FY95 Budget Request: National Institute of Standards & Technology

The Clinton Administration’s belief in technology as a driver of economic growth is apparent in its fiscal year 1995 budget request for the Department of Commerce’s technology programs, particularly the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). As the federal government’s only agency directly tasked to assist US industry, NIST continues to receive double-digit increases on its path to reaching a $1.4 billion budget by fiscal year 1997. The NIST budget request for fiscal year 1995 is $935.0 million, an increase of $414.8 million (79.7%) over the current appropriation.

NIST funding falls into three separate categories. The Industrial Technology Services program includes the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), the Manufacturing Extenstion Partnership (MEP), and the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award. The other two categories are Science and Technology Research and Services, under which in-house research is performed, and Construction of Research Facilities.

NIST’s industry-assistance programs would see the largest increases. The ATP, a program to provide competitive, cost-shared grants to industry for high-risk technologies, would grow $251.5 million (126.1%) to $451.0 million. The MEP, which disseminates manufacturing know-how to small and medium-sized businesses through a series of extension centers, would gain $30.8 million (102.0%), increasing to $61.1 million.

Intramural research would grow $90.0 million (39.8%) to $316.0 million. The NIST budget “Highlights” note that “A substantial portion... will be used to respond to pent-up demand by industry for NIST research, measurement technologies, and services.” Physics programs would grow by $0.8 million (3.1%) to $27.5 million, comprising research into electron, optical, molecular, radiometric, and quantum physics, quantum metrology, ionizing radiation, time, frequency, and lasers. Materials Science and Engineering, including intelligent processing of materials, ceramics, polymers, metallurgy, materials reliability, and reactor radiation, would receive $61.7 million, an increase of $18.4 million (42.5%).

Funding for badly-needed construction and renovation of NIST facilities would grow $58.3 million (62.1%) to $100 million. This request puts NIST back on track for a 10-year, $540 million effort to upgrade its 30- to 40-year-old labs. According to the budget “Highlights,” “The decaying state of the Institute’s facilities already has made it impossible to provide some U.S. manufacturers with essential services....”

Along with such rapid growth, especially in its industrial technology programs, comes an emphasis on evaluating results. NIST has prepared a document entitled, “Setting Priorities and Measuring Results at NIST,” which states: “The focus on methods for setting priorities, evaluating operational performance, and measuring results is especially critical now, as the Administration proceeds with plans to nearly quadruple the NIST budget by 1997 and as public expectations for economic returns on the agency’s technology programs increase commensurately.”