House Appropriations Committee Approves FY 2016 DOE Office of Science Funding Bill

Yesterday the full House Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2016 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill. The House is scheduled to consider this bill next week.

In opening yesterday’s markup session, Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) noted this was the earliest in the year, since at least since 1974, that House appropriators have met to approve funding bills. (The committee also acted on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill.) The committee has been off to a fast start, holding more than 100 hearings this year on various federal programs. Rogers spoke of his and Ranking Member Nita Lowey’s (D-NY) commitment to the committee’s historic tradition of congeniality. With changes in the Senate, Rogers spoke optimistically of sending individual bills to the White House.

“This is a strong bill” Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-ID) said when introducing the $35.4 billion bill. Minority Member Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) thanked Simpson for his cooperation in drafting the bill, but noted the difficulty the subcommittee had with its funding allocation.

The Appropriations Committee has posted the draft report accompanying its funding bill. The committee’s recommendations regarding the Office of Science are found on pages 102-108. Also see funding tables on pages 141-143.

Total Office of Science:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $5,067.7 million
The FY 2016 request is $5,339.8 million, an increase of $272.1 million or 5.4 percent
The House bill provides $5,100.0 million, an increase of $32.3 million or 0.6 percent

Within the Office of Science are the following selected programs:

Advanced Scientific Computing Research:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $541.0 million
The FY 2016 request is $621.0 million, an increase of $80.0 million or 14.8 percent
The House bill provides $537.5 million, a decrease of $3.5 million or 0.7 percent

Basic Energy Sciences:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $1,733.2 million
The FY 2016 request is $1,849.3 million, an increase of $116.1 million or 6.7 percent
The House bill provides $1,770.3 million, an increase of $37.1 million or 2.1 percent

Biological and Environmental Research:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $592.0 million
The FY 2016 request is $612.4 million, an increase of $20.4 million or 3.5 percent
The House bill provides $538.0 million, a decrease of $54.0 million or 9.1 percent

Fusion Energy Sciences:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $467.5 million
The FY 2016 request is $420.0 million, a decrease of $47.5 million or 10.2 percent
The House bill provides $467.6 million, an increase of $0.1 million or level funding

High Energy Physics:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $766.0 million
The FY 2016 request is $788.0 million, an increase of $22.0 million or 2.9 percent
The House bill provides $776.0 million, an increase of $10.0 million or 1.3 percent

Nuclear Physics:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $595.5 million
The FY 2016 request is $624.6 million, an increase of $29.1 million or 4.9 percent
The House bill provides $616.2 million, an increase of $20.7 million or 3.5 percent

Also see page 79 for report language regarding the “proliferation of centers.”