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What’s Ahead
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| (Image credit – Senate Appropriations Committee) |
Appropriations Bill-Writing Season Begins
Appropriations subcommittees are beginning to draft and consider the bills that will comprise fiscal year 2018 appropriations, even in the absence of an overarching congressional budget resolution to structure the year’s funding allocations. Defense and energy spending are in the spotlight this week. The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee unveiled a $658 billion draft bill, which would be a $68 billion, or 12 percent, increase above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level for the Defense Department — a bigger boost than President Trump requested. That subcommittee will hold its markup Monday, while the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will hold its markup on Wednesday and is expected to release its draft bill shortly. The Senate Appropriations subcommittees continue to hold budget hearings but have not yet scheduled any markups. On Thursday, NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot will make his third appearance on Capitol Hill this year, testifying before the Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee. (Update: The House Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee has scheduled its markup for Thursday)
Congress Stepping Up Work on Annual Defense Policy Bill
Beginning Tuesday, the Senate and House Armed Services committees will hold markups on their respective versions of the National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation, passed annually, is the primary vehicle by which Congress implements policy changes in the Defense Department and National Nuclear Security Administration. Last week, the various House Armed Services subcommittees held their own markups. During the Strategic Forces Subcommittee markup, Subcommittee Chair Mike Rogers (R-AL) highlighted that this year’s mark calls for an assessment of the management of NNSA’s national security labs, including of whether a nonprofit or the current for-profit model is preferable.
Scrutiny of Safety Practices at Nuclear Weapons Lab Grows
The safety culture of Los Alamos National Laboratory was thrust into the spotlight last week after the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, published the first two articles of a five-part series. The articles allege that safety lapses at the lab have endangered workers and significantly hindered the nation’s ability to produce and inspect the plutonium cores of nuclear warheads. On Thursday, the authors of the series, Patrick Malone and R. Jeffrey Smith, will discuss their findings at an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Frank Klotz, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a June 19 statement that the articles do not offer “all of the facts and the full context.” He asserted that corrective actions taken since 2013 have improved safety and put the lab on track to meet plutonium production requirements. On June 23, Klotz released a separate statement disclosing that NNSA had improperly used commercial air cargo services to ship small amounts of nuclear material and that the agency is opening an investigation into the matter.
Congress, Agencies Focusing on Future of Materials Science
On Wednesday, the House Science Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the economic benefits of materials science and to “examine the benefits of user facilities, science prize competitions, and public–private partnerships to speed the development of advanced materials.” Witnesses will include Matthew Tirrell, deputy director for science at Argonne National Laboratory; Laurie Locascio, acting associate director for laboratory programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology; Adam Schwartz, director of Ames Laboratory; and Fred Higgs, a mechanical engineering professor at Rice University. At a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing this March, scientists warned of waning U.S. leadership in the field and urged increased federal support for R&D as well as policy changes to speed technology commercialization. The National Academies is in the early stages of developing a materials research decadal survey requested by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. The study panel’s next meeting will be in July.
Science Committee To Survey In-Space Propulsion Technology
On Thursday, the House Science Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the state of in-space propulsion technology development. Among the witnesses are NASA’s associate administrator of human exploration, William Gerstenmaier, and associate administrator of space technology, Stephen Jurczyk. The hearing charter notes, “NASA is pursuing several in-space propulsion technologies to advance not only human exploration, but also uncrewed spacecraft operations. The hearing will explore NASA’s current portfolio of investments in in-space propulsion technologies, the state of the various technologies, and how they fit into future space architectures.”
National Academies Convening Workshop on K–12 STEM Education Standards
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Academies Board on Science Education is hosting a workshop on developing and implementing instructional materials that incorporate the principles of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The NGSS were developed in 2013 by a consortium of states, scientific organizations, and the National Academies to serve as a set of scientific content standards for K–12 classrooms. Prominent members of the scientific and education communities will be participating, including Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; V. Darleen Opfer, director of the education division at the RAND Corporation; and Patrick Sean Smith, president of Horizon Research, Inc.
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In Case You Missed It
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| (Image credit – House Appropriations Committee) |
Perry Evasive on Budget Cuts, Urges Action on Nuclear Waste
Energy Secretary Rick Perry defended the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2018 budget request for the Department of Energy last week before the House and Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittees as well as the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Pressed by lawmakers from both parties on the budget’s proposed cuts, Perry did not offer rationales for specific cuts, but said there is room for flexibility on line-item allocations. Key appropriators have indicated they disapprove of the administration’s proposals to make deep cuts to DOE R&D programs. At the hearings, Perry also insisted that the nation “can no longer kick the can down the road” on nuclear waste, saying the government should immediately move forward with both the Yucca Mountain repository and interim storage facilities.
AMS Admonishes Perry for Climate Change Remark
On June 19, just before last week’s trio of Department of Energy budget hearings, Perry remarked in an interview that carbon dioxide is not the primary driver of global climate change — a statement at odds with the scientific consensus on the subject. The American Meteorological Society, an AIP Member Society, responded to Perry’s statement on June 21, writing, “It is critically important that you understand that emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are the primary cause” of current global warming trends, and that “ skepticism that fails to account for evidence is no virtue.” The statement also observed,
Senate Appropriators Flatly Reject NIH Budget Proposal
Republican and Democratic appropriators in the Senate flatly rejected the Trump administration’s proposed 22 percent cut to the National Institutes of Health at a June 22 hearing. Committee Chair Roy Blunt (R-MO) told NIH Director Francis Collins, “ The budget of course proposes cuts that … you can rest assured the committee will find unacceptable,” while Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) called proposed cuts “ deeply concerning.” The administration’s NIH budget proposal would largely target research facilities and administrative overhead reimbursements for cuts instead of direct research. Collins, though, warned:
Concerns over Nation’s Helium Supply Raised at Hearing
On June 21, the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing to discuss a draft of the “Helium Extraction Act,” which subcommittee Chair Paul Gosar (R-WY) said would permit extraction of helium on federal lands where corresponding hydrocarbon production is not profitable . Ranking Member Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) said the draft bill addresses one helium supply problem, but said more comprehensive legislation may be needed to make sure the U.S. does not become dependent on foreign supplies. Stuart Brown, a physics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, testified about the importance of helium to academic researchers and said the subcommittee should consider legislation that “provides support to federal agencies to sponsor programs aimed at reducing researchers’ helium consumption and expenditures without compromising the vitality of their research programs.”
