H.R. 2405: Department of Energy Provisions

Next week the House of Representatives will consider H.R. 2405, the Omnibus Civilian Science Authorization Act of 1995. Title III of this bill, known as the “Department of Energy Civilian Research and Development Act of 1995" provides a number of important indicators of the direction and level of DOE’s future science and technology programs. Passage of this bill is not assured, and it only permits, but does not provide, actual program funding. It will, however, if passed by the House, represent a clear picture of the attitudes of the House of Representatives toward important physics programs. Congress is nearing completion of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill for FY 1996, which provides the actual money (see FYIs #110, 111, and 112.)

FUNDING:

This legislation only covers FY 1996. Under the category of Energy Supply Research and Development Activities, $254.1 million is authorized for the Fusion Energy program. Of that, $245.1 million is for Magnetic Fusion Energy, with $4.8 million for Inertial Fusion Energy. The Administration’s FY 1996 request for Fusion Energy was $366.1 million. The House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill provide $229.1 million and $225.1 million (actual funding will be in this range.)

Under the category of General Science and Research Activities, $680.1 million is authorized for High Energy Physics programs in FY 1996. The Administration requested $685.6 million. The House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill provide $677.0 million and $657.0 million.

Under this same category, $316.9 million is authorized for Nuclear Physics Programs in FY 1996. The Administration requested $321.1 million. The House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill each provide $304.5 million.

The total of the authorization levels for Fusion Energy, High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics is $1,251.1 million. Of this total, the breakdown of the individual program authorization levels is as follows: High Energy Physics - 54.4%; Nuclear Physics - 25.3%, and Fusion Energy - 20.3%.

Another category under Energy Supply Research and Development Activities is Basic Energy Sciences, which provides some money for physics research. $828.0 million is authorized for FY 1996; the Administration requested $811.4 million. The House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill each provide $791.7 million. H.R. 2405 does not provide budget numbers for specific kinds of BES research.

FUNDING LIMITATIONS:

Section 304 of this bill states “none of the funds...may be used for the following programs, projects and activities:". Included in this 42 item list are the Tokamak Physics Experiment, the Advanced Neutron Source (for which the Administration has not requested money), University and Science Education, and a number of solar, Russian, fossil fuel, and other technology programs.

HIGH ENERGY AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS PROGRAM DIRECTION:

LARGE HADRON COLLIDER PROJECT: Section 309 of the bill instructs the Secretary of Energy to “enter into negotiations with CERN concerning United States participation in the planning and construction of the Large Hadron Collider project....” Eight provisions are listed “to protect the United States investment in the project.”

REPORT TO CONGRESS: Section 309 also requires the Secretary to prepare a report for Congress “in consultation with the Director of the National Science Foundation and with the high energy and nuclear physics communities” which will be “a strategic plan for the high energy and nuclear physics activities of the Department.” This report is due before January 1, 1996 (assuming the bill is passed.)

It is important to note that in describing this strategic plan, the bill states: “assuming a combined budget of $950,000,000 for all activities authorized under... [this bill] for fiscal year 1997, and assuming a combined budget of $900,000,000 for all activities authorized under... [this bill] for each of the fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000.”

In looking ahead to future year authorization levels for High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics, the House Science Committee cites the following levels:

FY 1996 Authorization: $997 million (The Administration requested $1,006.7 million.)
FY 1997 Authorization: $950 million (a decline of 4.7%, not adjusted for inflation)
FY 1998 Authorization: $900 million (a decline of 5.3% from FY 1997 or 9.7% from FY 1996)
FY 1999 Authorization: $900 million FY 2000 Authorization: $900 million

These levels are for report planning purposes only. They are not set as authorization levels, and are not the actual amount of money that will be provided in the appropriations bills, which could vary greatly (up or down). They do give an indication, however, of Science Committee thinking.

EARMARKING: H.R. 2405 instructs the Secretary to “exclude from consideration for awards of financial assistance...after fiscal year 1995 any person who received funds...from any Federal funding source for a project that was not subjected to a competitive, merit-based award process” for five years after the award was made.

A FINAL REMINDER: Please reread the first paragraph of this FYI regarding the relationship of authorization bills to actual funding, as well as the outlook for this bill. In a sense, H.R. 2405 can be viewed at this point in time as being “for illustration purposes only,” but in this era of funding constraints, the illustration is a very important one. If this bill is ever signed into law, it would have very important ramifications for physics research programs supported by the Department of Energy.