The House of Representatives is now considering the FY 2005 Interior
Appropriations Bill. Contained with this bill, H.R. 4568, is funding
for the U.S. Geological Survey. Under this bill, funding for USGS would
increase by $6.5 million, or 0.7%, from $938.0 million to $944.5 million.
As now written, five of seven programs would receive less money in the
next fiscal year.
Accompanying this bill is Appropriations Committee report 108-542 providing
the committee's recommendations regarding USGS programs. Excerpts from
the report language, as well as proposed funding levels, follow. The
full report language may be viewed at http://thomas.loc.gov/
At the outset, the report states: "For the fifth year in a
row the Committee has partially restored a number of high-priority research
programs that were proposed for reduction or elimination. The Administration
has placed a high priority on cooperative programs that leverage funds
from State and local governments as well as private entities. 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."
The report language continues with recommendations on specific programs:
MAPPING, REMOTE SENSING, AND GEOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATIONS: Under
the committee bill, funding would decline 5.4% or $7.0 million from
$129.8 million to $122.8 million. The Administration requested $118.9
million. The report language includes the following:
"Changes from the [Administration's FY 2005] request
include increases of $483,000 to restore the streamlining cut, $2,355,000
for national map activities, and $1,000,000 to meet the Survey's obligations
for North Carolina flood mapping.
"The Committee is concerned that the Survey is not adequately
planning for the future of the Landsat 7 program. The Committee has
twice reprogrammed funding to keep Landsat 7 operations going under
the condition that a short-term fix and a long-term solution to the
problem be investigated. To date, no solutions to the problem of continuing
operations for a degraded satellite have been proposed. The Committee
will no longer increase funding, or reprogram funding from other ongoing
Survey programs, to keep the Landsat 7 program operating. The Committee
recommends that the Survey operate the Landsat 7 program from within
base funds and collect and archive data only. If additional funds are
needed for distribution of data and operation of the international ground
stations, then those funds must be generated by data sales and reimbursable
agreements with other Federal agencies and institutions. The Committee
agrees that long-term remote sensing data are vital to many aspects
of the government and private sector. The Committee encourages the Administration
to work with NASA and other Federal agencies to place the next generation
Landsat sensor in orbit as soon as possible to reduce future data gaps.
"The Committee supports the Survey's efforts to manage more
efficiently the growing volume of data at the EROS Data Center. Accordingly,
the Committee supports efforts by the Survey to convert its archived
remote sensing data from outdated storage media to disk based storage.
The Committee believes this conversion will accommodate growing volumes
of data and provide access to users more efficiently and at lower cost.
Further, the Committee supports the employment of data replication technologies
that will reduce failures within the data storage infrastructure and
will ensure recovery from any potential outage."
GEOLOGIC HAZARDS, RESOURCES AND PROCESSES: Under the committee
bill, funding would decline 1.4% or $3.3 million from $234.2 million
to $230.9 million. The Administration requested $220.8 million. The
report language includes the following:
"Changes from the [Administration's FY 2005] request
include increases of $840,000 to restore streamlining cuts, $1,350,000
for the ANSS program, $750,000 to further the Survey's work on landslide
hazards, $250,000 to continue to study the impacts of global dust events
on coral reefs, $1,600,000 to restore the Tampa Bay Pilot coastal project,
and $6,500,000 to restore the cut to mineral resource assessments, and
decreases of $400,000 for the earth observation and monitoring program,
$250,000 for geothermal assessments, and $500,000 for science on DOI
landscape.
"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 adding billions of dollars to the economy in 2003. Mineral commodities
are essential to both national security and infrastructure development.
Mineral resources research and assessments are a core responsibility
of the Survey."
WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS: Under the committee bill, funding
would decline 2.0% or $4.4 million from $215.7 million to $211.3 million.