Hearing Probes NOAA Use of Commercial Environmental Data
At a House Science Committee hearing on June 21, Environment Subcommittee Chair Andy Biggs (R-AZ) questioned the wisdom of having the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration serve as the exclusive provider of weather data, saying “ the federal government isn’t the only game in town, nor ... should it be,” and criticizing NOAA for its “ reluctance” to incorporate private sector data. Biggs welcomed representatives from two environmental technology companies in his effort to highlight how NOAA can advance weather prediction with private sector approaches. Neil Jacobs, chief atmospheric scientist at Panasonic Avionics, testified that NOAA is currently not taking advantage of a number of innovative data technologies, while Subcommittee Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) criticized the Trump administration’s proposed funding cuts to both EPA’s and NOAA’s environmental monitoring programs.
Trump Hosts Tech Roundtable with Business and University Leaders
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| (Image credit – White House) |
On June 19, President Trump convened a roundtable of business and university leaders as part of a week focused on technology policy. The university representatives present were Rafael Reif, president of MIT; Carol Folt, chancellor of the University of North Carolina; and Michael Drake, president of Ohio State University. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger made a case for robust federal funding of R&D in their remarks. A transcript of Trump’s opening remarks is available here, and a full list of attendees is available here.
ESA To Move Ahead With LISA, NASA Role Under Deliberation
On June 20, the European Space Agency officially selected the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a trio of satellites designed to detect gravitational waves, as its third large-class mission. LISA was initially proposed as a joint NASA-ESA mission, but after it did not receive the highest ranking in the National Academies’ 2010 astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey, budget limitations led NASA to withdraw. Now, in the wake of the successes of the Earth-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and the LISA Pathfinder mission, the agency is moving to renew its participation. To consider the form and scope of its participation, NASA established a study team in early 2016, which will be holding its fourth of five scheduled meetings on July 12 in Pasadena, California. The team will issue its final recommendations next year, but it is expected NASA’s work will comprise about 20 percent of the mission’s €1 billion price tag. LISA’s launch is currently targeted for 2034.
Moniz Launches Think Tank, Takes Helm of Non-Proliferation Group
Following a brief period away from the policy scene after stepping down as head of the Department of Energy in January, Ernest Moniz has returned. On June 1, Moniz became the CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit focused on nuclear non-proliferation issues, and on June 21, he launched a nonprofit energy policy think tank, the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI). Describing the purpose of EFI in an interview with E&E News, Moniz remarked, “Our special role will be really hard-nosed analysis on key issues for the energy innovation, climate and energy security.” It is perhaps no coincidence that EFI’s first initiative is a study of the electric grid, as DOE will soon issue a grid study requested by Moniz’s successor, Rick Perry.
Nuclear Tax Credit Extension Clears House
On June 20, the House passed a bill that would eliminate the requirement that nuclear facilities be in service by 2020 to be eligible for a federal tax credit. Officials at Southern Company and SCANA say the tax credits are essential for financing the remainder of construction on two nuclear reactors in South Carolina, and that a decision on whether to keep building the South Carolina reactors is expected June 26. The Trump administration stated its support for the bill, saying it “would fulfill the President’s commitment to the continuation of nuclear energy as a major contributor to our Nation’s energy production and security.” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has introduced a companion bill in the Senate, but it is unclear if the Senate will act before June 26. A host of other bills that would support the nuclear industry have also been introduced in Congress this year.
National Academies Holds Workshops on Sexual Harassment in Academia
The National Academies committee studying sexual harassment in academia held its third meeting on June 20 in Irvine, California. NAS President Marcia McNutt stated sexual harassment has been a “long-standing problem” in academia and encouraged the committee to identify policies, strategies, and practices that have been the most successful in preventing and addressing sexual harassment in academic environments. She said the committee’s findings will be released in a National Academies report next year. At a session during its second meeting in March, the committee discussed specific policy interventions to combat sexual harassment.
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Events This Week
Thursday, June 29 Senate: NASA budget request hearing
10:00 am, Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee (192 Dirksen Office Building)
Friday, June 30 No events starting today.
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Opportunities White House OSTP Fall Internship Deadline Approaching
The June 28 deadline to apply for fall 2017 positions in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) internship program is quickly approaching. Interns work with the OSTP’s policy team on national issues in science and technology, as well as support outreach events and communications activities. Interested individuals from all majors are invited to apply.
House Science Committee Accepting Fall Internship Applications
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology majority and minority staff are currently accepting applications for fall interns. The internship provides individuals the opportunity to experience the legislative process by assisting staff with committee hearings and markups as well as with daily operations of the office. The deadline to apply for the majority position is July 13, while the deadline for the minority position is July 15.
NSF Seeking Legislative Affairs Specialist
The National Science Foundation is currently accepting applications for a supervisory legislative affairs specialist in the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs. Individuals must apply by July 5. There is a separate application for current or previous federal employees.
Know of an upcoming science policy opportunity? Email us at fyi@aip.org.Know of an upcoming science policy event? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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