This monthly review goes out to members of the AGI Government Affairs Program (GAP) Advisory Committee, the leadership of AGI's member societies, and other interested geoscientists as part of a continuing effort to improve communications between GAP and the geoscience community that it serves.
House and Senate Committees Set FY 2003 Spending Levels,
Restore USGS Funding
Four-Pollutant Bill Passes Senate Committee
NSF Reauthorization Bill Waits in Senate
House Holds Hearing on GPR Regulations
US Oil Dependency Focus of House Hearing
Senate Hearing Addresses Asbestos Legislation, Libby MT
Natural Hazards Caucus Briefed on Warning Systems
EPA Releases Climate Change Report
NSF Seeks Comments on Environmental Science Agenda
Yucca Mountain Earthquake Shapes Up Senate Deliberations
List of Key Federal Register Notices
New Material on Web Site
********************
House and Senate Committees Set FY 2003 Spending
Levels, Restore USGS Funding
Better late than never, Congress has finally begun the process of crafting
the 13 annual appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2003. On June 24th,
the House Appropriations Committee approved the amount that each of its
13 subcommittees has to spend. These 302(b) allocations, as they are known
in Hill parlance, total $748 billion in discretionary spending. The following
day, the House Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee,
chaired by Rep. Joe Skeen (R-NM), approved its bill, which was allocated
$19.7 billion, up $717 million above the president's request. Although
details remain scant until the full committee acts on the bill sometime
after the Independence Day holiday, a subcommittee press release did reveal
that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is slated to receive $928 million,
a figure that is $61 million above the president's request and $14 million
more than the USGS received in FY 2002. Numbers for other agencies funded
by the bill can be found in a press release by the House Appropriations
Committee (http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/107_2/03intsub.htm),
but the release does not include specific numbers for the Department of
Energy's fossil energy research programs, which were particularly hard
hit in the request.
On June 28th, the full Senate Appropriations Committee set its 302(b) allocations totaling $768 billion, $20 billion more than the House. That same day, the full committee approved its version of the Interior bill (skipping a subcommittee vote). The committee allocated only $18.93 billion for the bill, $23 million below the president's request. Nevertheless, the committee provided USGS with $927 million, just $1 million below the House number. The Senate Appropriations Committee put out a press release with first-order numbers for agencies within its jurisdiction (http://appropriations.senate.gov/releases/record.cfm?id=184155).
House and Senate allocations for key geoscience-related Appropriations subcommittees can be found at http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis107/appropsfy2003.html. More information on the Interior bill will be posted when available at http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis107/approps_interior2003.html. The Senate committee report (S.Rpt.107-201) will be available on http://thomas.loc.gov. Appropriations bills are not assigned a number until they pass through committee and come to the floor.
Four-Pollutant Bill Passes Senate Committee
By a one-vote margin, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
passed legislation on June 27th that revises the Clean Air Act by setting
mandatory emission caps for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, and
carbon dioxide. The bill, sponsored by committee chairman James Jeffords
(I-VT) and dubbed the Clean Power Act of 2001 (S. 556), caps emission levels
for these four pollutants by the year 2008. Republicans, led by committee
ranking member Robert Smith (R-NH), opposed the bill because of the
inclusion of CO2, but signaled their willingness to proceed on a non-CO2
three-pollutant bill that would have a higher chance of getting through
a full vote in the Senate than the current proposal. Before the final vote,
Smith floated the idea of introducing an amendment to bring Jeffords' bill
in line with President Bush’s Clear Skies Initiative, which regulates the
three less-controversial pollutants. Smith chose not to push the
amendment, however, when it was clear that he did not have sufficient votes
to pass it. Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), who voted against the bill,
accused the legislation of both adding unneeded complexity on top of existing
laws and being too open to costly litigation. More at http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis107/clean_air.html.
On June 12th, the same committee held its third hearing on the costs and
benefits of multi-pollutant legislation. More on the hearing at http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis107/cleanair_hearings.html.
