President Bush Signs Supplemental Appropriations Act

Late last month President Bush signed into law the House's revised version of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R. 2642. This bill contains appropriated funding for agencies in the America COMPETES Act (PL 110-69), and was approved by the Senate June 26 by a vote of 92-6. The House passed the bill on June 19.

H.R. 2642 includes extra funding for key federal science and research programs, including: $150 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH); $62.5 million for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Science Office; $62.5 million for the National Science Foundation (NSF); and $62.5 million for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Last-minute negotiations between Congress and the White House over the final fiscal year 2008 omnibus appropriations bill, which was approved in December 2007, left funding for these three agencies essentially flat, with little or no new money to expand important research and education programs. Some programs were facing drastic cuts, prompting significant layoffs of scientific and technical personnel at labs and universities around the country.

House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., offered the following statement on the passage of H.R. 2642: "I am very pleased that this supplemental appropriations bill includes $400 million in additional FY08 funding for science programs, including $125 million to boost funding for critical programs at the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy Office of Science that were authorized in the America COMPETES Act. The inclusion of competitiveness funding in this supplemental bill — and the strong funding levels expected to be included in the FY09 House appropriations bills — should leave no doubt about this Congress' commitment to federal funded basic research and math and science education."

For additional information, visit http://science.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=2243.

ASME has been, and continues to be, strongly supportive of the America COMPETES Act. ASME President Thomas M. Barlow sent a thank-you letter to members of Congress applauding their decision to support additional funding for science, stating, "Although this year's budget falls well short of the authorized increases outlined in the bipartisan America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), ASME views H.R. 2642 as an encouraging sign that Congress and the administration are prepared to work toward the sustenance of domestic innovation and technological advancement."

Barlow further stated, "As you know, our nation currently faces a number of challenges of a historic level that will require a proportional response to preserve our global competitiveness. Therefore, the sustained, long-term investment in federal agencies that drive the advancement of science and technology as well as innovation and job creation must remain a top priority in the coming fiscal year."

The letter is available for review at
www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/GovRelations/PositionStatements.

More information about ASME's position on the America COMPETES Act can be found by reviewing PS08-09 and PS08-10 at www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/GovRelations/PositionStatements.

 

Report: Enhanced Capacity for Science and Technology Policymaking is Critical to Addressing National Challenges

"Critical Upgrade: Enhanced Capacity for White House Science and Technology Policymaking," the most recent report from the Woodrow Wilson Center, concludes that "the science and technology policymaking capacity of the White House must be enhanced so that the next president can better address key issues facing the nation, from energy and the environment, to national security, and the ability of the United States to compete and collaborate internationally."

Lee H. Hamilton, president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said, "The next president's ability to meet key challenges facing the nation will depend upon a high-quality team in the White House to evaluate and shape the government's approximately $142 billion (2008) investments in science and technology (S&T) as well as the broader S&T underpinnings of complex national and international issues."

Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness, added, "Innovation will be the single most important factor in determining America's success through the 21st century. The president's science advisor should play a pivotal role in setting priorities for funding frontier research and for fostering a vibrant environment for technology-based entrepreneurship in the United States."

"Critical Upgrade" offers recommendations designed to ensure that the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has the capacity to help define and implement the president's programs. The report's recommendations focus on lessons learned from the past, as well as suggestions for the future regarding "best practices" in 10 major areas. The points include responsibilities and activities of OSTP, relations with other White House entities, external science advice, coordination of programs across the federal government, programs of international scope, and interactions with the private sector and the states.

For additional information, visit
www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.item&news_id=448130.

The 29-page report is available at http://wilsoncenter.org/news/docs/OSTP%20Paper.pdf.

 

Task Force Releases Statement on FY 2009 NIST Budget Request

The ASME NIST Task Force issued its position statement on the administration's fiscal year 2009 budget request for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In the statement, the Task Force voices its support for the proposed increase in laboratory research funding to $535 million, but states that it is "gravely concerned with the continued proposed elimination of Technology Innovation Program (TIP) and proposed significant decrease for Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)."

The administration's budget request for NIST in FY 2009 is $638 million. If funded as requested, this would result in a decrease of $35 million, or 5.2 percent, from the FY 2008 omnibus appropriations. The administration has proposed eliminating funding for the Technology Innovation Program (TIP), which is the successor of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), and has proposed only $4 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).

