Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding: FY2019

Updated August 3, 2018 (R45150)
Jump to Main Text of Report

Contents

Figures

Tables

Appendixes

Summary

President Trump's budget request for FY2019 includes approximately $131.0 billion for research and development (R&D), of which $118.056 billion is included in the President's budget and an estimated additional $12.9 billion in nondefense discretionary R&D is requested as part of an addendum to the President's budget. The additional funding requested in the addendum followed enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123), which raised defense and nondefense discretionary spending caps for FY2018 and FY2019. In April 2018, the Administration issued amendments to the President's request, including language needed to clarify the funds requested in the addendum. Agencies appear to have included this proposed funding in their budget justifications, and this funding is included in the agency analyses in this report.

Final FY2018 funding had not been enacted at the time the President's FY2019 budget was prepared; therefore, the budget included the FY2017 actual funding levels, 2018 annualized continuing resolution (CR) levels, and the FY2019 request levels. Subsequent to the release of the President's budget, Congress enacted the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141), appropriating full-year funding for FY2018, rendering the CR levels identified in the budget no longer relevant. The analysis of government-wide R&D funding in this report preceding the individual agency analyses compares the President's request for FY2019 to the FY2017 level. As information about the agencies' FY2018 R&D levels becomes available, the agency sections of this report will be updated to reflect that information and to make comparisons to the President's FY2019 request; some agency sections have been updated. This report will also be updated to reflect House and Senate appropriations actions on the President's request.

In FY2018, OMB adopted a change to the definition of development, applying a more narrow treatment it describes as "experimental development." This approach was intended to better harmonize the reporting of U.S. R&D funding data with the approach used by other nations. The new definition is used in this report. Under the new definition of R&D (applied to both FY2017 and FY2019 figures), and including the estimated $12.9 billion included in the budget addendum, President Trump is requesting approximately $131.0 billion for R&D for FY2019, an increase of $5.7 billion (4.5%) above the FY2017 level. OMB notes that under the previous definition, total federal R&D would be $38.7 billion higher, or approximately $170 billion. Adjusted for inflation, the President's FY2019 R&D request represents an increase of 1.2% above the FY2017 level.

Funding for R&D is largely concentrated among a few departments and agencies. In FY2017, eight federal agencies received 96.3% of total federal R&D funding, with the Department of Defense (39.3%) and the Department of Health and Human Services (27.3%) combined accounting for more than two-thirds of all federal R&D funding.

President's Trump's FY2019 budget is largely silent on funding levels for a number of multiagency R&D initiatives. However, some activities supporting these initiatives are discussed in agency budget justifications and are reported in the agency analyses in this report.

The request represents the President's R&D priorities; Congress may opt to agree with none, part, or all of the request, and it may express different priorities through the appropriations process.

In recent years, Congress has completed the annual appropriations process after the start of the fiscal year. Failure to complete the process by the start of the fiscal year and the accompanying use of continuing resolutions can affect agencies' execution of their R&D budgets, including the delay or cancellation of planned R&D activities and the acquisition of R&D-related equipment.


Introduction

The 115th Congress continues its interest in U.S. research and development (R&D) and in evaluating support for federal R&D activities. The federal government has played an important role in supporting R&D efforts that have led to scientific breakthroughs and new technologies, from jet aircraft and the internet to communications satellites, shale gas extraction, and defenses against disease. In recent years, widespread concerns about the federal debt, recent and projected federal budget deficits, and federal budget caps have driven difficult decisions about the prioritization of R&D, both in the context of the entire federal budget and among competing needs within the federal R&D portfolio. While these factors continue to exist, increases in the budget caps for FY2018 and FY2019 may reduce some of the pressure affecting these decisions.

The U.S. government supports a broad range of scientific and engineering R&D. Its purposes include specific concerns such as addressing national defense, health, safety, the environment, and energy security; advancing knowledge generally; developing the scientific and engineering workforce; and strengthening U.S. innovation and competitiveness in the global economy. Most of the R&D funded by the federal government is performed in support of the unique missions of individual funding agencies.

The federal R&D budget is an aggregation of the R&D activities of these agencies. There is no single, centralized source of R&D funds. Agency R&D budgets are developed internally as part of each agency's overall budget development process. R&D funding may be included either in accounts that are entirely devoted to R&D or in accounts that include funding for non-R&D activities. Agency budgets are subjected to review, revision, and approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and become part of the President's annual budget submission to Congress. The federal R&D budget is then calculated by aggregating the R&D activities of each federal agency.

Congress plays a central role in defining the nation's R&D priorities as it makes decisions about the level and allocation of R&D funding—overall, within agencies, and for specific programs. Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns about the level of federal spending (for R&D and for other purposes) in light of the federal deficit and debt. Other Members of Congress have expressed support for increased federal spending for R&D as an investment in the nation's future competitiveness. As Congress acts to complete the FY2019 appropriations process, it faces two overarching issues: the amount of the federal budget to be spent on federal R&D and the prioritization and allocation of the available funding.

This report begins with a discussion of the overall level of President Trump's FY2019 R&D request, followed by analyses of the R&D funding request from a variety of perspectives and for selected multiagency R&D initiatives. The remainder of the report then provides discussion and analysis of the R&D budget requests of selected federal departments and agencies that, collectively, account for approximately 99% of total federal R&D funding.

Selected terms associated with federal R&D funding are defined in the text box on the next page. Appendix A provides a list of acronyms and abbreviations.

Definitions Associated with Federal Research and Development Funding

Two key sources of definitions associated with federal research and development funding are the White House Office of Management and Budget and the National Science Foundation.

Office of Management and Budget. The Office of Management and Budget provides the following definitions of R&D-related terms in OMB Circular No. A-11, "Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the Budget" (July 2017).1 This document provides guidance to agencies in the preparation of the President's annual budget and instructions on budget execution. As reflected in the July 2017 update, OMB has adopted a refinement to the categories of R&D, replacing "development" with "experimental development," which more narrowly defines the set of activities to be included, resulting in lower reported R&D by some agencies, including the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This definition is used in the President's FY2019 budget.

Conduct of R&D. Research and experimental development (R&D) activities are defined as creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge—including knowledge of people, culture, and society—and to devise new applications using available knowledge.

Basic Research. Basic research is defined as experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts. Basic research may include activities with broad or general applications in mind, but should exclude research directed towards a specific application or requirement.

Applied Research. Applied research is defined as original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. Applied research is, however, directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective.

Experimental Development. Experimental development is defined as creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes. Like research, experimental development will result in gaining additional knowledge.

R&D Equipment. R&D equipment includes amounts for major equipment for research and development. Includes acquisition, design, or production of major movable equipment, such as mass spectrometers, research vessels, DNA sequencers, and other major movable instruments for use in R&D activities. Includes programs of $1 million or more that are devoted to the purchase or construction of major R&D equipment

R&D Facilities. R&D facilities includes amounts for the construction of facilities that are necessary for the execution of an R&D program. This may include land, major fixed equipment, and supporting infrastructure such as a sewer line or housing at a remote location.

National Science Board/National Science Foundation. The National Science Board/National Science Foundation provides the following definitions of R&D-related terms in its Science and Engineering Indicators: 2018 report.2

Research and Development (R&D): Research and experimental development comprise creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge—including knowledge of humankind, culture, and society—and its use to devise new applications of available knowledge.

Basic Research: Experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view.

Applied Research: Original investigation undertaken to acquire new knowledge; directed primarily, however, toward a specific, practical aim or objective.

Experimental Development: Systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience and producing additional knowledge, which is directed to producing new products or processes or to improving existing products or processes.


The President's FY2019 Budget Request

On February 12, 2018, President Trump released his proposed FY2019 budget. In addition, on the same day, OMB issued an addendum that includes a request for an additional $12.9 billion in nondiscretionary R&D funding.3 According to OMB, the request for these additional funds was made possible by changes to spending caps in the Budget Control Act (BCA; P.L. 112-25) that were enacted on February 9, 2018, in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123).

In FY2018, the Trump Administration began using a new definition for development in its R&D calculations ("experimental development"). The new definition excludes some development activities, primarily at the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), that had been characterized as development in previous budgets. The new definition (experimental development) is used throughout this report for FY2017 and FY2019, except in the section "Department of Defense." According to OMB, the funds no longer included in the definition of development are, nevertheless, "requested in the FY 2019 budget request and support the development efforts to upgrade systems that have been fielded or have received approval for full rate production and anticipate production funding in the current or subsequent fiscal year."4 (See box below entitled "Caveats with Respect to Analysis of the FY2019 Budget Request" for additional information.)

Subsequent to the release of the President's budget, Congress enacted the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141), appropriating full-year funding for FY2018, rendering the CR levels identified in the budget no longer relevant. Therefore, the analysis of government-wide R&D funding in this report preceding the individual agency analyses compares the President's request for FY2019 to the FY2017 level. As information about the agencies' FY2018 R&D levels becomes available, the agency sections of this report will be updated to reflect that information and to make comparisons to the President's FY2019 request; some agency sections have been updated.

Under the new definition of R&D, and including the $12.9 billion proposed in the addendum, President Trump is proposing approximately $131.0 billion for R&D for FY2019, an increase of $5.7 billion above the FY2017 level (4.5%). Adjusted for inflation, the President's FY2019 R&D request represents a constant-dollar increase of 1.2% from the FY2017 actual level.5

The President's R&D request includes continued funding for existing single-agency and multiagency programs and activities, as well as new initiatives. This report provides government-wide, multiagency, and individual agency analyses of the President's FY2019 request as it relates to R&D and related activities. Additional information and analysis will be included as the House and Senate act on the President's budget request through appropriations bills.

Caveats for Analysis of the FY2019 Budget Request

Several factors complicate the analysis of changes in R&D funding for FY2019, both in aggregate and for selected agencies. For example:

  • The President's FY2019 budget does not include FY2018 enacted budget authority levels because the FY2018 budget process had not been completed at the time the FY2019 budget was prepared. In the absence of final enacted FY2018 appropriations, the government-wide R&D analysis in this report (preceding the agency analyses) compares FY2019 request levels to FY2017 enacted levels. For each of the agency analyses, the FY2019 request levels will be updated to provide a comparison of FY2019 request levels to the FY2018 enacted levels as the FY2018 enacted R&D funding levels become available; some agencies have been updated accordingly.
  • The analysis of the request, by agency, in the overview section of this report does not reflect the estimated $12.9 billion in additional nondefense discretionary R&D proposed in the President's budget addendum for FY2019. The additional funds requested in the addendum are included in the agency analyses, where noted. These funds could substantially affect the magnitude of some nondefense agencies' R&D budgets.
  • Beginning in FY2018, OMB replaced the R&D category "development" with a subset referred to as "experimental development" in an effort that OMB asserts would better align its data with the survey data collected by the National Science Foundation, and to be consistent with international standards. Using the old definition of development, total requested funding for FY2019 would be approximately $170 billion, $39 billion more than under the new definition. Similarly, FY2017 (actual) funding would include an additional $30 billion in development, bringing that total to approximately $155 billion.

In addition, inconsistency among agencies in the reporting of R&D and the inclusion of R&D activities in accounts with non-R&D activities may result in different figures being reported by OMB and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), including those shown in Table 1, and those in agency budget analyses that appear later in this report.

Federal R&D Funding Perspectives

Federal R&D funding can be analyzed from a variety of perspectives that provide different insights. The following sections examine the data by agency, by the character of the work supported, and by a combination of these two perspectives.

Federal R&D by Agency

Congress makes decisions about R&D funding through the authorization and appropriations processes primarily from the perspective of individual agencies and programs. Table 1 provides data on R&D funding by agency for FY2017 (actual) and FY2019 (request).6 Funding data for FY2018 were not included in the Trump Administration's FY2019 budget because the FY2018 budget had not been completed at the time the FY2019 budget request was released.

Under President Trump's FY2019 budget request, eight federal agencies would receive more than 96% of total federal R&D funding: the Department of Defense, 48.4%; Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), primarily the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 20.9%; Department of Energy (DOE), 10.7%; National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 9.0%; National Science Foundation (NSF), 3.5%; Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1.6%; Department of Commerce (DOC), 1.2%; and Veterans Affairs (VA), 1.1%. This report provides an analysis of the R&D budget requests for these agencies, as well as for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of Transportation (DOT), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Excluding the $12.9 billion in R&D funding requested in the addendum, nearly every federal agency would see its R&D funding decrease under the President's FY2019 request compared to their FY2017 levels. The only agencies with increased R&D funding in FY2019 would be DOD (up $7.959 billion, 16.2%), the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute,7 (up $159 million, 34.3%), and the Smithsonian Institution (up $20 million, 8.0%).

The largest declines (as measured in dollars) would occur in the budgets of HHS (down $9.480 billion, 27.7%), DOE (down $2.211 billion, 14.8%), NSF (down $1.761 billion, 29.7%), USDA (down $671 million, 26.0%), and the DOC (down $433 million, 24.1%).

Table 1. Federal Research and Development Funding by Agency, FY2017 and FY2019

(budget authority, dollar amounts in millions)

 

 

 

Change,
FY2017-FY2019

Department/Agency

FY2017
Actual

FY2019
Request

Dollar

Percent, Total

Department of Defense

49,197

57,156

7,959

16.2%

Department of Health and Human Services

34,222

24,742

-9,480

-27.7%

Department of Energy

14,896

12,685

-2,211

-14.8%

NASA

10,704

10,651

-53

-0.5%

National Science Foundation

5,938

4,177

-1,761

-29.7%

Department of Agriculture

2,585

1,914

-671

-26.0%

Department of Commerce

1,794

1,361

-433

-24.1%

Department of Veterans Affairs

1,346

1,345

-1

-0.1%

Department of Transportation

904

826

-78

-8.6%

Department of the Interior

953

759

-194

-20.4%

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institutea

463

622

159

34.3%

Department of Homeland Security

724

548

-176

-24.3%

Smithsonian Institution

251

271

20

8.0%

Environmental Protection Agency

497

269

-228

-45.9%

Department of Education

254

240

-14

-5.5%

Other

561

490

-71

-12.7%

Total, Base Budget

$125,289

$118,056

-$7,233

-5.8%

Addendum to the FY2019 Request (estimated)

 

~12,900

~12,900

n/a

Total, with Addendum

$125,289

~$131,000

~$5,700

~4.5%

Source: CRS analysis of data from Executive Office of the President (EOP), Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, February 12, 2018, pp. 238-239, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Analytical_Perspectives; Addendum to the President's FY2019 Budget to Account for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Addendum-to-the-FY-2019-Budget.pdf; and email communication between OMB and CRS, February 23, 2018.

Notes: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding. FY2017 and FY2019 amounts exclude non-experimental development funding. n/a = not applicable.

a. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute is funded through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund, which was established by Congress under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148). For more information, see https://www.pcori.org/.

Federal R&D by Character of Work, Facilities, and Equipment

Federal R&D funding can also be examined by the character of work it supports—basic research, applied research, or development—and by funding provided for construction of R&D facilities and acquisition of major R&D equipment. (See Table 2.) President Trump's FY2019 request includes $27.341 billion for basic research, down $6.986 billion (20.4%) from FY2017; $31.648 billion for applied research, down $6.500 billion (17.0%); $56.696 billion for development, up $6.333 billion (12.6%); and $2.371 billion for facilities and equipment, down $80 million (3.3%).

Table 2. Federal R&D Funding by Character of Work and Facilities and Equipment, FY2017 and FY2019

(budget authority, dollar amounts in millions)

 

 

 

Change, FY2017-FY2019

Character of Work, Facilities, and Equipment

FY2017
Actual

FY2019 Request

Dollar

Percent, Total

Basic research

34,327

27,341

-6,986

-20.4%

Applied research

38,148

31,648

-6,500

-17.0%

Development

50,363

56,696

6,333

12.6%

Facilities and Equipment

2,451

2,371

-80

-3.3%

Total

125,289

118,056

-7,233

-5.8%

Source: CRS analysis of data from Executive Office of the President (EOP), Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, February 12, 2018, pp. 238-240, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Analytical_Perspectives.

Notes: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding. Does not include estimated $12.9 billion in R&D funding included in the Addendum to the President's FY2019 Budget to Account for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

Federal Role in U.S. R&D by Character of Work

A primary policy justification for public investments in basic research and for incentives (e.g., tax credits) for the private sector to conduct research is the view, widely held by economists, that the private sector will, left on its own, underinvest in basic research from a societal perspective. The usual argument for this view is that the social returns (i.e., the benefits to society at large) exceed the private returns (i.e., the benefits accruing to the private investor, such as increased revenues or higher stock value). Other factors that may inhibit corporate investment in basic research include long time horizons for achieving commercial applications (diminishing the potential returns due to the time value of money), high levels of technical risk/uncertainty, shareholder demands for shorter-term returns, and asymmetric and imperfect information.

The federal government is the nation's largest supporter of basic research, funding 44% of U.S. basic research in 2016. Business funded 27% of U.S. basic research in 2016, with state governments, universities, and other nonprofit organizations funding the remaining 29%. For U.S. applied research, business is the primary funder, accounting for an estimated 53% in 2016, while the federal government accounted for an estimated 35%. State governments, universities, and other nonprofit organizations funded the remaining 12%. Business also provides the vast majority of U.S. funding for development. Business accounted for 82% of development funding in 2016, while the federal government provided 16%. State governments, universities, and other nonprofit organizations funded the remaining 2% (see Figure 1).8

Figure 1. Composition of U.S. Basic Research, Applied Research, and Development by Funding Sector, 2016

Source: CRS analysis of unpublished preliminary data from the National Science Foundation, National Patterns of R&D Resources.

Note: Components may not add to total due to rounding.

Federal R&D by Agency and Character of Work Combined

Federal R&D funding can also be viewed from the combined perspective of each agency's contribution to basic research, applied research, development, and facilities and equipment. (Table 3 lists the three agencies with the most funding for each character of work classification.) The overall federal R&D budget reflects a wide range of national priorities, including supporting advances in spaceflight, developing new and affordable sources of energy, and understanding and deterring terrorist groups. These priorities and the mission of each individual agency contribute to the composition of that agency's R&D spending (i.e., the allocation among basic research, applied research, development, and facilities and equipment). In the President's FY2019 budget request, the Department of Health and Human Services, primarily NIH, would account for nearly half (44.3%) of all federal funding for basic research. HHS would also be the largest federal funder of applied research, accounting for about 39.0% of all federally funded applied research in the President's FY2019 budget request. DOD would be the primary federal funder of development, accounting for 87.4% of total federal development funding in the President's FY2019 budget request.9

Table 3. Selected R&D Funding Agencies by Character of Work, Facilities, and Equipment, FY2017 and FY2019

(budget authority, dollar amounts in millions)

Character of Work/Agency

FY2017
Actual

FY2019 Request

Change, FY2017-FY2019

 

 

 

Dollars

Percent

Basic Research

 

 

 

 

Dept. of Health and Human Services

$16,701

$12,114

-$4,587

-27.5%

NASA

3,607

4,150

+543

+15.1%

National Science Foundation

4,739

3,402

-1,337

-28.2%

Applied Research

 

 

 

 

Dept. of Health and Human Services

17,356

12,348

-5,008

-28.9%

Dept. of Energy

6,491

5,885

-606

-9.3%

Dept. of Defense

5,276

5,239

-37

-0.7%

Development

 

 

 

 

Dept. of Defense

41,545

49,579

+8,034

+19.3%

NASA

4,569

3,734

-835

-18.3%

Dept. of Energy

2,488

1865

-623

-25.0%

Facilities and Equipment

 

 

 

 

Dept. of Energy

1,115

1,537

+422

+37.8%

Dept. of Health and Human Services

138

245

+107

+77.5%

Dept. of Commerce

278

240

-38

-13.7%

Source: CRS analysis of data from Executive Office of the President (EOP), Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, February 12, 2018, pp. 238-240, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Analytical_Perspectives.