NSF Reauthorization Bill Waits in Senate
By a 397-25 vote, the House passed legislation (H.R. 4664) on June
5th reauthorizing the National Science Foundation (NSF) and putting the
agency on a path to double its budget over the next five years. House Science
Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) said in his floor statement
that the "scale of NSF's budget today is simply not commensurate with the
breadth and importance of its mission." Two weeks later the Senate
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on
the educational aspects of the NSF reauthorization bill -- the research
funding aspect falls under the jurisdiction of the Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee. At the June 19th HELP hearing, NSF Director
Rita Colwell and former Senator John Glenn were among those testifying
on the important role that NSF plays in all levels of science education.
FYI: The AIP Bulletin of Science Policy News provides more on the hearing
at http://www.aip.org/enews/fyi/2002/078.html.
The question now is whether the Senate Commerce Committee will take up
the bill for consideration. Although the committee had scheduled
a hearing in the middle of June, it was subsequently postponed, and no
new date has been announced.
House Holds Hearing on GPR Regulations
The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Telecommunications and the
Internet Subcommittee held a hearing on June 5th to discuss recent Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) regulations for ultra-wide band (UWB) use
of the radio spectrum. A key focus of the hearing was the impact that these
regulations would have on ground-penetrating radar (GPR), a geophysical
technology that radiates short bursts of radio-frequency energy into the
ground, ice, water, and manmade materials, to allow noninvasive exploration
of features not visible at the surface. The new rules would restrict
GPR system operations at frequencies below 960 MHz and between 3.1 and
10.6 GHz to "law enforcement, fire and emergency rescue organizations,
to scientific research institutions, to commercial mining companies, and
to construction companies." All use between 960 MHz and 3.1 GHz would be
banned. These regulations have produced an outcry from independent geophysicists
concerned that they will be unable to legally use this technology. Their
concerns were shared at the hearing by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
Billy Tauzin (R-LA), who argued: "This technology has too many promising
applications to stifle it based on unfounded, and unproven, concerns."
At the hearing, an FCC representative indicated the agency's willingness
to consider waivers and to conduct additional review and refinement of
the regulations. The July 2002 issue of Geotimes includes a news note on
this topic by Lisa Pinsker at http://www.geotimes.org/july02/NN_gpr.html.
More about the hearing is also available at http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/hearings/06052002Hearing569/hearing.htm.
US Oil Dependency Focus of House Hearing
The House Committee on International Relations held a hearing on oil
diplomacy on June 20th. Administration officials, including Secretary
of Energy Spencer Abraham, described the current goals of energy policy
in the US. A second group of outside witnesses offered their concerns and
suggestions for improvement of US policy. There was widespread agreement
that dependency on OPEC oil must be reduced. While some felt diversifying
non-OPEC oil sources could easily fill US oil demands, others emphasized
the importance of energy conservation. Increasing Corporate Average
Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and encouraging technical innovations were
two popular solutions for conserving energy. Diversification of energy
sources was also discussed -- specifically the increased use of nuclear,
solar, and wind power. Witnesses and members of Congress alike were quite
positive that, if given the opportunity and incentive, Americans would
come up with new technologies and methods of conserving energy that would
be a win-win on many fronts, including foreign policy, the US economy,
competitiveness of US products in the global market, the environment, employment,
and quality of life. More at http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis107/energy_hearings.html.
Senate Hearing Addresses Asbestos Legislation, Libby
MT
On June 20th, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's Superfund,
Toxics, Risk and Waste Management Subcommittee held a hearing on the status
of asbestos remediation for the town of Libby, Montana. Libby is home to
the now-closed and bankrupt W.R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine, which
has been the source of asbestos-related health problems for Libby miners
and residents. The hearing brought together Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Libby
residents, federal and local health specialists, and an official from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discuss past events at Libby
as well as future directions for health care and remediation for the area.
Sen. Murray has introduced legislation in the Senate (S. 2641) that seeks
to ban all asbestos use in the US. The EPA's current concerns are
the cleanup of vermiculite insulation in Libby homes and the possible contamination
of hundreds of nationwide processing plants that accepted Libby vermiculite.
Concerns of the other witnesses included 1) expanding the regulation of
asbestos beyond the six currently recognized forms, 2) providing long-term
health care for Libby residents, and 3) continuing asbestos-related research.
More at http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis107/asbestos.html.
