.
DOE’s Office of Science and the FY2016
Budget Request
Heather B. Gonzalez
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy
March 27, 2015
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R43963
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DOE’s Office of Science and the FY2016 Budget Request
Summary
The Department of Energy’s Office of Science conducts basic research in six overarching
program areas: advanced scientific computing research, basic energy sciences, biological and
environmental research, fusion energy sciences, high-energy physics, and nuclear physics.
Through primarily these programs, the Department of Energy was the third-largest federal funder
of basic research and the largest federal funder of research in the physical sciences in FY2014.
This budget and appropriations tracking report describes selected major items from the
Administration’s FY2016 budget request for the Office of Science and tracks legislative action on
FY2016 appropriations for the office. It also provides selected historical funding data. This report
will be updated to include FY2016 House- and Senate-proposed amounts, as well as final enacted
appropriations, when FY2016 appropriations bills pass their respective chambers.
Overall, the Obama Administration requests $5.340 billion for Science in FY2016, a $272 million
(5%) increase over the FY2015 enacted level of $5.068 billion. By dollar amount, the largest
increase is for Basic Energy Sciences (BES), which would gain $116 million (7%). The largest
decrease is for Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), which would be reduced by $48 million (-10%).
By percentage, the largest increase among Science’s research programs would go to Advanced
Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), which would receive $80 million (15%) more in
FY2016.
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Contents
FY2016 Science Budget Request and Appropriations ..................................................................... 1
Advanced Scientific Computing (ASCR) .................................................................................. 3
Basic Energy Sciences (BES) .................................................................................................... 3
Biological and Environmental Research (BER) ........................................................................ 4
Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) .................................................................................................. 4
High Energy Physics (HEP) ...................................................................................................... 5
Nuclear Physics (NP) ................................................................................................................ 6
Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) ................................................. 6
Historical Appropriations ................................................................................................................. 6
Figures
Figure 1. Office of Science Appropriations, FY1998-FY2015 ........................................................ 8
Tables
Table 1. Office of Science Appropriations, FY2014-FY2016 ......................................................... 2
Table 2. Office of Science Appropriations, FY2010-FY2016 ......................................................... 7
Contacts
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 8
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DOE’s Office of Science and the FY2016 Budget Request
he Department of Energy’s Office of Science conducts basic research in six overarching
program areas: advanced scientific computing research, basic energy sciences, biological
Tand environmental research, fusion energy sciences, high-energy physics, and nuclear
physics. Through primarily these programs, the Department of Energy was the third-largest
federal funder of basic research and the largest federal funder of research in the physical sciences
in FY2014.1
This budget and appropriations tracking report describes selected major items from the
Administration’s FY2016 budget request for the Science account, which funds the Office of
Science, and tracks legislative action on FY2016 appropriations. It also provides selected
historical funding data.
Table 1 shows FY2014 current funding, FY2015 enacted funding, and the FY2016 request for
Office of Science programs. This table will be updated to include FY2016 House- and Senate-
proposed amounts, as well as final enacted appropriations, when FY2016 appropriations bills pass
their respective chambers. Science appropriations are typically included in annual Energy and
Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations acts. (CRS tracks these acts each fiscal
year. See the “Appropriations Status Table” on CRS.gov, at http://www.crs.gov/Pages/
AppropriationsStatusTable.aspx.) Science budget requests are published on the Office of Science
website at http://science.energy.gov/budget/.
For a longer perspective, Table 2 provides the same data for FY2010 through the FY2016
request.
Figure 1 shows total Science funding in current and constant (FY2015) dollars between FY1998
and FY2015.2 These trends do not adjust for policy changes or changes in the character of
activities funded under the Science line.
FY2016 Science Budget Request and Appropriations
The Obama Administration is requesting $5.340 billion for Science in FY2016, a $272 million
(5%) increase over the FY2015 enacted level of $5.068 billion. By dollar amount, the largest
increase in the FY2016 Science budget request is for Basic Energy Sciences (BES), which would
gain $116 million (7%). The largest decrease is for Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), which would
decline by $48 million (-10%). By percentage, the largest increase among Science’s research
programs would go to Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), which would receive
$80 million (15%) more in FY2016.
