President Slashes USGS Funding by 24 percent

Under President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2021, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) would be funded at $971.2 million, a 24 percent cut from the FY 2020 level enacted by Congress. The budget once again proposes to consolidate the agency’s seven mission areas into five new mission areas to “better address stakeholder 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 mission area 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 $127 million in FY 2021, nearly 50 percent below FY 2020 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, Toxic Substance Hydrology, and Contaminant Biology. Other mission areas are also slated for budget cuts. Water Resources would be slashed by nearly 23 percent; Natural Hazards would be reduced by 19 percent; and Core Science Systems is facing a 14 percent reduction. Energy and Mineral Resources, however, is looking at a small increase of 1.3 percent. The Science Support acco...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news