Notes: The top three funding agencies in each category, based on the FY2019 request, are listed. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding. Does not include estimated $12.9 billion in R&D funding included in the Addendum to the President's FY2019 Budget to Account for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

Multiagency R&D Initiatives

For many years, presidential budgets have reported on multiagency R&D initiatives and have often provided details of agency funding for these initiatives. Some of these efforts have a statutory basis—for example, the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), and the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). These programs generally produce annual budget supplements identifying objectives, activities, funding levels, and other information, usually published shortly after the presidential budget release. Other multiagency R&D initiatives have operated at the discretion of the President without such a basis and may be eliminated at the discretion of the President. President Trump's FY2019 budget is largely silent on funding levels for these efforts and whether any or all of the nonstatutory initiatives will continue. Some activities related to these initiatives are discussed in agency budget justifications and may be addressed in the agency analyses later in this report. This section provides available multiagency information on these initiatives and will be updated as additional information becomes available.

Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program (NITRD)10

Established by the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-194), the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development program is the primary mechanism by which the federal government coordinates its unclassified networking and information technology R&D investments in areas such as supercomputing, high-speed networking, cybersecurity, software engineering, and information management. In FY2018, 21 agencies are NITRD members; non-member agencies also participate in NITRD activities. NITRD efforts are coordinated by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)11 Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology Research and Development.

P.L. 102-194, as reauthorized by the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act of 2017 (P.L. 114-329), requires the director of NITRD to prepare an annual report to be delivered to Congress along with the President's budget request. This annual report is to include, among other things, detailed information on the program's budget for the current fiscal year, previous fiscal year, and proposed for the next fiscal year. The latest annual report was published in August 2018. President Trump is requesting $5,277.6 million for NITRD research in FY2019, $126.1 million (2.4%) more than the estimated FY2018 level. In FY2017, NNI funding was $5,126.4 million.

Additional NITRD information can be obtained at https://www.nitrd.gov.

Table 4. Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program Funding, FY2017-FY2019

(budget authority, in millions of current dollars)

FY2017
(actual)

FY2018
(estimate)

FY2019
(request)

$5,126.4

$5,151.5

$5,277.6

Source: Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology Research and Development, Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council, The White House, The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Supplement to the President's FY2019 Budget, August 2018.

U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)12

The U.S. Global Change Research Program coordinates and integrates federal research and applications to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change. The program seeks to advance global climate change science and to "build a knowledge base that informs human responses to climate and global change through coordinated and integrated Federal programs of research, education, communication, and decision support."13 In FY2018, 13 departments and agencies participated in the USGCRP. USGCRP efforts are coordinated by the NSTC Subcommittee on Global Change Research.

The Global Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606) requires annual reporting to Congress on federal budget and spending by agency on global change research.14 In almost each of the past 17 years, language in appropriations laws has required the President to submit a comprehensive report to the appropriations committees "describing in detail all Federal agency funding, domestic and international, for climate change programs, projects, and activities … including an accounting of funding by agency…."15 The most recent report was submitted in December 2016 for FY2017. This section will be updated when the USGCRP updates its budget information.

Additional USGCRP information can be obtained at http://www.globalchange.gov.

Table 5. U.S. Global Change Research Program Funding, FY2017-FY2019

(budget authority, in millions of current dollars)

FY2017
(request)

FY2018
(request)

FY2018
(enacted)

FY2019
(request)

$2.790

n/a

n/a

n/a

Source: U.S. Global Change Research Program, website, https://www.globalchange.gov/about/budget.

Note: n/a = not available.

National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)16

Launched in FY2001, the National Nanotechnology Initiative is a multiagency R&D initiative to advance understanding and control of matter at the nanoscale, where the physical, chemical, and biological properties of materials differ in fundamental and useful ways from the properties of individual atoms or bulk matter.17 In 2003, Congress enacted the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (P.L. 108-153), providing a legislative foundation for some of the activities of the NNI. NNI efforts are coordinated by the NSTC Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET). In FY2019, the President's request includes NNI funding for 16 federal departments and independent agencies and commissions with budgets dedicated to nanotechnology R&D. The NSET includes other federal departments and independent agencies and commissions with responsibilities for health, safety, and environmental regulation; trade; education; intellectual property; international relations; and other areas that might affect or be affected by nanotechnology.

The 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (P.L. 108-153) requires the NSTC to prepare an annual report to be delivered to Congress at the time the President's budget request is sent to Congress. This annual report is to include detailed information on the program's budget for the current fiscal year and the program's proposed budget for the next fiscal year, as well as additional information and data related to the performance of the program. The latest annual report was published in August 2018. President Trump is requesting $1,395.6 million for NNI research in FY2019, $81.8 million (5.5%) less than the estimated FY2018 level. In FY2017, NNI funding was $1,552.3 million.18

Additional NNI information can be obtained at http://www.nano.gov.

Table 6. National Nanotechnology Initiative Funding, FY2017-FY2019

(budget authority, in millions of current dollars)

FY2017
(actual)

FY2018
(estimated)

FY2019
(request)

$1,552.3

$1,477.4

$1,395.6

Source: Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology, Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council, The White House, The National Nanotechnology Initiative: Supplement to the President's 2019 Budget, August 2018.

Other Initiatives

Presidential initiatives without statutory foundations in operation at the end of the Obama Administration, but not explicitly addressed in President Trump's FY2018 or FY2019 budgets, include the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP, including the National Robotics Initiative [NRI] and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation [NNMI]),19 the Cancer Moonshot, the BRAIN Initiative, the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI), the Materials Genome Initiative, and an effort to doubling federal funding for clean energy R&D. Some of the activities of these initiatives are discussed in agency budget justifications and the agency analyses later in this report.


FY2019 Appropriations Status

The remainder of this report provides a more in-depth analysis of R&D in 12 federal departments and agencies that, in aggregate, receive nearly 99% of total federal R&D funding. Agencies are presented in order of the size of their FY2019 R&D budget requests, with the largest presented first.

Annual appropriations for these agencies are provided through 9 of the 12 regular appropriations bills. For each agency covered in this report, Table 7 shows the corresponding regular appropriations bill that provides primary funding for the agency, including its R&D activities.

Because of the way that agencies report budget data to Congress, it can be difficult to identify the portion that is R&D. Consequently, R&D data presented in the agency analyses in this report may differ from R&D data in the president's budget or otherwise provided by OMB.

Funding for R&D is often included in appropriations line items that also include non-R&D activities; therefore, in such cases, it may not be possible to identify precisely how much of the funding provided in appropriations laws is allocated to R&D specifically. In general, R&D funding levels are known only after departments and agencies allocate their appropriations to specific activities and report those figures.

As of the date of this report, the House had completed action on six of the 12 regular appropriations bills; the Senate had completed action on nine of the bills. None of the 12 had yet been enacted as law. This report will be updated as Congress takes additional actions to complete the FY2019 appropriations process.

In addition to this report, CRS produces individual reports on each of the appropriations bills. These reports can be accessed via the CRS website at http://www.crs.gov/iap/appropriations. Also, the status of each appropriations bill is available on the CRS web page, Status Table of Appropriations, available at http://www.crs.gov/AppropriationsStatusTable/Index.

Table 7. Alignment of Agency R&D Funding and Regular Appropriations Bills

Department/Agency

Regular Appropriations Bill

Department of Defense

Department of Defense Appropriations Act

Department of Health and Human Services
- National Institutes of Health

(1) Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

(2) Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Department of Energy

Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

National Science Foundation

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Department of Agriculture

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Department of Commerce
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Department of Veterans Affairs

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Department of the Interior

Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Department of Transportation

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Department of Homeland Security

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act

Environmental Protection Agency

Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Source: CRS Report R40858, Locate an Agency or Program Within Appropriations Bills, by [author name scrubbed].

Department of Defense20

The mission of the Department of Defense is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country."21 Congress supports research and development activities at DOD primarily through the department's Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding. These funds support the development of the nation's future military hardware and software and the science and technology base upon which those products rely.

Nearly all of what DOD spends on RDT&E is appropriated in Title IV of the annual defense appropriations bill. (See Table 8.) However, RDT&E funds are also appropriated in other parts of the bill. For example, RDT&E funds are appropriated as part of the Defense Health Program, the Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction Program, and the National Defense Sealift Fund. The Defense Health Program (DHP) supports the delivery of health care to DOD personnel and their families. DHP funds (including the RDT&E funds) are requested through the Defense-wide Operations and Maintenance appropriations request. The program's RDT&E funds support congressionally directed research on breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer; traumatic brain injuries; orthotics and prosthetics; and other medical conditions. Congress appropriates funds for this program in Title VI (Other Department of Defense Programs) of the defense appropriations bill. The Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction Program supports activities to destroy the U.S. inventory of lethal chemical agents and munitions to avoid future risks and costs associated with storage. Funds for this program are requested through the Defense-wide Procurement appropriations request. Congress appropriates funds for this program also in Title VI. The National Defense Sealift Fund supports the procurement, operation and maintenance, and research and development associated with the nation's naval reserve fleet and supports a U.S. flagged merchant fleet that can serve in time of need. In some fiscal years, RDT&E funding for this effort is requested in the Navy's Procurement request and appropriated in Title V (Revolving and Management Funds) of the appropriation bill.

RDT&E funds also have been requested and appropriated as part of DOD's separate funding to support efforts in what the George W. Bush Administration termed the Global War on Terror (GWOT), and what the Obama and Trump Administration have referred to as Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). In appropriations bills, the term Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terror (OCO/GWOT) has been used; President Trump's FY2019 budget uses the term Overseas Contingency Operations. Typically, the RDT&E funds appropriated for OCO/GWOT activities go to specified Program Elements (PEs) in Title IV.

In addition, OCO/GWOT-related requests/appropriations have included money for a number of transfer funds. In the past, these have included the Iraqi Freedom Fund (IFF), the Iraqi Security Forces Fund, the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund, and the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund. Congress typically has made a single appropriation into each such fund and authorized the Secretary to make transfers to other accounts, including RDT&E, at his discretion. These transfers are eventually reflected in Title IV prior-year funding figures.

It should be noted that the FY2018 enacted funding levels were not known at the time the President's FY2019 budget was prepared, as the budget process had not been completed.

For FY2019, the Trump Administration is requesting $92.365 billion for DOD's Title IV RDT&E PEs (base plus OCO/GWOT), $1.783 billion (2.0%) above the enacted FY2018 level. (See Table 8.) In addition, the request includes $710.6 million in RDT&E through the Defense Health Program (DHP; down $1.329 billion, 65.2% from FY2018), $886.7 million in RDT&E through the Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction program (up $47.3 million, 5.6% from FY2018), and $1.6 million for the Inspector General for RDT&E-related activities (down $1.2 million, 42.9% from FY2018). The FY2019 budget included no RDT&E funding via the National Defense Sealift Fund, the same as the FY2018 enacted level.

On June 28, 2018, the House passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R. 6157). The bill includes $91.241 billion for Title IV base RDT&E funding and $1.181 billion in OCO/GWOT base RDT&E funding for a total of $92.422 billion.22 This represents an increase of $1.840 billion (2.0%) over the FY2018 enacted Title IV RDT&E funding level (base and OCO/GWOT), and an increase of $57 million (0.1%) above the request level.

The House-passed bill would provide DHP with $1.466 billion in R&D funding for FY2019, $573 million (28.1%) below the FY2018 enacted level and $756 million (106.3%) above the FY2019 request; RDT&E for the Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction program would be $887 million, up $47 million (5.6%) from the FY2018 level and equal to the request; RDT&E for the National Defense Sealift Fund would be zero, equal to the FY2018 enacted level and the FY2019 request; and RDT&E for the Inspector General would be $1.6 million, $1.2 million (42.9%) below the FY2018 enacted level and equal to the FY2019 request.

On August 23, 2018, the Senate passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R. 6157, as amended). The bill includes $95.132 billion for Title IV base RDT&E funding and $1.176 billion in OCO/GWOT base RDT&E funding for a total of $96.308 billion. This represents an increase of $5.726 billion (6.3%) over the FY2018 enacted Title IV RDT&E funding level (base and OCO/GWOT), an increase of $3.943 billion (4.3%) above the request, and an increase of $3.885 billion (4.2) above the House-passed level.

The Senate-passed bill would provide DHP with $1.674 billion in R&D funding for FY2019, $365 million (17.9%) below the FY2018 enacted level, $963 million (135.6%) above the request, and $208 million (14.2%) above the House-passed level; RDT&E for the Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction program would be $887 million, up $47 million (5.6%) from the FY2018 enacted level and equal to the request and House-passed levels; RDT&E for the National Defense Sealift Fund would be zero, equal to the FY2018 enacted level, FY2019 request, and House-passed level; and RDT&E for the Inspector General would be $4.0 million, $1.2 million (42.0%) above the FY2018 enacted level, $2.4 million (148.6%) above the request and House-passed levels.

The military departments each request and receive their own RDT&E funding. So do various DOD agencies (e.g., the Missile Defense Agency and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), through the Defense-wide account. The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, receives a separate appropriation. RDT&E funding can also be characterized by budget activity (i.e., the type of RDT&E supported). Those budget activities designated as 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 (basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development) constitute what is called DOD's Science and Technology (S&T) program. Budget activities 6.4 and 6.5 focus on the development of specific weapon systems or components for which an operational need has been determined and an acquisition program established. Budget activity 6.6 provides management support, including support for test and evaluation facilities. Budget activity 6.7 supports the development of system improvements in existing operational systems.23

Many congressional policymakers are particularly interested in DOD S&T program funding since these funds support the development of new technologies and the underlying science. Some in the defense community see ensuring adequate support for S&T activities as imperative to maintaining U.S. military superiority into the future. The knowledge generated at this stage of development may also contribute to advances in commercial technologies. The FY2019 request for Title IV S&T funding (base plus OCO/GWOT) is $13.700 billion, $1.194 billion (8.0%) below the FY2018 enacted level. The House-passed bill would provide $14.648 billion in FY2019 level for Title IV S&T funding, $426 million (2.9%) below the FY2018 level and $768 million (5.6%) above the FY2019 request. The Senate-passed bill would provide $15.441 billion for Title IV S&T funding, $547 million (3.7%) above the FY2018 level, $1.740 billion (12.7%) above the request, and $972 million (6.7%) above the House-passed level.

Within the S&T program, basic research (6.1) receives special attention, particularly by the nation's universities. DOD is not a large supporter of basic research when compared to NIH or NSF. However, over half of DOD's basic research budget is spent at universities, and it is among the largest sources of federal funds for university research in some areas of science and technology, such as electrical engineering and materials science.24 The Trump Administration is requesting $2.269 billion for DOD basic research for FY2019, $74.0 million (3.2%) below the FY2018 enacted level. The House-passed bill would provide $2.298 billion in FY2019 for DOD basic research, $45 million (1.9%) below the FY2018 level and $29 million (1.3%) above the FY2019 request. The Senate-passed bill would provide $2.798 billion in FY2019 for DOD basic research, $455 million (19.4%) above the request, $529 million (23.3%) above the request, and $500 million (21.8%) above the House-passed level.

Table 8. Department of Defense RDT&E

(obligational authority, in millions of dollars)

 

FY2018
Enacted

FY2019
Request

FY2019
House

FY2019
Senate

FY2019
Enacted

Budget Account

Base + OCO + Emergency Enactedd

Base

OCO

Total

Base

OCO

Total

Base

OCO

Total

 

Army

$10,903.5

$ 10,159.4

$ 325.1

$ 10,484.5

$10,113.1

$300.6

$10,413.7

$10,812.5

$325.1

$11,137.6

 

Navy

18,238.3

18,451.1

198.4

18,649.5

17,658.2

167.8

17,826.1

18,992.1

167.8

19,159.9

 

Air Force

37,813.4

39,892.1

600.5

40,492.6

40,929.5

301.9

41,231.4

40,896.7

288.0

41,184.6

 

Defense-wide

23,415.6

21,892.5

624.6

22,517.1

22,319.4

410.5

22,730.0

24,049.6

394.9

24,444.5

 

Director, Operational Test & Evaluation

210.9

221.0

0.0

221.0

221.0

0.0

221.0

381.0

-

381.0

 

Total Title IV—By Account

$90,581.7

$90,616.1

$1,748.6

$92,364.7

$91,241.3

$1,180.8

$92,422.1

$95,131.8

$1,175.8

$96,307.6

 

Budget Activity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.1 Basic Research

2,343.2

2,269.2

0.0

2,269.2

2,298.1

0.0

2,298.1

$2,798.5

$0.0

$ 2,798.5

 

6.2 Applied Research

5,681.8

5,100.4

0.0

5,100.4

5,571.2

0.0

5,571.2

5,577.3

0.0

5,577.3

 

6.3 Advanced Technology Development

6,869.1

6,292.1

38.6

6,330.8

6,559.4

39.7

6,599.1

7,051.2

13.6

7,064.8

 

6.4 Advanced Component Development and Prototypes

19,051.5

20,862.8

318.0

21,180.7

20,263.7

190.0

20,453.7

22,024.4

237.3

22,261.7

 

6.5 Systems Dev. and Demonstration

14,689.3

15,338.5

238.0

15,576.5

15,316.6

238.0

15,554.6

15,734.6

238.0

15,972.6

 

6.6 Management Supporta

6,648.9

6,520.6

0

6,520.6

6,649.9

0.0

6,649.9

7,688.6

0.0

7,688.6

 

6.7 Operational Systems Developmentb

33,947.0

34,232.5

1,154.0

35,386.5

34,609.4

713.2

35,322.6

34,257.2

686.9

34,944.1

 

Undistributed Additions*

1,346.7

n/a

n/a

n/a

65.4

n/a

65.4

 

 

 

 

Undistributed Reductions

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

(42.4)

n/a

(42.2)

 

 

 

 

Undistributed Reduction (DARPA)

(50.0)

n/a

n/a

n/a

(50.0)

n/a

(50.0)

 

 

 

 

Undistributed Reduction (MDA)

(31.0)

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

 

 

 

 

Undistributed Transfer
(Air Force)

(83.0)

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

 

 

 

 

Undistributed Transfer from JITDF

168.3

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

 

 

 

 

Total Title IV—by Budget Activity

$90,581.7

$90,616.1

$1,748.6

$92,364.7

$91,241.3

$1,180.8

$92,422.1

$95,131.8

$1,175.8

$96,307.6

 

Title V—Revolving and Management Funds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Defense Sealift Fund

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

 

Title VI—Other Defense Programs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Defense Health Program

2,039.3

710.6

0.0

710.6

1,466.2

0.0

1,466.2

1673.8

0.0

1673.8

 

Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction

839.4

886.7

0.0

886.7

886.7

0.0

886.7

886.7

0.0

886.7

 

Inspector General

2.8

1.6

0.0

1.6

1.6

0.0

1.6

4.0

0.0

4.0

 

Grand Total

$93,463.3

$92,215.1

$1,748.6

$93,963.6

$93,595.9

$1,180.8

$94,776.7

$97,696.4

$1,175.8

$98,872.1

 

Source: The FY2018 enacted amounts were taken from the joint explanatory statement to accompany H.R. 1625, printed in the March 22, 2018, Congressional Record (pp. H2084-H2115), P.L. 115-141, and P.L. 115-96. FY2019 request amounts are based on CRS analysis of Department of Defense Budget, Fiscal Year 2019, RDT&E Programs (R1), February 2018.