Policymakers have not enacted an authorized funding level for the Office of Science since the
previous authorization expired in FY2013 (P.L. 111-358, America COMPETES Reauthorization
1 Based on preliminary FY2014 data from Tables 7 and 22 of National Science Foundation, National Center for
Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 2012-14, NSF 14-316
(September 2014).
2 DOE established the Office of Science (as such) in FY2000. FY2000 budget documents provide comparable Science
budget data back to FY1998.
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Act of 2010). Bills to reauthorize the Office of Science were introduced, but not enacted, in the
113th Congress.3
Table 1. Office of Science Appropriations, FY2014-FY2016
(budget authority in $ millions, rounded)
FY2014
FY2015
FY2016
Current
Enacted
Request
House Senate Final
Advanced Scientific Computing
463.5
541.0
621.0
Basic Energy Sciences
1,662.7
1,733.2
1,849.3
Biological and Environmental Research
593.6
592.0
612.4
Fusion Energy Sciences
495.9
467.5
420.0
High Energy Physics
774.9
766.0
788.0
Nuclear
Physics
554.8
595.5
624.6
Workforce Development for Teachers
and Scientists
26.5
19.5
20.5
Science Laboratories Infrastructure
97.8
79.6
113.6
Safeguards and Security
87.0
93.0
103.0
Program
Direction
185.0
183.7
187.4
SBIR/STTR (Science portion)a
128.5 - -
Subtotal 5,070.2b 5,071.0 5,339.8
SBIR/STTR (DOE-wide transfer)a 64.7
-
-
Use of prior year balances
-3.8
-
-
Rescission of prior year balances
-
-3.3
-
Total
5,131.0
5,067.7
5,339.8
Source: Department of Energy, Office of Science, “Office of Science: FY2014-FY2016 Appropriations
Summary,” January 30, 2015, http://science.energy.gov/~/media/budget/pdf/sc-budget-request-to-congress/fy-
2016/FY_2014-2016_SC_Funding_Summary.pdf.
Notes:
a. “SBIR/STTR (Science Contribution)” includes funding reprogrammed from within the Office of Science to
support the SBIR/STTR programs. “SBIR/STTR (DOE-wide transfer)” includes funding transferred from
other DOE accounts to Science for the SBIR/STTR programs. For more information about the SBIR/STTR
programs, see CRS Report R43695, Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer
Programs, by John F. Sargent Jr.
b. Includes a reduction of $4.6 million for the Office of Science share of a $7 million DOE-wide reduction for
contractor foreign travel.
The following sections highlight selected FY2016 initiatives, programs, and activities within
Science research programs, as well as their FY2016 budget and appropriations status. These
sections are not intended to provide a comprehensive view of each account, but rather focus
3 For more information, see CRS Report R43880, The America COMPETES Acts: An Overview, by Heather B.
Gonzalez; and CRS Report R42779, America COMPETES Acts: FY2008 to FY2013 Funding Tables, by Heather B.
Gonzalez.
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mostly on large changes or on activities emphasized in House and Senate Appropriations
Committee reports.
Advanced Scientific Computing (ASCR)
As described in the FY2016 Science budget request, ASCR’s mission is to
advance applied mathematics and computer science; deliver the most advanced
computational scientific applications in partnership with disciplinary science; advance
computing and networking capabilities; and develop future generations of computing
hardware and tools for science, in partnership with the research community, including U.S.
industry. The strategy to accomplish this has two thrusts: developing and maintaining world-
class computing and network facilities for science; and advancing research in applied
mathematics, computer science and advanced networking.4
For FY2016, the Administration seeks $621 million for ASCR, $80 million (15%) more than the
FY2015 enacted funding level of $541 million. Most of this increase ($77 million) would go to
High Performance Computing and Network Facilities, focused particularly on the Research and
Evaluation Prototypes (REP) activity. REP funding will be used to further the design and
development of exascale computing systems (i.e., node technologies, hardware, and software).
Both Congress and the Administration have prioritized exascale computing in recent budget and
appropriations cycles.5 The FY2016 REP request also includes $10 million for the Computational
Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF), a $7 million increase from FY2015.
Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Basic Energy Sciences (BES) supports
fundamental research to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the
electronic, atomic, and molecular levels in order to provide the foundations for new energy
technologies and to support DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security.6
The FY2016 Administration request for BES is $1.849 billion, $116 million (7%) more than the
FY2015 enacted funding level of $1.733 billion. About half of the increase ($62 million) would
go toward the next phase of the Linac Coherent Light Source–II (LCLS–II) construction and
installation activities. Although this amount is slightly less than projected in FY2015, the FY2016
budget request includes projected increases in out-year costs.7 The FY2016 BES request also
seeks an increase of $10 million for Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs, $110 million total
request). It would maintain funding for the Batteries and Energy Storage, as well as the Fuels
4 Department of Energy, “Science: Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy,” Department of Energy FY2016
Congressional Budget Request, vol. 4, February 2015, p. 17, at http://science.energy.gov/budget/.
5 For example, see H.Rept. 113-486, which accompanied H.R. 4923 (Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Bill, 2015), p. 118. See also, H.Rept. 113-135, which accompanied H.R. 2609 (Energy and Water Development
Appropriations Bill, 2014), p. 106; and S.Rept. 113-47, which accompanied S. 1245 (Energy and Water Development
Appropriations Bill, 2014), pp. 79, 93.
6 Department of Energy FY2016 Congressional Budget Request, vol. 4, p. 43.
7 Ibid, pp. 100-101.
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from Sunlight Energy Innovations Hubs at FY2015 levels ($24 million and $15 million,
respectively).8
Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
The mission of the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program is to support
fundamental research and scientific user facilities to achieve a predictive understanding of
complex biological, climatic, and environmental systems for a secure and sustainable energy
future.9
For FY2016, the Administration seeks $612 million for BER, $20 million (3%) more than the
FY2015 enacted funding level of $592 million. The largest requested increase in BER is for
Climate and Earth System Modeling (CESM, $31 million increase). The largest requested
increase within CESM is for the Climate Model Development and Validation activity ($18
million request). The Administration sought funding for a similarly titled activity in FY2015, but
appropriators ultimately rejected that proposal.10 The FY2016 BER budget request seeks a $6
million reduction in Biological Systems Science; within this line, Genomic Science would
increase and most other activities would decrease.
Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) seeks to
expand the fundamental understanding of matter at very high temperatures and densities and
to build the scientific foundation needed to develop a fusion energy source. This is
accomplished through the study of plasma, the fourth state of matter, and how it interacts
with its surroundings.11
The FY2016 Administration request for FES is $420 million, $48 million (-10%) less than the
FY2015 enacted funding level of $468 million. Most FES activities would decline or remain flat
relative to FY2015. The only increase in the FES request is for the GPE/GPP/Infrastructure12 line
within the Burning Plasma Science: Foundations subprogram. Among other things, these funds
would support facility and utility improvements associated with full National Spherical Torus
Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) operations, as well as improvements to the Princeton Plasma
Physics Laboratory Computer Center. In FY2015, FES signaled its intention to shutter the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Alcator C-Mod facility in late FY2016. The FY2016
budget request continues this planned shutdown.
FES provides funding for the U.S. contribution to the ITER project. ITER is an international
effort to design and build an experimental fusion reactor, which is currently under construction in
France. According to DOE, ITER “aims to generate fusion power 30 times the levels produced to
8 The FY2016 BES request indicates that a decision to renew (or not) the Fuels from Sunlight Hub for a final, five-year
term would be made in January 2015. As of March 25, 2015, DOE had not announced a decision.
9 Department of Energy FY2016 Congressional Budget Request, v. 4, p. 103.
10 See the explanatory statement printed in the December 11, 2014, Congressional Record, p. H9701.
11 Department of Energy FY2016 Congressional Budget Request, v. 4, p. 131.
12 The term “GPE” means General Purpose Equipment; “GPP” means General Plant Projects.
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date and to exceed the external power applied to the plasma by at least a factor of ten.”13 Many
U.S. analysts have expressed concern about ITER’s cost, schedule, and management. The cost
estimate for the U.S. contribution to ITER—which is 9.09% of the total project cost—has grown
from between $1.45 billion and $2.2 billion in 2008 to between $4.0 billion and $6.5 billion under
current assumptions.14 Moreover, even the more recent cost estimates may not be reliable.15
Criticism of the ITER project has generally focused on concerns about the international project,
not U.S. ITER.16 The Director-General of the international ITER project was replaced on March
5, 2015. An FY2015 draft Senate Appropriations Committee report recommended that the U.S.
withdraw from ITER; the final FY2015 appropriations agreement included no such provision.
