House and Senate Appropriators have completed their work on the FY
2004 Interior Appropriations Bill containing funding for the U.S. Geological
Survey. The House has issued its Report 108-195; the Senate committee
bill and report are being readied for publication.
The current budget for USGS is $919.3 million. The Bush
Administration requested $895.5 million. House appropriators
recommend an increase in the survey's budget of $16.4 million, or
1.8% to $935.7 million. Senate appropriators recommended $929
million, an increase of 1.1%.
Selections from the House report follow:
"For the third year in a row the Committee has restored a number
of
high-priority research programs that were proposed for reduction or
elimination. The Department has placed a high-priority on both
cooperative programs and programs that are outsourced to the private
sector. For the most part, the programs that are being proposed for
reduction or elimination in fiscal year 2004 are the very programs
that meet these criteria. More than any other Bureau in the
Department, the Survey has been a leader in the development of
cooperative programs and outsourcing its activities. The Committee
believes that Bureaus that are successful in implementing these
policies should be rewarded and not penalized.
"NATIONAL MAPPING PROGRAM: The Committee recommends $130,221,000
for the national mapping program, $9,739,000 above the budget request
and $2,984,000 below the 2003 enacted level including increases above
the budget request of $4,444,000 to restore data collection activities
through partnerships and contracts with the private sector, $1,250,000
for cooperative topographic mapping to expand and enhance initial National
Map implementation through partnerships (to extend the geographic coverage
and enhance data integration activities related to these implementation
sites), $2,770,000 for research activities under geographic analysis
and monitoring, $500,000 for the Tennessee GIS mapping project, and
$775,000 as a science support adjustment.
"The Committee supports the Survey in its efforts to implement
the
National Map. This strategic project will establish a digital
database that will provide up-to-date, consistent, reliable
geospatial information and make these data easily accessible to a
wide range of users. Building upon the historic investment of
geographic data from the base topographic maps, the National Map is
being designed to serve as the Nation's new topographic map, while
also reducing redundant data being collected by multiple levels of
government.
"The Nation's digital infrastructure is playing an ever-expanding
role in the U.S. economy. Many private sector companies have built
successful businesses on value-added products made from government
investments in geospatial data. Geospatial data are also used in
economic and community development, land and natural resource
management, ensuring public safety during times of both natural
(wildfires, floods, earthquakes) and human-induced disasters, and is
the foundation for studying and solving geographically based
problems. Tremendous economic and productivity enhancements occur
throughout the Nation as industries utilize these new technologies.
"The Survey has taken major steps to refocus and realign its
activities to ensure the realization of the National Map. The
Committee commends the Survey's efforts to restructure its mapping
workforce so that resources can be available for building the
National Map in partnership with other Federal agencies, State and
local governments, the private sector, and universities. Partnership
funds for State and local governments are a high priority because
these funds are often leveraged three and four fold, allowing the
National Map to be created more rapidly, with more partners, and at
lower cost to the Federal government.
"The Survey's EROS Data Center is the repository of the world's
largest collection of satellite imagery and is designated as a
'National Critical Infrastructure' for purposes of homeland security.
USGS archived data are critical to Federal, State, and local
governments for protecting the homeland, natural disaster
assessments, and understanding global climate change. With emerging
technologies, the volume of collected, archived, and distributed data
at the electronic data center (EDC) is growing exponentially.
Accordingly, the Committee supports the USGS EDC requirement to
convert its archived remote sensing data from outdated storage media
to disk-based storage. Such a conversion will accommodate extremely
high growth rates and provide access to users more efficiently and at
lower cost. Further, the Committee supports the implementation of a
continuity of operations capability for the EDC utilizing 'remote
mirroring' technology, which will eliminate a single point of failure
for data storage infrastructure and ensure full recovery with zero
data loss from any potential outage.
"GEOLOGIC HAZARDS, RESOURCES AND PROCESSES: The Committee
recommends $231,435,000 for geologic hazards, resources, and processes,
$9,860,000 above the budget request and $1,732,000 below the 2003 enacted
level, including increases above the budget request of $1,900,000 to
restore funding for the advanced national seismic system, $750,000 to
continue the study into the impact of global dust events, $500,000 for
the Great Lakes geologic mapping project, $1,000,000 for the cooperative
geologic mapping program, $2,000,000 to continue the implementation
of the national coastal program consistent with the recommendations
of the National Academy of Sciences, $1,300,000 for aggregate and industrial
minerals, $9,122,000 to restore mineral research and assessments, and
decreases of $4,000,000 for Everglades research and $2,712,000 as a
science support adjustment.
