funding for environmental research and development by the u.s. department of the interior 2014

F E D E R A L F U N D I N G F O R E N V I R O N M E N T A L R E S E A R C H A N D D E V E L O P M E N T 2 0 1 4

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FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

2014

Prepared

by

Peter Saundry, Ph.D.

for the

COUNCIL OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEANS AND DIRECTORS,

AND THE MEMBERS OF THE

COMMUNITY COLLEGE AFFILIATE PROGRAM

OCTOBER 2014

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT


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Contents

Foreword ............................................................................................. 4

Summary ............................................................................................. 5

1. U.S. Geological Survey ($643 million) ......................................... 7 1.1 Natural Hazards ($131 million) ............................................................................... 8

1.2 Energy and Minerals ($72 million) ........................................................................ 10

1.3 Ecosystems ............................................................................................................ 11

1.4 Environmental Health ........................................................................................ 12

1.5 Core Science Systems ($24 million) ...................................................................... 13

1.6 Climate and Land Use Change ($131 million) ....................................................... 13

1.7 Water Resources ($128 million) ............................................................................ 15

Office of Science Quality and Integrity ....................................................................... 16

2 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ($33 million) ....................... 17

3 Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ($24 million) ..... 18

4 National Park Service ($29 million) ................................................. 19

5 Bureau of Land Management ($13 million) ...................................... 20

6 Bureau of Reclamation ($12 million) ............................................... 21

7 Fish and Wildlife Service ($16 million) ............................................. 22


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Foreword

he National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) is pleased to acknowledge and

express its deep appreciation to the American Association for the Advancement of Science

(AAAS). The AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program has provided the budget analysis

behind this report for the past fifteen years, first under Kei Koizumi and, in recent years, under

Patrick Clemins and now Matthew Hourihan.

AAAS drew the data for this report from White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

R&D data, Budget of the United States Government and from agency and historical data. Yearly values

are adjusted for inflation using OMB's GDP deflators. Nominal values are unadjusted. FY 2013 are

estimates adjusted for the full-year continuing resolution and sequestration. The text of this report is

largely drawn directly from the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) budget justification to

Congress,1 from DOI agency web sites, and to a lesser degree, from other DOI resources.

The definition of environmental R&D used in this report includes environmental physical, life and

social sciences; environmental engineering; energy-related fields; environmental data and information;

and studies that utilize any or all of the above to address pollution problems or activities that impair the

sustained functioning and productivity of the earth’s environment.

We have made no effort to analyze activities by specific “fields of science” or “scientific

disciplines.”

Because terms such as “environmental science” and even “research” and “development” have

imprecise definitions, estimates of federal funding for environmental R&D must be considered

approximations. That is not to say the data and descriptions of particular programs are not accurate,

rather that definitions are important in deciding which programs and projects to include in the analysis.

We have attempted to maintain consistency over the past fourteen years in order to identify trends.

The budget of the federal government and the activities of its agencies are subject to change —

sometimes significant change at short notice. We again encourage readers to explore the websites and

documents of the respective agencies and programs for the latest information.

1. U.S. Department of the Interior Budget - http://www.doi.gov/budget/index.cfm

http://www.doi.gov/budget/index.cfm


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Summary

he Department of the Interior is responsible for most federal public lands and natural resources.

The Department of the Interior is comprised of a number of bureaus and offices, including

seven that support environmental R&D:

The U.S. Geological Survey supports nearly four-fifths of environmental R&D carried out

by the Department of Interior.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental

Enforcement, which were both established in 2011 in the aftermath of the Deepwater

Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bureau of Land Management and

Fish and Wildlife Service are each responsible for managing public lands for various

purposes, including protecting of health and functioning of the ecosystems and wildlife

related to those lands.

Figure 1. Environmental R&D at the U.S. Department of the Interior (budget authority in millions of dollars)


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Table 1. Environmental R&D at the Department of the Interior

(budget authority in millions of dollars)

FY 2012 Actual

FY 2013 Actual

FY 2014 Estimate

Change FY 14-13 Percent

U.S. Geological Survey 673 636 649 2.1%

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management1

39 39 48 23.1%

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement1

25 24 27 12.5%

National Park Service 26 25 27 8.0%

Bureau of Reclamation 12 12 16 33.3%

Bureau of Land Management 16 16 29 81.3%

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 29 33 30 -9.1%

____ ____ ____ TOTAL 820 785 826 5.2%



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1. U.S. Geological Survey ($643 million)

The mission of the United States Geological Survey (USGS)2 is to provide reliable scientific

information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural

disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality

of life.

