FY 2016 Appropriations: Department of Energy Office of Science to Grow 5.6%
Congress is nearing the completion of its FY 2016 budget process, as negotiators released the FY 2016 year-end annual spending bill for review on Tuesday evening. As FYI reported yesterday
The DOE Science section of the spending bill
Department / Office / Division |
FY14 Enacted |
FY15 Enacted |
FY16 President’s Request |
FY16 Enacted |
Change between FY15 and FY16 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Department of Energy |
27,182.0 |
27,402.4 |
29,923.8 |
29,717.3 |
8.4% |
Office of Science |
5,066.4 |
5,067.7 |
5,339.8 |
5,350.2 |
5.6% |
Advanced Scientific Computing Research |
478.1 |
541.0 |
621.0 |
621.0 |
14.8% |
Basic Energy Sciences |
1,711.9 |
1,733.2 |
1,849.3 |
1,848.7 |
6.7% |
Biological & Environmental Research |
609.7 |
592.0 |
612.4 |
609.0 |
2.9% |
Fusion Energy Sciences |
504.7 |
467.5 |
420.0 |
438.0 |
-6.3% |
High Energy Physics |
796.5 |
766.0 |
788.0 |
795.0 |
3.8% |
Nuclear Physics |
569.1 |
595.5 |
624.6 |
617.1 |
3.6% |
Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy |
280.0 |
280.0 |
325.0 |
291.0 |
3.9% |
* Figures in millions of U.S dollars |
As the table above shows, DOE Science is slated for a 5.6 percent increase in spending between FY 2015 and FY 2016. Within that amount are year-over-year changes ranging from increases as high as 14.8 percent, for Advanced Scientific Computing Research, and a decrease of 6.3 percent, for Fusion Energy Sciences. Other major divisions of DOE Science include Basic Energy Sciences, Biological & Environmental Research, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics.
A 5.6 percent increase for the DOE Science, which operates 10 major national laboratories and serves as a powerful engine for basic research, is in line with the overall 5.2 percent increase overall federal discretionary spending is receiving in FY 2016. In the House report
The Committee has placed a high priority on funding [DOE Science] activities in fiscal year 2016, given the private sector is not likely to fund research whose findings either have high non-commercial value or are not likely to be commercialized in the near or medium term. However, this work is vital to sustaining the scientific leadership of the United States and can provide the underpinnings for valuable intellectual property in the coming decades.
In the DOE Science section, the bill restricts the amount of funding DOE may allocate to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
In other highlights for the physical sciences, the DOE Science guidance in the FY 2016 spending bill would:
Provide $157.9 million for the exascale computing initiative