finally, fusion energy research was funded at $248.5 million, the same as the request and the COE Energy Committee recommendation.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Funding for NASA's R&D programs is included in the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies appropriations bill.  National Science Foundation programs also are included in that bill.  ASME's Inter-Council Committee on Federal R&D has task forces that prepared testimony on both NASA's and NSF's budget requests.   Copies of the testimony can be found at:  http://www.asme.org/gric/ps/2001/01-11.html
and http://www.asme.org/gric/ps/2001/01-23.html


Overall, NASA received $10.2 billion for its research programs, which is $343 million, or 3.5 percent, more than it received in FY01.  Of that amount, $1.72 billion is allocated for the International Space Station, which is a $440 million, or 15.2 percent reduction from last year.  Congress is increasingly concerned about cost overruns on the station, and has been highly critical of NASA's management of the project.  Among programs receiving substantial increases were Aero-Space Technology, which received a 12.4 percent ($275 million) increase, for a total of $2.49 billion; and Space Science, which received $2.84 billion, $224 million, or 8.5 percent, more than last year.


MATH AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS AT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND NSF

When President Bush announced his education plan last February, he proposed a Math and Science Partnership Initiative at the National Science Foundation, emphasizing a need for better science and mathematics education across the country.  Possible partners for the Math and Science Partnerships could include the State Education Agency, a math, science, or engineering department of an institution of higher education, a high need Local Education Agency, businesses, and nonprofit and for-profit groups of demonstrated effectiveness.

The House and Senate Education Committees, when drafting their education legislation, also thought the Math and Science Partnership program was needed, but placed the program at the Department of Education.  In the end, now that the authorization and appropriation process is complete, there are programs at both NSF and Department of Education.  The two agencies are in fact forming a task force to address the issue.  

The FY 2002 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations conferees only appropriated $12.5 million for the newly-established Math and Science Partnerships at the Department of Education, which were authorized at $450 million in the recently approved Elementary and Secondary Education Authorization Act.  However, the FY 2002 VA/HUD appropriations bill, provided another $160 million for similar partnerships to be awarded by NSF.

In addition, the Labor-HHS-Education conferees encouraged states to continue making science and math instruction a high priority by also using other federal funds available for teacher improvement.  A total of $2.85 billion was appropriated for overall Teacher Quality.   

For more information, please contact Patti Burgio at burgiop@asme.org.

GAO BEGINS NEW INVESTIGATION INTO FEDERAL OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY

In response to a request by Representative John Dingell, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the General Accounting Office has begun another investigation into the Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety, specifically focusing on OPS's approach to preventing terrorist attacks like those of September 11, and whether the OPS has sufficient resources and personnel to deal with such events.

On October 3, GAO released an investigative report on OPS that said the agency had made progress, but still had the lowest rating of any transportation agency in implementing National Transportation Safety Board recommendations.

For more information, contact Francis Dietz at dietzf@asme.org.

BUSH NOMINATES ORBACH TO HEAD DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OFFICE OF SCIENCE

President Bush has announced his intention to nominate Raymond Orbach to be Director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science.  The Chancellor of the University of California Riverside since 1992, Orbach served for ten years as Provost of UCLA's College of Letters and Science.   He has also served on numerous professional, scientific, and civic boards, as well as held visiting professorships at institutions in several countries, including Tel Aviv University, the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, and the Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielle de la Ville De Paris.
 
DOE's Office of Science is responsible for the department's civilian research in high energy and nuclear physics, fusion energy sciences, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research and computational science, and ten DOE civilian laboratories.

For more information, contact Francis Dietz at dietzf@asme.org.

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Melissa R. Murray
Manager, State Government Relations
ASME International
1828 L Street, NW, Suite 906
Washington, DC  20036
Phone:  202.785.7380
Fax:  202.429.9417
Email:  murraym@asme.org



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