The ASME NIST Task Force has long supported TIP and MEP as important catalysts of technological innovation.

The statement concludes, "Although we would like to see all of NIST's important programs adequately funded, we are not blind to the fiscal realities faced by Congress this year. Accordingly, we remain strongly supportive of sufficient funding for the NIST laboratories, but would like funding for MEP and TIP to reflect the importance of economic investment in the manufacturing industry as an engine of growth as outlined in the ACI and the Innovation Agenda."

Last month, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science approved the bill that funds NIST and provided the agency with $785 million, which restores the proposed cuts to TIP and MEP. Later in June, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science approved its bill and provided NIST with $813 million, which is $175 million above the president's budget request.

The position statement is available on the Government Relations Web site at
www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/GovRelations/PositionStatements.

For further information about the House appropriations bill, visit
http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/MollohanSubMarkup06-12-08.pdf.

Information about the Senate bill will be posted at
http://appropriations.senate.gov/commerce.cfm in the near future.

 

Climate Change Has Implications for National Security

Members of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the Intelligence Community Management (ICM) Subcommittee were briefed on June 25 on a new U.S. national intelligence report that warns that climate change has serious implications for U.S. national security.

The report, "National Intelligence Assessment on the National Security Implications of Global Climate Change to 2030," was undertaken by the National Intelligence Council (NIC). It outlines how climate change may affect U.S. national security by causing political instability, mass movements of refugees, terrorism or conflicts over water, and other resources in specific countries. The 58-page report's findings represent a consensus view of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.

According to the report, "Climate-related security impacts could be significant when they cause a noticeable — even if temporary — degradation in one of the elements of national power (geopolitical, military, economic, or social cohesion) because it indirectly influences the U.S. homeland, indirectly influences the United States through a major military ally or a major economic partner, or because the global impact is so large, that [it] indirectly consumes U.S. resources. The additional stress on resources and infrastructure will exacerbate internal state pressures, and generate interstate friction through competition for resources or disagreement over responses and responsibility for migration."

A summary of the report is available at
www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/teia-ccm062408.php.

Information on the June 25 hearing is available at
http://globalwarming.house.gov/mediacenter/pressreleases_2008?
id=0010#main_content.

 

DOE Issues FOAs for Revised Futuregen Program, Advanced Geothermal Energy Research

Last month, the DOE issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to invest in multiple commercial-scale Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) or other clean coal power plants with cutting-edge carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology under its restructured FutureGen program.

The solicitation seeks multiple cost-shared projects to advance coal-based power generation technologies that capture and store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂). The department anticipates that $290 million will be available for funding of selected projects through FY 2009, and an additional $1.01 billion is expected to be available in subsequent years, subject to appropriations by Congress.

"The Department is committed to increasing the nation's energy security and addressing CO₂ emissions by ensuring coal, an abundant domestic resource, can be used to meet our growing energy demand in an environmentally responsible way," said Under Secretary of Energy Bud Albright. "This announcement brings us one step closer toward the installation of carbon sequestration technology on commercial-scale clean coal power plants."

The 53-page FOA, which provides instructions for submitting applications and outlines the mission need and background, project description, and the primary technical goals and performance requirements, can be viewed at www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/futuregen/
Restructured_FutureGen_Final_FOA__6-24-0.pdf.

The application deadline is Oct. 8, 2008. Selection of projects is anticipated for the end of calendar year 2008. For additional information, refer to www.doe.gov/news/6359.htm.

The department also has issued an FOA for up to $90 million over four years to advance the research, development, and demonstration of next-generation geothermal energy technology.

"Geothermal energy is a clean, reliable, scalable, renewable energy source and these geothermal projects will help the U.S. tap domestic heat sources that were previously out of reach," said Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner. "Increasing the use of traditional hydrothermal and geothermal base load resources is an important component of the administration's efforts to diversify our nation's energy sources in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our energy security."

The FOA addresses two topics:

• Component Technologies R&D: Projects will address aspects of engineered reservoir creation, management, and utilization at high temperatures up to 300ºC and depths as great as 10,000 meters; and,

• System Demonstrations: The projects under this topic area will allow testing and validation of stimulation techniques for improving productivity of wells or increasing inter-well connectivity at existing geothermal fields. Use of available or experimental technologies from geothermal, petroleum, or other relevant industries will be considered.