Notes: Figures for the columns headed "FY2019 Senate" and "FY2019 Enacted" will be added, if available, as each action is completed. Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding. "Undistributed" means undistributed among budget activity levels 6.1-6.7. n/a = not applicable.

a. Includes funding for Director of Test and Evaluation.

b. Includes funding for Classified Programs.

c. According to DOD, "Total Obligation Authority (TOA) is the sum of: 1) all budget authority (BA) granted (or requested) from the Congress in a given year, 2) amounts authorized to be credited to a specific fund, 3) BA transferred from another appropriation, and 4) Unobligated balances of BA from previous years which remain available for obligation. In practice, this term is used primarily in discussing the DoD budget, and most often refers to TOA as the 'direct program,' which equates to only (1) and (2) above." DOD defines "budget authority" as "the authority becoming available during the year to enter into obligations that result in immediate or future outlays of Government funds." See DoD 7000.14-R, "Department of Defense Financial Management Regulation," http://comptroller.defense.gov/fmr.aspx.

d. Includes supplemental emergency funding requested by President Trump in November 2017 and provided by the Department of Defense Missile Defeat and Defense Enhancements Appropriations Act, 2018 (included as Division B of P.L. 115-96).

Department of Health and Human Services

The mission of the Department of Health and Human Services is "to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans ... by providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services."25 This section focuses on HHS research and development funded through the National Institutes of Health, an HHS agency that accounts for more than 95% of total HHS R&D funding.26 Other HHS agencies that provide funding for R&D include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).27

National Institutes of Health28

NIH is the primary agency of the federal government charged with performing and supporting biomedical and behavioral research. It also has major roles in training biomedical researchers and disseminating health information. The NIH mission is "to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability."29 The agency's organization consists of the NIH Office of the Director (OD) and 27 institutes and centers (ICs).

The OD sets overall policy for NIH and coordinates the programs and activities of all NIH components, particularly in areas of research that involve multiple institutes. The ICs focus on particular diseases, areas of human health and development, or aspects of research support. Each IC plans and manages its own research programs in coordination with OD. As shown in Table 9, separate appropriations are provided to 24 of the 27 ICs, to OD, and to an intramural Buildings and Facilities account. The other three centers, which perform centralized support services, are funded through assessments on the IC appropriations.

NIH supports and conducts a wide range of basic and clinical research, research training, and health information dissemination across all fields of biomedical and behavioral sciences. About 10% of the NIH budget supports intramural research projects conducted by the nearly 6,000 NIH scientists, most of whom are located on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. More than 80% of NIH's budget goes out to the extramural research community in the form of grants, contracts, and other awards. This funding supports research performed by more than 300,000 nonfederal scientists and technical personnel who work at more than 2,500 universities, hospitals, medical schools, and other research institutions.30

Funding for NIH comes primarily from the annual Labor, HHS, and Education (LHHS) appropriations act, with an additional amount for Superfund-related activities from the Interior/Environment appropriations act. Those two appropriations acts provide NIH's discretionary budget authority. In addition, NIH has received mandatory funding of $150 million annually that is provided in the Public Health Service (PHS) Act for a special program on type 1 diabetes research and funding from a PHS Act transfer. The total funding available for NIH activities, taking account of add-ons and transfers, is known as the NIH program level.

President Trump's FY2019 budget requests an NIH program level total of $34.767 billion, a decrease of $2.544 billion (6.8%) from the FY2018 enacted level of $37.311 billion (see Table 9).31 Buildings and Facilities would receive a 55% increase in funding for FY2019 compared to FY2018, and OD would receive a smaller increase; all other ICs would receive a decrease compared to FY2018. (Readers should be aware that final FY2018 appropriations had not been enacted during the period in which the FY2019 President's request was being formulated. While the total request for NIH represents a decrease from FY2018 enacted levels, it represents an increase from FY2017 enacted levels and the FY2018 continuing resolution levels that were in place at the time FY2019 request levels were being determined.)

The FY2019 NIH budget request proposes the consolidation of other existing HHS research programs with NIH, establishing three new NIH Institutes.32 The creation of three new NIH Institutes would require an amendment to the Public Health Service Act, considering that a provision in the NIH Reform Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-482; PHS Act §401[d]) states that the number of NIH ICs "may not exceed a total of 27."

As in the FY2018 proposal, the Trump budget again proposes the consolidation of the AHRQ with NIH, forming a new Institute called the National Institute for Research on Safety and Quality (NIRSQ). The FY2019 budget proposal includes $380 million in budget authority for NIRSQ "to coordinate and ensure a continued focus on research to improve health care quality and patient safety."33 Of this, $256 million would be used "to continue selected unique, systemically-important activities formerly funded by AHRQ that have demonstrated effectiveness in improving healthcare quality."34 NIRSQ would provide administrative support for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). In the FY2019 budget proposal, NIRSQ would provide $7.4 million in administrative support to USPSTF—a reduction of $4.2 million (-36%) below AHRQ's FY2017 level; FY2018 amount for administrative support to USPSTF was not available.35 "A reduction of $4.2 million in FY2019 will reduce the number of recommendations the USPSTF will make from an average of 12 recommendations per year to 6 recommendations in FY2019."36 Additionally, the President's FY2019 budget proposal states that NIRSQ is projected to receive $124 million in mandatory resources from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund "to disseminate findings from comparative clinical effectiveness studies and train researchers on how to conduct high-quality studies in this area of research."37

Under the President's FY2019 budget proposal, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), currently housed within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would be consolidated into the NIH. NIOSH targets "research needed to prevent the societal cost of work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses in the United States."38 The FY2019 budget includes $200 million for this line of research, a reduction of $135 million (-40%) compared with the $335 million enacted for FY2018.39 An additional $55 million in mandatory funding is also provided for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Through this program NIOSH conducts activities to assist claimants and "provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who worked at certain Department of Energy facilities."40 The Department of Labor manages claims filed under the act.

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), currently housed under the Administration for Community Living in HHS, would also be folded into NIH under the President's FY2019 budget. The mission of NIDILRR is "to generate new knowledge and promote its effective use to improve the abilities of people with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community, and to expand society's capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for its citizens with disabilities."41 Under this arrangement, NIDILRR activities are designed to complement existing NIH research addressing disabilities and aging. The President's budget would provide $95 million for NIDILRR for FY2019, a $10 million reduction (-9.5%) from the $105 million enacted for FY2018.42

The main funding mechanism NIH uses to support extramural research is research project grants (RPGs), which are competitive, peer-reviewed, and largely investigator-initiated. Historically, over 50% of the NIH budget is used to support RPGs, which include salaries for investigators and research staff. The President's FY2019 budget proposal includes two initiatives designed to "stretch available grant dollars" by placing limits on salaries for investigators.43 The FY2019 budget proposes to cap the percentage of an investigator's salary that can be paid with grant funds to 90%. It also proposes to cap investigator salaries at $152,000, a 19% reduction from the current $187,000 limit.

The FY2019 program level request for NIH includes $54 million for Superfund-related health research.44 The FY2019 Trump budget proposes shifting the $150 million in mandatory funding for research on type 1 diabetes authorized under the PHS Act §330B to discretionary funding within the budget of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).45 The FY2019 program level request proposes $741 million in funding transferred to NIH by the PHS Program Evaluation Set-Aside, also called the evaluation tap. Discretionary funding programs at NIH and other HHS agencies that are authorized under the PHS Act are subject to an assessment under Section 241 of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. §238j). This provision authorizes the Secretary to use a portion of eligible appropriations to study the effectiveness of federal health programs and to identify improvements. Although the PHS Act limits the tap to no more than 1% of eligible appropriations, in recent years, annual LHHS appropriations acts have specified a higher amount (2.5% in FY2018) and have also typically directed specific amounts of funding from the tap for transfer to a number of HHS programs. The assessment has the effect of redistributing appropriated funds for specific purposes among PHS and other HHS agencies. NIH, with the largest budget among the PHS agencies, has historically been the largest "donor" of program evaluation funds; until recently, it had been a relatively minor recipient.46 Provisions in recent LHHS appropriations acts have directed specific tap transfers to NIH, making NIH a net recipient of tap funds.

With the exception of the mandatory type 1 diabetes funding provided in previous years, Congress has not usually specified amounts for particular diseases or research areas. Generally specific amounts are appropriated to each IC; NIH and its scientific advisory panels allocate the funding to various research areas. This allows maximum flexibility for NIH to pursue scientific opportunities that are important to public health.47 Some bills may propose authorizations for designated research purposes, but funding generally has remained subject to the NIH peer review process as well as the overall discretionary appropriation to the agency. This pattern has changed in recent years, most notably in FY2016 with Alzheimer's disease research48 and in FY2017 with the NIH Innovation account established by the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255, see text box below).

The 21st Century Cures Act and the NIH Innovation Account

The 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255) created the NIH Innovation account and specified that funds in the account must be appropriated in order to be available for expenditure. The first round of funding was provided by Section 194 of the Further Continuing and Security Assistance Appropriations Act, 2017 (CR, P.L. 114-254). The CR appropriated $352 million in the NIH Innovation account for necessary expenses to carry out the four NIH Innovation Projects as described in Section 1001(b)(4) of the Cures Act. The FY2019 total NIH budget request includes $711 million made available through the 21st Century Cures Act. The Cures Act authorizes four projects in the following amounts: Precision Medicine Initiative (FY2017, $40 million; FY2018, $100 million; FY2019, $186 million), the BRAIN Initiative (FY2017, $10 million; FY2018, $86 million; FY2019, $115 million), cancer research (FY2017, $300 million; FY2018, $300 million; FY2019 $400 million), and regenerative medicine using adult stem cells (FY2017, $2 million; FY2018, $10 million; FY2019, $10 million). Amounts, once appropriated, are to be available until expended. The NIH Director may transfer these amounts from the NIH Innovation account to other NIH accounts but only for the purposes specified in the Cures Act. If the NIH Director determines that the funds for any of the four Innovation Projects are not necessary, the amounts may be transferred back to the NIH Innovation account. This transfer authority is in addition to other transfer authorities provided by law.

For further information, see CRS Report R44720, The 21st Century Cures Act (Division A of P.L. 114-255), coordinated by [author name scrubbed].

The FY2019 total NIH budget request includes $711 million in resources made available through the 21st Century Cures Act. This includes support for the Precision Medicine Initiative's All of Us Research Program. This research initiative includes a national resource of clinical, environmental, lifestyle, and genetic data from one million or more participants who will contribute health information over many years. National roll-out of this program begins in 2018 with the first stages of enrollment scheduled to begin in spring 2018.

The President's FY2019 budget identifies several research priorities for NIH in the coming year. The overview below outlines these priority themes in the budget request.

1. Tackling Complex Challenges by Leveraging Partnerships. NIH partners with other government agencies and private entities to collaborate on research. The President's budget proposal states that "public-private partnerships can create efficiencies of scale and facilitate development of innovative technologies or treatments, thereby increasing the pace of biomedical research."49 For example, the Accelerating Medicines Partnership is a public-private partnership between NIH, FDA, and several biopharmaceutical companies and nonprofit organizations. With the goal of increasing the number of new diagnostics and therapies for patients, the Partnership aims to jointly identify promising biological targets for therapeutics.

Since 2014, the Partnership has been addressing Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes, and two autoimmune disorders (rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus); a new Parkinson's disease initiative was also recently inaugurated. NIH will also enhance existing research efforts using a similar public-partnership model to address the opioid crisis. The goal of this endeavor is to develop new formulations of medications to treat opioid misuse and accelerate the development of non-addictive pain therapies. The FY2019 budget proposal would provide NIH $350 million from the new $10 billion investment requested for opioids, serious mental illness, and pain related research at NIH.50

2. Supporting Basic Research to Drive New Understanding of Health and Disease in Living Systems. NIH is the largest funder of basic biomedical research in the United States. As mentioned previously, each year more than half of the NIH budget goes toward basic research, which provides "a critical research foundation for both the public and private sectors to build upon."51 NIH funds a broad spectrum of basic science research. For example, addressing the opioid crisis requires understanding how pain is sensed and perceived, and how changes in neural circuits create a state of dependency. Basic research on neural pathways in the brain related to pain and substance use may provide an avenue for better treatments for pain, without the potential for addiction.

3. Investing in Translational and Clinical Research to Improve Health. NIH builds on the foundation of basic research by supporting translational and clinical research that seeks to convert this basic science knowledge into interventions. Translational research aims to "translate" findings from basic science into medical practice to produce meaningful health outcomes.52 Likewise, clinical research, which uses human subjects, helps professionals find new and better ways to understand, detect, control, and treat illness. NIH is investing in large population studies to learn more about the similarities and differences among individuals and facilitate integrated understanding of health and disease at all levels, from the molecular to the social. For example, as previously mentioned, NIH would continue to establish a group of 1 million or more volunteers through the Precision Medicine Initiative's All of Us Research Program. This research project involves the collection of health, genetic, environmental, and other data from participants for use in research studies designed to identify novel therapeutics and prevention strategies.

In addition to the above three priorities, the President's budget also identifies the following as goals for FY2019:

Table 9. National Institutes of Health Funding

(budget authority, in millions of dollars)

Institutes/Centers

FY2018
Enacted

FY2019
Request

FY2019
House

FY2019
Senate

FY2019
Enacted

Cancer Institute (NCI)

5,665

5,626

 

 

 

Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

3,383

3,112

 

 

 

Dental/Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

448

413

 

 

 

Diabetes/Digestive/Kidney (NIDDK)a

1,971

1,965

 

 

 

Neurological Disorders/Stroke (NINDS)

2,145

1,839

 

 

 

Allergy/Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

5,260

4,762

 

 

 

General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)b

1,863

1,832

 

 

 

Child Health/Human Development (NICHD)

1,452

1,340

 

 

 

National Eye Institute (NEI)

772

711

 

 

 

Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)c

751

693

 

 

 

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

2,574

1,988

 

 

 

Arthritis/Musculoskeletal/Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

587

545

 

 

 

Deafness/Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

460

424

 

 

 

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

1,712

1,612

 

 

 

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

1,384

1,137

 

 

 

Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism (NIAAA)

510

469

 

 

 

Nursing Research (NINR)

158

146

 

 

 

Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

557

513

 

 

 

Biomedical Imaging/Bioengineering (NIBIB)

378

347

 

 

 

Minority Health/Health Disparities (NIMHD)

303

281

 

 

 

Complementary/Integrative Health (NCCIH)

142

131

 

 

 

Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

742

685

 

 

 

Fogarty International Center (FIC)

76

70

 

 

 

National Library of Medicine (NLM)

429

395

 

 

 

Office of Director (OD)

1,816

2,004

 

 

 

NIH Innovation Account (non-add in FY2019 request)d

496

(711)

 

 

 

Buildings and Facilities (B&F)

129

200

 

 

 

Natl Institute for Research on Safety & Quality (NIRSQ)e

256

 

 

 

Natl Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)f

200

 

 

 

Natl Institute Disability/Independent Living/Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)

95

 

 

 

Subtotal, NIH

36,161

33,792

 

 

 

PHS Program Evaluation

923

741

 

 

 

Superfund (Interior approp. to NIEHS)g

77

54

 

 

 

Mandatory type 1 diabetes fundsh

150

 

 

 

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund

124

 

 

 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation

55

 

 

 

NIH Program Level

37,311

34,767

 

 

 

Additional opioids allocation

750

 

 

 

Total, NIH Program Level

37,311

35,517

 

 

 

Source: FY2018 enacted amounts are from the Explanatory Statement on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2018 (H.R. 1625, P.L. 115-141) in the March 22, 2018, Congressional Record, pp. H2681, H2733-H2735. FY2019 request amounts are from the Department of Health and Human Services, Fiscal Year 2019 Budget in Brief, February 2018, p. 40-41, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/fy-2019-budget-in-brief.pdf.

Notes: Figures for the columns headed "FY2019 House," "FY2019 Senate," and "FY2019 Enacted" will be added, if available, as each action is completed. Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding. Amounts in table may differ from actuals in many cases. By convention, budget tables such as Table 9 do not subtract the amount of transfers, such as the evaluation tap, from the agencies' appropriation.

a. Amounts for the FY2018 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) do not include mandatory funding for type 1 diabetes research (see note g). Amounts for FY2019 NIDDK include funding for type 1 diabetes research. The President's FY2019 budget proposes to shift this from mandatory funding to discretionary funding. More information can be found in the addendum to the FY2019 President's Budget, Letter from Mick Mulvaney, Director, Office of Management and Budget, to Paul D. Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, February 12, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Addendum-to-the-FY-2019-Budget.pdf.

b. Amounts for National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) do not include funds from PHS Evaluation Set-Aside (§241 of the PHS Act) $923 million for FY2018 and $741 million for FY2019).

c. Amounts for National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) do not include Interior Appropriation for Superfund research (see note f).

d. The FY2018 omnibus appropriated $496 million for this account. The FY2019 HHS Budget in Brief notes the total NIH request level includes $711 million for the activities supported by this account under the authorities of the 21st Century Cures Act. However, this amount is not shown as its own line-item.

e. Amount for NIRSQ does not include the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (PCORTF).

f. Amount for NIOSH does not include the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation funds.

g. This is a separate account in the Interior/Environment appropriations for National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) research activities related to Superfund.

h. Mandatory funds available to NIDDK for type 1 diabetes research under PHS Act §330B (provided by §50902 P.L. 115-123 for FY2018 and FY2019). These funds are specified at $150 million annually. In the FY2019 budget proposal these funds are included as discretionary funds within the NIDDK budget, rather than mandatory funds.

Department of Energy54

The Department of Energy (DOE) was established in 1977 by the Department of Energy Organization Act (P.L. 95-91), which combined energy-related programs from a variety of agencies with defense-related nuclear programs that dated back to the Manhattan Project. Today, DOE conducts basic scientific research in fields ranging from nuclear physics to the biological and environmental sciences; basic and applied R&D relating to energy production and use; and R&D on nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation, and defense nuclear reactors. The department has a system of 17 national laboratories around the country, mostly operated by contractors, that together account for about 40% of all DOE expenditures.

The Administration's FY2019 budget request for DOE includes about $11.720 billion for R&D and related activities, including programs in three broad categories: science, national security, and energy. This request is 21.9% less than the enacted FY2018 amount of $15.011 billion. The House bill would provide $15.473 billion. The Senate bill would provide $15.362 billion. (See Table 10 for details.)

