Linking Science and Technology to Society's Environmental Goals (1996) / Chapter Skim
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The Federal Budget and Environmental Priorities
The Federal Budget and Environmental Priorities
Pages 345-398
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From page 345... ...
355 Environmental R&D in Relation to Other Environmental Programs, 355 Definition and Overview, 357 Agency Highlights, 359 Environmental R&D in the Context of Overall Federal R&D, 365 1This paper was prepared at the request of the National Research Council by the author writing as an individual. The interpretations and opinions contained herein are solely those of the author and should not be taken to represent positions of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, its Board, or its Council.
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From page 347... ...
This paper is an attempt to take a rough first cut at examining national environmental priorities using federal budget data as its primary source. Specifically, it will attempt to respond to several questions: • How are federal environmental priorities reflected in budgetary patterns and trends?
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From page 348... ...
EPA's responsibilities include administration of programs under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and several other major pieces of environmental legislation. Although most definitions of environmental programs include a considerable number of other federal activities, the level of funding for EPA and trends in the agency's budget are useful indicators of the priority of environmental protection at the federal level.
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From page 349... ...
is devoted to the Water Infrastructure Financing program which provides support to state and local governments for construction and improvement projects to help meet water quality standards and ensure drinking water safety. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund awards grants to state programs that provide low cost financing to municipalities for sewage treatment projects.
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From page 350... ...
Environmental Programs in Other Federal Agencies Defining "Environmental Programs" While EPA is the major focus of environmental concern in the federal government, it does not come close to representing the full extent of federal efforts relating to the environment. Delimiting the federal role in the environment is not a straightforward task.
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From page 351... ...
Percent of FY 1995a EPA Budget By Function Program and Research Operations 922.0 16.1% Research and Development 334.6 5.8% Abatement, Control & Compliance 1,404.6 24.5% Buildings and Facilities –39.4 -- Oil Spill Response 20.0 0.3% Asbestos Loan Program 0.0 0.0% Hazardous Substance Superfund 1,331.3 23.2% L.U.S.T Trust Fundb 70.0 1.2% Water Infrastructure/State Revolving Funds 1,659.6 29.0% Other 28.5 0.5% Total, EPA Budget 5,731.2 By Media Air 558.4 9.7% Radiation 42.8 0.7% Water Quality 516.7 9.0% Drinking Water 163.8 2.9% Water Infrastructure Financing 1,467.1 25.6% Pesticides 94.2 1.6% Toxic Substances 124.9 2.2% Multimedia 438.1 7.6% Hazardous Waste 291.6 5.1% Hazardous Substance Superfund 1,331.3 23.2% L.U.S.T.b 70.0 1.2% Oil Spill Response 20.0 0.3% Management and Support 651.7 11.4% Buildings and Facilities –39.4 -- Total EPA Budget 5,731.2 SOURCE: EPA Budget Justification for FY 1996 and text of Public Law 104-19. aAdjusted to reflect rescissions enacted in Public Law 104-19.
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From page 352... ...
Management and Support Air 11% 10% L.U.S.T. 2/ Radiation 1% 1% Oil Spill Response Water Quality 0% 9% Drinking Water 3% Hazardous Substance Superfund 23% Water Infrastructure Hazardous Waste Financing 5% 25% Multimedia 8% Pesticides 2% Toxic Substances 2% FIGURE 2 EPA budget by media, FY 1995.
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From page 353... ...
This definition is essentially contiguous with the federal government's "Environment and Natural Resources" budget function, except that it excludes funding for reclamation projects, flood control, public lands acquisition, and other land management-oriented programs and it includes NASA environmental programs classified under "General Science and Space" budget function. The scope includes environmental R&D in the various agencies, but goes well beyond R&D into operational programs.
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From page 354... ...
. FIGURE 4 EPA budget in constant dollars, FYs 1985–1996 (House)
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From page 355... ...
; NASA, with life sciences research and Mission to Planet Earth; and NOAA, among whose programs and agencies are the National Weather Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Ocean Service, and a range of oceanic and atmospheric research programs. Also on the chart are the Departments of the Interior (with just over $1 billion in FY 1995)
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From page 356... ...
non-terrestrial) 140 187 141 5% Mission to Planet Earth 884 1,068 1,340 23% NOAA 1,534 1,796 1,816 9% National Ocean Service 168 202 180 5% Nat'l Marine Fisheries Service 223 265 269 10% Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 202 233 259 13% National Weather Service 533 683 659 12% NESDIS 347 351 387 6% Marine Services 61 63 62 1% National Science Foundation 594 655 685 7% Environmental Programs R&D 530 591 622 8% Non-R&D (logistical support)
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From page 357... ...
physical environmental sciences, such as oceanography, geology, and atmospheric sciences, excluding extraterrestrial research; • engineering and other sciences related to the impacts of natural and anthropogenic activities on the environment, including prevention, control, amelioration, and regulation; • social sciences related to the environment, such as environmental economics, and social science research on cultural and institutional factors affecting sustainable development, pollution prevention, adaptation to global change, etc.; and • information and data sciences related to the environment, such as computer sciences and specialized information management R&D identified in agency budgets (Gramp, Teich, and Nelson 1992, p.