Natural Hazards Caucus Briefed on Warning Systems
On June 24th, the Congressional Natural Hazards Caucus sponsored a
Capitol Hill briefing on "Delivering Clear and Effective Warnings: the
Natural Hazards Challenge." Speakers included Mary Lou Zoback from
the USGS, Ron McPherson from the American Meteorological Society, Craig
Fugate from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, George Vradenburg
from AOL Time Warner, George Heinrichs from Intrado Inc, and Peter Ward
from the Partnership for Public Warning. The speakers discussed that
fact that effective warning systems are based not only on good scientific
information and governance but also on public education and technology.
The lunch briefing was attended by 80 congressional staff, federal agency
representatives, and members of the working group supporting the caucus,
which is co-chaired by Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK).
More information and links to the speakers' presentations will be available
shortly at http://www.agiweb.org/workgroup.
EPA Releases Climate Change Report
In accordance with the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, the EPA in June released the "US Climate Action Report
2002" on the status of US climate change policy. The report outlines
existing and planned policies, indicates future trends in greenhouse gas
emissions, comments on expected climate impacts and adaptation measures,
and discusses financial resources and climate research directions in the
US. The report has received considerable publicity, because it appears
to mark the first time that the Bush Administration has asserted that human-induced
global warming is backed by "sound science." The administration had
previously argued that any effects by anthropogenic greenhouse gasses on
climate change had yet to be properly substantiated. The apparent policy
shift was quickly downplayed by top administration officials, including
the president who dismissed the report as the work of government bureaucrats.
The report echoes the findings of the 2001 U.S. National Assessment --
produced during the Clinton Administration -- that attributed recent global
warming to human activities, especially the use of fossil fuels.
Instead of mitigating the effects of global warming by introducing mandatory
reductions on greenhouse gas emissions similar to those in the Kyoto treaty,
the EPA report focuses on incentive-driven emission cuts and adaptation
to new environments as the preferred means for coping with climate change.
The report also continues the administration’s opposition to the Kyoto
Protocol by noting its possible negative effects on the US economy.
The full report can be found at http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/publications/car/.
NSF Seeks Comments on Environmental Science Agenda
The National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee on Environmental
Research and Education is preparing a ten-year agenda and is seeking community
input on its current draft. One of the goals of the agenda is to
"identify areas of opportunity for NSF research and education efforts"
in the environmental sciences. According to the committee, the draft agenda
draws on recommendations made by the National Science Board in its 2000
report "Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century" and
the National Research Council's 2001 report "Grand Challenges in the Environmental
Sciences." The draft agenda is available at http://www.nsf.gov/geo/ere/ereweb/advisory.cfm.
Comments can be provided electronically and will be accepted until August
10th.
Yucca Mountain Earthquake Shakes Up Senate Proceedings
As a rule, earthquakes measuring 4.4 in magnitude in the Nevada desert
do not garner much attention, unless they happen to strike a dozen miles
from the politically charged Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository
site. The June 14th quake came just days after the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee voted 13-10 in favor of a resolution overriding Nevada
Gov. Kenny Guinn's (R) notice of disapproval for the Yucca Mountain site.
The House already approved the override, and the full Senate is expected
to vote on the issue by July 26th. Although the Department of Energy reported
no damage to any facilities at the site, repository opponents were quick
to portray the quake as a "wake-up call for the Senate," in the words of
Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV). She also stated that "if anyone ever wondered
about the wisdom of locating an underground radioactive dump site on an
active fault line, this shows why." Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) argued: "There
is no need to rush to build a nuclear repository when there are so many
unanswered questions about its safety and security." The quake did not
deter repository advocates. A Republican senator is expected to offer a
motion to proceed on the override resolution shortly after the Senate reconvenes
on July 8th after the Independence Day recess.
List of Key Federal Register Notices
A new feature of the AGI Monthly Reviews is a summary of Federal Register
announcements regarding federal regulations and notices of interest to
the geoscience community. Entries are listed in chronological order
and show the federal agency involved, the title, and the citation.
The Federal Register is available online at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/frcont02.html.
Sources: American Geophysical Union, American Institute of Physics, E&E Daily, House and Senate Committees, Library of Congress, National Council for Science and the Environment, and National Science Foundation.
Please send any comments or requests for information to AGI Government Affairs Program at govt@agiweb.org.
Posted July 3, 2002
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