Editor: Jim Elliott
Contributors: Virginia Frost, Julie Burba
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President Clinton has proposed a $1.64 trillion budget for fiscal year 1997 that reaches a balanced budget by 2002 while reforming entitlement programs and offering modest middle-class tax cuts.
The president's proposal includes $3.3 billion for the National Science Foundation, up $145 million from FY 1996, $2.1 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), up $173.1 million from FY 1996, $13.8 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), down from $14.2 billion in FY96, and $7 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), up from $6.3 billion in FY96.
The proposed National Science Foundation budget includes an 8.7% increase for research. Funds for atmospheric science research grants will rise from $83.7 million to $92 million, a 9.8% rise. The request for NCAR is for a 5% increase, from $58 to $61 million.
The proposed NOAA budget ensures that weather service modernization remains on track, supports efforts to restore and maintain America's fisheries, and continues NOAA's investment in high performance computing for advanced weather forecasts and for climate and global change research.
The proposed NASA budget will allow an orderly, well-thought-out restructuring so that NASA can "deliver a space and aeronautics program that is relevant, balanced and stable," while "protecting the human dignity of our employees and contractors," according to NASA Administrator Dan Goldin.
The proposed EPA budget represents a "commitment to meet America's public health and environmental challenge," according to EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner, and an investment "in our health and in the air, the water and the land all Americans share."
The president announced his 1997 budget proposal at a White House news conference on 19 March. The proposal reiterated much of what had been announced in broad outline form six weeks earlier. His budget proposals have moved from $200 billion deficits, to balance using White House numbers, to balance using less favorable congressional figures. His latest version increases federal spending by 4% from FY96 and sends the deficit on a downward track toward a surplus in 2002.
In his news conference presentation, the president said, "I am determined to balance the budget. I urge Congress to work with me on this important goal and give the American people the balanced budget they deserve.
"The budget reaches balance the right way by making government more efficient and cutting lower priority spending. It will promote a strong economy and, thus, help Americans build better lives for themselves and their families."
The president said his administration had cut the deficit from $290 billion in 1992 to $164 billion in 1995 and added that the FY97 budget would reduce the deficit even further to $146 billion in fiscal year 1996.
Among the major elements of the president's proposal were:
Republicans in Congress received the president's proposals with disappointment, underlining that they and the president had not yet been able to agree on a FY96 final budget and suggesting that the president's proposals left little in the way of compromise with the GOP leadership.
In the science and technology (S&T) area, the president said: "Technological innovation has accounted for at least half of the Nation's productivity growth in the last 50 years. Technology has become a major engine of economic growth, a significant contributor to our national security, a generator of new knowledge and a critical tool in protecting our health and environment."
The budget, he continued, maintains investments in S&T by adding funds for basic research in health sciences at the National Institutes of Health, for basic research and education at the National Science Foundation, for research at other agencies that depend on S&T for their missions, and for cooperative projects with industry and universities.
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The National Science Foundation has asked for a 4.6% increase in appropriations for fiscal year 1997, with an 8.7% increase slated for research, more than a 35% increase for major research equipment, and a 100% decrease for academic research infrastructure.
Total funds requested by the Foundation for FY97 come to $3.325 billion, a $145 million increase over the 1996 estimate. Of this amount, $2,472 million is requested for research and related activities, an increase over the current year's $2,274 million estimate. The second largest component in the Foundation's budget, education and human resources, is slated for a 3.3% increase to $619 million, and major research equipment is boosted from $70 million to $95 million.
Geosciences––research in the atmospheric, earth, and ocean sciences––will see an 8.6% increase, to $454.0 million in FY 1977, if appropriations match the request, and will support "fundamental research and national user facilities across the geosciences, including emphasis on the U. S. Weather Research Program and National Space Weather Program, the global seismic network, interdisciplinary projects in environmental geochemistry and biogeochemistry, studies on coastal ocean processes and global ocean circulation, and international activities for ocean drilling, continental drilling, and global change research."