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From page 358... ...
967 1,152 1,402 20% Department of Energy 589 782 580 3% National Science Foundation 530 591 622 8% Department of the Interior 546 568 569 2% USGS 353 365 357 0% Other 193 204 212 5% Department of Agriculture 345 357 363 2% ARS 127 134 142 5% CSRS 105 102 99 –3% Forest Service 104 111 114 5% ERS 10 9 9 –5% Environmental Protection Agencya 497 588 600 10% National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin.a 357 443 447 13% AIDb N/A N/A N/A -- Smithsonianc N/A N/A N/A -- TVAd N/A N/A N/A -- Corps of Engineers 29 31 36 12% Transportatione N/A N/A N/A -- National Institutes of Health 251 259 267 3% Department of Defense f N/A N/A N/A -- Total Environmental R&D 4,111 4,771 4,885 9% SOURCE: Author's estimate based on agency budget justification and other supporting documents. aDoes not reflect rescissions enacted in FY 1995 except for NOAA and EPA (see agency tables)
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From page 359... ...
Most of these efforts are in environmental sciences, including ecology and environmental biology, ocean sciences, atmospheric sciences, earth sciences, and polar programs. NSF also funds social science research related to global change as well as engineering research in a number of environmental areas, including earthquake hazard mitigation.
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From page 360... ...
264 393 591 50% Earth Probes 99 96 82 –9% Payload and Instrument Development 35 26 20 –26% Mission Operations and Data Analysis 94 98 97 1% Airborne Science and Applications 21 25 26 12% Interdisciplinary Analysis 4 5 42 376% Process Studies 119 126 118 –0% Modeling and Data Analysis 43 44 42 –1% Ocean Color Data 16 3 1 –73% Life Sciences, Research and Analysis 53 55 51 –2% Construction of Facilities, Global Change 0 12 17 -- Estimated Intramural Research 70 75 80 6% Subtotal 818 958 1165 19% Information and Data R&D EOS Data and Information Systems 131 188 231 33% CIESINb 18 5 6 –26% Subtotal 149 193 237 26% Total, NASA Environmental R&D 967 1,152 1,402 20% SOURCE: Author's estimate based on agency budget justification and cross-cut by field of science. aThese estimates exclude funding for environmental sciences in NASA's planetary and commer cial applications programs.
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From page 361... ...
Waste and Restoration 248 248 238 –2% Coal Environmental Research 186 166 154 –9% Oil Shale Research 5 0 0 -- Subtotal 440 635 429 6% Information and Data R&D CO2, Information and Integration 2 2 2 –8% Total, DOE Environmental R&D 589 782 580 3% SOURCE: Author's estimate based on agency budget justification. aComputer Hardware, Advanced Math and Model Physics program.
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From page 362... ...
Hazard Mitigation 3 3 3 5% ENG, Earthquake Hazard Mitigation 14 15 17 11% Subtotal 22 24 27 10% Total, NSF Environmental R&D 530 591 622 8% SOURCE: Author's estimate based on agency budget data and cross-cut by field of science. NOTE: NSF directorates include Biological Sciences (BIO)
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From page 363... ...
aIncorporates programs in Regional Aquifer System Analysis, Core Hydrologic Research, Water Resources Assessment, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Acid Rain, Global Change Hydrology, TruckeeCarson Program, and National Water Quality Assessment Program. bIncorporates programs in Cartographic and Geographic Research, Nat'l Cartographic Require ments Coordination and Standards, and Geographic and Spatial Information Analysis.
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From page 364... ...
R&D 193 204 212 5% SOURCE: Author's estimates based on agency budget justification and R&D cross-cuts. aNational Biological Service.
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From page 365... ...
aARS budget authority has been projected based on 1993 data in the Current Research Information System for goals pertaining to the environment and for environmental sciences research supporting other goals. Department of Energy, and EPA.
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From page 366... ...
aCSRS budget authority has been projected based on 1993 data in the Current Research Information System for goals pertaining to the environment and for environmental sciences research supporting other goals. R&D (NSB 1993, table 4-26)
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From page 367... ...
a ERS budget authority has been projected based on 1993 data in the Current Research Information System for goals pertaining to the environment and for environmental sciences research supporting other goals. TABLE 13 Estimate of Environmental R&D at the Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (budget authority in millions of dollars, by fiscal year)
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From page 368... ...