"The Committee strongly disagrees with the proposed reduction
in the
Survey's mineral resources program. Minerals and mineral products are
important to the U.S. economy with processed minerals accounting for
over $370 billion to the economy in 2002. Mineral commodities are
essential to both national security and infrastructure development.
Mineral resources research and assessments are a core responsibility
of the survey. Since the 1996 review by the National Academy, the
Survey's mineral program has refocused its efforts to address better
the Nation's need for more and better information regarding the
regional, national, and global availability of mineral resources. For
these reasons the Committee has restored the proposed cuts to this
high-priority program.
"WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS: The Committee recommends
$215,178,000 for water resources investigations, $15,082,000 above the
budget request and $8,027,000 above the 2003 enacted level, including
increases above the budget request of $6,500,000 to restore funding
for the Water Resources Research Institutes, $2,419,000 to restore funding
for the toxic substances hydrology program, $600,000 to continue work
at Lake Ponchartrain and $900,000 for the Long Term Estuary Group (LEAG)
in Louisiana, $500,000 for the continuation of the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum
Valley Aquifer study begun last year, $500,000 for the Chesapeake Bay
program, and $3,663,000 as a science support adjustment.
"The Committee has provided $900,000 for development and deployment
of new instruments and studies in the lower Mississippi River. This
effort is to be a collaborative relationship within the Long-Term
Estuary Assessment Group (LEAG). Within this funding level $550,000
is to be provided to other LEAG partners and $350,000 is for the USGS
work to fulfill LEAG objectives. The Committee requests that the USGS
provide a report by January 31, 2004, detailing a five-year plan
(2002-2006) for USGS involvement in LEAG. The report should describe
the proposed work and show how it relates to the Survey's national
program priorities. It should define the resources required to
implement the plan through 2006.
"The Committee has provided $600,000 for water-quality studies
within
the Lake Ponchartrain basin. Within these funds, the Survey should
provide sufficient funds to continue operation of new flow and water
quality sensors deployed in the basin with the funds provided in
fiscal year 2003. The USGS should develop its plans collaboratively
with Southeastern Louisiana University to assure that the proposed
work addresses local problems affecting the Lake Pontchartrain basin
and its stakeholders and is relevant to the national mission of the
USGS.
"BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH: The Committee recommends $173,349,000
for biological research, $4,474,000 above the budget request and $3,533,000
above the 2003 enacted level including increases above the budget request
of $2,800,000 to restore the interagency cooperative fire science program,
$500,000 for amphibian research, $1,000,000 for chronic wasting disease,
$600,000 for Great Lakes research and operations, $400,000 for Great
Lakes vessel operations, $400,000 for the new fish and wildlife cooperative
research unit established in fiscal year 2003 at the University of Nebraska,
and $500,000 for manatee research in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service recovery efforts, and a decrease of $1,726,000 as a science
support adjustment.
"Within the funding increase provided in the budget request for
the
National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), $500,000 is
allocated for the Tennessee node and $500,000 is allocated for the
Northeast node in New York.
"The Committee has realigned the Gap Analysis Program by shifting
$3,900,000 from the biological research and monitoring subactivity
into the biological information management and delivery subactivity.
This realignment should result in management efficiencies for this
high-priority program.
"SCIENCE SUPPORT: The Committee recommends $91,529,000
for science support, the same as the budget request and $6,352,000 above
the 2003 enacted level.
"FACILITIES: The Committee recommends $93,948,000 for facilities,
$1,000,000 above the budget request and $3,192,000 above the 2003 enacted
level. The increase above the budget request is for the Tunison laboratory
for Atlantic Salmon restoration research.
"The Committee is aware that the budget request may not contain
sufficient funding for rent for some of the Survey's science centers.
The Committee finds this unacceptable and expects that rent for all
science centers will be covered within the funds provided to the
Survey in its fiscal year 2004 appropriation without jeopardizing
ongoing science programs."
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