The USGS is a science organization that provides impartial information on the health of our

ecosystems and environment, the natural hazards that threaten us, the natural resources we rely on, the

impacts of climate and land use change, and the core science systems that help us provide timely,

relevant, and useable information.

USGS collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource

conditions, issues, and problems. This information is provided to the public in many forms including

maps, reports, and databases that provide descriptions and analyses of the water, energy, and mineral

resources; the land surface; the underlying geologic structure; and the dynamic processes of the Earth.

Table 2. Environmental R&D at the U.S. Geological Survey by Activity

(budget authority in millions of dollars)

FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015

Actual Actual Estimate

Natural Hazards, Energy, and Materials1 199 203

Natural Hazards2 127 131

Energy and Materials3 72 72

Biological Research 182 187

Ecosystems and Contaminant Biology4 158 162

Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research5 24 24

Climate and Land Use Change 132 131

Climate Variability6 55 54

Land Use Change7 77 78

Water Resources 123 128

Hydrologic Monitoring, Assess, and Research 102 104

Federal/State Cooperative Water Program 18 18

Water Resources Research Act Program 3 7

____ ____

TOTAL 636 649

2 U.S. Geological Survey - http://www.usgs.gov/

http://www.usgs.gov/


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Note: USGS reorganized their programs for the FY 2012 budget request. The table is reorganized to reflect most of

those changes while preserving historical comparisons.

1. Formerly Geologic Hazards, Resources, and Processes.

2. Formerly Geologic Hazards Assessment and Geologic Landscape and Coastal Assessments.

3. Formerly Geologic Resource Assessments.

4. Formerly Biological Research and Monitoring and Cooperative Research Units.

5. Formerly Biological Information Management and Delivery

6. Formerly Global Change.

7. Formerly Geographic Research, Investigations, and Remote Sensing.

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1.1 Natural Hazards ($131 million)

The Natural Hazards Mission Area is responsible for coordinating USGS responses following

disasters and overseeing the bureau’s emergency management activities. The USGS provides scientific

information to emergency responders, policy makers, and the public to reduce losses from earthquakes,

floods, hurricanes, landslides, magnetic storms, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and wildfires. The Natural

Hazards activity is comprised of six sub-activities:

1. The Earthquake Hazards Program includes research into earthquake causes and effects and

has direct application in increasing the accuracy and precision of the agency's earthquake

hazards assessments, earthquake forecasts, earthquake monitoring products, and earthquake

mitigation practices.

2. The Volcano Hazards Program includes geological and geophysical research into basic

volcanic processes. Such research identifies patterns and trends in data that create deeper

insights into the meaning and significance of monitoring data and early recognition of eruption

precursors. It also includes five volcano observatories which are responsible for volcano

monitoring, community preparedness, managing volcanic crises, and coordinating research in

their areas of responsibility. Through this program, USGS is a major participant in the

National Science Foundation’s (NSF) $5 million per year GeoPRISMS (Geodynamic Processes

at Rifting and Subducting Margins) Program, which will study the geology and geophysics of

continental margins, focusing on the Cascadia and the Alaskan-Aleutian subduction zones.

3. The Landslides Hazards Program conducts research that concentrates on understanding

landslide processes, developing and deploying instruments that monitor threatening landslides,

and forecasting the onset of catastrophic movement of future landslides. Research on processes

and forecasting methodologies is conducted on the types of landslides that result in human and

economic losses in the United States such as landslides related to steep slopes, heavy rains, and

vegetation loss due to wildfires.

4. The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) provides the high-quality seismic data needed for

earthquake alerts and situational awareness products, tsunami warnings, national security

(through nuclear test-ban treaty monitoring and research), hazard assessments, and earthquake

loss reduction, as well as research on earthquake sources and the structure and dynamics of the

Earth.


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The GSN is a joint program between the USGS and NSF and is implemented by the USGS, the

Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) of the University of California, San

Diego, and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS, a consortium of

universities).

