USGS Slated for Restructuring, 16 percent Budget Cut

Under President Trump’s budget plan for fiscal year (FY) 2020, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) would be funded at $983.5 million, a 17 percent cut from the FY 2019 level. The budget proposes to consolidate the agency’s seven mission areas into five new mission areas to reflect “stakeholder-focused realignment of program priorities.” The five new mission areas would be: Ecosystems, Energy and Mineral Resources, Natural Hazards, Water Resources, and Core Science Systems. Programs formerly under the Environmental Health area would be moved into the Ecosystems and Water Resources areas and programs formerly under Land Resources would be transferred to Ecosystems and Core Science Systems. Under the new structure, the Ecosystems mission area would receive $141 million in FY 2020, 35 percent below FY 2019 enacted levels. The plan restructures the Ecosystems account to include programs formerly under Land Resources and Environmental Health mission areas, specifically the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers, significant portions of Land Change Science, and Contaminant Biology. Other mission areas are also slated for budget cuts. Water Resources would be slashed by nearly 22 percent; Natural Hazards would be reduced by nearly 13 percent; Core Science Systems faces an 8.6 percent cut; and Energy and Mineral Resources would receive a 3.3 percent cut. The Science Support and Facilities accounts at USGS would remain essentially fl...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news