Click here to view stimulus spending chart
National Science Foundation: The final bill provides $3.0 billion for the programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF). (For reference, the FY 2008 NSF budget was $6.03 billion.)
- $2.0 billion for the NSF research directorates and offices;
- $300 million for the Major Research Instrumentation program;
- $200 million to restart the Research Facilities Modernization Program **;
- $100 million for three education programs ($60 million for Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship, $25 million for the Math and Science Partnerships program, and $15 million to establish a new program to facilitate the creation or improvement of Professional Science Master's degree programs);
- $400 million for Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction Projects **; and
- $2 million over the next four years for the NSF Office of Inspector General for oversight and audit of the funds provided to NSF in this legislation.
National Institutes of Health: The legislation provides $10.4 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
- $8.2 billion is for the Office of the Director, with $7.4 billion designated for transfer to the Institutes, Centers, and Common Fund, and $800 million retained for the Office of the Director;
- $1.3 billion is for the National Center for Research Resources, with $1 billion for "competitive awards for the construction and renovation of extramural research facilities" ** and $300 million for "shared instrumentation and other capital equipment;"
- $500 million is provided for the Buildings and Facilities account to be used for construction and renovation of NIH intramural buildings; and
- $400 million is to be transferred from the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to NIH for comparative effectiveness research.
National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST): receives $600 million in the final stimulus bill. This includes $180 million for a competitively awarded extramural construction grants program ** that was congressionally initiated a few years ago but only received $30 million for one year and was able to make only three awards out of 90 applications. Left out of the final bill are House proposals to spend $70 million for the Technology Innovation Program (formerly the ATP) and $30 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, NIST’s two extramural programs.
Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science: $1.6 billion provided for basic research in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science; and approximately $30 billion for investments in applied research, loan guarantees and grants to develop new technologies in partnership with industry, and energy efficiency and conservation activities (including $2.5 billion for applied research, development, demonstration and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies). In addition, the stimulus bill provides $400 million to DOE for the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), a new research agency authorized in the America COMPETES Act but never funded until now.
Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Programs: The stimulus bill provides $2.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects. Of that, $800 million is set aside for biomass (FY 08: $198 million) and $400 million for geothermal energy (FY 08: $20 million). There would also be $1.0 billion specifically for R&D programs within a $3.4 billion total Fossil Energy appropriation, which will fund R&D related to cleaner coal, oil, and gas technologies, including research on carbon sequestration.
U.S. Department of Agriculture: Unfortunately, there is no funding in the final bill for the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). The Senate bill had recommended $50 million. The final bill provides $176 million for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to address critical deferred maintenance of aging laboratory and research infrastructure. The House bill had $209 million for this purpose; the Senate did not provide funding for the program.
Importantly, almost all the funds in the bill are available to expend between now and September 30, 2010; this provides critical flexibility to the agencies. However, as emergency spending, the additional amounts do not become part of agency base budgets for future years.
** Note: All facility improvement requests (regardless of the source of funds) must be coordinated with Jerry Schlatter, WSU Capital Planning & Development (335-5571).