The network currently consists of more than 150 globally distributed seismic stations, installed

over two decades by the USGS and the IGPP.

All GSN data are available to the public and scientists around the world via the IRIS Data

Management Center (DMC).

Data from the GSN are used extensively for basic and applied research on earthquakes, Earth

structure, and other geophysical problems through studies conducted and supported by the

USGS and agencies such as NSF, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Air Force.

5. The Geomagnetism Program conducts research on the nature of geomagnetic variations for

purposes of scientific understanding and hazard mitigation. USGS work is coordinated through

the National Space Weather Program (NSWP) with the Department of Defense, NASA, the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and NSF. The program also

cooperates on an international scale through INTERMAGNET, a worldwide consortium of

magnetic observatory programs, and through the International Association of Geomagnetism

and Aeronomy.

The program conducts research to better understand basic physical processes and the effects of

solar-terrestrial interaction on the infrastructure and activities of our modern, technologically-

based society. In response to recent heightened concern for the security of the nation’s

electrical power-grid infrastructure, USGS staff have been developing methods for estimating,

in real-time, the storm-time induction of electric fields in the Earth’s crust and regional electric

field estimates. This work is being conducted in collaboration with the Colorado School of

Mines, the USGS Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center, and the

NOAA/SWPC (Space Weather Prediction Center).

6. The Coastal and Marine Geology Program provides information and research products on

conditions and processes critical to the management of the nation's ocean, coastal and Great

Lakes environments. Program activities include characterizing and understanding ocean and

coastal geological settings and processes to provide the data and tools for regional and national

assessments of coastal and marine conditions, change, and vulnerability. Integrated mapping

and research activities support development of data resources, models, and decision-support

tools to address policy and management issues at national and regional scales.


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1.2 Energy and Minerals ($72 million)

The Energy Resources and Mineral Resources Programs conduct research on the location,

quantity, and quality of the nation’s and the world’s energy and mineral resources, including economic

parameters and interactions of these resources with the environment, both natural and as a result of

extraction and utilization.

Together these two programs provide information to resource managers, policy makers, and the

public to support science-based policy development, land and resource management, and decision

making on a range of critical resource issues. These include energy and mineral development and use,

informing a variety of energy-mix scenarios, developing energy policy, determining mineral resource

needs, understanding domestic resources and production in the context of global resource supply chains,

and evaluating trade-offs including environmental risks.

The Mission Area provides impartial, trusted science and information for understanding both the

occurrence and distribution of national and global energy and mineral resources.

The Mineral Resources Program (MRP) supports data collection and research on a wide variety of

nonfuel mineral resources that are important to the nation’s economic and national security. The MRP’s

research and assessment function helps to understand the geologic processes that concentrate known

mineral resources at specific localities in the Earth’s crust and to assess quantities, qualities, and

distribution of undiscovered mineral resources for potential future supply.

The program also conducts research on a wide range of critical minerals, such as rare earth elements

(REE), as well as on the interactions of mineral resources with the environment, both natural and as a

result of resource extraction, to develop geochemical baselines and better predict the impact that

resource development may have on human and ecosystem health.

The MRP’s minerals information function supports the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data

that document production and consumption for about 100 mineral commodities, both domestically and

internationally for 180 countries.

This full spectrum of mineral resource science allows for a comprehensive understanding of the

complete life cycle of nonfuel mineral resources and materials―resource formation, discovery,

production, consumption, use, recycling, and reuse―and allows for an understanding of environmental

issues of concern throughout the life cycle.

The MRP’s modernization of the minerals information function in 2015 includes increased emphasis

on materials flow and supply chain analysis.

The Energy Resources Program (ERP) performs research to advance the science of energy

resources and assessments and understand key impacts and issues. The ERP provides science and

information used to make decisions supporting energy security, energy policy, and environmentally

sound production and utilization. ERP activities contribute to the DOI strategic plan goal to provide

science for sustainable resource use, resource protection, and adaptive management.