The Administration requested $202.7 million. The report language includes
the following:
"Changes from the [Administration's FY 2005] request
include increases of $742,000 to restore streamlining reductions, $800,000
for the water availability project, $250,000 for Potomac River groundwater
assessments, $250,000 for increased reporting requirements associated
with the San Pedro Partnership, $500,000 for the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer,
$250,000 for the Chesapeake Bay program, $350,000 for the Hood Canal
dissolved oxygen study, and $6,500,000 for the Water Resource Research
Institutes, and decreases of $200,000 for the SPARROW model, $375,000
for science on the DOI landscape, and $500,000 for the Klamath Basin
initiative. The Committee directs the Survey to dedicate $2,000,000
in existing funds to the ongoing Lake Pontchartrain restoration project.
"The Committee recommendation increases the funding for the
water availability project proposed in the request by $800,000. This
program, as outlined in the Survey's November 2003 implementation plan,
calls for the establishment of two pilot projects at an estimated cost
of $5,200,000. Due to current budget constraints, the Committee recommendation
does not fully fund the pilot project, but funding is included to initiate
the Survey's top priority pilot project in the Great Lakes region. The
Committee expects the Administration to continue to request funding
in future budgets to expand this program for other areas of the country."
BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH: Under the committee bill, funding would
decline 1.4% or $2.5 million from $174.5 million to $172.0 million.
The Administration requested $167.6 million. The report language includes
the following:
"Changes to the [Administration's FY 2005] request include
increases of $602,000 to restore streamlining reductions, $2,800,000
to restore the interagency cooperative fire science program, $500,000
for manatee research, $170,000 for equipment at the Anadromous Fish
Research Lab, $250,000 for the Great Lakes Deepwater Large Vessel program,
$400,000 to restore the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research
Unit, and $500,000 for a general increase to the Cooperative Research
Unit program, and decreases of $350,000 for science on the DOI landscape,
and $500,000 for the Klamath Basin initiative. Within base funding,
the Committee directs the Survey to provide an additional $75,000 for
the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study for chronic wasting
disease research and $250,000 to continue the Delaware River Basin Ecologically
Sustainable Water Management Project.
"The Committee is concerned about the growth of the National
Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII); the number of planned
regional and thematic nodes is too high and inadequately justified.
The Committee does not agree that having 12 separate regions is necessary
to distribute electronic information over the World Wide Web. The Committee
directs the Survey to locate all new ‘thematic' nodes in the same
physical location as existing regional nodes and to consolidate operational
expenses. The Committee also suggests that the Survey reduce the number
of planned NBII regions and realign existing regions to align better
with the Survey's existing regional structure.
"The Committee has provided an increase for the Cooperative
Fish and Wildlife Research Units. The Committee is concerned about the
strategic growth of this system and directs the Survey to develop a
long-term plan addressing the number and location of new units that
are needed prior to any expansion of the system. This plan should be
delivered to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations no later
than December 31, 2004."
ENTERPRISE INFORMATION: This is a new USGS budget category that
consolidates activities from other survey components. The Administration
requested $45.2 million. The committee provided $44.2 million, a reduction
of 2.2% or $1.0 million. The report language states: "Changes
to the [Administration's FY 2005] budget request include decreases
of $250,000 for the Enterprise Services Network, $5,000 for e-government,
$64,000 for Safecom, and $680,000 for Disaster.gov."
SCIENCE SUPPORT: Under the committee bill, funding would decline
25.7% or $23.3 million from $90.8 million to $67.5 million. The Administration
requested $68.7 million. The report language includes the following:
"Changes from the [Administration's FY 2005] request
include an increase of $311,000 to restore the ‘streamlining' savings
and decreases of $414,000 for e-government, $700,000 for financial management
improvements, and $405,000 for competitive sourcing activities."
FACILITIES: Under the committee bill, funding would increase
3.1% or $2.9 million from $93.0 million to $95.9 million. The Administration
requested $95.9 million. There was no report language.
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