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What’s Ahead
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| Image credit – James Murnan / NOAA National Severe Storms Lab |
Science Committee Begins Push to Update Weather Research Law
On Tuesday, the House Science Committee is holding the first in a series of hearings to inform a prospective update to the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act, a 2017 law that aimed to enable improvements to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth system models and forecast systems. Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) played a major role in developing that legislation, including its requirement that NOAA pilot the use of commercial environmental data as a supplement to data from government-owned platforms. Testifying at the hearing are the president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and representatives from three companies: Spire Global, which operates satellites that collect radio occultation data; FLYHT, which operates weather data sensors on aircraft; and Saildrone, which builds autonomous marine vessels. The hearing charter states the committee will explore subjects such as whether NOAA has made full use of private-sector capabilities and how U.S. weather forecasting systems compare with those of other countries. The day after the hearing, the committee is meeting to advance seven bills, four of which focus on NOAA, including one that would direct the agency to explore using Department of Energy supercomputers to improve weather and climate models.
Hearing to Probe Management of Energy and Infrastructure Funds
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing on Wednesday to examine the Biden administration’s management of special appropriations enacted for initiatives in clean energy, environmental remediation, infrastructure revitalization, and semiconductor production, among other areas. Spread across multiple years, the appropriations amount to about $1 trillion in new funding, which the committee’s Republican majority refers to as a “massive spending spree” in its hearing title. The hearing’s witnesses will be the inspectors general for the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Commerce, and Department of Energy, as well as the Government Accountability Office’s managing director for natural resources and the environment. As agencies prepare to distribute the funds, some Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about their ability to satisfactorily select and oversee projects. In addition, late last year, DOE’s inspector general publicly flagged that her office lacks resources needed to “minimize the longer-term impacts from the large-scale frauds that often plague federal programs providing such funding on a rapid timeline.”
Space Science Week Convenes at National Academies
The National Academies is holding its annual Space Science Week meeting this Tuesday through Thursday, bringing together federal and international officials to provide updates to leaders from across all areas of the space science community. Focused sessions will address issues such as NASA’s decision to freeze most work on its VERITAS Venus orbiter and what lessons prior National Science Foundation construction projects hold for the planned Giant Magellan Telescope and Thirty Meter Telescope. A special session featuring several NASA officials will explore the management of science within the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration campaign. The planetary science decadal survey the Academies released last year argued that NASA has not sufficiently planned for conducting scientific investigations as part of its first crewed Artemis landing. A town hall meeting NASA’s Science Mission Directorate held last week on its latest budget request also addressed a range of pressing issues, including the escalating costs of the Mars Sample Return mission.
PCAST Turns to Hazards Resilience, Infrastructure ‘ARPA’
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is meeting on Thursday to vote on two reports focused respectively on preparing for extreme weather risks associated with climate change and on strategies to support the public health workforce. In addition, officials from the Department of Transportation will join the council to discuss the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Infrastructure that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act authorized in 2021 to support long-term transportation R&D. The agency was not among the initiatives funded by the act, but the Biden administration is now requesting $19 million for it and envisions it will address subjects such as clean-energy transportation and “smart mobility. Separately, PCAST announced earlier this month it is launching a working group on cyber-physical resilience, arguing the U.S. must fundamentally re-imagine how it will withstand attacks and failures across the nation’s “increasingly interconnected digital and physical systems.”
Science Diplomacy Roundtable to Meet
The National Academies’ Roundtable on Global Science Diplomacy is holding a day-long meeting on Wednesday focused on the impact of the war in Ukraine on scientists, a recent interagency assessment of shortcomings in U.S. science diplomacy efforts, and research security efforts underway at the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy. The roundtable intends to meet twice annually to explore subjects such as how to increase the input of science advice in foreign policymaking and train the next generation of science diplomats. Among its first initiatives are an Action Group on Science Diplomacy Education and an Action Group on Rebuilding Engineering, Science, Education, and Technology in Ukraine (RESET Ukraine). The roundtable is co-chaired by Bill Colglazier, a physicist who from 2011 to 2014 was the science and technology adviser to the secretary of state, and Katherine Himes, a former science adviser at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
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In Case You Missed It
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| Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) speaks about the Frontier exascale computer at Oak Ridge National Lab, located in his district. (Image credit – Office of Rep. Fleischmann) |
House Appropriators Preview Priorities for DOE Budget
At a hearing last week with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Republican members of the appropriations subcommittee for the Department of Energy criticized the Biden administration’s priorities in its fiscal year 2024 request for the department. For instance, Subcommittee Chair Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) contrasted the more than 30% increase requested for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy with the 9% increase sought for the Office of Science, which he described as “near and dear” to his heart. Fleischmann also registered his support for the ITER fusion energy project in France, noting the administration proposed a slight cut to the U.S. contribution. Fleischmann and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), who was previously the subcommittee’s top Republican, also criticized the administration’s proposed 12% cut to the Office of Nuclear Energy’s base budget, which Granholm explained as reflecting reduced needs in view of the funding the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided for advanced reactor projects. Simpson further questioned DOE’s proposal to begin planning a new national lab at a minority-serving institution, suggesting the existing labs could address goals such as diversifying the energy R&D workforce. Subcommittee Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) asked Granholm about the consequences of reducing DOE’s budget to its fiscal year 2022 level. Committee Democrats issued a cross-agency request for information on the subject in January to criticize prospective Republican spending proposals. Citing DOE’s response, Granholm estimated it would result in the loss of about 5,200 scientists, students, and technical staff at national labs and universities.
