FY 2000 Energy and Water Conference Report

Congressional Record
Vol. 145 -- WASHINGTON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1999 -- No. 127
House of Representatives
Page H8739

SC portion of Report:
PDF format (69 KB, 3 pages)

Full Conference Report:
PDF format (3.1 MB, 86 pages)

Science

The conference agreement appropriates $2,799,851,000, instead of $2,718,647,000 as provided by the House or $2,725,069,000 as provided by the Senate. The conference agreement does not include the Senate bill language providing funding for Boston College, the University of Missouri or the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii.

High energy physics.--The conference agreement provides $707,890,000 for high energy physics, instead of $715,525,000 as provided by the House or $691,090,000 as provided by the Senate. The conference agreement does not include the Senate reduction for research and development of a TeV scale center of mass accelerator. The conferees do have concerns about the early cost projections of this planned facility and urge the Department to consider reasonable expectations of budgets and significant international participation during the early planning process for this proposed facility.

Nuclear physics.--The conference agreement provides $352,000,000 for nuclear physics, instead of $357,940,000 as provided by the House or $330,000,000 as provided by the Senate. The conference agreement does not include the Senate provision eliminating funding for the Bates Linear Accelerator Laboratory.

Biological and environmental research.--The conference agreement includes $441,500,000, instead of $406,170,000 as provided by the House or $429,700,000 as provided by the Senate. The conferees have included $19,500,000 for the low-dose effects program including a review of the Hiroshima dosimetry system. The conferees have not provided $2,000,000 in the Defense Environment, Safety and Health account as proposed by the Senate for this review. The conferees have provided $100,000 to study the effects of radiation on avian populations at the Nevada Test Site.

The conference agreement includes $5,000,000 for improvements and optimum utilization of the University of Missouri research reactor and $1,500,000 for the Natural Energy Laboratory in Hawaii. The conferees have provided $2,500,000 for the bone marrow transplantation/radioimmunotherapy program at the City of Hope National Medical Center and $1,000,000 for the Gallo Institute of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The conference agreement also includes $1,000,000 for cancer research at the Burbank Hospital Regional Center in Fitchburg, Massachusetts; $2,000,000 for the Midwest Proton Radiation Institute; $1,000,000 for the Center for Research on Aging at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois; and $1,000,000 for the breast cancer program at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.

The conference agreement includes $1,500,000 for the Medical University of South Carolina's Cancer Research Center, $1,500,000 for the West Virginia National Education and Technology Center, $1,500,000 for the University of Las Vegas Science Complex, $1,000,000 for the Science Center at Creighton University, and $1,500,000 for the Utton Transboundary Center. The conference agreement includes $10,000,000 to further development of
technologies using advanced functional brain imaging methodologies, including magnetoencephalography, for conduct of basic research in mental illness and neurological disorders. The conferees are aware of research into the molecular basis of disease and MicroPET at the University of California Los Angeles and encourage the Department to review this new technology and possible collaborations and report back to the Committees.

Basic energy sciences: The conference agreement includes $783,127,000 instead of $735,989,000 as recommended by the House or $854,545,000 as recommended by the Senate. The conferees have included $7,000,000 for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the same amount as provided by the House and the Senate. The conferees included very modest reductions to BES research programs and they strongly oppose any effort by the Department to target one laboratory when allocating this reduction.

Spallation Neutron Source: The recommendation includes $117,900,000, including $100,000,000 for line-item construction costs and $17,900,000 for related research and development. The amount provided is $69,000,000 less than the amount provided by the Senate and $50,000,000 more than the amount provided by the House. The conferees have provided the same amount authorized in the House-passed authorization bill.

Computational and technology research: The conference agreement includes $132,000,000, instead of $143,000,000 as provided by the House or $129,000,000 as provided by the Senate. The conferees strongly support the Department's current supercomputer programs including ASCI, NERSC, and modeling programs. The conferees urge the Department to submit a comprehensive plan for a non-Defense supercomputing program that reflects a unique role for the Department in this multi-agency effort and a budget plan that indicates spending requirements over a five-year budget cycle.

Energy research analyses.--The conference agreement includes $1,000,000, the same amount provided by the House and the Senate.

Multiprogram energy labs--facility support: The conference agreement includes $21,260,000, the same amount provided by the House and the Senate. The conference agreement includes the additional $1,000,000 provided by the House to fully fund the Department's commitment to the payment-in-lieu of taxes program and does not include the additional $1,000,000 provided by the Senate for roofing improvements at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Fusion energy sciences.--The conference agreement includes $250,000,000, the same amount provided by the House instead of $220,614,000 as provided by the Senate. The conferees are pleased with the highly supportive recent report on fusion energy science from the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board and with the comprehensive scientific plan developed by the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC). The FESAC plan should be used by the Department as guidance in the allocation of the resources provided for fusion energy sciences.

Oak Ridge landlord.--The conference agreement includes $11,800,000 as proposed by the House.

Program Direction: The recommendation is $131,108,000, instead of $126,963,000 as proposed by the House or $52,360,000 as proposed by the Senate. The conferees have provided $52,360,000 for headquarters program direction activities, the same amount provided by the House and Senate.

FUNDING ADJUSTMENTS

The conference agreement includes a reduction of $10,834,000 for contractor travel, the same amount as the budget request. The conferees have also included a $1,000,000 reduction for management and operating contractors in Washington, D.C.; a $10,000,000 general reduction; and a $10,000,000 reduction reflecting the House provision to include all funding for science education activities with program direction funding.

LABORATORY DIRECTED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

The conference agreement modifies the current laboratory directed research and development (LDRD) program by reducing the allowable cost from six percent to four percent of the funds provided to the laboratories. None of the funds provided to laboratories for environmental cleanup activities may be taxed for LDRD purposes.