An item new in fiscal year 1996, Research Centers on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, will again get $5 million next year. A total of $61 million is requested for the National Center for Atmospheric Research, up from this year's $58 million.
Within the Geosciences set of programs, Atmospheric Sciences research grants will rise from $83,860,000 to $92,060,000, a 9.8% rise. Ocean Sciences research support will increase from $103,020,000 to $110,180,000, a 7% rise.
Support for the Science and Technology Centers for Analysis and Prediction of Storms at the University of Oklahoma and for Clouds, Climate and Chemistry at the University of California, San Diego for FY97 is included in the proposed budget.
The increase of $8.20 million in FY 97 to $92 million in Atmospheric Sciences will permit:
In addition to $110 million for research support, the Ocean Sciences request also includes $54 million for Oceanographic Centers and Facilities and $41 million for the Ocean Drilling Program. The increase of $7.2 million in FY97 in research will provide for the interdisciplinary Coastal Ocean Processes Program, the Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics Program, and the Earth Systems History Program.
The budget eliminates all support for modernizing facilities under the Academic Research Infrastructure program, which is scheduled to receive $100 million in the current year. The change is consistent with recommendations of the September 1995 National Performance Review, NSF said, noting that the review reported that this function––largely the upgrading and renovating of university laboratories––should be supported by state, local, and institutional sources.
Elimination of this support "allows NSF to focus on its unique facilities role, which is to fund large, national research programs that support broad segments of the research community––for example, Supercomputer Centers, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, and oceanographic research vessels," Lane said.
The Foundation typically devotes 20% to 25% of its annual budget to such facilities, he noted. In the FY97 request they account for $661 million, roughly equal to the 1996 level. The request also includes $25 million for safety improvements to facilities at the South Pole.
A major focus of the Foundation's efforts has been research on the environment, according to the NSF budget document. "The focus of NSF programs has been on enhancing the understanding of complex dynamics among natural systems and humans and developing the knowledge important to preserving, managing, and improving the environment," it says. FY97 "sees increasing emphasis on environmental research in areas such as natural hazard reduction; water, coastal and marine studies; biodiversity and its role in ecological systems; environmental technologies; and bioremediation." It also underlines the importance of polar research in NSF's "portfolio of environmental activities."
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has requested $2,108.9 million in budget authority for fiscal year 1997, a net increase of $173.1 million over the fiscal year 1996 amount currently available. A NOAA statement noted that, within the new budget, "weather service modernization remains on track," and that the request "continues NOAA's investment in high performance computing for advancing weather forecasts, and for climate and global change research."
John H. Gibbons, assistant to the president for science and technology, released a statement at the NOAA budget briefing saying that "nowhere are the President's priorities for environmental research more clear than in the FY97 budget for NOAA." He pointed out that the budget "provides critical funding for understanding and mitigating the effects of global climate change," and that increases in the budget will "improve prediction of severe weather events...save human lives and billions of dollars."
His statement was part of an unusual effort on his part, in this very political year, to tell the public that scientific research is being protected by the Clinton administration, despite the tight budget situation in the federal government. He even permitted NOAA to hold its budget briefing a day ahead of his own and those of all other science agencies to give him time to provide special messages for each of them.
The FY97 budget for NOAA includes $1.26 billion to advance the Strategic Initiative on short-term warning and forecast services, with the primary objectives being the completion of the modernization of the Service and maintaining operational satellite coverage––an increase of $135 million over the FY 1996 continuing resolution.
A total of $670,666,000 is requested for the National Weather Service, which includes a net decrease of $17.3 million and 216 full-time equivalent staff for the service's operation and research, and an increase of $66.7 million for system acquisitions.
The weather service's systems acquisition program is slated for a $66.7 million increase in the next fiscal year. A total of $119.8 million, an increase of $69.8 million, is requested for the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), which will continue software development and begin nationwide deployment of the system, whose development has lagged behind other components of the program. For the first time, AWIPS will integrate satellite and radar data and provide the local forecasters with capability for significant improvement in forecasts and warnings.