The DOE anticipates making up to 26 awards through this competitive funding opportunity, which is open to industry and academia. Funding is subject to annual congressional appropriations. A minimum of 20 percent private sector cost share is required for R&D projects. Recipient cost share requirements for demonstration projects will be up to 50 percent, and vary by both the phase of the award and the activities within a particular phase. Applications for this funding opportunity are due on or before Aug. 12, 2008.

More information about this FOA can be found on the Geothermal Technologies Program Web site, www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal.

 

Bill to Create National Innovation Council Introduced in Senate

Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., have introduced a bill that would create a single organization to consolidate federal innovation investments. S.3078, the "National Innovation and Job Creation Act of 2008," would establish a National Innovation Council within the Executive Office of the President, as well as several new grant programs to support state-directed, technology-based economic development initiatives.

If the legislation is enacted, the following programs would be transferred to the newly established National Innovation Council:

• From the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program, the Technology Innovation Program, and the Office of Technology Partnerships.

• From the National Science Foundation (NSF): Partnerships for Innovation, the Industry-University Cooperative Research Center Program, and the Engineering Research Center Program.

• From the Department of Labor: the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development Program.

S.3078 would also administer five new grant programs, including:

• Competitive Leadership for the United States Through Its Economic Regions (CLUSTERS) Program, a $350 million program to make matching grants to states or entities to support the planning and operation of cluster programs and cluster initiatives. Each state would receive at least $1 million in start-up funds and at least one annual operating grant of $1 million per year for five years.

• State Innovation-Based Economic Development Grants providing each state with at least a one-time $250,000 feasibility study grant and a one-year $2 million start-up grant.

• Technology Diffusion Grants for MEP centers in each state at levels similar to the State Innovation-Based Economic Development Grants.

• National Sector Research Grants, competitive matching grants of unspecified amounts to support industry-led consortia that commit to developing three-to-ten-year technology roadmaps for the consortia.

• Productivity Enhancement Research Grants for academic institutions and university-industry joint ventures to support early-stage research into methods to increase productivity and innovation.

S.3078 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. No action has yet been scheduled. To read the legislation as introduced, go to http://thomas.loc.gov and search by bill number.

 

NAE Selects Participants for 2008 U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

Eighty-two of the United States' brightest young engineers have been selected to take part in the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) 14th annual U.S. Frontiers of Engineering symposium.

The two-day event will bring together engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing exceptional engineering research and technical work in a variety of disciplines. The participants - from industry, academia, and government - were nominated by fellow engineers or organizations and chosen from more than 230 applicants.

"America's competitiveness will largely depend upon the next generation of innovators," said NAE President Charles M. Vest. "The U.S. Frontiers of Engineering program brings some of the country's rising-star engineers, from a diverse range of disciplines, together for an exchange of ideas that will surely help contribute to keeping us at the forefront of technological advancement and may even spark a breakthrough that changes the way we live."

The symposium, to be hosted Sept. 18-20 by Sandia National Laboratories at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, will examine emerging nanoelectric devices, cognitive engineering, drug delivery systems, and understanding and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Alton D. Romig Jr., senior vice president and deputy director for Integrated Technologies and Systems, Sandia National Laboratories, will be the featured speaker.

Sponsors for the 2008 U.S. Frontiers of Engineering are the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, Corning Inc., Cummins Inc., the Grainger Foundation, Intel Corp., Microsoft Research, Sandia National Laboratories, and many individual donors.

For more information, including a list of participants, sponsors, and speakers, go to www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=06172008. The meeting program and more information about the Frontiers of Engineering itself is available at www.nae.edu/frontiers.

 

Contact ASME Government Relations for more information:

Kathryn Holmes, director, ASME Government Relations: (202) 785-7390; e-mail holmesk@asme.org.

Melissa Carl, government relations representative: (202) 785-7380; e-mail carlm@asme.org.

Anthony Quinn, government relations representative: (202) 785-7392; e-mail quinna@asme.org.

Robert Rains, government relations associate: (202) 785-7483; e-mail rainsr@asme.org.

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