FY 2012 House Funding Bill: U.S. Geological Survey
The House Appropriations Committee has approved, by a vote of 28-18, the FY 2012 Interior-Environment Appropriations Bill. This bill provides funding for the U.S. Geological Survey, the budget for which would be reduced by $30.1 million from this year. Excerpts from the committee’s report follow, with all figures taken from the committee report. The section on USGS starts on page 35.
Total USGS:
The FY 2011 appropriation was $1,083.7 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $1,117.9 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $1,053.6 million, a decline of 2.8 percent or $30.1 million from the current year
The report has a broad description of the Survey’s programs, but no budget or policy recommendations in the introductory section.
Under a section entitled Surveys, Investigations, and Research are the following programs:
Ecosystems
The FY 2011 appropriation was $160.8 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $166.4 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $150.1 million, a decline of 6.7 percent or $10.7 million from the current year
The report states:
“The Committee supports the President’s budget proposal to conduct an in-depth analysis of the extent and sources of endocrine disrupting chemicals impacting fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake basin.”
Climate and Land Use Change
The FY 2011 appropriation was $138.1 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $106.4 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $125.9 million, a decline of 8.8 percent or $12.2 million from the current year
The report states under Climate Variability:
“Changes from the request include the following: a decrease of $9,086,000 from research and development; a decrease (elimination) of $14,345,000 from carbon sequestration; and a decrease (elimination) of $8,860,000 from science support for Department of the Interior bureaus. The Committee expects the Survey to utilize funding throughout its entire budget to provide science support to other Interior bureaus.”
“The increase above the budget request is for land remote sensing, which is not funded in a separate account as was proposed by the Administration. The Committee supports the continuation of the LandSat program beyond LandSat 8 and urges the Administration to submit a fiscal year 2013 budget proposal that does not offset increases for LandSat with decreases elsewhere in the Survey’s budget.”
Energy, Minerals, and Environmental Health
The FY 2011 appropriation was $99.9 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $88.5 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $99.9 million – level funding
The report states:
“The recommended level restores proposed cuts to mineral resources, energy resources, contaminant biology, and toxic substances hydrology.”
Natural Hazards
The FY 2011 appropriation was $136.0 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $133.9 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $136.0 million – level funding
The report states:
“The recommended level restores proposed cuts to earthquake, volcano, and landslide hazards.”
Water Resources
The FY 2011 appropriation was $212.4 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $199.6 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $217.5 million, an increase of 2.4 percent or $5.1 million from the current year
The report states:
“The recommended level restores proposed cuts to nationally important water programs. The national streamflow information program and the cooperative water program are increased above the fiscal year 2011 enacted level by $2,900,000 and $2,090,000, respectively.
“The Committee encourages the Survey to include with its fiscal year 2013 budget request a proposal to establish a national groundwater monitoring network as authorized by the Secure Water Act.
“Bill Language. - The bill provides two-year funding authority. The cooperative water program is funded in the bill at $65,561,000. Provisos include a funding limitation on surveys on private property and a cost-share requirement on topographic mapping and water resources activities carried on in cooperation with States and municipalities.”
Core Science Systems
The FY 2011 appropriation was $113.0 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $105.9 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $109.2 million – a decrease of 3.4 percent or $3.8 million from the current year
There was no committee report language
Administration and Enterprise Information
The FY 2011 appropriation was $118.7 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $116.6 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $114.2 million – a decrease of 3.8 percent or $4.5 million from the current year
There was no committee report language
Facilities
The FY 2011 appropriation was $104.7 million The FY 2012 Administration request was $100.8 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provides $100.8 million – a decrease of 3.7 percent or $3.9 million from the current year
There was no committee report language
In a separate section:
National Land Imaging
This with a new budget request from the Administration of $99.8 million The House Appropriations Committee bill provided no funding
The committee report states:
“The Committee recommendation rejects the Administration’s proposal to establish a new National Land Imaging account for LandSat and related activities. Instead these activities continued to be funded under Surveys, Investigations, and Research.”