The request for the DOE Office of Science is $5.391 billion, a decrease of 13.9% from the FY2018 appropriation of $6.260 billion. Within that total, funding for Advanced Scientific Computing Research would increase by $89 million (11.0%), largely to support the DOE-wide Exascale Computing Initiative. The office's other major research programs would all receive decreases. Funding for Fusion Energy Sciences would decrease by $192 million (36.1%), including a decrease to $75 million (from $122 million in FY2018) for the U.S. contribution to construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a fusion energy demonstration and research facility in France. Funding for Biological and Environmental Research would decrease by $173 million (25.7%), with reductions concentrated in the Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences subprogram (relative to FY2017; the FY2018 appropriation did not specify an allocation between subprograms). Funding for Science Laboratories Infrastructure, which supports DOE laboratory facilities, infrastructure, and construction, would decrease by 50.7%, from $257 million in FY2018 to $127 million in the FY2019 request.

The House bill would provide $6.600 billion for the Office of Science, including $15 million more than the request for Advanced Scientific Computing Research; $250 million more than the request for Fusion Energy Sciences (including $163 million for ITER); $173 million more than the request for Biological and Environmental Research (but again no specified allocation by subprogram); and $290 million for Science Laboratories Infrastructure. The Senate bill would provide $6.650 billion, including $81 million more than the request for Advanced Scientific Computing Research; $85 million more than the request for Fusion Energy Sciences (including $122 million for ITER); $215 million more than the request for Biological and Environmental Research (including $39 million more than the FY2017 amount for Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences); and $302 million for Science Laboratories Infrastructure.

The request for DOE national security R&D is $4.268 billion, an increase of 0.5% from $4.249 billion in FY2018. Funding for the Naval Reactors program would increase (up $169 million, 10.4%). In the Weapons Activities account (down $39 million, 1.9%) requested increases for most programs would be offset by a decrease of $126 million (23.1%) for Inertial Confinement Fusion. Within Inertial Confinement Fusion, nearly half of the proposed decrease would be in the Ignition subprogram (down $57 million, 71.8%), and support for the Laboratory for Laser Energetics ($68 million in FY2017, not specified for FY2018, $45 million in the FY2019 request) would be phased out over three years.

The House bill would provide $4.371 billion for national security R&D, including the requested amount for Naval Reactors and $33 million more than the request for Weapons Activities. Within Weapons Activities, it would provide $91 million more than the request for Inertial Confinement Fusion, including $68 million for the Omega Laser Facility at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The Senate bill would provide $4.182 billion, including the FY2018 amount for Naval Reactors and $47 million more than the request for Weapons Activities. Within Weapons Activities, it would provide $126 million more than the request for Inertial Confinement Fusion, including $80 million for the Omega facility.

The request for DOE energy R&D is $2.061 billion, a decrease of 54.2% from $4.502 billion in FY2018. Funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy R&D would decrease by 65.5%, with reductions in all major research areas and a shift in emphasis toward early-stage R&D rather than later-stage development and deployment. Funding for fossil energy R&D would decrease by 30.9%, with reductions focused particularly on coal carbon capture and storage ($40 million, down from $198 million in FY2018) and natural gas technologies ($6 million, down from $50 million in FY2018). Funding for nuclear energy would decrease by 37.2%, with no funding requested for the Integrated University Program ($5 million in FY2018) or the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) R&D initiative ($5 million in FY2018) and $60 million requested for fuel cycle R&D (down from $260 million in FY2018). The Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), which is intended to advance high-impact energy technologies that have too much technical and financial uncertainty to attract near-term private-sector investment, would be terminated.

The House bill would provide $4.502 billion for energy R&D. This total would include $1.080 billion more than the request for energy efficiency and renewable energy R&D; $283 million more than the request for fossil energy R&D (including $192 million for coal carbon capture and storage and $50 million for natural gas technologies); $589 million more than the request for nuclear energy (including $5 million for the Integrated University Program, $5 million for STEP R&D, and $255 million for fuel cycle R&D); and $325 million for ARPA-E. The Senate bill would provide $4.531 billion, including the FY2018 amount ($1.321 billion more than the request) for energy efficiency and renewable energy R&D; the FY2018 amount ($225 million more than the request) for fossil energy R&D (including $207 million for coal carbon capture and storage and $53 million for natural gas technologies); approximately the FY2018 amount ($449 million more than the request) for nuclear energy (including $5 million for the Integrated University Program, no funding for STEP R&D, and $267 million for fuel cycle R&D); and $375 million for ARPA-E.

Table 10. Department of Energy R&D and Related Activities

(budget authority, in millions of dollars)

 

FY2018
Enacted

FY2019 Request

FY2019 House

FY2019 Senate

FY2019 Enacted

Science

$6,260

$5,391

$6,600

$6,650

 

 

Basic Energy Sciences

2,090

1,850

2,129

2,193

 

 

High Energy Physics

908

770

1,005

1,010

 

 

Biological and Environmental Research

673

500

673

715

 

 

Nuclear Physics

684

600

690

710

 

 

Advanced Scientific Computing Research

810

899

915

980

 

 

Fusion Energy Sciences

532

340

590

425

 

 

Other

563

432

599

617

 

National Security

4,249

4,268

4,371

4,182

 

 

Weapons Activities RDT&E

2,034

1,995

2,028

2,042

 

 

Naval Reactors

1,620

1,789

1,789

1,620

 

 

Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D

557

456

520

487

 

 

Defense Environmental Cleanup Technol. Devel.

38

28

35

32

 

Energy

4,502

2,061

4,502

4,531

 

 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energya

2,016

696

1,776

2,016

 

 

Fossil Energy R&D

727

502

785

727

 

 

Nuclear Energy

1,205

757

1,346

1,206

 

 

Electricity Delivery R&Db

201

36

152

 

 

Cybersec., En. Security, & Emerg. Response R&D

70

118

207

 

 

Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy

353

0

325

375

 

DOE, Total

15,011

11,720

15,473

15,362

 

Source: FY2018 enacted from P.L. 115-141 and explanatory statement, Congressional Record, March 22, 2018. FY2019 request from DOE FY2019 congressional budget justification, https://www.energy.gov/cfo/downloads/fy-2019-budget-justification. FY2019 House from H.R. 5895 as passed by the House and H.Rept. 115-697. FY2019 Senate from H.R. 5895 as passed by the Senate and S.Rept. 115-258 (on S. 2975).

Note: Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding.

a. Excluding Weatherization and Intergovernmental Activities.

b. Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability R&D in FY2018. Includes Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response R&D in FY2018. Included in Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response R&D in FY2019 Senate.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration55

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act (P.L. 85-568) to conduct civilian space and aeronautics activities. NASA has research programs in planetary science, Earth science, heliophysics, astrophysics, and aeronautics, as well as development programs for future human spacecraft and for multipurpose space technology such as advanced propulsion systems. In addition, NASA operates the International Space Station (ISS) as a facility for R&D and other purposes.

Because final FY2018 funding was not available at the time the FY2019 budget was prepared, requested R&D funding is compared to the FY2017 actual funding.

The Administration is requesting about $16.474 billion for NASA R&D in FY2019. This is 1.6% less than the FY2017 level of about $16.743 billion. For a breakdown of these amounts, see Table 11. NASA R&D funding comes through five accounts: Science; Aeronautics; Exploration Research and Technology (formerly Space Technology); Deep Space Exploration Systems (formerly Exploration); and the ISS, Commercial Crew, and Commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Development portions of LEO and Spaceflight Operations (formerly Space Operations).

The FY2019 request for Science is $5.895 billion, an increase of 2.3% relative to FY2017. Within this total, funding for Earth Science would decrease by $124 million (6.5%); funding for Planetary Science would increase by $407 million (22.3%); and funding for Astrophysics would decrease by $167 million (12.3%). The request for Earth Science assumes the termination of three items in the Earth Systematic Missions program: the Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission; the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder mission; and the NASA-provided instruments on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission. These were also proposed for termination in the FY2018 budget; Congress funded them for FY2018 in legislation enacted after the release of the FY2019 budget. The proposed increase for Planetary Science includes $90 million in new funding for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a mission to demonstrate the redirection of an asteroid for the purpose of planetary defense; and an increase of $199 million to fund a new Lunar Discovery and Exploration program, including public-private partnerships for research using commercial lunar landers. In Astrophysics, a proposed decrease of $265 million for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, previously a separate budget item) is consistent with that mission's previous plans; a proposed decrease of $100 million for Exoplanet Exploration reflects the proposed cancellation of the Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope (WFIRST).

The FY2019 request for Aeronautics is $634 million, a decrease of 3.4% relative to FY2017. The request includes $88 million (up from $19 million in FY2017) for the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, intended to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight. This increase would be offset by a decrease of $50 million for the Airspace Operations and Safety program and a $44 million decrease for the Advanced Air Vehicles program.

The FY2019 request for Exploration Research and Technology is $1.003 billion, an increase of 21.3% relative to FY2017. This account supports the Space Technology Mission Directorate, the Human Research Program, and certain activities previously in the Advanced Exploration Systems program. Funding for Technology Maturation would increase by $82 million. Funding for Technology Demonstration would increase by $70 million, but within Technology Demonstration, funding for the Restore-L mission and other in-space robotic satellite servicing activities would decrease by $85 million. Funding for the Human Research Program would be the same as in FY2017.

The FY2019 request for Deep Space Exploration Systems is $4.559 billion, an increase of 9.0% relative to FY2017. This account funds development of the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle and the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket, the capsule and launch vehicle mandated by the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 for future human exploration beyond Earth orbit. The first test flight of SLS carrying Orion but no crew (known as EM-1) is now expected no earlier than December 2019. The first flight of Orion and the SLS with a crew on board (known as EM-2) is now expected in late 2022 or early 2023. Funding for Orion, the SLS, and related ground systems (collectively known as Exploration Systems Development) would decrease by $259 million relative to FY2017. The account also funds Advanced Exploration Systems, which would increase by $791 million relative to FY2017. That increase would include $504 million in new funding for a platform in lunar orbit (known as the Gateway) to serve as a test bed for deep space human exploration capabilities.

In the LEO and Spaceflight Operations account, the request for Commercial Crew is $173 million, a decrease of 85.4% relative to FY2017; the request for the ISS is $1.462 billion, an increase of 0.8%; and the request for Commercial LEO Development, a new program, is $150 million. The reduction in Commercial Crew funding reflects the expected transition of commercial crew activities from development to operations. Boeing and SpaceX are both expected to begin postcertification crewed flights to the ISS in the first half of 2019. The Commercial LEO Development program is intended to stimulate a commercial space economy in low Earth orbit, including the commercial provision of NASA's requirements for research and technology demonstration after the proposed end of direct ISS funding in 2025.

Table 11. National Aeronautics and Space Administration R&D

(budget authority, in millions of dollars)

 

FY2017

FY2019
Request

FY2019
House

FY2019 Senate

FY2019 Enacted

Science

5,762

5,895

 

 

 

 

Earth Science

1,908

1,784

 

 

 

 

Planetary Science

1,828

2,235

 

 

 

 

Astrophysics

1,352

1,185

 

 

 

 

Heliophysics

675

691

 

 

 

Aeronautics

656

634

 

 

 

Exploration Research and Technology

827

1,003

 

 

 

Deep Space Exploration Systems

4,184

4,559

 

 

 

 

Exploration Systems Development

3,929

3,670

 

 

 

 

Advanced Exploration Systems

98

889

 

 

 

 

Exploration R&D

157

 

 

 

LEO and Spaceflight Operationsa

2,636a

1,785a

 

 

 

 

International Space Station

1,451

1,462

 

 

 

 

Commercial Crew

1,185

173

 

 

 

 

Commercial LEO Development

150

 

 

 

Subtotal R&D

14,064

13,876

 

 

 

Non-R&D Programsb

2,445

2,879

 

 

 

Safety, Security, and Mission Services

2,769

2,750

 

 

 

 

Associated with R&Dc

2,359

2,277

 

 

 

Construction & Environmental C&R

376d

388

 

 

 

 

Associated with R&Dc

320

322

 

 

 

NASA, Total (R&D)

16,743

16,474

 

 

 

NASA, Total

19,653d

19,892

 

 

 

Sources: NASA FY2019 congressional budget justification, http://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/. The FY2019 House, Senate, and Enacted columns will be completed as Congress acts on appropriations legislation.

Notes: FY2017 amounts reflect NASA's operating plan as of the release of the FY2019 budget. In some cases they are not directly comparable to enacted FY2017 appropriations because of changes in account structure. Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding. LEO = Low Earth Orbit. C&R = Compliance and Remediation.

a. Excluding non-R&D activities: Space and Flight Support and Space Transportation other than Commercial Crew.

b. Non-R&D activities in LEO and Spaceflight Operations (see note a); Education; and Inspector General.

c. CRS estimates the allocation between R&D and non-R&D in proportion to the underlying program amounts in order to allow calculation of a total for R&D. The Safety, Security, and Mission Services account and the Construction and Environmental Compliance and Remediation account consist mostly of indirect costs for other programs, assessed in proportion to their direct costs.

d. Does not include $109 million in emergency appropriations for natural disaster repairs.

National Science Foundation56

The National Science Foundation supports basic research and education in the non-medical sciences and engineering. Congress established the foundation as an independent federal agency in 1950 and directed it to "promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense; and for other purposes."57 The NSF is a primary source of federal support for U.S. university research, especially in mathematics and computer science. It is also responsible for significant shares of the federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education program portfolio and federal STEM student aid and support.58

NSF has six appropriations accounts: Research and Related Activities (RRA, the main research account), Education and Human Resources (EHR, the main education account), Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC), Agency Operations and Award Management (AOAM), the National Science Board (NSB), and the Office of Inspector General (OIG). Appropriations are generally provided at the account level, while program-specific direction may be included in appropriations acts, or accompanying conference reports or explanatory statements.

Because final FY2018 funding was not available at the time the FY2019 budget request was prepared, requested R&D funding is compared to the FY2017 actual funding. FY2018 funding levels, enacted March 23, 2018, are included for reference.59 These amounts are available only at the account level; FY2018 R&D breakouts and subaccount funding amounts are not yet available for comparison.

Funding for R&D is included in the RRA, EHR, and MREFC accounts. (The RRA and EHR accounts also include non-R&D funding.) Together, these three accounts comprise 95% of the total requested funding for NSF. Actual R&D obligations for each account are known after NSF allocates funding appropriations to specific activities and reports those figures.60 The budget request specifies R&D funding for the conduct of research, including basic and applied research, and for physical assets, including R&D facilities and major equipment. Funding amounts for FY2017 actual and FY2019 requested levels are reported by account, including amounts for R&D conduct and physical assets where applicable, in Table 12.

Overall. The Administration is requesting $7.47 billion for the NSF in FY2019, $295.4 million (3.8%) less than the FY2018 enacted amount, and equal to the FY2017 actual amount. The requested amount reflects an additional $2.20 billion provided for NSF in the Addendum to the President's FY19 Budget to Account for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.61 The request would decrease budget authority in two accounts relative to the FY2017 enacted level: MREFC by $128.1 million (57.5%) and AOAM by $48.4 million (12.7%). The request would provide slight increases to the RRA (2.4%, $144.1 million), OIG (1.6%, $0.25 million), and NSB (1.2%, $0.05 million) accounts, and no change for the EHR account. Overall, NSF estimates that, under the FY2019 request, agency-wide funding rates (i.e., the percentage of submitted proposals that are successfully awarded funding) would decrease slightly from 23% to 22%, resulting in 300 fewer grants awarded, compared to FY2017.

As a proportion of NSF's total funding, R&D activities account for approximately 82%. For FY2019, $6.12 billion is requested for R&D activities, a 3% increase from FY2017 actual funding for R&D of $5.95 billion. The total request includes $5.68 billion (93%) for the conduct of R&D, and $441 million (7%) for R&D facilities and major equipment. Of funding requested for the conduct of R&D, 87% is requested for basic research, and 13% for applied research. Overall funding for R&D facilities and major equipment supports not only the construction and acquisition phases, funded through MREFC ($94.7 million requested), but also the planning, design, and post-construction operations and maintenance, funded through RRA ($346.3 million requested).

Research. The Administration seeks $6.151 billion for RRA in FY2019, a $183.8 (2.9%) decrease compared to the FY2018 enacted funding, and a $144.2 million (2.4%) increase compared to FY2017 actual funding. Compared to the FY2017 actual levels, the FY2019 request includes decreases for 7 of the 10 RRA subaccounts. The largest percentage increase would go to Integrative Activities (27%, $116 million increase). The largest percentage decrease would go to Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE, 9.1%, $24.7 million decrease) The FY2019 request also includes $160 million for the RRA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program, equal to the $160 million directed in the explanatory statement for FY2017 enacted funding.

Within the RRA account, the FY2019 request includes $5.617 billion for R&D, an increase of $162.5 million (3.2%) compared to the FY2017 actual amount. Of this amount, the majority ($5.270 billion, 94%) is requested for the conduct of research, including $4.79 billion for basic research and $483 million for applied research.

Education. The FY2019 request for the EHR account is $28.6 million (3.2%) less than the FY2018 amount and equal to the FY2017 actual level of $873.37 million. By program division, the Division of Human Resource Development would receive an increase of $37.7 million (25.5%) over the FY2017 actual level. The divisions of research on learning in formal and informal settings, graduate education, and undergraduate education would receive decreases of 8.8% ($203.0 million requested), 5.0% ($187.2 million requested), and 2.0% ($224.6 million requested), respectively.

EHR programs of particular interest to congressional policymakers include the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) and National Research Traineeship (NRT) programs. The FY2019 request for GRF is $270.7 million, a reduction of $48.8 million (15.3%) from the FY2017 actual level. The FY2019 request for NRT is $52.1 million, a $0.7 million (1.4%) decrease from FY2017.

Within EHR, requested funding for R&D is $410 million, which is nearly equal to the FY2017 actual funding amount and accounts for approximately 6.7% of the agency's total R&D request. All of the requested funding would support the conduct of R&D, including $131 million for basic research and $279 million for applied research.

Construction. The MREFC account supports large construction projects and scientific instruments, with all of the funding supporting R&D facilities. The Administration is seeking $94.6 million for MREFC in FY2019, $88.2 million (48.2%) less than the FY2018 enacted amount, and $128.1 million (57.5%) less than the FY2017 actual amount.