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The ERP portfolio consists of six components:

1. National and Global Oil and Gas Resources;

2. Geothermal Resources;

3. Powering Our Future – Wind;

4. National Coal Resources;

5. Energy Information and the Environment; and

6. The Science and Decisions Center.

1.3 Ecosystems

Ecosystems Mission Area programs provide science support to the Department of the Interior bureaus

and other partners through research focused on answering management questions and real-world

problems. This requires a combination of short- and long-term biological research, survey and

monitoring, data analysis and applications, development of new tools and techniques, and decision

support and adaptive management. Activities occur in the following areas:

1. The Status and Trends of the nation’s plants, animals, and ecosystems. The primary focus is

monitoring and research to support Department of the Interior lands and species.

2. Fisheries research to protect, restore, and enhance our nation’s fisheries and their habitats,

including:

Fish and Aquatic Organism Health;

Genetics, Genomics, and Molecular Biology;

Imperiled Aquatic Species;

Restoration Science and Technology ;

Aquatic Community Ecology;

Fish Passage and Dams; and

River Science.

3. Wildlife Program research in support of:

Conservation and Management of Wildlife and their Habitat;

Tools and Techniques for Effective, Science-Based Management;

Factors Affecting Conservation of Species of Concern; and

Emerging Wildlife Issues.

4. The Environments Program, which conducts research to assess, understand, model, and forecast

the impacts of both natural and human-induced changes to our ecosystems, natural resources, and

communities. This includes:

Landscape Science;

Greater Sage Grouse;

Fire Ecology; and

Raptors and Wind Development.


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5. Invasive Species research, which focuses on;

Prevention, Early Detection, and Rapid Assessment;

Effects and Risks Posed by Invasive Species;

Control and Management of Invasive Species; and

Restoration of Invaded Habitats.

6. The Cooperative Research Unit (CRU) Program, which is a unique and cooperative relationship

among the USGS, State Fish and Wildlife Agencies, host universities, and the Wildlife

Management Institute. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is a formal cooperator in most of the

individual units. The CRU program is comprised of 40 CRUs located at universities in 38 states,

with a headquarters office in Reston, VA.

1.4 Environmental Health

The Environmental Health program conducts research on the environmental impacts of human

activities that introduce chemical and pathogenic contaminants into the environment and threaten

human, animal (fish and wildlife), and ecological health.

The Contaminant Biology and Toxics Substances Hydrology Programs (TSHP) conduct research

on the environmental impacts of chemical and pathogenic contaminants that enter the environment

through natural and anthropogenic mechanisms and threaten human health and the health of the nation’s

environment, including fish and wildlife populations. In 2013, the USGS published its first

Environmental Health Science Strategy, which summarizes national environmental health priorities and

will serve as a strategic framework for USGS environmental health science goals, coordination of

research efforts, partnerships, and outcomes for the next decade. This strategy delineates the connection

between USGS scientific research and its ability to support decision making to safeguard environmental

health.

The Contaminant Biology Program (CBP), working in close collaboration with the TSHP,

implements the USGS Environmental Health Strategic Science Plan (EH SSP). The Program will fund

research and activities that support the priorities identified in the EH SSP. In 2015, the CBP will

emphasize providing the natural science needed by resource managers, health professionals, policy

makers, and the public in three main areas:

1. Anticipating, detecting, and preventing adverse health impacts from newly emerging

environmental diseases.

2. Reducing the impact of environmental diseases on the environment, fish, wildlife, and people,

including improving management approaches for mitigating the health effects of combined

exposure to contaminants and pathogens.

3. Coordinating and supporting the portfolio of USGS activities to help the nation prepare for and

respond to health-related threats resulting from natural and manmade disasters.


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Through these activities, the CBP provides leadership and science to inform regulatory decisions;

enhance remediation and restoration technologies, and improve best management practices to prevent or

mitigate the adverse health impacts of environmental diseases and disasters.

The Toxics Substances Hydrology Program (TSHP) supports environmental contamination

research, which provides reliable scientific information and tools that explain the occurrence, behavior,

and effects of toxic substances in the nation's natural environments.

The TSHP has two primary components:

1. Contaminated site characterization and remediation (point-source contamination); and

2. Investigations of the environmental impacts of watershed and regional-scale contamination

(non-point source contamination).

1.5 Core Science Systems ($24 million)

Science Synthesis, Analysis, and Research (SSAR) provides capabilities that support the entire

science life cycle. This sub-activity is comprised of:

The J.W. Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis;

The National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation program; and

The Core Science Analytics and Synthesis program, which includes the USGS Libraries.

