Final FY 2000 Report Language on the National Science Foundation

When Congress completes work on a bill and is ready to vote, a report is issued having two parts. The report’s first part is the bill language which is legalistic and provides little insight into the thinking of Congress. The second part is the “Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee on Conference.” While this “report language” does not have the standing of law, Congress expects the federal department or agency to comply with it.

The final conference report (H. Rpt. 106-379) for H.R. 2684, the VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill has just become available. Selection from this report for the National Science Foundation are below. It is important to remember that the final outcome is not just contained in this one report. When the House Appropriations Committee passed its version of the bill, it made its own recommendations. These recommendations stand unless changed by the final report, or by the Senate. The Senate committee made its own recommendations. These stand unless changed by this newest report. This FYI gives the “bottom line” for NSF for FY 2000. Readers are urged to read the full report language for items of particular interest at the following Library of Congress web site: http://rs9.loc.gov/ Please see FYI #147 for information on funding levels for NSF. A final note: selections highlighted below pertain to programs normally covered by FYI, or are ones in which Congress expressed particular interest.

RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

“Appropriates $2,966,000,000 for research and related activities.... Bill language provides up to $253,000,000 of this amount for Polar research and operations support. The conferees have included bill language which specifies that $60,000,000...are to be for a comprehensive research initiative on plant genomes for economically significant crop.”

The conference report has considerable language about the Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) directorate, stating that NSF is to support research in “specifically the areas recommended in the PITAC report and in H.R. 2086.” Also of note about the CISE research is that “the conferees strongly encourage that an increased ratio of grants be issued at higher funding levels and for longer duration.”The Senate report expressed concerns about IT/2/ and provided no funding for this new initiative. Nothing in the final report appears to contradict this restriction.

The final conference report specifies the following: “Within the amounts made available to all other directorates, $50,000,000 is for the new Biocomplexity Initiative.”

“The NSF is directed to provide up to $5,000,000 for the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, and is further directed to contract with a non-federal entity to carry out a review of the merit review process of the Foundation.”

“The conferees have provided $25,000,000 for Arctic research support and logistics, an increase of $3,000,000 above the budget request. The conferees expect the Foundation, in conjunction and in close cooperation with the Interagency Arctic Research and Policy Committee to develop a multi-year, multi- agency plan for the implementation of joint United States-Japan Arctic research activities as envisioned by the March 1997 science and technology section of the Common Agenda agreed to by the United States and Japan. In this regard, the conferees expect the Foundation to provide up to $5,000,000 from within available funds for logistical activities in support of United States-Japan international research activities related to global climate change. Consistent with a directive of the Senate to strengthen international cooperation in science and engineering, the conferees encourage NSF to consider providing from within available funds up to $3,000,000 to strengthen cooperative research activities between the United States and the former Soviet Union through the Civilian Research and Development Foundation.”

Of note to the physics community is the following conference report language: “The conferees commend the Foundation for its support of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) located in Tallahassee, Florida. That laboratory is an excellent example of a facility that has worked closely with teams of academic and industrial scientists from throughout the United States and abroad. The conferees strongly support the work of this important national facility and commend the NSF for its increased support and interest in the work of the NHMFL.”

The previous Senate report language supporting the astronomical sciences research program and facility upgrades stands.

MAJOR RESEARCH EQUIPMENT

“Appropriates $95,000,000 for major research equipment instead of $56,500,000 as proposed by the House and $70,000,000 as proposed by the Senate.

“The conference agreement provides the budget request level for all projects [Millimeter Array, Large Hadron Collider, South Pole Station construction, Polar support aircraft upgrades, Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation] within the MRE account, including $36,000,000 for the development and construction of a new, single site, five teraflop computing facility. The conferees expect that the competition for this project will allow for significant participation by universities and other institutions throughout the country, and will have as its goal completion of such a facility within 16 months of enactment of this Act.”

“The conference agreement also provides $10,000,000 to begin production of the High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER). This new high- altitude research aircraft will, upon its completion, be available to support critical and outstanding atmospheric science research opportunities over the next 25 to 30 years.”

EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES

“Appropriates $696,600,000 for education and human resources instead of $660,000,000 as proposed by the House and $688,600,000 as proposed by the Senate.

“Within this appropriated level, the conferees have provided $55,000,000 for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) to allow for renewed emphasis on research infrastructure development in the EPSCoR states, as well as to permit full implementation awards to states which have research proposals in the planning process. In addition, the conferees have provided $10,000,000 to initiate a new Office of Innovation Partnerships. This new office, in addition to housing the EPSCoR program, will examine means of helping those non-EPSCoR institutions receiving among the least federal research funding expand their research capacity and competitiveness so as to develop a truly national scientific research community with appropriate research centers located throughout the nation.

“The conferees expect that funds for these two efforts will be included in a single program office within the EHR account, under the direct supervision of the Director’s office. Building upon the EPSCoR experience, the conferees also expect the new office to work with CISE to insure that all areas of the country share in advanced networking and computing activities, especially rural and insular areas with research institutions. Assistance in developing scientific research applications for use on the computing and networking systems now available as a result of earlier NSF programs is a high priority in the EPSCoR states. The conferees also expect the new office to coordinate with all research and related activities directorates.

“The conference agreement also provides $10,000,000 for Historically Black Colleges and Universities through the underrepresented population undergraduate reform initiative, including $8,000,000 from the EHR account and $2,000,000 from the RRA [Research and Related Activities] account. Similarly, the conferees have provided the budget request level of $46,000,000 for the Informal Science Education (ISE) program. This program has acted as a catalyst for increasing the public’s appreciation and understanding of science and technology in settings such as science centers, museums, zoos, aquariums, and public television. The ISE program has also been involved in the professional development of science teachers. The conferees continue to support this important program, including its focus for fiscal year 2000 on increasing access to informal learning opportunities in inner cities and rural areas that have received little exposure to science and technology”.

A final item of interest to the physics community is the separate report language for the OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY (OSTP):

“The conferees are aware of the growing interest in the scientific, biomedical, and industrial communities for increasing high field nuclear magnetic resonance capacities. Last year, the House Appropriations Committee requested the National Science Foundation assess and report on Japanese efforts in this area. It appears that progress by Japan and several other countries has been impressive while efforts related to this important new technology in the United States have lagged.

The conferees strongly urge the OSTP to undertake an assessment of this technology, its potential utilization by various scientific disciplines, and to provide recommendations on what future efforts or programs the federal research and development agencies should undertake to address this challenge. The conferees request the OSTP provide a report to the Committees on Appropriations by May 1, 2000.”