The FY2016 request for the U.S. contribution to ITER is $150.0 million, equal to the FY2015
enacted level.
High Energy Physics (HEP)
The High Energy Physics (HEP) program examines
how the universe works at its most fundamental level by discovering the elementary
constituents of matter and energy, probing the interactions between them, and exploring the
basic nature of space and time.17
The Administration seeks $788 million for HEP in FY2016, $22 million (3%) more than the
FY2015 enacted funding level of $766 million. The FY2016 HEP budget request would make
changes to HEP subprograms and activities in order to bring the HEP program into alignment
with the recommendations of the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) report.18
Among these changes is the “internationalization and re-scoping of the Long Baseline Neutrino
Experiment” (LBNE), based on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project model.19 The FY2016
LBNE request includes funding to make design changes in order to facilitate international
participation.
The FY2016 Administration request for HEP also seeks construction funding to continue the
Muon to Electron Conversion experiment (Mu2e) and would shift funding among the program’s
three major experimental areas—increasing funding for Energy Frontier Experimental Physics
and Cosmic Frontier Experimental Physics, while decreasing funding for Intensity Frontier
Experimental Physics by a similar amount.
13 Department of Energy FY2016 Congressional Budget Request, v. 4, p. 155.
14 Department of Energy FY2016 Congressional Budget Request, v. 4, p. 165.
15 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Fusion Energy: Actions Need to Finalize Cost and Schedule Estimates for
U.S. Contributions to an International Experimental Reactor, GAO-14-499, June 5, 2014.
16 A sizeable portion of the U.S. contribution to the international ITER project is in the form of in-kind hardware that is
designed and fabricated in the United States. These hardware contributions are managed by U.S. ITER, an Office of
Science project hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. More information about U.S. ITER is
available at https://www.usiter.org/about/index.shtml.
17 Department of Energy FY2016 Congressional Budget Request, v. 4, p. 173.
18 DOE and the National Science Foundation charged the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP) with
convening the P5 in September 2013. In May 2014, HEPAP unanimously approved the P5 report. The report is
available at http://science.energy.gov/hep/hepap/reports/.
19 As described by the FY2016 budget request, the LHC model involves engaging foreign funding agencies to
contribute in-kind to a host laboratory that would coordinate and integrate contributions. Department of Energy FY2016
Congressional Budget Request, v. 4, pp. 174, 205.
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Nuclear Physics (NP)
The mission of the Nuclear Physics (NP) program is “to discover, explore, and understand all
forms of nuclear matter.”20 For FY2016, the Administration seeks $625 million for NP, $29
million (5%) over the FY2015 enacted funding level of $596 million. The request provides
increases for research, facilities operations, and construction. In the construction account, a
reduction for the 12 GeV Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) upgrade is as
planned in the approved project profile.
Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS)
The Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) program mission is “to help
ensure that DOE has a sustained pipeline of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) workers.”21
The FY2016 Administration request for WDTS is $21 million, $1 million (5%) more than the
FY2015 enacted funding level. The request includes funding for Science Undergraduate
Laboratory Internships (SULI), Community College Internships (CCI), Office of Science
Graduate Student Research (SCGSR), the Visiting Faculty Program (VFP), Albert Einstein
Distinguished Educator Fellowship, and the National Science Bowl. The FY2016 request
includes increases for SULI, CCI, and the VFP. Other activities would be funded at FY2015
levels.