SSAR provides unique scientific collaborative opportunities and preserves and makes available rock

and ice core samples for scientific research.

These programs maintain a comprehensive and up-to-date compilation of data about U.S. land and

conservation status, enhancing the ability of the Core Science Systems (CSS) to advance the USGS

Science Strategy by developing, identifying, and implementing best practices for accessing, integrating,

visualizing, and delivering USGS data and information.

1.6 Climate and Land Use Change ($131 million)

The Climate and Land Use Change (CLU) Mission Area3 undertakes scientific research, monitoring,

remote sensing, modeling, synthesis, and forecasting to better understand the effects of climate and land

use change on the nation’s natural resources. The results provide a scientific foundation to inform

decisions by resource managers and policy makers at state, local, tribal, and national scales.

The CLU Mission Area’s core mission is to improve the understanding of past and present change

and to identify those lands, natural resources, and communities most vulnerable to climate and land use

change, including impacts to fish, wildlife, ecological, and coastal processes.

3. USGS Climate and Land Use Change Science Strategy: A Framework of Understanding and Responding to

Global Change - http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1383a/

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1383a/


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The CLU Mission Area has responsibility for:

1. The National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC), at which scientists

are managing a national effort to identify the overall impacts of climate change on fisheries in the

United States, assess the coverage of vulnerability assessments undertaken by Interior, and

provide critical integration of efforts at eight Climate Science Centers (CSCs), established

between 2010 and 2012, to provide information needed by natural and cultural resource managers

to understand and adapt to a changing climate. Each CSC is a federal-university collaboration and

develops a science portfolio in consultation with regional resource managers and science

partners.

2. The Climate Research and Development Program conducts research to advance the

understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological components of the Earth system, the

causes and consequences of climate and land use change, and the vulnerability and resilience of

the Earth system to such changes. This research provides the basic data needed to understand the

rates and patterns of Earth system response to a range of climate and land use changes.

Integration of these data with modeling efforts provides a means to advance the understanding of

how changes in climate and land use change interact to influence the Earth systems. Climate

R&D Program data contributions improve model performance and the program’s ability to

forecast likely changes under a range of climate and land use scenarios.

Climate R&D Program research is broken out into eight focus areas: (1) abrupt climate change;

(2) carbon cycle; (3) climate data and model integration; (4) documenting patterns and

magnitudes of natural climate variability; (5) hydrologic extremes, including patterns, causes, and

impacts; (6) impacts of climate and land use change on terrestrial and marine systems; (7) rates,

causes, and consequences of land use and land cover change; and (8) sea-level rise (SLR) and

coastal regions.

3. The Carbon Sequestration Program supports research to quantify the capacity of the U.S. to

sequester carbon biologically and geologically.

4. The Land Remote Sensing (LRS) Program collects, interprets, and provides the nation with

Earth surface information using data from satellite and airborne instruments. The LRS Program

provides a comprehensive, permanent, and impartial record of the planet’s land surface through

the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive and aerial photography archives at the

USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

These archives currently contain more than ten thousand terabytes of information.

The LRS Program also supports research and applications that use remotely sensed data to detect

and monitor changes to the Earth’s land surface, land cover, and inland and coastal waters. In

addition, the LRS Program provides federal civil agencies with access to classified Earth

observation data and supports the development of unclassified information products derived from

such data. This is done through the National Civil Applications Program/Civil Applications

Committee (NCAP/CAC), which is proposed for a funding decrease in 2015.


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5. The Land Change Science (LCS) Program aims to understand the nation’s most pressing

environmental, natural resource, and economic challenges by providing the information and tools

necessary for identifying possible solutions to these challenges. The LCS Program conducts

research on land cover, which provides a historical record of resource use and indicates the

availability and quality of natural resources; assesses the impacts of land cover change; and

develops tools for decision makers to use for resource allocation decisions. Comprehensive land

cover information is essential in a wide variety of investigations, such as assessing the impacts of

climate change, evaluating ecosystem status and health, understanding spatial patterns of

biodiversity, and informing land use planning.