Requested MREFC funding would support three main projects, including continued construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST, $48.8 million requested, 18.9% decrease from FY2017) and the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST, $16.1 million requested, 19.4% decrease from FY2017). The request includes $28.7 million for the Regional Class Research Vessels (RCRV) program to build ships to support science in U.S. coastal waters, a decrease of $93.2 million (76.4%) from FY2017, about which NSF notes the following:

In FY 2017, P.L. 115-31 appropriated $121.88 million in funding to facilitate the planning and construction of three vessels. In the context of the President's overall fiscal goals intended to maintain spending restraint, this Budget Request supports construction of two vessels.62

Other initiatives. The FY2019 NSF budget request includes funding for three multiagency initiatives. This funding is included in multiple NSF appropriations accounts and R&D amounts are not separately provided. The National Nanotechnology Initiative would receive $385 million, $78 million (17%) less than in FY2017. The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development program would receive $1.152 billion, a decrease of $85.7 million (6.9%). The U.S. Global Change Research Program would receive $238 million, $4.6 million (1.9%) less than in FY2017.63

Table 12. National Science Foundation Funding

(budget authority in millions of dollars)

Account

FY2017
Actual

FY2018 Enacted

FY2019
Request

FY2019
House

FY2019
Senate

FY2019 Enacted

Research and Related Activities (RRA)

6,006.5

6,334.5

6,150.7

 

 

 

R&D, RRA Total

5,313.1

n/a

5,616.7

 

 

 

Conduct of R&D

5,107.9

n/a

5,270.4

 

 

 

R&D Facilities and Major Equipment

205.2

n/a

346.3

 

 

 

Education and Human Resources (EHR)

873.4

902.0

873.4

 

 

 

R&D, EHR Total

409.8

n/a

410.0

 

 

 

Conduct of R&D

409.7

n/a

410.0

 

 

 

R&D Facilities and Major Equipment

0.1

n/a

0.0

 

 

 

Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC)

222.8

182.8

94.7

 

 

 

R&D, MREFC Total

222.8

n/a

94.7

 

 

 

Conduct of R&D

0.0

n/a

0.0

 

 

 

R&D Facilities and Major Equipment

222.8

n/a

94.7

 

 

 

Agency Operations and Award Management (AOAM)a

382.1

328.5

333.6

 

 

 

National Science Board (NSB)a

4.3

4.4

4.3

 

 

 

Office of the Inspector General (OIG)a

15.1

15.2

15.4

 

 

 

NSF, Total

7,504.1

7,767.4

7,472.0

 

 

 

R&D, NSF Total

5,945.7

n/a

6,121.4

 

 

 

Total, Conduct of R&D

5,517.6

n/a

5,680.4

 

 

 

Total, R&D Facilities & Major Equipment

428.1

n/a

441.0

 

 

 

Source: Data in the columns titled, "FY2017 Actual" and "FY2019 Request" are from the FY2019 NSF Budget Request to Congress. Data in the "FY2018 Enacted" column are from P.L. 115-141.

Notes: Appropriations accounts are in bold. NSF total may differ from the sum of the accounts due to rounding. Non-bold R&D funding amounts are a subset of funding for the specified accounts. The term "n/a" means not available. Figures for the columns headed "FY2019 House," "FY2019 Senate," and "FY2019 Enacted" will be added, if available, as each action is completed.

a. The AOAM, NSB, and OIG accounts have no reported R&D funding.

Department of Agriculture64

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was created in 1862, in part to support agricultural research in an expanding, agriculturally dependent country. Today, USDA conducts intramural research at federal facilities with government-employed scientists, and supports external research at universities and other facilities through competitive grants and formula-based funding. The breadth of contemporary USDA research spans traditional agricultural production techniques, organic and sustainable agriculture, bioenergy, nutrition needs and composition, food safety, animal and plant health, pest and disease management, economic decisionmaking, and other social sciences affecting consumers, farmers, and rural communities.

Four agencies carry out USDA's research and education activities, grouped together into the Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area. The agencies involved are the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and Economic Research Service (ERS).

The House-reported bill (H.R. 5961) recommends $3,109.0 billion for FY2019, and the Senate-passed bill (S. 6147) is recommending a total for the four agencies of $2,985.7 billion. The FY2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 115-141) provides a total of $3.09.7 billion in discretionary funding for the four research agencies. For FY2019, the Administration requested a total of $2,486.5 billion, a $543.2 million (18.0%) reduction from FY2018 (see Table 13). In addition to discretionary appropriations, agricultural research is also funded by state matching contributions and private donations or grants, as well as mandatory funding from the farm bill.65 USDA's FY2018 discretionary appropriations for the four research agencies are profiled below.

Agricultural Research Service

The Agricultural Research Service is USDA's in-house basic and applied research agency. It operates approximately 90 laboratories nationwide with about 6,600 employees. ARS laboratories focus on efficient food and fiber production, development of new products and uses for agricultural commodities, development of effective controls for pest management, and support of USDA regulatory and technical assistance programs. ARS also operates the National Agricultural Library, one of the department's primary information repositories for food, agriculture, and natural resource sciences.

For FY2019, the Senate-passed bill recommends $1,301.0 billion for ARS salaries and expenses, a +8.2% increase over FY2018 ($1,202.8 billion). The House-reported bill recommends $1,259.9 billion, a +4.8% increase over FY2018. The Administration had requested $1,019.0 billion for ARS for FY2019. The House-reported bill also provides $136.0 million for buildings and facilities, while the Senate-passed bill provides no appropriation for buildings and facilities, the same as requested by the Administration (Table 13).

In FY2019, ARS will assume ownership of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The FY2018 enacted bill provides $4.0 million for NBAF. For FY2019, the Senate-passed bill recommends $10.6 million for the NBAF to address one-time costs associated with the transfer of the science program from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center to NBAF, and $42 million to address stand-up activities to operate NBAF. The Senate-passed bill also recommends an additional $5 million for ARS to increase research efforts on foreign animal diseases. The Administration requested $53 million for the facility for FY2019.

With respect to the pending move to the NBAF, the House committee directs ARS, in collaboration with other USDA agencies and in consultation with DHS, to report to Congress within 120 days of enactment with an estimate of the funding needs for NBAF for each fiscal year FY2019-2023. The committee also directs ARS to include in the report strategic research goals based on NBAF's enhanced research capabilities and for stakeholder engagement.

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provides federal funding for research, education, and extension projects conducted in partnership with the State Agricultural Experiment Stations, the State Cooperative Extension System, land grant universities, colleges, and other research and education institutions, as well as individual researchers. These partnerships include the 1862 land-grant institutions, 1890 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), established by the Morrill Acts, the 1994 tribal land-grant colleges, and Hispanic-serving institutions.66 Federal funds enhance capacity at universities and institutions through statutory formula funding, competitive awards, and grants.67

For FY2019, the House-reported bill recommends $1,452.6 billion in discretionary spending for NIFA activities, an increase of +3.2% over FY2018 ($1,407.8 billion).The Administration's FY2019 request for NIFA is $1,257.6 billion, a reduction of $150.2 million (10.6%) over FY2018. The Senate-passed bill recommends $1,423.2 billion, a +1.1% increase over FY2018 (Table 13). The Senate-passed bill recommends $243.7 million to support Hatch Act funding for 1862 land grant university research and education activities, the same as FY2018 and the same as requested.

The House-reported bill recommends $259.0 million for Hatch fund, a +6.3% increase over FY2018. For McIntire-Stennis cooperative forestry research support, the Senate-passed bill recommends $36.0 million, the same as the House-reported bill, and $2 million more than for FY2018. For research at the 1890 HBCUs, the House-reported bill recommends $60.0 million and the Senate-passed bill recommends $54.2 million, the same as enacted for FY2018, and nearly the same as requested ($53.8 million).

The Senate-passed bill also recommends $405.0 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)—USDA's flagship competitive research grants program. The House-reported bill recommends $415.0 million. For FY2018, AFRI has an appropriation of $400.0 million. The Administration had requested $25 million less ($375.0 million) for AFRI in FY2019.This budget line currently represents about 28% of the NIFA discretionary budget.

For Cooperative Extension support under Smith-Lever Sections (b) and (c) formula funding for FY2019, the House-reported bill recommends a total of $315.0 million, a +5.0% increase over FY2018 ($300 million), and the Senate-passed bill recommends $300 million, the same as enacted for FY2018. The House-reported bill also recommends $180.6 million and the Senate-passed bill would provide $186.7 million to support other Smith-Lever extension activities.

National Agricultural Statistics Service

The National Agricultural Statistics Service conducts the quinquennial Census of Agriculture and provides official statistics on agricultural production and indicators of the economic and environmental status of the farm sector.

For FY2019, the Senate-passed bill recommends $174.8 million to NASS, of which $45.3 million is reserved to support data collection for the 2017 Census of Agriculture. The House-reported bill recommends $173.7 million, and also reserves $45.3 million for Census of Agriculture activities. The FY2018 enacted appropriation provides $191.7 million to NASS. The Administration had requested $165.0 million for FY2019.

Economic Research Service

The Economic Research Service supports economic and social science analysis about agriculture, rural development, food, commodity markets, and the environment. It collects and disseminates data concerning USDA programs and policies.

For FY2019, both House-reported and Senate-passed bill would provide $86.8 million for ERS, the same as enacted for FY2018. The Administration had requested $45.0 million for ERS in FY2019, a 48% decrease.

Table 13. U.S. Department of Agriculture R&D

(budget authority, in millions of dollars)

Agency or Major Program

FY2018 Enacted P.L. 115-141

FY2019
Request

FY2019
House Reported H.R. 5961

FY2019
Senate Passed H.R. 6147

FY2019 Enacted

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

1,202.8

1,018.9

1,259.9

1,301.0

 

Buildings and Facilities

140.6

0.0

136.0

0.0

 

Subtotal, ARS

1,343.4

1,018.9

1,395.9

1,301.0

 

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

 

 

 

 

 

Research and Education

 

 

 

 

 

AFRI (competitive grants)

400.0

375.0

415.0

405.0

 

Hatch Act (1862 institutions)

243.7

243.2

259.0

243.7

 

Evans-Allen (1890 institutions)

54.2

53.8

60.0

54.2

 

McIntire-Stennis (forestry)

34.0

28.9

36.0

36.0

 

Other

155.3

93.6

150.0

159.7

 

Subtotal

887.2

794.5

920.0

898.5

 

Extension

 

 

 

 

 

Smith-Lever (b) and (c)

300.0

299.4

315.0

300.0

 

Smith-Lever (d)

85.5

66.4

85.5

87.6

 

Other

98.1

84.3

95.1

99.1

 

Subtotal

483.6

450.1

495.6

486.7

 

Integrated Activities

37.0

13.0

37.0

38.0

 

Subtotal, NIFA

1,407.8

1,257.6

1,452.6

1,423.2

 

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

191.7

165.0

173.7

174.8

 

Economic Research Service (ERS)

86.8

45.0

86.8

86.8

 

Total, USDA Research Mission Area

3,029.7

2,486.5

3,109.0

2,985.7

 

Source: CRS, compiled P.L. 115-141; H.Rept. 115-706; S.Rept. 115-259; Omnibus Appropriation Explanatory Statement, Division A; 2019 USDA Budget Explanatory Notes; H.R. 5961; H.Rept. 115-706; H.R. 6147 (Senate-passed).

Department of Commerce

Two agencies of the Department of Commerce have major R&D programs: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

National Institute of Standards and Technology68

The mission of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is "to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life."69 NIST research provides measurement, calibration, and quality assurance methods and techniques that support U.S. commerce, technological progress, product reliability, manufacturing processes, and public safety. NIST's responsibilities include the development, maintenance, and custodial retention of the national standards of measurement; providing the means and methods for making measurements consistent with those standards; and ensuring the compatibility of U.S. national measurement standards with those of other nations.70

It should be noted that the FY2018 enacted funding levels were not known at the time the President's FY2019 budget was prepared, as the budget process had not been completed.

The President is requesting $629.1 billion in funding for NIST in FY2019, a decrease of $569.4 million (47.5%) from the FY2018 enacted appropriation of $1,198.5 million. (See Table 14.) NIST discretionary funding is provided through three accounts: Scientific and Technical Research and Services (STRS), Industrial Technology Services (ITS), and Construction of Research Facilities (CRF).

The President's FY2019 request includes $573.4 million for R&D, standards coordination, and related services in the STRS account, a decrease of $151.1 million (20.9%) from the FY2018 enacted level.71

The FY2019 request would provide $15.1 million for the Industrial Technology Services (ITS) account, down $139.9 million (90.3%) from the FY2018 enacted level. Within the ITS account, the request would provide no funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, a reduction of $140.0 million from the FY2018 enacted level; MEP centers in each state would be required to become entirely self-supporting. The request provides $15.1 million provided for Manufacturing USA (also referred to as the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation or NNMI), essentially unchanged from the FY2018 enacted level. Of these funds, $10.0 million would be for continued support of the NIST-sponsored National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) manufacturing institute, with the balance ($5.1 million) to be used for coordination of the Manufacturing USA network.72

The President is requesting $40.5 million for FY2019 for the NIST CRF account, down $278.5 million (87.3%) from the FY2018 enacted level.73

Table 14. National Institute of Standards and Technology Funding

(budget authority, in millions of dollars)

Account

FY2018 Enacted

FY2019
Request

FY2019
House

FY2019
Senate

FY2019 Enacted

Scientific and Technical Research and Services

724.5

573.4

 

 

 

Industrial Technology Services

155.0

15.1a

 

 

 

Manufacturing Extension Partnership

140.0

0.0

 

 

 

Manufacturing USA/ National Network for Manufacturing Innovation

15.0

15.1

 

 

 

Construction of Research Facilities

319.0

40.5

 

 

 

NIST, Totalb

1,198.5

629.1

 

 

 

Source: The FY2018 enacted amounts were taken from the joint explanatory statement to accompany P.L. 115-141, printed in the March 22, 2018, Congressional Record (pp. H2084-H2115). FY2019 amounts from U.S. Department of Commerce, Department of Commerce, Budget in Brief, Fiscal Year 2019, https://www.commerce.gov/sites/commerce.gov/files/us_department_of_commerce_budget_in_brief_fiscal_year_2019.pdf.

Notes: Figures for the columns headed "FY2019 House," "FY2018 Senate" and "FY2018 Enacted" will be added, if available, as Congress completes each action. Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding.

a. According to NIST, a rescission of $2 million in carryover balances from the discontinued Technology Innovation Program (TIP) adjusts the ITS budget authority to $13.1 million.

b. NIST stated that it would continue to execute mandatory resources in FY2019 (not included in the table figures) provided through the NIST Public Safety Communications Research Fund to help develop wireless technologies for public safety users, as part of the National Wireless Initiative included in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-96). This act provides mandatory funds for NIST from spectrum auction proceeds to help industry and public safety organizations conduct research and develop new standards, technologies and applications to advance public safety communications in support of the initiative's efforts to build an interoperable nationwide broadband network for first responders. The act provided NIST a total of $300 million, though rescissions have reduced this amount to $285 million.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration74

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conducts scientific research in areas such as ecosystems, climate, global climate change, weather, and oceans; collects and provides data on the oceans and atmosphere; and manages coastal and marine organisms and environments. NOAA was created in 1970 by Reorganization Plan No. 4.75 The reorganization was intended to unify elements of the nation's environmental programs and to provide a systematic approach for monitoring, analyzing, and protecting the environment.

NOAA's Research Council76 developed a five-year plan (2013-2017) to guide the agency's R&D efforts.77 R&D efforts support the long-term goals and enterprise objectives of NOAA's Next Generation Strategic Plan.78 The strategic plan is organized into four categories of long-term goals including (1) climate adaptation and mitigation, (2) a weather-ready nation,79 (3) healthy oceans, and (4) resilient coastal communities and economies; and three groups of enterprise objectives including (1) stakeholder engagement, (2) data and observations, and (3) integrated environmental modeling. To achieve the strategic plan's goals and objectives, NOAA has identified gaps in knowledge and capabilities. NOAA's R&D plan attempts to address these gaps by asking key questions. Key questions are used in the plan to frame and organize R&D objectives and to identify tasks associated with achieving these objectives.

One of the main challenges identified in the NOAA R&D plan is the need to integrate the diverse perspectives and professional expertise required by the agency's mission. The plan states that "holistically understanding the earth system is not only understanding its individual components, but understanding and interpreting the way each of the components interact and behave as an integrated composite that is more than the sum of its parts."80

For FY2019, President Trump requested $623.6 million in R&D funding for NOAA, a decrease of $269.5 million (30.2%) below the FY2018 enacted level of $893.1 million. R&D funding for FY2018 consisted of $528.6 million for research (59.2% of total R&D funding), $143.5 million for development (16.1%), and $221.0 million for R&D equipment (24.7%).81 In FY2018, R&D was 15.1% of NOAA's total discretionary budget of $5.909 billion. The FY2019 request for R&D funding includes $367.1 million for research (58.9% of total R&D funding), $83.2 million for development (13.3%), and $173.3 million for R&D equipment (27.8%). The President's request for R&D is 13.7% of NOAA's total discretionary budget request of $4.553 billion.

NOAA's administrative structure is organized by five line offices that reflect its diverse mission: the National Ocean Service (NOS); National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS); National Weather Service (NWS); and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). In addition to NOAA's five line offices, two major funding categories include Mission Support (formerly Program Support) and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO). Mission support is a cross-cutting budget activity, which provides administrative functions related to planning, information technology, human resources, and infrastructure. OMAO is responsible for the agency's ships and aircraft that collect data in support of NOAA's environmental and scientific missions.82

Table 15 provides R&D funding levels for FY2018 enacted and the Administration's FY2019 request for each NOAA office.83 Most of NOAA's R&D activities are conducted by OAR, and in most years OAR accounts for over half of NOAA's R&D funding. The FY2019 request would provide OAR with $321.7 million for R&D, a decrease of $195.8 million (37.8%) below the FY2018 enacted funding level of $517.4 million.84

OAR conducts research in three major areas: weather and air chemistry; climate; and oceans, coasts, and the Great Lakes. A significant portion of these efforts is implemented through partnerships between NOAA and cooperative research institutes. NOAA supports 16 cooperative research institutes that work with seven NOAA laboratories in all three of the main OAR research areas. The President's FY2019 request would fund the cooperative institutes at $167.4 million, $14.4 million (7.9%) less than the FY2018 enacted funding level of $181.8 million.

The President's FY2019 request would also reduce OAR R&D funding for the National Sea Grant Program and Climate Research. The National Sea Grant College Program is composed of 33 university-based state programs. Sea Grant programs support scientific research and engage constituents to identify and solve problems faced by coastal communities. The President's FY2019 request would terminate federal support of the National Sea Grant College Program and Sea Grant Marine Aquaculture Research. In FY2018, the National Sea Grant College Program was funded at $65.0 million and Sea Grant marine aquaculture research was funded at $11.5 million. Climate research includes funding for laboratories and cooperative institutes, regional climate data and information, and competitive research. The President's FY2019 request would provide climate research with $98.6 million, $59.4 million (37.6%) less than the FY2018 enacted funding level of $158.0 million.85

Table 15. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration R&D

(budget authority in millions of dollars)

 

FY2018 Enacted

FY2019 Request

FY2019 House-reported
H.R. 5952

FY2019 Senate-reported
S. 3072

FY2019 Enacted

National Ocean Service (NOS)

97.6

75.2

n/a

n/a

 

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

68.0

54.9

n/a

n/a

 

National Weather Service (NWS)

21.9

13.2

n/a

n/a

 

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)

31.0

29.4

n/a

n/a

 

Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO)b

139.2

129.2

n/a

n/a

 

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

517.4

321.7

n/a

n/a

 

Mission Support

18.0

0

n/a

n/a

 

Total R&D

893.1

623.6

n/a

n/a

 

OAR, Total R&D and Non-R&D

548.5

321.7

503.3

549.3

 

NOAA, Total R&D and Non-R&D

6,309.5a

4,553.1

5,158.6

5,483.0

 

Source: NOAA Budget Office, email to CRS concerning NOAA R&D, August 27, 2018.