Historical Appropriations
Table 2 shows Office of Science current dollar appropriations from FY2010 to FY2014, as well
as FY2015 enacted appropriations and the FY2016 request. The Office of Science subtotal (not
including transfers from other accounts, or the use or rescission of prior-year balances) increased
by $241 million (5%) between FY2010 and FY2014.22 Most of the increase—$222 million or
92%—went to ASCR, BES, and FES. Funding for High Energy Physics was reduced by about
-2% during this period.
20 Department of Energy FY2016 Congressional Budget Request, v. 4, p. 235.
21 Department of Energy FY2016 Congressional Budget Request, v. 4, p. 285.
22 This calculation does not compare against FY2015 enacted funding levels because FY2015 program funding levels
do not reflect the reallocation of SBIR/STTR program funding within the Office of Science. At least with regard to
SBIR/STTR, the most recent five-year period of comparable funding is FY2010 to FY2014.
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Table 2. Office of Science Appropriations, FY2010-FY2016
(budget authority in $ millions, rounded)
FY2015
FY2016
FY2010
FY2011
FY2012a FY2013b FY2014c
Enacted
Request
Advanced Scientific
383.2 410.3 428.3 405.0 463.5 541.0 621.0
Computing
Basic
Energy
Sciences 1,599.0 1,638.5 1,644.8 1,551.3 1,662.7 1,733.2 1,849.3
Biological and
588.0 595.2 592.4 560.7 593.6 592.0 612.4
Environmental
Research
Fusion
Energy
Sciences
417.7 367.3 393.0 377.8 495.9 467.5 420.0
High
Energy
Physics
790.8 775.6 770.5 727.5 774.9 766.0 788.0
Nuclear
Physics
522.5 527.7 534.6 507.2 554.8 595.5 624.6
Workforce
20.7 22.6 18.5 17.5 26.5 19.5 20.5
Development for
Teachers and
Scientists
Science Laboratories
127.6 125.7 111.8 105.7 97.8 79.6 113.6
Infrastructure
Safeguards and
83.0 83.8 80.6 77.5 87.0 93.0 103.0
Security
Program
Direction
189.4 202.5 185.0 174.9 185.0 183.7 187.4
SBIR/STTR (Science
107.4 108.4 114.1 116.1 128.5
−
−
Contribution)
Subtotal 4,829.1 4,857.7 4,873.6 4,621.1 5,070.2 5,071.0 5,339.8
SBIR/STTR (DOE-wide
60.2 54.6 61.3 60.1 64.7 −
−
transfer)
Use of prior year
-153.0 -15.0
−
−
-3.8
−
−
balances
Rescission of prior
−
−
−
−
−
-3.3
−
year balances
Total 4,963.9d 4,897.3 4,935.0 4,681.2 5,131.0 5,067.7 5,339.8
Source: Office of Science annual budget requests to Congress and related materials from
http://science.energy.gov/budget/.
Notes: “SBIR/STTR (Science Contribution)” includes funding reprogrammed from within the Office of Science
to support the SBIR/STTR programs. “SBIR/STTR (DOE-wide transfer)” includes funding transferred from other
DOE accounts to Science for the SBIR/STTR programs. For more information about the SBIR/STTR programs,
see CRS Report R43695, Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs, by
John F. Sargent Jr.
a. The FY2012 column reflects the original Science appropriation minus the al ocation of a DOE-wide general
reduction for a contractor pay freeze.
b. The FY2013 column includes the original appropriation and the al ocation of a 5.2% reduction for the
sequester and rescissions from P.L. 113-6 (Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013).
c. The FY2014 column contains a reduction of $4.6 million for the Science share of a $7 million DOE-wide
reduction for contractor foreign travel.
d. This FY2010 total also includes $74.7 million in congressionally directed spending.
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Figure 1. Office of Science Appropriations, FY1998-FY2015
(budget authority in $ millions, rounded)
Source: FY2000 to FY2016 Office of Science budget requests from the Office of Science, “Budget” website at
http://science.energy.gov/budget/.
Notes: These trends do not adjust for changes in policy or in the character of Science activities over the
examined time period. DOE may have increased or decreased program responsibilities—such as expanding or
reducing the number of programs or changing the workload within programs—within this account during the
observed period.
Author Contact Information
Heather B. Gonzalez
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy
hgonzalez@crs.loc.gov, 7-1895
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