1.7 Water Resources ($128 million)

Water resources research, information, and monitoring activities support the USGS Science

Strategy to provide scientific information on water availability and quality in the United States in

order to inform the public and decision makers about the status of freshwater resources and how they

are changing. Efforts of Water Mission Area scientists also support the USGS Science Strategy

themes of understanding ecosystems and predicting ecosystem change; providing a scientific

foundation for energy and mineral resources for America's future; climate variability and change; the

natural hazards, risk, and resilience assessment program; and the role of the environment and wildlife

in human health.

The Water Mission Area is comprised of seven sub-activities:

1. The Groundwater Resources Program provides the objective scientific information and

interdisciplinary understanding necessary to assess and quantify the availability and

sustainability of the nation’s groundwater resources.

2. The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program ensures data collection and

analyses are relevant to emerging issues by devoting about 10 percent of program resources to

developing state-of-the-art methods and innovative techniques that help to provide greater

understanding of the factors affecting water quality conditions and trends.

3. The National Streamflow Information Program includes research and development

activities to advance equipment technologies and measurement and analysis techniques for a

better understanding of flow in rivers and to obtain greater accuracy at lower cost.

4. The Hydrologic Research and Development (HRD) Program conducts research on

complex, multidisciplinary problems in the hydrologic sciences and supports the research and

development needs of the other Water Mission Area sub-activities, as well as other USGS

Mission Areas. The HRD Program investigations integrate hydrological, geological, chemical,

climatic, and biological science to address the full range of water resources issues.

5. Hydrologic Networks and Analysis provides data for WaterSMART assessment studies and

supports climate change research


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6. The Cooperative Water Program supports jointly funded assessments and research; provides

relevant and timely science to address local, state, and tribal water management needs; raises

emerging water issues to regional and national visibility; and supports large scale-syntheses

and problem solving to address USGS and DOI priorities.

7. The Water Resources Research Act Program supports federal-state partnerships in water

resources research, education, and information transfer through a matching grant program that

authorizes State Water Resources Research Institutes at land-grant universities across the

nation.

1.8 Office of Science Quality and Integrity

The Office of Science Quality and Integrity monitors and enhances the integrity, quality, and health

of USGS science. The office is subdivided into six components: (1) Education and Development; (2) the

Office of Tribal Relations; (3) Evaluation, Review, and Recognition; (4) Fundamental Science Practices;

(5) Youth Programs; and (6) Ethics.


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2 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ($33 million)

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)4 promotes energy independence, environmental

protection, and economic development through responsible, science-based management of offshore

conventional and renewable energy and marine mineral resources. BOEM is organized around three

activities:

1. Conventional Energy: BOEM’s Office of Strategic Resources oversees assessments,

inventories, and economic valuations of the oil, gas, and other mineral resource potential of the

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). BOEM also handles the actual Oil and Gas Lease Sales, along

with Marine Minerals.

2. Renewable Energy: BOEM is responsible for offshore Renewable Energy Programs. The

Renewable Energy Program grants leases, easements, and rights-of-way for orderly, safe, and

environmentally responsible renewable energy development activities.

3. Environmental Programs: BOEM’s Office of Environmental Programs conducts environmental

reviews, including National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses and compliance

documents for each major stage of energy development planning.

BOEM activities are supported applied research through the Environmental Studies Program.5

Research areas include:

Marine mammals and protected species;

Habitat and ecology;

Physical oceanography;

Social sciences and economics;

Fate and effects of oil and gas drilling and production discharges, spilled oil, and oil

dispersants on biological communities;

Information management; and

Air quality.

BOEM is supported by three regional offices in Louisiana, California, and Alaska. Collaborations

with the academic community are undertaken through BOEM-supported Coastal Marine Institutes

located at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and at Louisiana State University, as well as through

several units within the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Network.

4 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management website - http://www.boem.gov/

5 BOEM Environmental Studies Program - http://www.boem.gov/studies/

http://www.boem.gov/

http://www.boem.gov/studies/


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3 Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ($24 million)

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)

6 is responsible for overseeing

exploration, development, and production operations for oil and natural gas on the Outer Continental

Shelf (OCS). The BSEE’s regulation and oversight of federal offshore resources ensures that energy

development on the OCS is done in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.

The functions of BSEE include oil and gas permitting, facility inspections, regulations and standards

development, safety research, data collection, technology assessments, field operations, incident

investigation, environmental compliance and enforcement, oil spill prevention and readiness, review of

operator oil spill response plans, oversight of production and development plans, and resource

conservation efforts.

