FY 2010 House Appropriations Bill: National Institute of Standards and Technology

The research laboratories of the National Institute of Standards and Technology would receive an 8.1 percent increase in the House Appropriations Committee version of the FY 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill. The committee also provided the requested amount for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program and the Technology Innovation Program to “leverage private funds to invest in research and development and improve manufacturing productivity and job creation.”

The below selections are taken from House Report 111-149 that may be viewed here .

Total NIST:

The FY 2009 appropriation was $819.0 million
The Administration’s request was $846.1 million, an increase of 3.3 percent or $27.1 million.
The House Appropriations Committee recommended $781.1 million, a cut of 4.6 percent or $37.9 million.

There was no report language of note in this section.

Scientific and Technical Research and Services:

The FY 2009 appropriation was $472.0 million
The Administration’s request was $534.6 million, an increase of 13.3 percent or $62.6 million.
The House Appropriations Committee recommended $510.0 million, an increase of 8.1 percent or $38.0 million.

After a paragraph describing NIST’s laboratories, technical research programs and research facilities, the report states:

“The Committee recommendation includes $510,000,000 for NIST’s scientific and technical core programs, which is $38,000,000 above fiscal year 2009, an increase of 8 percent. Within available resources, the Committee supports the full funding of the comprehensive national cyber security increase.

“The Committee approves NIST’s new budget structure consolidating all the functions of its laboratory research program under one budget activity but the Committee will regard any deviation from amounts specified in spend plans or reports for particular labs and technical programs, or the use of deobligated funds, to be subject to reprogramming procedures.”

Industrial Technology Services:

The FY 2009 appropriation was $175.0 million
The Administration’s request was $194.6 million, an increase of 11.2 percent or $19.6 million.
The House Appropriations Committee recommended $194.6 million.

The committee report stated:

“This appropriation provides funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEP) program and the Technology Innovation Program (TIP). The Committee recommendation includes $194,600,000, which is $19,000,000 above the fiscal year 2009 enacted level and the same as the request. Of this amount, $124,700,000 is provided for the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEP) [the same as the request, an increase of 13.4 percent or $14.7 million] and $69,900,000 [the same as the request, an increase of 7.5 percent or $4.9 million] is provided for the Technology Innovation Program (TIP). In the current economic climate, these programs are critically important to ensure the competitiveness of U.S. businesses.

“MEP consists of a network of centers that provide business support and technical assistance services, and helps improve the productivity and competitiveness of small manufacturers. The centers are funded from matching Federal and State or local resources and fees charged for services. MEP leverages private resources in the creation and retention of jobs, thereby increasing economic output as well as Federal revenues.

“TIP was established in section 3012 of the Competes Act and speeds the development of high-risk, transformative research targeted to address key societal challenges. Funding is provided to small and medium-sized businesses, and institutions of higher education or other organizations, such as national laboratories and nonprofit research institutions to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the U.S.”

Construction of Research Facilities:

The FY 2009 appropriation was $172.0 million
The Administration’s request was $116.9 million, a cut of $55.1 million or 32.0 percent.
The House Appropriations Committee recommended $76.5 million, a cut of 55.2 percent or $95.5 million.

The committee report states:

“This appropriation supports the construction of new facilities and the renovation and maintenance of NIST’s current buildings and laboratories to comply with scientific and engineering requirements and to keep pace with Federal, State, and local health and safety regulations. The Committee recommendation includes $76,500,000, of which $8,000,000 shall be available for the final year of the Neutron Center Expansion and Reliability Improvements, and $20,000,000 shall be available for a competitive grant competition. The Committee does not provide funding to begin two new multi-year construction projects, given budget constraints.

“Competitive construction grants. - Within the appropriation, the Committee provides $20,000,000 for competitive construction grants for research science buildings in fiscal year 2010. The Committee notes that in just the first year of the program, the fiscal year 2008 call for proposals yielded 93 requests, of which only three were funded within available appropriations. The Committee expects the Administration to include funding for this program in future requests as these research science buildings leverage additional public and private funding, provide jobs, and improve science research in the Nation.”