$53.1 million for NEXRAD and $10.1 million for the Automated Surface Observing System are called for to continue installation of these systems. During FY97 NOAA will increase its operational ASOS network to 307 units, while operating and maintaining the current network of 120 NEXRAD radars and acquiring of three new ones. The additional units were recommended by the Secretary of Commerce in response to the National Research Council's study on NEXRAD coverage.
A total of $16.0 million, an increase of $4.0 million, is included to continue to upgrade the service's central computer facility, including leasing and maintaining the Cray C-90 supercomputer, upgrades to the NWS Gateway, and acquisition of additional workstations to speed up model development and improve data quality.
The net decrease of $17.3 million in operations and research includes a complex array of changes such as decreases of $5 million for "government-wide administration savings," $10 million for NOAA "FTE streamlining, as part of Vice President Gore's 'Reinventing Government,'" and $15 million in adjustments for inflation and an increase of about $14 million to MARDI. It also incudes a $2 million reduction for Regional Climate Centers.
The Weather Service is proceeding with privatization of agriculture, fruit frost, and fire weather services for nonfederal land management and regional climate centers.
A total of $531,831,000 is requested for the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, reflecting program increases of $99.2 million and decreases of $38.6 million and five employees.
The requests include $205 million, an increase of $54 million to cover the cost of continuing the GOES I through M spacecraft and instrument contracts and to begin procurement of four additional GOES-I–M-type satellites to assure continuity of two-spacecraft operations into the early 2000s.
$220 million is being requested for polar orbiting satellites, including the converged polar system, $147 million of which is being requested for continuation of production of K, L and M spacecraft, and costs associated with the planned NOAA N and N prime satellites, as well as instruments for the European satellite that will provide morning polar-orbiter coverage starting in 2001. A total of $78 million, an increase of $38.7 million, will cover development of a converged polar orbiting system that will succeed the current NOAA satellites and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program of the Department of Defense. NASA's taking over responsibility for building the Landsat 7 ground system makes possible a $10 million reduction in the NESDIS account.
The total request in FY97 for Environmental Data Management is $45 million, an increase of $3.5 million. The new NVDS initiative is receiving $3.5 million for start up.
NOAA is requesting $232,548,000 for its research activities, the same amount as was to have been provided in the current year's appropriation, a revision of which of course has not yet emerged from Congress.
The request for long-term Climate and Air Quality Research is $39 million, which includes an increase of $3 million for the Health of the Atmosphere program, and a decrease of $.9 million for Long-Term Climate and Air Quality.
The Climate and Global Change Program is increased by $10.1 million to $68.7 million, to begin moving climate observing systems from research to operations, to help improve seasonal to interannual climate modeling and prediction over North America through process research programs, and to augment research and support of the Global Ocean Land System Programs (GOALS) and the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiments (GEWEX).
A decrease of $0.4 million in the weather research programs is proposed as part of "reinventing" and "streamlining" government. Marine Prediction Research is also reduced by $0.5 million as part of the "streamlining" process. Sea Grant is reduced by $4 million to $49 million and the Undersea Research Program is eliminated. No funding is proposed for the Zebra Mussel programs, the National Coastal Resources and Development Institute, the Sea Grant Oyster Disease Research Program, Lake Champlain Study, and the Southeast Florida and Caribbean Recruitment Fisheries Program.
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President Clinton has proposed a $13.8 billion budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for fiscal year 1997.
The proposed budget represents a decrease from the 1996 funding of $14.2 billion. Broken down, the proposed budget allows for $5.362 billion for human space flight, down from $5.456 in FY96; $5,862 billion for science, aeronautics, and technology, up from $5.845 in FY96; $2.562 billion for mission support, up from $5.502 in FY96, and $17 million for the inspector general, up from $16 million the previous year.
