The Senate Appropriations Committee has sent its FY 2004 Interior Appropriations
Bill to the floor. Under this bill, S. 1391, the U.S. Geological Survey's
budget would increase 1.1% to $928.9 million. As reported in FYI
#91, the House version of this bill would provide $935.7 million,
an increase of 1.8%. Expect the final budget increase to be between
these two figures.
There is considerable language in Senate Report 108-89 detailing
funding for specific projects. The committee's report language for
each of the six accounts follows, annotated with the comparable
overall House figure.
NATIONAL MAPPING PROGRAM: "The Committee recommends $128,889,000
for the national mapping program, a decrease of $4,317,000 below the
current year enacted level. [House Appropriations: $130.2 million]
"The Committee does not agree to the proposed budget decreases
of
$4,444,000 for data collection or $2,770,000 for geographic analysis
and has included these sums in its recommendation. Further, the
Committee notes that the proposed IT reduction for the mapping
program is $6,640,000, an amount that exceeds the IT savings proposed
for much larger agencies and bureaus, such as the Forest Service or
the National Park Service, which have budgets of approximately
$4,000,000,000 and $2,000,000,000 respectively. The Committee has not
been given information that would substantiate such a large reduction
and, therefore, has restored all but $1,050,000 to the program. Other
changes to the enacted level include an increase of $1,133,000 to
partially fund uncontrollable costs, and decreases of $3,000,000 for
the AmericaView program and $1,400,000 for closure of the Center for
Integration and Natural Disaster Information [CINDI] program.
Functions performed within the CINDI program have been transferred to
other areas within USGS. Included in base funding is an amount of
$1,000,000 to continue the Alaska digital data mapping program, which
was initiated in fiscal year 2003."
GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS, RESOURCES, AND PROCESSES: "The Committee
recommends $236,872,000 for the geological hazards, resources and processes
program, an increase of $3,705,000 above the current year enacted level.
[House Appropriations: $231.4 million]
"The Committee does not agree with the proposed budget reduction
of
$11,172,000 to the Minerals Resources base program and has restored
these funds in full. Similarly, the Committee has not accepted the
proposed decrease of $1,900,000 to the Advanced National Seismic
System program. These funds are maintained in the base and an
increase of $500,000 is provided to expand the earthquake program's
capabilities. Other increases to the enacted level include $2,141,000
to partially fund fixed costs; $300,000 for INSAR data acquisition;
$200,000 for Mauna Loa volcano monitoring; $500,000 for a Clark
County, Nevada mineral inventory; $300,000 for a Kansas well log
inventory; an additional $1,000,000 for Shemya volcano monitoring
equipment, which brings the total program amount to $2,000,000; an
additional $500,000 for the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping
program; and $1,225,000 for a coalbed methane study of the Tongue
River watershed. Other projects that are continued within base funds
include $500,000 for the North Carolina erosion study; $1,500,000 to
complete funding for the Alaska Minerals at Risk program; $1,250,000
for South Carolina/Georgia Coastal erosion and coastal monitoring
studies, of which $250,000 is intended for the South Carolina coastal
erosion monitoring program; $250,000 to continue the cooperative
program with the University of Hawaii-Hilo; and $500,000 for land
subsidence studies in Louisiana. Decreases to the enacted level
include $500,000 for the global dust program; $500,000 for the
Central Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition; $499,000 for the
LIDAR consortium; $950,000 for IT savings; and $2,000,000 for the
Tampa Bay pilot project."
WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS: "The Committee recommends
$209,547,000 for the water resources investigations, an amount of $2,396,000
above the current year enacted level. [House Appropriation: $215.2 million]
"Increases include $2,190,000 to partially meet mandatory pay
and
benefits; $500,000 for a United States-Mexico border environmental
health initiative; $500,000 for a Rathdrum Prairie aquifer study, an
amount that will be matched in part by Washington and Idaho;
$2,000,000 for collaborative studies with the University of Oklahoma,
of which $1,000,000 is for the evaluation of current and potential
groundwater contamination of the Roubidoux Aquifer from abandoned
mine waste and $1,000,000 is for subsurface geologic research to
identify areas at high risk of subsidence; $50,000 for a study on the
efficiency of mercury methylation in South Carolina rivers; $414,000
for the NAWQA program; and $37,000 to restore the fiscal year 2003
across-the-board reduction to the Water Resources Research Institutes
[WRRI] program for a total of $6,000,000. The budget request assumed
the elimination of the WRRI program. Projects that are continued
within base funds include $450,000 for groundwater monitoring work in
Hawaii, an additional amount of $299,000 for investigations of
mercury in Lake Champlain to bring that program total to $485,000;
$500,000 for the Potomac River basin groundwater study; and $200,000
for a study of extremophilic life at Berkeley Pit Lake. Within
appropriated funds, an amount of up to $1,000,000 may be expended for
the Survey's participation in the work of the Long-Term Estuary
Assessment program. Decreases include IT savings of $1,580,000, a
$300,000 technical adjustment to transfer large vessel maintenance
funds to the facilities activity, $1,000,000 to initiate a Lake
Ponchartrain study, $195,000 for a hydrologic study of Noyes Slough
and $220,000 for a cladophora blooms study."
BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH: "The Committee recommends $169,580,000
for biological research, an amount of $235,000 below the enacted level.
[House Appropriation: $173.4 million]
"Changes include increases of $1,544,000 for fixed costs; $2,000,000
for invasive species work; $500,000 for the addition of a
Mid-Atlantic NBII node; an additional $100,000 for Diamondback
Terrapin research for a total of $200,000; and an additional $400,000
for molecular biology research at the Leetown facility for a total of
$800,000. Of the $2,000,000 provided for invasive species research,
$1,000,000 is intended for the GeoResources Institute at Mississippi
State University. The Committee encourages the Institute to work
collaboratively with the Survey, to the extent possible, on issues of
shared interest. Decreases include $650,000 for IT savings; a
$600,000 technical adjustment to transfer vessel maintenance funds to
the facilities activity; $500,000 for a Wellsboro genetics study;
$300,000 for inventory and monitoring on the Cherokee National
Forest; $50,000 for a Tunison salmon study; $499,000 for ballast
water research; $180,000 for Yukon River Chum Salmon research; and
$2,000,000 for fire science research. The Committee is supportive of
the USGS contribution to the Department's overall fire science
program but suggests that funding for its work should be derived from
the larger program. Projects that are continued within base funds
include $750,000 for a mining study on the Mark Twain National Forest
in cooperation with the Water Resources activity; $500,000 for a
Pallid Sturgeon study, $1,000,000 for the Northern Continental Divide
Ecosystem genetic survey; $300,000 for multidisciplinary water
studies at the Leetown Science Center; $400,000 to continue support
for the newly established co-op unit at the University of Nebraska;
and $500,000 for a decision support system for Lake Tahoe.
"Last year, the Committee requested a report from the Survey that
would provide information regarding current and future goals of the
NBII program, as well as a prioritized list for its expansion. The
Committee understands that this report is now in draft form. In the
meantime, the Committee is continuing to receive numerous inquiries
regarding the establishment of additional nodes or expansion of
existing ones. Proposals such as the one to expand the Northeast
Information Node appear to have strong merit and enjoy considerable
strong support. As the Committee will be required to make decisions
in the next few months that will impact the growth of the NBII
program, it is imperative that the Survey complete and submit its
report as quickly as possible in order to provide the Committee with
what it hopes will be a useful tool in making those decisions."
SCIENCE SUPPORT: "The Committee recommends $91,422,000
for science support activities, an amount of $6,245,000 above the current
year enacted level. [House Appropriation: $91.3 million]
"Changes include increases of $1,605,000 for uncontrollable cost
adjustments; $1,000,000 for critical IT security needs; and
$3,990,000 for the conversion of existing wideband radios to digital
narrowband land mobile radios as mandated by Federal law. A decrease
of $350,000 in IT savings has been assumed in agreement with the
budget request.
FACILITIES: "The Committee recommends $92,554,000 for facilities,
an amount of $1,798,000 above the current year enacted level. [House
Appropriations: $94.0 million]
"Changes include increases of $3,073,000 for fixed cost adjustments
and $200,000 for unanticipated construction costs at the Leetown
facility, and decreases of $1,200,000 for equipment at the Tampa Bay
facility, $800,000 for repairs at the Tunison Lab and $375,000 for
completed design work at the Leetown facility. As proposed in the
budget request, a total of $900,000 has been transferred from the
water investigations program and the biological research program into
the facilities activity. These funds are used for the maintenance of
large vessels and are more appropriately considered as part of the
Survey's facilities budget."
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