Avg. Annual FY FY FY % Change 1993 1994 1995a FY 1993-95 By Media Multimedia 164 265 329 43% Air Quality 87 86 79 –5% Acid Deposition 16 10 2 –58% Global Change 24 31 23 0% Water Quality 30 27 23 –13% Drinking Water 19 20 22 7% Hazardous Waste 38 31 27 –17% Pesticides 14 13 14 –2% Toxic Substances 27 22 18 –17% Management 6 6 7 11% Buildings and Facilities 3 5 0 –5% Rescission from FY 1995: –15 Trust Funds Superfund 65 70 67 2% Leaking Underground Storage Tanks 0 0 0 2% Oil Spill Response 2 2 2 –7% Total EPA Environmental R&D 497 588 600 10% SOURCE: Author's estimates based on agency budget justification, R&D cross-cuts, and other supporting documents.
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From page 369... ...
Sciences 12 19 25 43% OAR, Undersea Research 8 21 16 69% NWS, National Weather Service 28 48 33 19% NOS, Observation and Prediction 2 0 0 –26% NOS, Estuarine and Coastal Assessment 0 0 0 -- NOS, Coastal Ocean Science 13 12 9 –14% NOS, Coastal Management 0 2 2 72% NOS, Ocean Management 0 0 0 9% NMFS, Fisheries Resource Information 90 92 102 6% NMFS, Fishery Information Analysis 21 22 26 11% NMFS, Protected Species Management 11 11 11 -0% NMFS, Marine Fisheries Grants to States 6 6 9 27% NMFS, Fisheries Development 16 17 17 3% Subtotal 326 409 408 13% Social Sciences OAR, Sea Grant 1 1 1 0% NMFS, Fisheries Industry Information 18 19 22 12% Subtotal 19 20 23 11% Engineering and Related R&D OAR, Sea Grant 2 2 2 0% Information and Data R&D NOS, Geodesy 2 0 0 –32% NOS, Mapping and Charting 0 4 4 435% National Env. Data and Information Service 8 8 8 4% Subtotal 10 12 13 12% Total, NOAA Environmental R&D 357 443 447 13% SOURCE: Author's estimate based on agency R&D cross-cut and budget justification.
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From page 370... ...
Effects of Dredging 1 1 1 8% Social Sciences Economic Impact of Global Warming 0 0 0 –42% Risk Analysis 1 1 2 10% Subtotal 2 1 2 2% Engineering and Related R&D Coastal Engineering 6 4 6 9% Flood Control and Navigation 4 4 5 19% Environmental Quality 3 2 4 33% Water Resource Planning 0 0 0 –2% Aquatic Plant Control 3 6 7 47% Wetlands Research 7 5 0 –62% Coastal Inlet Research 0 3 4 -- River Confluence Ice Research 0 0 1 -- Zebra Mussel Control 1 2 2 42% Oil Spill Research 0 0 0 -- Subtotal 24 28 31 13% Information and Data R&D Surveying and Remote Sensing 2 1 2 24% Total, Corps of Engineers Env. R&D 29 31 36 12% SOURCE: Author's estimate based on agency budget justification and related data.
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From page 371... ...
Few would argue, however, that these are the nation's top environmental priorities or that this distribution corresponds in any meaningful way to virtually anyone's statement of environmental goals. To get out of this trap, one first of all needs much more fine-grained data on environmental programs so as to allow one to associate the programs with particular goals.
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From page 372... ...
Also modest in financial terms was the total for information and data systems, some $0.2 billion, much of it related to space-borne observing platforms and global change studies. These data in themselves do not answer questions about goals and priorities, but they do point to a means whereby financial data can be related to arrays of environmental goals, such as those identified by the National Science and Technology Council's Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
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From page 373... ...
Nelson, Federal Funding for Environmental R&D: A Special Report (Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1992)
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From page 394... ...
Much of this growth was achieved by shifting resources from media-specific studies over this period. For example, funding for R&D related exclusively to water quality problems and Superfund sites are each about 25 percent lower than they were five years ago in constant dollar terms.
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From page 395... ...
. This program, which is aimed at developing and improving the scientific basis of air quality standards for particular pollutants, has requested an additional $4.4 million for the criteria air pollutants program to address shortcomings identified by the National Academy of Sciences in the current strategies for tropospheric ozone.
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From page 396... ...
396 LINKING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS tivities to the completed national human exposure assessment survey (saving $4.5 million)
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From page 397... ...
COMMISSIONED PAPER BY ALBERT H TEICH 397 APPENDIX C From: Intersociety Working Group, AAAS Report XX: Research and Development, FY 1996 (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advencement of Science, 1995)
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