"We asked for stable funding in FY97, " explained NASA Administrator Dan Goldin during a press briefing at NASA Headquarters, "and that's exactly what the President's budget gives us. This stability will enable us to continue to restructure NASA in an orderly, well-thought-out way, deliver a space and aeronautics program that's relevant, balanced and stable and protect the human dignity of our employees and contractors.
"Our strategy over the last few years has been this: to absorb a 36 percent cut through FY2000 and maintain funding stability, in the meanwhile, through FY97. Continued stability in FY97 means we can continue to restructure NASA carefully and deliberately while continuing to assure safety, achieve real cost savings and eliminate overlap and low-priority support functions and non-essential programs.
"The president made good on his promise to us, and so did we. We have used this period of stability to reinvent the agency, just like we said we would."
"Beyond FY1997," Goldin warned, "there are obvious uncertainties. The out-year projections are significantly lower than previous projections: $13.1 billion for FY 1998, $12.4 billion for FY 1999, and $11.6 billion for FY 2000."
NASA has recognized the changing nature of the budgetary and technological basis for MTPE by, within the last year, radically altering the management philosophy of the program and opening it up to future infusion of new technology. International Partnerships in MTPE remain strong, with 19 countries having already invested $3.5 billion in directly related programs and $4 billion in complementary programs. In spring 1996, the MTPE office will release a draft strategy for comment on how to structure greater commercial involvement in the enterprise.
The total FY97 budget request for Mission to Planet Earth is $1,042 million.
In FY97 the request for the Earth Observing System (EOS) development is $585.7 million, an increase of $50 million. The first spacecraft in the EOS program––EOS AM-1––is on schedule for launch in June 1998. Its instruments will enable scientific studies of terrestrial surface features, cloud physics, and atmospheric radiation. A series of internal and external reviews have already reduced the cost of EOS through the year 2000 from $17 billion to $7 billion. Further savings after that time of at least 30% from earlier projections are expected by reducing the size and cost of second-generation EOS spacecraft by applying new technology developed through the New Millennium program and through new interagency and international partnerships.
In FY97 the request for the EOS Data and Information System is $261.1 million, an increase of $20 million. EOSDIS is based on an evolutionary design and will include competitively selected partnerships with industry and academia. The basic version of EOSDIS went on-line in August 1994; the next version is scheduled to be activated in January 1997, in time to support the planned launch and operation of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM).
In FY97 the request for MTPE Science is $277.1 million, an increase of $29 million. FY97 priorities include improved sea surface wind models, the role of tropospheric ozone in driving climate change, better understanding of the tropical rain forest, and a program on flood and drought assessment. During FY97, NASA also plans to initiate an earth science data purchase program designed to acquire data from commercial sources that can address the scientific goals of MTPE.
The FY97 request also includes $47.1 million for the Earth Probes/Earth Systems Science Pathfinder and $102 million for Operations, Data Retrieval and Storage, and $5 million for GLOBE. The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program connects scientific discovery with the education process by linking K–12 school children, teachers, and scientists from around the world together to make earth-related measurements and share the resulting data, leading to a better understanding of global environmental change.
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President Clinton has proposed a $7 billion budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for fiscal year 1997.
The budget was released at a White House press conference on 19 March.
"This year's budget continues the Administration's commitment to meet America's public health and environmental challenge," commented EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner. "To meet that challenge, we must target the highest risks to public health. We must take steps to secure our future. And we must use common-sense strategies to protect the public and our environment.
"To ensure safe drinking water for all Americans, we direct our resources to protect the public from cryptosporidium and other microbial contamination and from disinfection by-products. To provide every American with healthy air to breathe, we direct our resources to protect the public from dangerous fine particulate pollution and from smog. To clean up our rivers, lakes and streams, we direct our resources to control pollution discharges and polluted runoff.
"To strengthen our communities, we direct our resources to revitalize 'brownfields'––the abandoned and contaminated land that lies idle in our urban communities, and we continue to make the Superfund toxic waste cleanup program work faster, fairer and more efficiently."
The president's 1997 EPA budget proposal:
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