FYI Number 89: July 13, 2001

Senate Appropriators Draft FY 2002 Department of Energy Bill

Budget parameters for FY 2002 Department of Energy science programs became known yesterday when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill. In almost all cases, physics-related programs within DOE's Office of Science would receive more money in this bill drafted by Subcommittee Chairman Harry Reid (D-NV) and Ranking Minority Member Pete Domenici (R-NM) than in the House bill, the Bush Administration request, or the current budget.

This bill must now be considered by the full Senate, which is unlikely to change the science program budget numbers. The legislation will then go to a conference with House appropriators to settle on a final version of the bill, where often appropriators split the difference between varying numbers.

Committee report language for the Senate bill is not yet available. Approximate total program budget numbers in the Senate bill are known.

Program	Senate	House	Bush Request	Current budget
DOE science	$3.268 billion	$3.166 billion	$3.160 billion	$3.155 billion
High Energy Physics	$725.1 million	$716.1 million	$716.1 million	$712.0 million
Nuclear Physics	$373.0 million	$361.5 million	$360.5 million	$360.5 million
Basic Energy Science	$1.04 billion	$1.01 billion	$1.01 billion	$991.7 million
Fusion Energy Sciences	$248.5 million	$248.5 million	$248.5 million	$248.5 million
Biological and Environmental Research	$490.0 million	$445.9 million	$443.0 million	$482.5 million
Renewable Energy Resources	$435.0 million	$376.8 million	$276.6 million	$373.2 million

In his opening statement at the committee markup, Subcommittee Chairman Reid's comments primarily focused on the water development portion of the bill. His only comments on the above programs concerned the Renewable Energy Resources portion of the bill. He stated:

"The Subcommittee received a letter signed by nearly two-thirds of the Senate requesting higher funding levels for renewable energy programs. In a year when our nation has struggled with energy production and distribution, I am delighted to be able to enhance funding levels for these important research and development efforts.

Richard M. Jones
Public Information Division
American Institute of Physics
fyi@aip.org
(301) 209-3095

Back to FYI Home