BSEE established the Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI) in early 2014 to provide a forum for

dialogue, shared learning, and cooperative research among academia, government, industry, and other

non-government organizations in offshore-related technologies and activities to help ensure

environmentally safe and responsible offshore operations.

The Oil Spill Research Program within BSEE continues to aggressively maintain a comprehensive,

long-term research program dedicated to improving oil spill response options for oil spills in offshore

environments. Major focus has been placed upon improving the methods and technologies used for oil

spill detection from aerial and subsea platforms and vehicles, surface and subsea containment, treatment

with dispersants, recovery using mechanical devices, and clean up. The program will continue to

emphasize evaluating oil spill response capabilities in Arctic environments in FY 2014 and FY 2015.

During FY 2014, BSEE intends to fund research on in situ burn planning standards, remote sensing

tools for oil spill detection and thickness determination, improving the capabilities of the Ohmsett

National Oil Spill Response Research Facility, technology readiness levels, and the development of

“smart” skimming technologies.

The Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research (ICCOPR), a

Congressionally-mandated body, coordinates research efforts throughout the federal oil spill research

community.

BSEE is also supported by three regional offices in Louisiana, California, and Alaska.

6 Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement website - http://www.bsee.gov/

http://www.bsee.gov/


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4 National Park Service ($29 million)

The National Park Service (NPS)7 manages the 401 parks of the National Park System covering 84

million acres. These include 125 historical parks or sites, 78 national monuments, 59 national parks, 25

battlefields or military parks, 18 preserves, 18 recreation areas, 10 seashores, 4 parkways, 4 lakeshores,

and 2 reserves. The NPS also helps administer dozens of affiliated sites, the National Register of

Historic Places, National Heritage Areas, National Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Historic

Landmarks, and National Trails.

The fundamental purpose of the NPS “is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects

and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means

as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

To carry out this stewardship responsibility, the Service implements programs that encompass a

broad range of research, operational, and educational activities. The NPS inventories, evaluates,

documents, preserves, protects, monitors, maintains, and interprets the natural and cultural resources

Research is carried out across the NPS in many areas and in partnership with other DOI bureaus;

other federal agencies; Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units;8 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

(LCCs),9 which are supported by research obtained by others through Climate Science Centers

10 (CSCs);

universities; and state agencies. 19 Research Learning Centers (RLCs) provide an infrastructure for

researchers to conduct research and exchange information for their networks of parks. The Centers’ staff

and partners facilitate and communicate key research outcomes on topics including climate change,

coastal ecosystems, environmental history, cultural landscapes, fire ecology, and resource stewardship.

Each Center operates as a public-private partnership.

The NPS assesses the vulnerability of park natural resources to the effects of climate change,

improves resource resiliency, and develops adaptation strategies to these effects.

Air quality applied research directly supports the NPS’s statutory responsibilities under the Clean

Air Act to protect important scenic resources and other air quality related values in parks from

impairment due to air pollution.

The NPS conducts systematic inventories of natural resources and monitoring of park vital signs

through the organization of 32 multi-park geographic Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Networks.

The Everglades Restoration and Research Program provides technical tools that assist the NPS in

the evaluation of alternative plans for restoration and in assessment of the effects of built restoration

projects on NPS resources. The research program also supports work on detection, containment, and

control techniques for exotic species and on the potential effects of climate change on DOI resources in

south Florida.

7 National Park Service website - http://www.nps.gov

8 Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units - http://www.cesu.psu.edu/

9 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives - http://lccnetwork.org/

10 Climate Science Centers - http://www.doi.gov/csc/index.cfm

http://www.nps.gov/

http://www.cesu.psu.edu/

http://lccnetwork.org/

http://www.doi.gov/csc/index.cfm


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5 Bureau of Land Management ($13 million)

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)11

manages 247 million surface acres, primarily in 11

western States, including Alaska, and 700 million acres of federal mineral estate, as well as the mineral

operations and cadastral surveys on 56 million acres of Indian trust lands. In other words, the BLM is

entrusted with 13 percent of the nation’s surface land.

BLM management benefits conservation and traditional land users, while contributing to the vitality

of local economies and delivering benefits to all Americans through outdoor recreation, livestock

grazing, mineral development, and energy production.