Notes: R&D funding levels for the columns headed "FY2018 House" and "FY2018 Senate" are not reported by the House or Senate committee and are labeled as not available (n/a). "FY2018 Enacted" will be added, when it becomes available. Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding.

a. Includes $400.1 million in supplemental disaster funding.

b. All Office of Marine Aviation Operations funding is for equipment related to R&D.

Department of the Interior86

The Department of the Interior was created to protect and manage the nation's natural resources and cultural heritage and to provide scientific and other information about those resources. DOI has a wide range of responsibilities including, among other things, mapping, geological, hydrological, and biological science; migratory bird, wildlife, and endangered species conservation; surface-mined lands protection and restoration; and historic preservation.87

Because final FY2018 funding was not available at the time the FY2019 budget was prepared, requested R&D funding is compared to the FY2017 actual funding.

The Administration is requesting $11.7 billion in net discretionary funding for DOI in FY2019.88 Of that amount, $758.9 million is requested for R&D funding, $235.5 million below (23.7%) the FY2017 enacted level of $994.3 million.89 Of the President's FY2019 DOI R&D funding request, 5.3% is for basic research, 76.4% is for applied research, and 18.3% is for development. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is the only DOI component that conducts basic research.90

Funding for DOI R&D is generally included in appropriations line items that also include non-R&D activities. How much of the funding provided in appropriations legislation is allocated to R&D specifically is unclear unless funding is provided at the precise level of the request. In general, R&D funding levels are known only after DOI components allocate their appropriations to specific activities and report those figures.

As passed by the House on July 19, 2018, the Interior, Environment, Financial Services and General Government, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R. 6147) would provide $13.118 billion for DOI, a $2.530 billion (23.9%) increase over the FY2019 request and approximately equal to the FY2018 enacted amount. These amounts includes both R&D and non-R&D funding.

As passed by the Senate on August 1, 2018, the Interior, Environment, Financial Services and General Government, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R. 6147) would provide $13.171 billion for DOI, a $52.6 million (0.4%) increase over the House-passed level, $2.583 billion (24.4%) above the FY2019 request, and $56.0 million (0.4%) above the FY2018 enacted amount.

U.S. Geological Survey

The USGS accounts for more than two-thirds of all DOI R&D funding. A single appropriations account, Surveys, Investigations, and Research (SIR), provides all USGS funding. USGS R&D is conducted under seven SIR activity/program areas: Ecosystems; Climate and Land Use Change; Energy, Minerals, and Environmental Health; Natural Hazards; Water Resources; Core Science Systems; and Science Support.

The President's total FY2019 budget request for USGS is $859.7 million. Of this amount, $502.6 million would be for R&D, a decrease of $184.9 million (26.9%) over the FY2017 enacted level of $687.6 million.91

As passed by the House, H.R. 6147 would provide $1.173 billion for USGS, a $24.6 million (2.1%) increase over the FY2018 enacted amount and $313.4 million (36.5%) more than the FY2019 request. These amounts include both R&D and non-R&D funding.

As passed by the Senate, H.R. 6147 would provide $1.148 billion for USGS, $24.6 million (2.1%) below the House-passed amount, $288.8 million (33.6%) above the FY2019 request, and equal to the FY2018 enacted amount. These amounts includes both R&D and non-R&D funding.

Other DOI Components

The President's FY2019 request also includes R&D funding for the following DOI components:92

Table 16 summarizes FY2017 enacted R&D funding and the President's FY2019 R&D funding request for DOI components.

Table 16. Department of the Interior R&D

(budget authority in millions of dollars)

 

FY2017 Enacted

FY2019 Request

FY2019 House

FY2019 Senate

FY2019 Enacted

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

$687.6

$502.6

n/s

n/s

 

Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)

106.9

82.5

n/s

n/s

 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)

72.0

84.6

n/s

n/s

 

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)

32.5

15.4

n/s

n/s

 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

26.1

24.2

n/s

n/s

 

National Park Service (NPS)

27.0

24.0

n/s

n/s

 

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)

26.7

20.5

n/s

n/s

 

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

9.5

5.0

n/s

n/s

 

Wildland Fire Management (WFM)

6.0

n/s

n/s

 

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)

n/s

n/s

 

Department of the Interior, R&D Total

$994.3

$758.9

n/s

n/s

 

Source: Email correspondence between the DOI and CRS on February 26, 2018.

Notes: Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding. Figures for the columns headed "FY2019 Senate" and "FY2019 Enacted" will be added, if available, as each action is completed. The term "n/s" means "not specified." It is not possible to determine the level of budget authority specifically for R&D from the bill or report language; see the text for additional information.

Department of Veterans Affairs95

The Department of Veterans Affairs operates and maintains a national health care delivery system to provide eligible veterans with medical care, benefits, and social support. As part of the agency's mission, it seeks to advance medical R&D in areas most relevant to the diseases and conditions that affect the health care needs of veterans.

Because final FY2018 funding was not available at the time the FY2019 budget was prepared, requested R&D funding is compared to the FY2017 actual funding.

The President is proposing $1.346 billion for VA R&D in FY2019, an increase of $137.1 million (11.3%) from FY2017. (See Table 17.) VA R&D represents 0.68% of the agency's overall FY2019 budget request and is funded through two accounts—the Medical and Prosthetic Research account and the Medical Care Support account. As the Medical Care Support account also includes non-R&D funding, the amount of funding that will be allocated to R&D through appropriations legislation is unclear unless funding is provided at the precise level of the request. In general, R&D funding levels from the Medical Care Support account are only known after the VA allocates its appropriations to specific activities and reports those figures. The FY2019 request includes $727.4 million for VA's Medical and Prosthetic Research account, an increase of $54 million (8.0%), and $618.3 million in funding for research supported by the agency's Medical Care Support account, an increase of $83.1 million (15.5%).

According to the President's request, VA R&D priorities for FY2019 include efforts to treat veterans at risk of suicide; research to address pain management, opioid addiction, and Gulf War Veterans Illness; an expansion of efforts focused on women veterans' health issues; and the use of the Million Veteran Program—a genomic research program that is collecting genetic samples and detailed health information from one million veterans—to advance precision medicine.

The Medical and Prosthetics R&D program is an intramural program managed by the Veteran Health Administration's Office of Research and Development (ORD) and conducted at VA Medical Centers and VA-approved sites nationwide. According to ORD, the mission of VA R&D is "to improve Veterans' health and well-being via basic, translational, clinical, health services, and rehabilitative research and to apply scientific knowledge to develop effective individualized care solutions for Veterans."96 ORD consists of four main research services each headed by a director:

In addition to intramural support, VA researchers are eligible to obtain funding for their research from extramural sources, including other federal agencies, private foundations and health organizations, and commercial entities. According to the President's FY2019 budget request, these additional R&D resources are estimated at $570 million in FY2019. However, unlike federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense, VA does not have the authority to support extramural R&D by providing research grants to colleges, universities, or other non-VA entities.

On June 8, 2018, the House passed H.R. 5895, the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019. H.R. 5895 would provide $732.3 million in funding for the Medical and Prosthetic Research account, an increase of $4.9 million, or 0.7% above the FY2019 request.

On June 25, 2018, the Senate passed H.R. 5895 providing the Medical and Prosthetic Research account $779 million, an increase of $51.6 million, or 7.1% above the FY2019 request

Table 17 summarizes R&D program funding for VA in the Medical and Prosthetic Research and the Medical Care Support accounts. Table 18 details amounts to be spent in Designated Research Areas (DRAs) which VA describes as "areas of particular importance to our veteran patient population." Funding for research projects that span multiple areas may be included in several DRAs; thus, the amounts in Table 18 total to more than the appropriation or request for VA R&D.

Table 17. Department of Veterans Affairs R&D

(budget authority, in millions of dollars)

Account

FY2017

FY2019 Request

FY2019
House

FY2019
Senate

FY2019
Enacted

Medical and Prosthetic Research

$673.4

$727.4

$732.3

$779.0

 

Medical Care Support

535.2

618.3

a

a

 

Veterans Affairs, Total R&D

$1,208.5

$1,345.6

a

a

 

Source: Department of Veterans Affairs, Volume II: Medical Programs and Information Technology Programs, Congressional Submission, FY2019 Funding and FY2020 Advance Appropriations, p. VHA-436, https://www.va.gov/budget/docs/summary/fy2019VAbudgetVolumeIImedicalProgramsAndInformationTechnology.pdf.

Notes: Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding. Figures for the columns headed "FY2019 House," "FY2019 Senate," and "FY2019 Enacted" will be added, if available, as each action is completed. VA researchers also receive grants from other federal and nonfederal resources including, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to VA, these resources are estimated at $595 million in FY2017 and $570 million in FY2019 increasing the total amount of R&D performed at VA to $1.85 billion in FY2017 and $1.97 billion in the FY2019 request.

a. Cannot be determined as R&D is included in accounts with non-R&D funding.

Table 18. Department of Veterans Affairs Amounts by Designated Research Areas

(in millions of dollars)

Designated Research Area

FY2017

FY2019 Request

Acute and Traumatic Injury

$23.1

$26.5

Aging

149.0

159.5

Autoimmune, Allergic, and Hematopoietic Disorders

31.2

29.4

Cancer

55.9

61.6

Central Nervous System Injury and Associated Disorders

100.6

107.3

Degenerative Diseases of Bones and Joints

39.4

40.2

Dementia and Neuronal Degeneration

31.4

30.0

Diabetes and Major Complications

37.0

35.7

Digestive Diseases

22.2

18.8

Emerging Pathogens/Bio-Terrorism

1.8

0.7

Gulf War Veterans Illness

13.2

15.0

Health Systems

70.2

79.6

Heart Disease/Cardiovascular Health

72.1

77.4

Infectious Disease

27.6

31.5

Kidney Disorders

18.4

20.3

Lung Disorders

25.2

29.4

Mental Illness

113.0

125.9

Military Occupations and Environmental Exposures

20.8

20.5

Other Chronic Diseases

2.6

2.9

Prosthetics

16.3

22.1

Sensory Loss

18.8

17.2

Special Populations

29.6

26.1

Substance Abuse

28.5

42.9

Source: Department of Veterans Affairs, Volume II: Medical Programs and Information Technology Programs, Congressional Submission, FY2019 Funding and FY2020 Advance Appropriations, p. VHA-470, https://www.va.gov/budget/docs/summary/fy2019VAbudgetVolumeIImedicalProgramsAndInformationTechnology.pdf.

Notes: Projects that span multiple areas may be included in several Designated Research Areas (DRAs); therefore, the amounts depicted in this table total to more than the FY2017 amount and the FY2019 request for Medical and Prosthetic Research. Columns for "FY2019 House, "FY2019 Senate," and "FY2019 Enacted" are not included in this table as these figures will only be available after Congress completes the appropriations process and VA determines how much of the appropriated funds will be allocated to each DRA.

Department of Transportation97

The primary purposes of the research and development activities of the Department of Transportation (DOT) as defined by Section 6019 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (P.L. 114-94) are improving mobility of people and goods; reducing congestion; promoting safety; improving the durability and extending the life of transportation infrastructure; preserving the environment; and preserving the existing transportation system.

Funding for DOT R&D is generally included in appropriations line items that also include non-R&D activities. How much of the funding provided by appropriations legislation is allocated to R&D is unclear unless funding is provided at the precise level of the request. In general, R&D funding levels are known only after DOT agencies allocate their final appropriations to specific activities and report those figures, and because of this, the President's FY2019 request is compared to FY2017 actual funding rather than FY2018 enacted levels unless otherwise indicated.

The Administration is requesting $836.2 million for DOT R&D activities and facilities in FY2019, a decrease of $103.3 million (11%) from FY2017. (See Table 19.) Three DOT agencies—the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)—would account for nearly 90% of DOT R&D under the FY2019 request.

Federal Aviation Administration

FAA's R&D activities focus on improving the capacity and safety of the national airspace systems and reducing environmental impacts.

The President's FY2018 request of $350.9 million for R&D activities and facilities at FAA would be a decrease of $82 million (18.9%) from FY2017. The request includes $74.4 million for the agency's Research, Engineering, and Development (RE&D) account, a reduction of $102.1 million (57.8%) from FY2017 and $114.5 million (60.6%) below the FY2018 enacted level. Funding within the RE&D account seeks to improve aircraft safety through research in fields such as fire safety, advanced materials, propulsion systems, aircraft icing, and continued airworthiness.

On August 1, 2018, the Senate passed H.R. 6147 incorporating the Transportation-HUD and Agriculture appropriations bills.98 The Senate-passed bill would provide $191.0 million for the RE&D account, $116.6 million (156.7%) above the request, and $2.1 million (1.1%) above the FY2018 enacted level.

Federal Highway Administration

According to the President's budget request,

Innovations developed and/or advanced through FHWA's R&T [research and technology] program enable and supports achievement and management of a safer and more reliable transportation system that is cost-effective and sustainable, thus improving overall economic competitiveness and quality of life.99

The President's request of $336.5 million for R&D activities and facilities at FHWA would be an increase of $18.8 million (5.9%) from FY2017. The request includes $85 million for FHWA's Highway Research and Development program which seeks to improve safety, enhance the transportation infrastructure, and reduce congestion. The program supports highway research in such areas as innovative materials, new construction techniques, durability and resilience, and the factors that contribute to death and injury related to roadway design, construction, and maintenance. The request also includes $79 million for research to facilitate the development of a connected, integrated, and automated transportation system under the agency's Intelligent Transportation Systems program.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

The President is requesting $63.7 million in R&D and R&D facilities funding in FY2019 for NHTSA, $5.2 million (7.6%) below FY2017. NHTSA R&D focuses on automation, advanced vehicle safety technology, ways of improving vehicle crashworthiness and crash avoidance, reducing unsafe driving behaviors, and alternative fuels vehicle safety.

Other DOT Components

R&D activities are also supported by several other DOT components or agencies (see Table 19). The President's FY2019 request includes DOT R&D and R&D facilities funding for

Table 19. Department of Transportation R&D Activities and Facilities

(budget authority, in millions of dollars)

 

FY2017

FY2018 Enacted

FY2019 Request

FY2019 House

FY2019 Senate

FY2019 Enacted

Federal Aviation Administration

$432.9

a

$350.9

 

a

 

Research, Engineering, and Development

176.5

188.9

74.4

 

191.0

 

Federal Highway Administration

317.7

a

336.5

 

a

 

Highway Research and Development

78.9

a

85.0

 

a

 

Intelligent Transportation Systems

73.3

a

79.0

 

a

 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

69.0

a

63.7

 

a

 

Federal Railroad Administration

43.9

a

23.4

 

a

 

Railroad Research and Development

40.1

40.6

19.6

 

40.6

 

Federal Transit Administration

28.0

a

28.0

 

a

 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

21.5

a

11.7

 

a

 

Office of the Secretary

17.4

a

12.9

 

a

 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

9.2

a

9.1

 

a

 

DOT, R&D Total

$939.5

a

$836.2

 

a

 

Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation, Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Estimates, https://www.transportation.gov/mission/budget/fy-2019-budget-estimates; and H.R. 6147.

Department of Homeland Security100

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified five core missions: to prevent terrorism and enhance security, to secure and manage the borders, to enforce and administer immigration laws, to safeguard and secure cyberspace, and to ensure resilience to disasters. New technology resulting from research and development can contribute to achieving all these goals. The Directorate of Science and Technology (S&T) has primary responsibility for establishing, administering, and coordinating DHS R&D activities. Other components, such as the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration, conduct R&D relating to their specific missions.

Because final FY2018 funding was not available at the time the FY2019 budget was prepared, requested R&D funding is compared to the FY2017 actual funding.

The President's FY2019 budget request for DHS includes $485 million for activities identified as R&D. This would be a reduction of 28.6% from $678 million in FY2017. The total includes $311 million for the S&T Directorate and smaller amounts for six other DHS components. See Table 20.

The S&T Directorate performs R&D in several laboratories of its own and funds R&D performed by the DOE national laboratories, industry, universities, and others. It also conducts testing and other technology-related activities in support of acquisitions by other DHS components. The Administration's FY2019 request of $311 million for the S&T Directorate R&D account is a decrease of 33.8% from $471 million in FY2017. About half of the $140 million (32.6%) reduction for Research, Development, and Innovation would result from transferring the Cyber Security/Information Analysis thrust area to the National Protection and Programs Directorate. The other thrust areas within Research, Development, and Innovation would all receive decreased funding except Counter Terrorist, which would receive a 3% increase including first-time funding for detection of opioids and fentanyl at ports of entry and mail-handling facilities. Funding for University Programs, which primarily funds the S&T Directorate's university centers of excellence, would decrease by 46.3% as the number of supported centers would drop from seven to five.

In addition to its R&D account, the S&T Directorate receives funding for laboratory facilities and other R&D-related expenses through its Operations and Support account (not shown in the table). The FY2019 request for S&T Directorate Operations and Support is $272 million, down 12.6% from $311.1 million in FY2017. Within this account, Laboratory Facilities would receive $111 million, down 17.5% from $134 million in FY2017. The Laboratory Facilities request includes no funding for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), as DHS is proposing to transfer operational responsibility for NBAF to the USDA. The request also includes reduced funding for the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC), as the Federal Bureau of Investigation has agreed to assume 40% of NBACC's operational costs.

The request for R&D in the recently established Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office is $80 million. Most if not all of this amount would support programs previously funded in the former Domestic Nuclear Detection Office ($155 million for R&D in FY2017).

The request for the R&D account of the National Protection and Programs Directorate is $48 million, up from $6 million in FY2017. This increase reflects the transfer of cybersecurity R&D activities from the S&T Directorate. While the $42 million increase is large in percentage terms, it is less than the $71 million that cybersecurity R&D programs in the S&T Directorate received in FY2017.

Table 20. Department of Homeland Security R&D Accounts

(budget authority, in millions of dollars)

 

FY2017

FY2019
Request

FY2019 House

FY2019 Senate

FY2019 Enacted

Science and Technology Directorate

$471

$311

 

 

 

Research, Development, and Innovation

430

290

 

 

 

Apex

79

43

 

 

 

Border Security

56

52

 

 

 

Chemical, Biological, and Explosive Defense

62

57

 

 

 

Counter Terrorist

75

77

 

 

 

Cyber Security/Information Analytics

71

 

 

 

First Responder/Disaster Resilience

87

61

 

 

 

University Programs

41

22

 

 

 

Domestic Nuclear Detection Office

155

 

 

 

Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office

80

 

 

 

Transportation Security Administration

5

21

 

 

 

U.S. Coast Guard

36

19

 

 

 

National Protection and Programs Directorate

6

48

 

 

 

Office of the Under Secretary for Management

3

3

 

 

 

U.S. Secret Service

3

3

 

 

 

Total, DHS R&D

678

485

 

 

 

Sources: FY2019 DHS congressional budget justification, https://www.dhs.gov/publication/congressional-budget-justification-fy-2019.

Notes: Table includes accounts titled "Research and Development" in each DHS component. Some other accounts may also fund R&D-related activities. Some totals may not add because of rounding. Figures for the columns headed "FY2019 House," "FY2019 Senate," and "FY2019 Enacted" will be added, if available, as each action is completed.