DOD Innovation Initiatives Examined By House Panel
At a hearing last week, the House Armed Services Committee’s main technology subcommittee examined Department of Defense efforts to accelerate the transition of prototypes into acquisition programs and to better engage companies that develop commercial technologies. Subcommittee Chair Mike Gallagher (R-WI) expressed dissatisfaction with the time needed to field new equipment and probed DOD’s use of authorities Congress has granted to address the issue. Testifying, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu highlighted recently launched initiatives such as the Rapid Defense Experimental Reserve, which funds “sprints” around priority capabilities, and the Office of Strategic Capital, which supports startup companies. Asked for details on the new office by Subcommittee Ranking Member Ro Khanna (D-CA), who represents a Silicon Valley district, Shyu replied it currently has a budget of over $100 million for standing up the organization but will need additional authorities to operate a planned loan program. Khanna also sought a rationale for the 20% cut the Biden administration proposed for DOD’s three early-stage R&D accounts, to which Shyu replied that DOD’s request for the accounts is higher than its previous one and that the department formulates its requests on that basis rather than what Congress appropriated. Shyu also noted DOD is increasing its funding request for modernizing laboratory and testing facilities.
Security Rules for CHIPS Money Open for Comment
The National Institute of Standards and Technology issued a draft rule last week for restrictions that will be placed on entities that accept semiconductor manufacturing subsidies funded by the CHIPS and Science Act. The act broadly stipulated that funding recipients may not pursue certain investments or joint research projects involving “countries of concern,” defined as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Elaborating, the draft rule states that the joint-research provision applies to projects related to “a technology or product that raises national security concerns,” defined as “(a) semiconductors critical to national security and (b) electronics-related products and technologies controlled by the [Commerce] Department in the Export Administration Regulations for national security or regional stability reasons.” It also states the restriction applies to “affiliates” of the subsidy recipient “to ensure the purpose of the prohibition is not circumvented.” Violations of the restriction can result in full clawback of the money provided. NIST is holding a webinar about the draft rule on March 30 and comments are due May 22.
DOE Charts Paths to Commercializing Emerging Energy Technology
Last week, the Department of Energy launched a series of “Liftoff Reports,” which will map out pathways to commercialization for emerging clean energy technologies. The first three reports focus on advanced nuclear, clean hydrogen, and long-duration energy storage technologies, and DOE expects to release additional ones over the coming months. The reports provide projections of commercialization timelines and outline the primary challenges each technology faces. They also estimate that cumulative public and private investment in the three technologies needs to rise from about $40 billion at present to in the range of $300 billion to $400 billion by 2030, with continued acceleration thereafter, to meet the Biden administration’s long-term decarbonization targets. DOE states it intends for the reports to provide “a common fact base and a tool for ongoing dialogue with the private sector” and it plans to update them as the commercialization landscape evolves.
Updated Technology Transfer Rule Drops March-In Rights Change
The National Institute of Standards and Technology issued a final rule on March 24 that updates regulations governing the commercialization of technologies developed with federal funds. Notably, NIST decided not to pursue its proposal to explicitly limit federal agencies from exercising their “march-in rights” to compel companies to reduce the price of products developed with federal funds. Some advocacy groups have petitioned the National Institutes of Health to use march-in rights to reduce prices of certain prescription drugs, though the agency has repeatedly declined to do so. NIST explained in the final rule that a majority of the comments it received on the draft rule pertained to the march-in rights proposal and that it concluded the matter warrants further study. The agency also noted that an executive order from President Biden directed it to consider not finalizing any provisions related to march-in rights and product pricing.
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Events This Week
All times are Eastern Standard Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, March 27
Tuesday, March 28
Wednesday, March 29
Thursday, March 30
Friday, March 31
No events start today.
Monday, April 3
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Opportunities NASA Hiring Space Policy Analysts
NASA is seeking space policy analysts to join the Science Mission Directorate’s Policy Branch. Responsibilities for the position include maintaining relationships with stakeholders across sectors, interpreting policy guidance from Congress and the administration, conducting policy studies, and managing independent review boards. Applications are due March 28. (Update: NASA has extended the due date to March 30.)
Kavli Foundation Hiring Director of Physical Sciences
The Kavli Foundation is hiring a director of physical sciences, who will oversee a portfolio of grantmaking and scientific convening activities related to astrophysics and theoretical physics. Candidates must have a doctorate in a physical sciences field, preferably astrophysics, and at least 10 to 15 years of management experience.
AURA Seeking Director for National Solar Observatory
The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy is hiring a director for the National Solar Observatory, which manages facilities such as the recently completed Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii. Candidates should have significant experience in research management, stakeholder engagement, and international relations. The search committee will begin reviewing applications on April 30.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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