The BLM has identified research and development projects to support scientific objectives in:

Energy and Mineral Development to advance renewable energy development and permitting in

the areas of wind, solar, and geothermal energy and to understand, minimize, and mitigate the

potential impacts of energy and mineral development on environmental and human health.

Climate Resilience to develop information and tools enabling resource managers to understand

the potential impacts of a changing climate and to plan and adjust their operations to be resilient

in managing the public trust and ensuring sustainable stewardship of resources.

Landscape Scale Ecosystem Management, Restoration, and Protection to develop

information and tools, analysis, and monitoring to manage resources and understand trade-offs on

a landscape scale, including the restoration and protection of ecological systems and important

cultural landscapes.

BLM is also conducting multi-year research studies focusing on the development of more effective and

longer lasting fertility control agents and techniques for suppressing population growth of wild horses

and burros.

11

Bureau of Land Management website - http://www.blm.gov

http://www.blm.gov/


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6 Bureau of Reclamation ($12 million)

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation)12

is best known for the dams, power plants, and canals it

constructed in the 17 western states. Reclamation has constructed more than 600 dams and reservoirs

including Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and Grand Coulee on the Columbia River. Reclamation is

the largest wholesaler of water in the country and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power

with 53 power plants.

The Research and Development Office, through its Science and Technology Program (S&T),

supports Reclamation’s mission to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an

environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. Nearly all S&T

projects include collaboration with other federal and non-federal entities that join forces with

Reclamation’s technical experts and resource managers.

At present, highest priority is given to R&D that:

1. Increases the reliability of aging water infrastructure;

2. Mitigates the impacts of invasive zebra and quagga mussels on water and hydropower

facilities;

3. Studies the impacts of climate change on water resources and associated adaptation solutions;

4. Creates new water supplies through advanced water treatment (Desalination and Water

Purification Research Program); and

5. Advances renewable energy generation by Reclamation.

Climate research activities are coordinated with the Interior’s Climate Science Centers, other federal

agencies, university Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Centers, and western States.

Collaboration with other federal agencies will continue to include research road mapping and

collaborative R&D activities organized through the Climate Change and Water Working Group, which

brings two federal water management agencies – Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers –

together with the USGS and NOAA to identify the climate information gaps and needs of water

managers, then steer the resources of Reclamation and the science community to meet those needs.

12

Bureau of Reclamation website - http://www.usbr.gov/

http://www.usbr.gov/


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7 Fish and Wildlife Service ($16 million)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS or “Service”)13

is the premier government agency dedicated

to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. FWS

manages eight regional offices and over 700 field stations. These include:

562 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System;

6 National Monuments;

80 Ecological Services Field Stations;

72 National Fish Hatcheries;

1 historical National Fish Hatchery (D.C. Booth in South Dakota);

9 Fish Health Centers;

6 Fish Technology Centers; and

waterfowl production areas in 206 counties managed within 38 Wetland Management Districts

and 50 Coordination Areas.

These areas encompass more than 150 million acres of land and waters.

The Service is also responsible for implementing some significant environmental laws, such as the

Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Lacey Act, and

international agreements like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

The FWS Science Support activity includes two areas:

1. Adaptive Science funds studies essential to the work of the network of Landscape

Conservation Cooperative (LCC) partnerships to better manage natural resources across broad

areas. These partnerships work with six Interior bureaus, a diverse suite of other federal

agencies, state natural resource agencies, and other public and private partners to identify and

implement landscape-scale conservation solutions to address on-the-ground conservation

management questions.

2. Service Science addresses the needs of FWS programs for information that can improve

decision making for refuge management, endangered species recovery, regulatory decisions,

and other needs. Funding is used to purchase studies, develop models, and secure scientific

expertise to help managers interpret and apply the body of knowledge available.

Funding for biological carbon sequestration in the Service Science sub-activity allows the

Service to identify lands with both the most strategically important conservation values along

with the greatest current or potential carbon stocks,

Research to ensure that energy transmission corridors avoid endangered and threatened species

to the greatest extent possible is also a focus.

13

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website - http://www.fws.gov/

http://www.fws.gov/


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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT


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funding for environmental research and development by the u.s. department of the interior 2014

Environment

environmental research

environmental science

environmental enforcement

environmental health

fifths of environmental

definition of environmental

federal funding

council of environmental