Environmental Protection Agency101

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal regulatory agency responsible for administering a number of environmental pollution control laws, funds a broad range of R&D activities to provide scientific tools and knowledge that support decisions relating to preventing, regulating, and abating environmental pollution. Since FY2006, Congress has funded EPA through the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations act.

Appropriations for EPA R&D are generally included in line-items that also include non-R&D activities. Annual appropriations and the accompanying committee reports and explanatory statements do not identify precisely how much funding is allocated to EPA R&D alone. EPA determines its R&D funding levels in operation through the allocation of appropriations to specific activities and reports those amounts.

The agency's Science and Technology (S&T) appropriations account102 funds much of EPA's scientific research activities, which include R&D conducted by the agency at its own laboratories and facilities, and R&D and related scientific research conducted by universities, foundations, and other nonfederal entities that receive EPA grants. The S&T account receives a base appropriation, and a transfer from the Hazardous Substance Superfund (Superfund) account for research on more effective methods to clean up contaminated sites.

EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) is the primary manager of R&D at EPA headquarters and laboratories around the country, as well as external R&D. A large portion of the S&T account funds EPA R&D activities managed by ORD, including research grants. Programs implemented by other offices within EPA also may have a research component, but the research component is not necessarily the primary focus of the program.

Division A of H.R. 6147 as passed in the House on July 19, 2018, and the Senate amendment to H.R. 6147 as passed in the Senate August 1, 2017 (S.Amdt. 3399), includes the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019. Title II of Division A in House-passed H.R. 6147 would provide $659.3 million for FY2019 for the EPA S&T account including a $7.4 million rescission of unobligated balances within the S&T account and a $15.5 million transfer from the Superfund account. Title II of Division A in the Senate-passed amendment would provide $723.9 million for the S&T account for FY2019 including an account-specific rescission of $11.3 million and a transfer of $17.4 million.

Including a $17.4 million transfer from the Superfund account, the President's FY2019 budget request proposed $466.4 million for EPA's S&T account,103 $255.6 million (35.4%) less than the $722.0 million FY2018 enacted appropriations (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018; P.L. 115-141)104 including a $15.5 million transfer and $7.4 million account-specific rescission. Including account-specific rescissions and transfers, the total FY2019 proposed appropriations for the S&T account in H.R. 6147 as passed in the House would be $62.7 million (8.7%) less than the FY2018 enacted level, and $192.9 million (41.4%) more than the President's FY2019 budget request (including transfers but not rescissions105). The amount included in the Senate amendment to H.R. 6147 as passed would be $1.9 million (0.3%) more than FY2018 enacted and $257.5 million (55.2%) more than the FY2019 request.

The $15.5 million transfer from the Superfund account included in H.R. 6147 as passed in the House is the same as enacted for FY2018. The $17.4 million transfer in the Senate-passed Amendment, the same as the FY2019 requested transfer, is $1.9 million more than the FY2018 enacted amount which accounts for the difference in the total S&T funding compared to FY2018 enacted after rescissions. The proposed $7.4 million rescission of unobligated balances within the S&T account included in House-passed H.R. 6147 is the same level as included in the FY2018 enacted appropriations for EPA (Title II of Division G in P.L. 115-141),106 and the rescission amount in the Senate Amendment as passed is $3.9 million greater than enacted. The President's FY2019 budget request did not specify a rescission within the S&T account.107

Table 21 at the end of this section presents proposed FY2019 funding in H.R. 6147 as passed in the House and the amendment to H.R. 6147 as passed in the Senate for the EPA's S&T account and certain program activities below the account level compared to the President's FY2019 budget request, and FY2018 enacted appropriations.

Consistent with recent House and Senate Appropriations Committee fiscal year reports and explanatory statements, reports accompanying the FY2019 proposed appropriations did not specify funding for all sub-program areas reported in EPA's budget justification. S&T subprogram areas not reported in congressional reports and statements are noted in the Table 21 as "NR" (not reported). Additionally, the President's FY2018 and FY2019 requests and EPA's congressional budget justifications have modified the titles for some of the program areas relative to previous Administrations' budget requests and congressional committee reports presentations. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have adopted the modified program area titles.

During the House and Senate Committees' on Appropriations hearings regarding the President's FY2019 budget request for EPA,108 some Members expressed concerns regarding a number of proposed reductions and eliminations of funding for EPA, including those proposed for scientific research programs. Reductions proposed in the FY2019 budget request below the FY2018 enacted levels were distributed across EPA operational functions and activities as well as grants for states, tribes, and local governments.

Although proposed funding for some program areas and activities within EPA's 10 appropriations accounts would increase or remain constant, the FY2019 budget request proposed to reduce funding below the FY2018 enacted levels for 8 of the 10 accounts, including the S&T account. The $6.15 billion FY2019 request for EPA overall was $1.91 billion (29.7%) less than the total $8.89 billion (including rescissions) enacted appropriations for EPA.109 The FY2019 total request for the S&T account including transfers represents 7.6% of the President's FY2019 total budget request for EPA.110

As shown in Table 21, with few exceptions the requested FY2019 amount for the S&T account for individual EPA program area and activity line items would be less than the FY2018 enacted appropriations. Similarly, with respect to House-passed H.R. 6147 program area and activity funding as proposed would be below or the same as the FY2018 enacted levels, but above the FY2019 requested level. For the Senate passed Amendment, proposed funding for program areas and activities would be virtually the same as FY2018 enacted with few exception, and above the FY2019 requested amounts.

In addition to clarifying certain funding allocations within the S&T account and consistent with the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 115-141 for FY2018, House and Senate committee reports accompanying the proposed House and Senate FY2019 appropriations include discussion under "Additional Guidance" for certain program areas and activities within the S&T account. Topics discussed include:

The House and Senate Committee reports also proposed $4.1 million and $5.0 million respectively for "national priorities" within the S&T account for FY2019 to fund competitive grants for not-for-profit organizations that focus on "high-priority water quality and availability research." P.L. 115-141 included $4.1 million for FY2018 S&T national priorities,111 the same level included for FY2017. As in previous Administrations' fiscal year requests, the President's FY2019 budget request did not include funding for these national priorities. 112

Workforce Reshaping

The largest proposed increase in the FY2019 budget request for a specific S&T program area in terms of dollar amount and percentage is for the "Operations and Administration" program area. The FY2019 request for the program area is $74.8 million, a $6.5 million (9.5%) increase above the FY2018 enacted level of $68.3 million. The additional funding is proposed for agency "Workforce Reshaping" and efforts to improve the management of EPA's laboratories.113

As shown in Table 21 House-passed H.R. 6147 would provide the same level funding for FY2019 for this program area requested, the Senate-passed Amendment to H.R. 6147 proposed the same level as the FY2018 enacted level. In its report S.Rept. 115-276 as cited in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 6147 as passed, the Senate Appropriations Committee specifies that the agreement "does not include any requested funding for workforce reshaping."114 For FY2018, Congress explicitly did not include funding for workforce reshaping activities as proposed in the FY2018 budget request.115

The size and structure of the agency's workforce, as was the case during consideration for the FY2018 appropriations, was a topic of debate during the debate regarding EPA's FY2019 appropriations. "Workforce Reshaping" was introduced in the FY2018 request described as agency-wide organizational restructuring, "reprioritization of agency activities," and reallocation of resources.116 According to the FY2019 congressional budget justification, this program area supports EPA's FY2018-FY2022 Strategic Plan Goal "Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness" in which the agency will examine statutory functions and practices to "eliminate and streamline" it's processes.117 According to the EPA FY2019 and FY2018 budget justifications, the funding for the workforce reshaping program area would include support for voluntary early-out retirement authority, voluntary separation incentive pay, and costs for relocation of staff associated with realignment of work assignments.

In addition to the workforce reshaping and reprioritization efforts described above, EPA's summary under the heading for its "Reform Plan" in the FY2019 congressional budget justification118 includes a discussion under a sub-heading "Improving Management of EPA Laboratories." As presented in the FY2019 congressional budget justification, "EPA's reform plan represents a series of projects that EPA will complete to implement the goals of Executive Order 13781: Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch." With respect to EPA laboratories, the FY2019 congressional budget justification proposes an initial effort to identify and implement "... an enterprise-wide framework to manage laboratory capabilities and capacity to meet the scientific demands associated with achieving the Agency's mission."119

General and Administrative Provisions

Division A of H.R. 6147 as passed in the House proposed a number of "General Provisions" in Title IV, many adopted as amendments during floor debate, that generally would restrict or prohibit the use of FY2019 funds by EPA for implementing or proceeding with a number of regulatory actions, including in some instances conducting research to support these actions. Title IV general provisions included in the amendment to H.R. 6147 as passed in the Senate were not as extensive and generally similar to general provisions contained in Title IV of Division G in P.L. 115-141 for FY2018, most of which have been included in previous fiscal year appropriations. Additional proposed directives for the use of FY2019 funds were included in the form of "administrative provisions" within Title II of Division A of the House and Senate-passed H.R. 6147.

Table 21. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science and Technology (S&T) Account

(appropriations in millions of dollars)

S&T Program Areas/Activities

FY2018 Enacted

FY2019
Request

FY2019 House

FY2019 Senate

FY2019 Enacted

Clean Air [and Climate]a

$116.5

$84.9

$103.7

$116.5

 

Clean Air Allowance Trading Program

NR

5.7

NR

NR

 

Atmospheric Protection Program [GHG (greenhouse gas) Reporting Program; and Climate Protection Program]a

8.0

0.0

7.1

8.0

 

Federal Support for Air Quality Management

NR

4.0

NR

NR

 

Federal Vehicle and Fuel Standards and Certification

NR

75.1

NR

NR

 

Enforcement (Forensics Support)

13.7

10.5

12.2

13.7

 

Homeland Security

33.1

28.2

29.5

33.1

 

Critical Infrastructure Protection

NR

5.2

NR

NR

 

Preparedness, Response, and Recovery

NR

22.5

NR

NR

 

Protection of EPA Personnel and Infrastructure

NR

0.5

NR

NR

 

Indoor Air and Radiation

6.0

4.7

5.3

6.0

 

Indoor Air: Radon Program

NR

0.0

NR

NR

 

Radiation: Protection

NR

1.0

NR

NR

 

Radiation: Response Preparedness

NR

3.7

NR

NR

 

Reduce Risks from Indoor Air

NR

0.0

NR

NR

 

Information Technology/Data Management/Security

3.1

2.7

2.7

3.1

 

Operations and Administration

68.3

74.8

74.8

68.3

 

Facilities Infrastructure and Operations

NR

68.8

NR

NR

 

Workforce Reshapingb

6.0

 

Pesticide Licensing

6.0

5.1

5.4

6.0

 

Protect Human Health from Pesticide Risk

NR

2.4

NR

NR

 

Protect the Environment. from Pesticide Risk

NR

2.1

NR

NR

 

Realize value of Pesticide Availability

NR

0.5

NR

NR

 

Research: Air [Climate] and Energya

91.9

30.7

81.8

94.9

 

Research: Chemical Safety and Sustainability

126.9

84.0

113.9

126.9

 

Human Health Risk Assessment

NR

22.3

NR

NR

 

Research: Computational Toxicology

21.4

17.2

21.4

21.4

 

Research: Endocrine Disruptor

16.3

10.0

16.3

16.3

 

Research: Other Activities

NR

34.5

NR

NR

 

Research: Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

106.3

67.3

94.6

106.3

 

Research: Sustainable and Healthy Communities

134.3

52.5

119.6

134.3

 

Water: Human Health Protection (Drinking Water Programs)

3.5

3.6

3.5

3.5

 

Research: National/Congressional Priorities (Water Quality and Support Grants)c

4.1

0.0

4.1

5.0

 

Subtotal Base Appropriations

713.8

449.0

651.1

717.7

 

Transfer in from Hazardous Substance Superfund Account

15.5

17.4

15.5

17.4

 

Total Appropriations Prior to Rescissions

729.3

466.4

666.6

735.1

 

S&T Account Specific Rescission

(7.4)d

NRe

(7.4)d

(11.3)d

 

Total (Net Appropriations)

722.0

466.4

659.3

723.9

 

Source: Prepared by CRS using information from the Congressional Record; House, Senate, and conference committee reports and explanatory statements; and EPA's Fiscal Year 2019 Justification of Appropriations Estimates for the Committee on Appropriations, EPA-190-R-18-002, February 2018.

Notes: Totals may differ from the sum of the components due to rounding. Figures for the column headed "FY2019 Enacted" will be added, if available, as each action is completed. NR (not reported) indicates those instances where funding or rescission ("cancelled") amounts were not specified.

a. Brackets [ ] denote title language as presented in previous Administrations' EPA budget justifications and congressional reports/explanatory statements.

b. This program activity is included in multiple EPA accounts in the FY2018 and FY2019 budget requests and has not been included in previous EPA budget justifications.

c. Referred to as "Congressional Priorities" in the FY2019 and previous Administrations' budget justifications.

d. The explanatory statement accompany P.L. 115-141 stipulated that the rescission of unobligated balances within the S&T account was to be applied to program project areas to "reflect changes to funding projections due to routine attrition" during FY2018. The Explanatory Statement noted that EPA's current workforce was below FY2017 levels and therefore included separate rescissions within the S&T and the Environmental Programs and Management (EPM) accounts to "capture expected savings" associated with such changes. It was further stipulated that this rescission is not to be applied to "Research: National Priorities" within the S&T account. House-passed H.R. 6147 and the Senate-passed Senate amendment each included rescissions of unobligated balances within the S&T and the EPM account.

e. The President's FY2019 request included a $220.5 million rescission of unobligated balances for EPA appropriations overall but did not specify a proportional allocation of the rescission by EPA accounts.

Appendix A. Acronyms and Abbreviations

Glossary

Acronym/
Abbreviation

Organization/Term

ACF

Administration for Children and Families

AFRI

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative

AHRQ

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

AMP

Advanced Manufacturing Partnership – or – Accelerating Medicines Partnership

AOAM

Agency Operations and Award Management

ARPA-E

Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy

ARS

Agricultural Research Service

B&F

Buildings and Facilities

BCA

Budget Control Act

BD2K

Big Data to Knowledge

BIA

Bureau of Indian Affairs

BLM

Bureau of Land Management

BOEM

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

BOR

Bureau of Reclamation

BRAIN

Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies

BSEE

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement

CDC

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CLARREO

Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory

CMS

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

CRF

Construction of Research Facilities

DART

Double Asteroid Redirection Test

DHP

Defense Health Program

DHS

Department of Homeland Security

DKIST

Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

DOC

Department of Commerce

DOD

Department of Defense

DOE

Department of Energy

DOI

Department of the Interior

DOT

Department of Transportation

DRA

Designated Research Area

DSCVR

Deep Space Climate Observatory

EHR

Education and Human Resources

EOP

Executive Office of the President

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

EPM

Environmental Programs and Management

EPSCoR

Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research –or–

 

Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research

ERS

Economic Research Service

FAA

Federal Aviation Administration

FDA

Food and Drug Administration

FHWA

Federal Highway Administration

FIC

Fogarty International Center

FMCSA

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

FRA

Federal Railroad Administration

FTA

Federal Transit Administration

FWS

Fish and Wildlife Service

GHG

greenhouse gas

GRF

Graduate Research Fellowship

GWOT

Global War on Terror

HBCU

Historically Black Colleges and Universities

HHS

Department of Health and Human Services

HIA

Health Impact Assessment

HRSA

Health Resources and Services Administration

ICs

Institutes and Centers

ISS

International Space Station

ITER

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

ITS

Industrial Technology Services

JWST

James Webb Space Telescope

LEO

Low Earth Orbit

LHHS

Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations act

LSST

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

MEP

Manufacturing Extension Partnership

MREFC

Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASS

National Agricultural Statistics Service

NBACC

National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center

NBAF

National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility

NBAF

National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility

NCATS

National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

NCCIH

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

NCI

National Cancer Institute

NEI

National Eye Institute

NESDIS

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service

NHGRI

National Human Genome Research Institute

NHLBI

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

NHTSA

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NIA

National Institute on Aging

NIAAA

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

NIAID

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

NIAMS

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

NIBIB

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

NICHD

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

NIDA

National Institute on Drug Abuse

NIDCD

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

NIDCR

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

NIDDK

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

NIDILRR

National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research

NIEHS

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

NIFA

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

NIGMS

National Institute of General Medical Sciences

NIH

National Institutes of Health

NIIMBL

National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals

NIMH

National Institute of Mental Health

NIMHD

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

NINDS

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

NINR

National Institute of Nursing Research

NIOSH

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

NIRSQ

National Institute for Research on Safety and Quality

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NITRD

Networking and Information Technology Research and Development

NLM

National Library of Medicine

NMFS

National Marine Fisheries Service

NNI

National Nanotechnology Initiative

NNMI

National Network for Manufacturing Innovation

NOAA

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOS

National Ocean Service

NPS

National Park Service

NRI

National Robotics Initiative

NRT

NSF Research Traineeships

NSB

National Science Board

NSET

Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSTC Subcommittee)

NSF

National Science Foundation

NSTC

National Science and Technology Council

NWS

National Weather Service

OAR

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

OCO

Overseas Contingency Operations

OD

NIH Office of the Director

OIG

Office of the Inspector General

OMAO

Office of Marine and Aviation Operations

OMB

Office of Management and Budget

ORD

Office of Research and Development

OSMRE

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

OST

Office of the Secretary of Transportation

OSTP

Office of Science and Technology Policy

P3

People, Prosperity and the Planet

PACE

Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and Ocean Ecosystem

PE

Program Element

PHMSA

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

PHS

Public Health Service

PMI

Precision Medicine Initiative

R&D

Research and Development

RCRV

Regional Class Research Vessels

RDT&E

Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation

RE&D

Research, Engineering, and Development

REE

Research, Education, and Economics

ROE

Report on the Environment

RPG

Research Project Grant

RRA

Research and Related Activities

S&T

Science and Technology

SIR

Surveys, Investigations, and Research

SLS

Space Launch System

STAG

State and Tribal Assistance Grants

STAR

Science to Achieve Results

STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

STEP

Supercritical Transformational Electric Power

STRS

Scientific and Technical Research and Services

USDA

Department of Agriculture

USGCRP

U.S. Global Change Research Program

USGS

U.S. Geological Survey

USPSTF

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

VA

Department of Veterans Affairs

WFIRST

Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope

WFM

Wildland Fire Management

Appendix B. CRS Contacts for Agency R&D

The following table lists the primary CRS experts on R&D funding for the agencies covered in this report.

