FY 2012 Appropriations Bill for National Institute of Standards and Technology
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On Friday, President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 2112 which contains funding for the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Accompanying this bill is the Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference, which is the second section of House Report 112-284 . There is little guidance in the Statement regarding NIST on PDF page 222.
Note that introductory language in the Statement includes the following:
“The committee of conference approves report language included in House Report 112–169 or Senate Report 112–78 that is not changed by the conference. The statement of managers, while repeating some language for emphasis, is not intended to negate the language referred to above unless expressly provided herein. In cases where both the House and Senate reports address a particular issue not specifically addressed in the conference report or joint statement of managers, the conferees have determined the House report and the Senate report are not inconsistent and are to be interpreted accordingly.”
NIST (total):
The FY 2011 budget was $750.1 million The Administration requested $1,001.1 million The FY 2012 appropriation provides $750.8 million, an increase of $0.7 million or 0.1 percent
There is no introductory Statement guidance language regarding NIST.
Scientific and Technical Research and Services:
The FY 2011 budget was $507.0 million The Administration requested $678.9 million The FY 2012 appropriation provides $567.0 million, an increase of $60.0 million or 11.8 percent
The Statement explains:
“The conference agreement includes . . . $10,000,000 for a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence and $16,500,000 for the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace. The conferees do not adopt Senate language regarding specific direction pertaining to greenhouse gas measurements but do encourage NIST to pursue research in this area.”
Industrial Technology Services:
The conference agreement provides funding for only the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, as follows:
The FY 2011 budget was $173.3 million The Administration requested $237.6 million The FY 2012 appropriation provides $128.4 million, a decrease of $44.8 million or 25.9 percent
No appropriation was made for the Technology Innovation Program, the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, or Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia.
There is no Statement guidance language regarding Industrial Technology Services.
Construction of Research Facilities:
The FY 2011 budget was $69.9 million The Administration requested $84.6 million The FY 2012 appropriation provides $55.4 million, a decrease of $14.5 million or 20.7 percent The Statement explains:
“The conferees do not adopt House language designating funds for ongoing construction projects but expect NIST to continue to submit quarterly reports on the status of all construction projects as directed by the Senate.”
