July 21, 2021

Federal budget sees movement in Congress Part 3; see highlights for NIEHS and DOE

Posted by Caitlin Bergstrom

On 15 July, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill on a 33-25 vote. This bill includes FY22 spending levels for the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies bill was approved the following day (16 July) on a 33-24 vote. The bill in question includes FY22 spending levels for the Department of Energy (DOE). In this post, we’ll detail the House’s proposed spending and programmatic highlights for those science agencies. 

 

National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) 
 Budget (rounded to the nearest million)  FY21   FY22 President’s Budget Request (PBR)   FY22 House Appropriations   Percent Change House FY22 vs FY21   Percent Change House FY22 vs FY22 PBR 
 Overall   $814.68   $937.12   $941.80   15.60%   0.50% 
 w/ Superfund Research Program   $896.18   $1,020.65   $1,025.34   14.41%   0.46% 

 

Highlights from the Bill and Committee Report: 

  • The bill supports the President’s proposed $100 million increase dedicated to NIEHS for research on the impact of climate change on human health. 
  • The Committee acknowledges the value of both the NIEHS mission and the NIEHS NSF jointly-funded Oceans and Human Health Program as a means to increase understanding about the short- and long-term health affects potentially associated with acute and chronic exposures to the toxins produced by harmful algal blooms (HABs) and encourages the Agency to continue investing in this research area using its competitive, peer-reviewed grantmaking process. 

 

Department of Energy (DOE) 
 Budget (rounded to the nearest million)   FY21   FY22 President’s Budget Request (PBR)    FY22 House Appropriations   Percent Change House FY22 vs FY21   

 Percent Change House FY22 vs FY22 PBR 

 Overall  $41,865.63  $46,200.00  $45,100.00   7.64%  -2.30% 
 Office of Science  $7,026.00   $7,440.00  $7,320.00   4.18%  -1.61% 
 Basic Energy Science (BES)  $2,245.00   $2,300.00  $2,293.00   2.14%  -0.30% 
 Bio & Enviro Research (BER)  $753.00   $828.00  $805.00   6.91%  -2.78% 
 Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)  $2,864.00   $4,732.00  $3,768.00   31.64%  -20.37% 
 ARPA-E  $427.00   $500.00  $600.00   40.52%  20.00% 

 

Highlights from the Bill and Committee Report: 

 

  • Within EERE the bill provides $1.03 billion for sustainable transportation programs$832 million for renewable energy programsand $1.5 billion for energy efficiency programs.
  • Within Biological and Environmental Research, the Committee provided $390 million for Biological Systems Science and $405 million for Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences.
  • The bill provides $35 million for workforce development for teachers and scientists and the report contains language regarding the importance of a strong STEM ecosystem that was requested by the DOE Office of Science stakeholder community, including AGU.
  • The robust funding for ARPA-E is in part because the bill does not provide any funding for the Administration’s proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency – Climate (ARPA-C). The report notes that additional legislation is needed to create ARPA-CThe report also notes that ARPA-E has the authority to pursue climate-related innovations and directs ARPA-E to carry out the activities proposed for ARPA-C and serve as the coordinating agency for other agencies ARPA-C mission programs. 

 

To see funding requests and highlights, check out part 1 of our FY22 House Budget series with USGS, EPA, and Forest Service and part 2 for NOAA, NASA, and NSF.