Department of Commerce R&D (DOC)

• NIST -- National Institute for Standards and Technology
• NOAA -- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, formerly the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), was established by Congress in 1901. An agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration, NIST's primary mission is to promote U.S. economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards. For FY 1999, the President has requested $715 million for NIST, an increase of $42 million over FY 1998 appropriations.

NIST carries out its mission with a portfolio of four major programs designed to help U.S. companies achieve their own success, each one providing appropriate assistance or incentives to overcoming obstacles that can undermine industrial competitiveness. The programs are:

• Measurement and Standards Laboratories that provide technical leadership for vital components of the nation's technology infrastructure needed by U.S. industry to continually improve its products and services (FY 1999 budget request: $291.6 million);
• a rigorously competitive Advanced Technology Program providing cost-shared awards to industry for development of high-risk, enabling technologies with broad economic potential (FY 1999 budget request: $259.9 million);
• a grassroots Manufacturing Extension Partnership with a nationwide network of local centers offering technical and business assistance to smaller manufacturers (FY 1999 budget request: $106.8 million); and
• a highly visible quality outreach program associated with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award that recognizes continuous improvements in quality management by U.S. manufacturers and service companies.

More detailed information on the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is included in the R&D Partnerships section of this briefing packet.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

The President has requested $2.1 billion for NOAA in fiscal year 1999, an increase of 5 percent over FY 1998. NOAA received $2 billion for FY 1998, a 4 percent increase over FY 1997. Approximately 28 percent of that total is allocated to research and development.

For the current fiscal year (1998), NOAA's National Ocean Service received $241 million, a substantial increase over FY 1997's allocation of $204 million. Some of those funds will be directed towards outreach activities to celebrate 1998 as the Year of the Ocean. The Oceanic and Atmospheric Research account increased $25 million from FY 1997 to $278 million, which includes funds for long-term climate and air pollution research. In addition, $4.9 million is marked for buoys in the tropical Pacific that will increase monitoring of El Nino as well as expand the global monitoring system beyond satellites and atmospheric methods.

NOAA appropriations are made through the Appropriations' Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies. Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) chairs the Senate subcommittee, and Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) is his counterpart in the House. Several Members of Congress have taken an interest in ocean issues, especially since the U.N. has declared 1998 as the Year of the Ocean. Senator Ernest Hollings (D-S.C) and Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) both introduced legislation aimed at creating a unified national ocean and coastal policy. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.), introduced a resolution that passed the House addressing the importance of the oceans. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), who was instrumental in hosting a Global Oceans Conference in Washington DC in 1997, recently joined with scientific community leaders in support of stronger protection of the world's seas.

Supporting Arguments

NOAA supports environmental assessment and prediction through research on both weather -- short-term, seasonal to interannual, and decadal to centennial -- and safe navigation. NOAA also promotes environmental stewardship through building sustainable fisheries, sustaining healthy coasts, and recovering protected species. In addition, NOAA educates the public and teachers through he National Sea Grant Program and the National Estuarine Research Service.

Revised and expanded by Francis Dietz, ASME, and Kasey Shewey, AGI

Posted: January 16, 1998; Revised February 12, 1998