FY 2005 DOE Office of Science Budget Request: Selected Programs

A total of $3,431.7 million was requested for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science in President Bush’s FY 2005 budget request. This represents a reduction of 2.0%, or $68.5 million, from FY 2004 funding of $3,500.2 million. However, according to Office of Science Director Ray Orbach, the cut reflects the elimination of $140.7 million in congressionally-directed earmarks in the FY 2004 appropriation for Biological and Environmental Research, which were not included in the FY 2005 request. Taking this into consideration, Orbach said, the request of $3,431.7 million would represent an increase of 2.2%, or $72.3 million, over the FY 2004 appropriation of $3,359.4 million for the Office of Science core programs.

Orbach cited a number of research priorities that would receive funding increases under this request, including ITER; nanoscience and technology; hydrogen production, storage, and use; genomics; Linac light source; scientific workforce; and climate change science, among others. He also reported that there would be an enhancement of $43 million (to $1,383 million) to increase the running time of scientific user facilities from 92% to 95% of optimum. To fund these increases, Orbach noted that there were planned funding decreases for the SNS, LHC, and SLI. Additionally, he discussed a proposed reduction of $25 million to the Scientific Laboratories Infrastructure account, saying it would mean a delay of at least a year in some building projects at national laboratories, but he said he was seeking third-party funding to make up some of the shortfall, and that it was “simply a question of priorities.”

The complete DOE budget documents can be found at http://www.mbe.doe.gov/budget/05budget/index.htm . Highlights of the request for each of the Office of Science programs are available in the “Budget Highlights” document (in pdf format) under “Science Strategic Goal,” at http://www.mbe.doe.gov/budget/05budget/content/highlite/highlite.pdf . Below are the percentage and dollar changes between the current year and the FY 2005 request for selected Office of Science programs tracked by FYI:

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS:
Up 0.5% or $3.8 million, from $733.6 million to $737.4 million.

NUCLEAR PHYSICS:
Up 2.9% or $11.4 million, from $389.6 million to $401.0 million.

FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES:
Up 0.6% or $1.6 million, from $262.6 million to $264.1 million.

BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES:
Up 5.2% or $52.9 million, from $1,010.6 million to $1,063.5 million.

BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH:
Down 21.8% or $139.9 million, from $641.5 million to $501.6 million.

SCIENCE LABORATORIES INFRASTRUCTURE:
Down 46.4%, or $25.2 million, from $54.3 million to $29.1 million.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR SCIENTISTS AND TEACHERS:
Up 19.1% or $1.2 million, from $6.4 million to $7.7 million.