FY 2014 Appropriations: U.S. Geological Survey

The FY 2014 appropriations cycle has come to a close. President Obama has signed into law an FY 2014 omnibus bill, consisting of twelve separate appropriations bills, that was passed last week by the House and Senate.

Accompanying the omnibus bill is an Explanatory Statement detailing program funding levels and language about various programs. The Statement is not in final form as it includes hand-written notations. The section on the U.S. Geological Survey is found on PDF pages 17 and 18. The following program funding levels are taken from detailed spending charts on PDF pages 68-70. Note that the Explanatory Statement did not include post-sequestration program funding levels for FY 2013 (generally a 5 percent reduction.) Neither the House nor Senate Appropriations Committees developed an FY 2014 bill funding the USGS.

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $1,074.6 million
The FY 2014 request was $1,166.9 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $1,032.0 million

The Explanatory Statement included no language.

ECOSYSTEMS:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $160.8 million
The FY 2014 request was $180.8 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $152.8 million

The Explanatory Statement included the following language:

“Within the Ecosystems activity, an additional $505,000 is provided to address white-nose syndrome in bats, and an increase of $1,000,000 is included for Asian carp control efforts.”

CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND USE CHANGE:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $141.5 million
The FY 2014 request was $156.0 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $132.0 million

The Explanatory Statement included no language.

ENERGY, MINERALS AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $97.3 million
The FY 2014 request was $107.5 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $91.5 million

The Explanatory Statement included the following language:

“The Committees encourage the Survey to continue to analyze the distribution and magnitude of endocrine-disrupting chemicals impacting fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and have therefore included $1,000,000 for Emergency Contaminants/Endocrine Disruptors within the funding provided for Contaminant Biology. The Committees recognize that the Survey’s mineral reports are highly valued by governmental and nongovernmental entities and encourage the Survey to consider additional sources of funds to support these reports and other aspects of the minerals program.”

NATURAL HAZARDS:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $131.1 million
The FY 2014 request was $142.6 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $128.5 million

The Explanatory Statement included the following language:

“Funding for Natural Hazards programs includes $1,000,000 for earthquake risks assessments, $1,200,000 for Eastern U.S. earthquakes research and monitoring, $900,000 for volcano and landslide disaster response network activities, and $1,000,000 for coastal Lidar imaging. The Committees support the Natural Hazards program and urge the Survey to continue its research and outreach efforts both within the Survey and with State and university partners, including investments and improvements to the Advanced National Seismic System. The Committees support efforts to continue developing an earthquake early warning prototype system on the West Coast. The Committees note that several of the Survey’s seismic stations associated with the North Pacific volcano observatory network are currently inoperable, with additional sites expected to lose monitoring capability in the near future. The Survey should maintain a sufficient level of funding for the program so that seismic activities continue to be detected rapidly and important information can be disseminated to the public, including information critical to civil and military air routes.”

WATER RESOURCES:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $211.7 million
The FY 2014 request was $222.9 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $207.3 million

The Explanatory Statement included the following language:

“Within Water Resources, $600,000 is provided for groundwater availability studies, $6,000,000 is included for expansion of the National Streamgage Network, and the Water Resources Research Institutes are funded at $6,500,000.”

CORE SCIENCE SYSTEMS:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $115.0 million
The FY 2014 request was $137.2 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $108.9 million

The Explanatory Statement included the following language:

“Within the funding provided for Science, Synthesis, Analysis and Research, an increase of $400,000 is for data preservation, and $764,000 of the amount requested is included for the expansion of mapping activities in Alaska.”

ADMINISTRATION AND ENTERPRISE INFORMATION:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $116.8 million
The FY 2014 request was $115.6 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $110.7 million

The Explanatory Statement included no language.

FACILITIES:

The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory reduction of approximately 5 percent) was $100.4 million
The FY 2014 request was $104.5 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $100.4 million

The Explanatory Statement included no language.