Agency

CRS Contact

Department of Agriculture

[author name scrubbed]
Specialist in Agricultural Policy

Department of Commerce

 

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[author name scrubbed], Coordinator
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[author name scrubbed]
Analyst in Natural Resources Policy

Department of Defense

[author name scrubbed], Coordinator
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy

Department of Energy

[author name scrubbed]
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy

Department of Health and Human Services

National Institutes of Health

[author name scrubbed]
Analyst in Health Policy

Department of Homeland Security

[author name scrubbed]
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy

Department of the Interior

[author name scrubbed]
Analyst in Science and Technology Policy

Department of Transportation

[author name scrubbed]
Analyst in Science and Technology Policy

Department of Veterans Affairs

[author name scrubbed]
Analyst in Science and Technology Policy

Environmental Protection Agency

[author name scrubbed]
Specialist in Environmental Policy

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[author name scrubbed]
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy

National Science Foundation

[author name scrubbed]
Analyst in Science and Technology Policy

Author Contact Information

[author name scrubbed], Coordinator, Specialist in Science and Technology Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Analyst in Natural Resources and Rural Development ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Analyst in Health Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Specialist in Environmental Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Analyst in Science and Technology Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Analyst in Science and Technology Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Specialist in Science and Technology Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Analyst in Natural Resources Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])

Footnotes

1.

The White House, Office of Management and Budget, Circular No. A-11, "Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the Budget," July 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/assets/a11_current_year/a11_2017.pdf.

2.

National Science Board/National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators 2018, January 2018, https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/.

3.

According to OMB, the office only has this "very high-level estimate available at this time," and that the figure may be refined during summer 2018 as part of the regular budget process. Email communication between OMB and CRS, February 23, 2018. The addendum is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Addendum-to-the-FY-2019-Budget.pdf. On April 13, 2018, OMB issued amendments to the President's FY2019 request. In addition, the amendments include the appropriations language needed to formally reflect the funds included in the Addendum. The amendments are available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/supplementals-amendments-and-releases/.

4.

Executive Office of the President (EOP), OMB, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, February 12, 2018, p. 240, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Analytical_Perspectives.

5.

As calculated by CRS using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (chained) price index for FY2017 and FY2019 in Table 10.1, "Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables: 1940–2022," Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/hist10z1-fy2019.xlsx.

6.

EOP, OMB, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, February 12, 2018, pp. 238-239, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Analytical_Perspectives.

7.

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute is funded through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund, which was established by Congress under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148). For more information, see https://www.pcori.org/.

8.

CRS analysis of unpublished preliminary data for FY2016 from the National Science Foundation, National Patterns of R&D Resources. More recent data regarding business and other R&D funding are not yet available. Components may not add to total due to rounding.

9.

EOP, OMB, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, February 12, 2018, pp. 238-240, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Analytical_Perspectives.

10.

For additional information on the NITRD program, see CRS Report RL33586, The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Background, Funding, and Activities, by [author name scrubbed].

11.

The NSTC was established by Executive Order 12881 in 1993. According to the White House, "This Cabinet-level Council is the principal means within the Executive Branch to coordinate science and technology policy across the diverse entities that make up the Federal research and development enterprise. Chaired by the President, the membership of the NSTC is made up of the Vice President, Cabinet Secretaries and Agency Heads with significant science and technology responsibilities, and other White House officials. In practice, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Policy oversees the NSTC's ongoing activities." (Source: The White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy, "NSTC," https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/nstc/.) For more information on the NSTC, see CRS Report R43935, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): History and Overview, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed]; and https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/nstc/.

12.

For additional information on the USGCRP, see CRS Report R43227, Federal Climate Change Funding from FY2008 to FY2014, by [author name scrubbed], [author name scrubbed], and [author name scrubbed].

13.

U.S. Global Change Research Program website, http://www.globalchange.gov/about/mission-vision-strategic-plan.

14.

Directives to report annually to Congress on budget requests and spending occur in several sections of P.L. 101-606, including Sections 105(b) and (c) on Budget Coordination, and Section 107, Annual Report.

15.

See, most recently, P.L. 115-31, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, Section 416.

16.

For additional information on the NNI, see CRS Report RL34401, The National Nanotechnology Initiative: Overview, Reauthorization, and Appropriations Issues, by [author name scrubbed]

17.

In the context of the NNI and nanotechnology, the nanoscale refers to lengths of 1 to 100 nanometers. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or about the width of 10 hydrogen atoms arranged side by side in a line.

18.

EOP, National Science and Technology Council, The National Nanotechnology Initiative: Supplement to the President's 2019 Budget, August 2018.

19.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's FY2019 budget justification requests $5 million for the Manufacturing USA network (also known as the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation). In addition, DOD is requesting $92.3 million for FY2019 for the DOD-sponsored institutes that are part of the Manufacturing USA network as part of the request of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (see program element 0603680D8Z).

20.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Specialist in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

21.

Department of Defense, https://www.defense.gov/.

22.

OCO/GWOT is included in Title IX of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019, but supports the PEs in Title IV.

23.

For additional information on the structure of Defense RDT&E, see CRS Report R44711, Department of Defense Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E): Appropriations Structure, by [author name scrubbed]

24.

CRS analysis of data from NSF, Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development, Fiscal Years 2015–17, April 5, 2017, https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/fedfunds/2015/.

25.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "About," http://www.hhs.gov/about.

26.

CRS analysis of data from OMB, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2018, May 23, 2017, pp. 203-205, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Analytical_Perspectives.

27.

Ibid.

28.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Specialist in Biomedical Policy, and [author name scrubbed], Analyst in Health Policy, CRS Domestic Social Policy Division. For background information on NIH, see CRS Report R41705, The National Institutes of Health (NIH): Background and Congressional Issues, by [author name scrubbed].

29.

HHS, National Institutes of Health, "About NIH, What We Do, Mission and Goals," http://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/mission-goals.

30.

HHS, Fiscal Year 2018 Budget in Brief, Washington, DC, May 2017, p. 38, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/Consolidated%20BIB_ONLINE_remediated.pdf.

31.

The FY2019 request level does not reflect the proposal to allocate an additional $750 million to NIH for opioid-related activities from the $10 billion in requested HHS-wide funding. The FY2019 request level is as shown in HHS, Fiscal Year 2019 Budget in Brief, Washington, DC, February 2018, p. 42, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/fy-2019-budget-in-brief.pdf. The FY2018 program level was calculated based on amounts shown in the Explanatory Statement on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2018 (H.R. 1625, P.L. 115-141) in the March 22, 2018, Congressional Record, pp. H2681, H2733-H2735.

32.

Ibid., p. 41.

33.

HHS, Fiscal Year 2019 Budget in Brief, February 2018, p. 45.

34.

Ibid., p. 45.

35.

Ibid., p. 46; HHS, FY2018 Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, Vol. V, National Institutes of Health, p. NIRSQ-11; and HHS, FY2019 Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, Vol. V, National Institutes of Health, p. NIRSQ-7.

36.

HHS, FY2019 Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, Vol. V, National Institutes of Health, p. NIRSQ-7.

37.

Ibid., p. 46. The Affordable Care Act (ACA, P.L. 111-148) created the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (PCORTF) to help build the national capacity and infrastructure needed to conduct patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR), and to enable PCOR findings to be integrated into clinical practice. See https://aspe.hhs.gov/patient-centered-outcomes-research-trust-fund.

38.

Ibid., p. 45.

39.

Ibid., p. 31, the Explanatory Statement on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2018 (H.R. 1625, P.L. 115-141) in the March 22, 2018, Congressional Record, p. H2731.

40.

Ibid., p. 45.

41.

Ibid., p. 45.

42.

Ibid., p. 110, and the Explanatory Statement on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2018 (H.R. 1625, P.L. 115-141) in the March 22, 2018 Congressional Record, p. H2749.

43.

Ibid., p. 44.

44.

The Superfund amount is provided in the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Acts.

45.

Mandatory funds of $150 million per fiscal year for type 1 diabetes research (under PHS Act §330B) provided by §50902 of P.L. 115-123 for FY2018 and FY2019. The President's FY2019 budget proposes to shift this from mandatory funding to discretionary funding. More information can be found in the addendum to the FY2019 President's Budget, Letter from Mick Mulvaney, Director, Office of Management and Budget, to Paul D. Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, February 12, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Addendum-to-the-FY-2019-Budget.pdf.

46.

For more information, see the "PHS Evaluation Set-Aside" section of CRS Report R44505, Public Health Service Agencies: Overview and Funding (FY2015-FY2017), coordinated by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed]. By convention, budget tables such as Table 9 do not subtract the amount of the evaluation tap from the donor agencies' appropriations.

47.

See NIH website, "Estimates of Funding for Various Research, Condition, and Disease Categories (RCDC)," http://report.nih.gov/categorical_spending.aspx.

48.

For example, in the year before this new pattern developed, the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2015 omnibus stated the following:

In keeping with longstanding practice, the agreement does not recommend a specific amount of NIH funding for this purpose or for any other individual disease. Doing so would establish a dangerous precedent that could politicize the NIH peer review system. Nevertheless, in recognition that Alzheimer's disease poses a serious threat to the Nation's long-term health and economic stability, the agreement expects that a significant portion of the recommended increase for NIA [National Institute on Aging] should be directed to research on Alzheimer's. The exact amount should be determined by scientific opportunity of additional research on this disease and the quality of grant applications that are submitted for Alzheimer's relative to those submitted for other diseases.

See Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 160, no. 151, Book II (December 11, 2014), p. H9832, https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2014-12-11/pdf/CREC-2014-12-11-pt2-PgH9307-2.pdf.

49.

HHS, Fiscal Year 2019 Budget in Brief, February 2018, p. 42.

50.

Ibid., p. 43.

51.

HHS, Fiscal Year 2018 Budget in Brief, February 2018, p. 43.

52.

Griffin M. Weber, "Identifying Translational Science Within the Triangle of Biomedicine," Journal of Translational Medicine, vol. 11, no. 126 (2013), https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5876-11-126.

53.

HHS, Fiscal Year 2019 Budget in Brief, February 2018, p. 44.

54.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Specialist in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

55.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Specialist in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

56.

This section was written by Laurie Harris, Analyst in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

57.

The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (P.L. 81-507).

58.

For more information about NSF and the agency's funding history, see CRS Report R45009, The National Science Foundation: FY2018 Appropriations and Funding History, by [author name scrubbed].

59.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141); and Explanatory Statement, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, Division B (Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018), Congressional Record, vol. 164, no. 50—Book II (March 22, 2018), p. H2084.

60.

R&D actual (FY2017) and requested (FY2019) amounts are reported in the "Quantitative Data Tables" section of the FY2019 NSF Budget Request to Congress, February 28, 2018, pp. QDT-1–QDT-7.

61.

Released by OMB on February 12, 2018, and available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Addendum-to-the-FY-2019-Budget.pdf.

62.

NSF, FY2019 NSF Budget Request to Congress, February 28, 2018, p. MREFC-21.

63.

For additional information on these initiatives, see "Multiagency R&D Initiatives."

64.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Analyst in Natural Resources and Rural Development, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

65.

For additional background on agricultural appropriations, see CRS Report R44588, Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2017 Appropriations, coordinated by [author name scrubbed].

66.

The numbers 1862, 1890, and 1994 in this context refer to the years that laws were enacted creating these classifications of colleges and universities, not to the number of institutions.

67.

The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 designated USDA as the lead federal agency for higher education in the food and agricultural sciences.

68.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Specialist in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

69.

NIST website, "General Information," http://nist.gov/public_affairs/general_information.cfm.

70.

15 U.S.C. 272.

71.

CRS analysis of data from U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Submission to Congress, February 2018; and P.L. 115-31.

72.

Ibid.

73.

Ibid.

74.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Analyst in Natural Resources Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

75.

"Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970," 35 Federal Register 15627-15630, October 6, 1970.

76.

According to NOAA, "The NOAA Research Council is an internal body composed of senior scientific personnel from every line office in the agency who provide corporate oversight to ensure NOAA's research and development activities are of the highest quality, meet near- to long-term mission requirements and societal needs, take advantage of emerging scientific and technological opportunities, shape a forward-looking research agenda, and are accomplished in an efficient and cost-effective manner." Source: NOAA website, "NOAA Research Council," http://nrc.noaa.gov.

77.

NOAA, Research and Development at NOAA, Five-Year Research and Development Plan 2013-2017, 2014, http://nrc.noaa.gov/CouncilProducts/ResearchPlans/5YearRDPlan/NOAA5YRPHome/Preface/Purpose.aspx.

78.

NOAA, NOAA's Next-Generation Strategic Plan, Silver Spring, MD, December 2010.

79.

According to NOAA, a weather-ready nation is envisioned as a society that is prepared for and responds to weather-related events.

80.

NOAA, Research and Development at NOAA, Five-Year Research and Development Plan 2013-2017, 2014.

81.

NOAA Budget Office, email to CRS, August 27, 2018.

82.

Most of NOAA's discretionary funding for the five offices, OMAO, and Mission Support is from the Operations, Research and Facilities and the Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction accounts.

83.

Ibid.

84.

Ibid.

85.

Approximately one-third of climate research funding is provided for laboratories and cooperative institutes (e.g., $60.0 million in FY2018).

86.

This section was written by Laurie Harris, Analyst in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

87.

Department of the Interior, Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2014-2018, https://www.doi.gov/pmb/ppp/upload/DOI-Strategic-Plan-for-FY-2014-2018-POSTED-ON-WEBSITE-4.pdf. A final version of DOI's strategic plan for 2018-2022 was not available at the time of the publishing of this report.

88.

Department of the Interior, Fiscal Year 2019: The Interior Budget in Brief, February 2018, p. DH-6. This amount reflects an additional $367.1 million provided for DOI in the Addendum to the President's FY19 Budget to Account for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 released by OMB on February 12, 2018. DOI also proposes transferring $111 million from the Department of Defense to the DOI for commitments to the Republic of Palau, for a total 2019 budget of $11.8 billion in current authority.

89.

Email correspondence between the DOI and CRS on February 26, 2018.

90.

Email correspondence between the DOI and CRS on February 26, 2018.

91.

Email correspondence between the DOI and CRS on February 26, 2018.

92.

Ibid.

93.

The FY2019 budget request for the Wildland Fire Management Program is $870.4 million (non-R&D funding).

94.

The FY2019 budget request for OSMRE is $121.7 million (non-R&D funding).

95.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Analyst in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

96.

Department of Veterans Affairs, website, "Office of Research & Development," https://www.research.va.gov/about/default.cfm.

97.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Analyst in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

98.

H.R. 6147 was originally sent to the Senate by the House to provide FY2019 appropriations for Interior-Environment and Financial Services; FY2019 appropriations for Transportation-HUD were included as Division D of H.R. 6147.

99.

Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration Fiscal Year 2019 Budget, pp. III-79, https://www.transportation.gov/mission/budget/fhwa-fy-2019-budget-estimates.

100.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Specialist in Science and Technology Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

101.

This section was written by [author name scrubbed], Specialist in Environmental Policy, CRS Resources, Science, and Industry Division.

102.

In 1995, Congress established eight statutory accounts for EPA, including the S&T account. The S&T account incorporates elements of the former EPA Research and Development account, as well as portions of the former Salaries and Expenses and Program Operations accounts, which were in place until FY1996. Currently, including the S&T account, discretionary funding is annually appropriated to EPA among 10 statutory accounts established by Congress over time in annual appropriations acts. Because of the differences in the scope of the activities included in these accounts, comparisons before and after FY1996 are not readily available.

103.

U.S. EPA, Fiscal Year 2019 Justification of Appropriations Estimates for the Committee on Appropriations: Science and Technology, February 2018, pp. 43-137, and 803-804, https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2019-justification-appropriation-estimates-committee-appropriations. The FY2019 President's budget request, prepared prior to the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141), presented funding comparisons in the request and supporting documents based on estimated FY2018 "annualized" levels associated with the continuing resolutions (CRs) in effect at the time. With the enactment of full-year funding for FY2018, the estimates based on the CR are no longer applicable and are not reported in this CRS report.

104.

For an overview of Congressional action regarding for EPA enacted appropriations see CRS In Focus IF10717, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2018 Appropriations: Congressional Action, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].

105.

The President's FY2019 request proposed an agency-wide rescission of prior-year funds totaling $220.5 million but did not specify amounts within the individual appropriations accounts, including the S&T account. The reduction is referred to as Agency-wide "cancellation of funds" in the President's FY2019 request and the Fiscal Year 2019 Justification of Appropriations Estimates for the Committee on Appropriation (https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2019-justification-appropriation-estimates-committee-appropriations).

106.

For FY2018, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141) rescinded a total of $148.8 million of unobligated balances, including a specific allocation of $7.4 million from EPA's S&T account. See also "Explanatory Statement" submitted by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations in the Congressional Record, vol. 164, no. 50-Book II (March 22, 2018), p. H2621 and pp. H2665-H2666. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2018-03-22/content-detail.html.

107.

See footnote 105.

108.

U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations for FY2019, part 6, "Environmental Protection Agency," hearing, April 26, 2018, https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-115hhrg30666/pdf/CHRG-115hhrg30666.pdf; Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Review of the FY2019 Budget Request for the Environmental Protection Agency, May 16, 2018, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/review-of-the-fy2019-budget-request-for-the-environmental-protection-agency.

109.

Within the total for FY2018, Division G of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141) provided $8.058 billion in Title II, and $766.0 million in Title IV (of which $63.0 million was for EPA Superfund response actions, and $703.0 million was for EPA water infrastructure grants and financing). The total FY2018 enacted appropriations for EPA also include $6.2 million for Superfund, $7.0 million for LUST and $50.0 million for solid and hazardous waste management assistance grants in the STAG account for disaster relief in Title VII, Subdivision 1, Division B of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123).

110.

The FY2019 request for EPA includes $740.0 million contained in an addendum to the amounts for EPA as initially released. The addendum was submitted to Congress by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on February 12, 2018. See Addendum to the President's FY19 Budget to Account for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/. The adjustments included in the addendum are incorporated into EPA,'s Fiscal Year 2019 Justification of Appropriations Estimates for the Committee on Appropriation (https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2019-justification-appropriation-estimates-committee-appropriations).

111.

The grants were to be independent of the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant program. The grants are subject to a 25% matching funds requirement as specified in "Explanatory Statement" submitted by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations in the Congressional Record, vol. 164, no. 50-Book II (March 22, 2018), p. H2621 and pp. H2665-H2666.

112.

Referred to as "Congressional Priorities" in the FY2019 Budget Justification (see footnote 103). Not requesting funding for this program is consistent with previous Administrations' fiscal year budget requests.

113.

See reference to EPA's FY2019 Congressional Budget Justification in footnote 103, pp. 90-91.

114.

See Section 3 References to Report, subsection (a) of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 6147 as passed in the Senate August 1, 2018.

115.

The Explanatory Statement accompanying P.L. 115-141 emphasized that any reorganizations, transfer of functions, or downsizing should adhere to reprogramming directives included in the statement. Noting that EPA's current workforce in the EPM and S&T accounts are below FY2017 level, the Explanatory Statement further expresses its expectation that EPA will not undertake adverse personnel actions or incentive programs in FY2018. See "Explanatory Statement" submitted by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations in the Congressional Record, vol. 164, no. 50-Book II (March 22, 2018), p. H2621 and pp. H2665-H2666.

116.

U.S. EPA, Fiscal Year 2018 Justification of Appropriations Estimates for the Committee on Appropriations, May 2017, https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2018-justification-appropriation-estimates-committee-appropriations.

117.

See reference to EPA's FY2019 Congressional Budget Justification in footnote 103, pp. 90-91

118.

See reference to EPA's FY2019 Congressional Budget Justification in footnote 103, pp. 841-845.

119.

See reference to EPA's FY2019 Congressional Budget Justification in footnote 103, p. 843.