NASA FY98 Appropriations: Increased Over Request

Conferees on October 6 filed a conference report (H. Rpt. 105-297) on H.R. 2158, the VA/HUD appropriations bill for FY 1998. In the conference report, funding for NASA and its major programs were all increased above the Administration’s requested levels. Total funding for the space agency remains on a downward path, but declines more gradually than predicted during last year’s appropriations process. Concern over space station construction issues made the conferees attach contingencies to some of the funding for this project.

SCIENCE, AERONAUTICS AND TECHNOLOGY (SAT): This account, which funds space science, life and microgravity sciences, and Mission to Planet Earth, among other programs, received $5,690.0 million. This represents an increase of 0.9 percent over the request and 4.3 percent over fiscal year 1997. Although the increase over the request would seem to imply that all the science programs would receive at least their requested budgets (space science: $2,043.8 million; life and microgravity sciences: $214.2 million; Mission to Planet Earth: $1,417.3 million), the conference report calls for a general reduction of $66 million to the programs within this account, and includes many earmarks for specific items that may limit the funds available for the science programs.

HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT (HSF): This account received $5,506.5 million, an increase of 3.4 percent over the request, but a decrease of 3.0 percent from FY 1997 funding. Within Human Space Flight, the International Space Station (ISS) would receive $2,351.3 million. Although this represents an increase of 10.8 percent above the request and 9.4 percent above FY 1997, the report delays some of the funding and makes it contingent upon NASA’s submission of detailed information to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The conference report does NOT give the NASA Administrator the authority to transfer funds from Science, Aeronautics and Technology, or Mission Support, if needed to keep the space station on schedule, even though the House report had recommended such authority. Separately, the report also requests a study by the National Research Council on EVA and other issues related to space station assembly.

The conference report states, “The conferees are troubled by the problems with the space station which include projected development cost overruns of $600,000,000-$800,000,000, the inability to hold critical hardware delivery and launch dates despite receiving the post re-design funding profile requested by the Administration, and failure to reduce the contractor team’s development workforce.... Therefore, the conferees have agreed to provide only part of the funding and none of the transfer authority that NASA has identified as necessary for the program in fiscal year 1998, $230,000,000 above the Administration’s budget request, rather than $430,000,000. In addition, the conferees have withheld about a third of the total space station funds, pending receipt of certain documents and information listed below.” NASA may only use $1,500.0 million of space station funds before March 31, 1998. Even after this date, the Committees will decide whether to approve the remaining $851.3 million after NASA submits budget projections and detailed reports regarding negotiations with the prime contractor, the schedule for hardware delivery, and a third-party analysis of the cost and schedule projections through completion of construction.

MISSION SUPPORT: The conferees provide $2,433.2 million, a decrease of 3.2 percent from the request. This decrease is due to the transfer of $80.0 million from this account to the space station program: "$25,000,000 from TDRS, $20,000,000 from environmental programs, $30,000,000 from Research Operations Support, an $5,000,000 from facilities.”