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  NSF 04-337 | September 2004   PDF format PDF format | See Related Reports  

Federal R&D Funding Requests for FY 2005

by Ronald L. Meeks Send an e-mail message to the author

This InfoBrief covers Federal research and development (R&D) funding for FY 2003-05. For FY 2005, the administration proposed a total budget authority of $127.1 billion for federally supported R&D, 4.1 percent (2.8 percent in constant dollars) more than the preliminary FY 2004 R&D total of $122.0 billion (table 1). Defense R&D is slated to increase 6.2 percent (4.9 percent in constant dollars) in FY 2005 and nondefense R&D to increase 1.4 percent (0.2 percent in constant dollars).

Table 1. Federal R&D budget authority, by budget function: FY 2000?05.
Table 1 Source Data: Excel file

Pending congressional action will determine the final budget authority for R&D in FY 2005. As of this writing, 1 of the 13 FY 2005 appropriations bills has passed the House and the Senate. Details on the President's requested Federal funding of the R&D components of agency programs for FY 2003–05 are in the forthcoming annual report Federal R&D Funding by Budget Function: Fiscal Years 2003–05.

Proposed Defense R&D Funding

The share of the Federal R&D budget authority for national defense is expected to be $74.2 billion, an increase of $4.3 billion from FY 2004. This growth continues the recent trend of a gradual increase in the defense share of Federal R&D budget authority, that is, from 52.7 percent in FY 2001 to 58.4 percent in FY 2005. The proposed defense R&D budget represents the largest share of the Federal R&D total since 1993, when defense accounted for 59 percent of the Federal R&D total.

About 93 percent ($68.9 billion) of the requested FY 2005 defense R&D dollars are slated for the Department of Defense's (DoD's) military research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) programs (table 2). The Army, Navy, Air Force, and two defense agencies (Missile Defense Agency and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) will account for 87.2 percent ($60.1 billion) of the RDT&E account. In FY 2005, R&D growth is expected in the Department of Energy's (DOE's) atomic energy defense activities, up by 6.2 percent to $3.9 billion, mainly in support of weapons activities ($3.0 billion). Proposed defense R&D at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is about $0.4 billion in FY 2005, an increase of 52.2 percent over the preliminary FY 2004 funding level (see below).

Table 2. Federal research and development budget authority for national defense: FY 2003-05.
Table 2 Source Data: Excel file

Proposed R&D in the Department of Homeland Security

R&D funding in DHS is divided among three budget-function categories: national defense, administration of justice, and transportation. While showing signs of growth since the department's creation in 2002, DHS R&D funding would account for less than 1 percent of the total Federal R&D budget authority in FY 2005.[1] Total DHS R&D funding is proposed to increase by 22 percent, from $965 million in FY 2004 to $1.2 billion in FY 2005. About 67 percent of DHS' R&D funds are slated for nondefense functional categories (table 3).

Table 3. Federal R&D budget authority for the Department of Homeland Security, by budget function: FY 2003?05.
Table 3 Source Data: Excel file

Proposed Nondefense R&D Funding

Total nondefense R&D budget authority is expected to increase by $0.7 billion, to $52.9 billion in FY 2005. The nondefense share of Federal R&D budget authority has been decreasing annually, from 47.3 percent in FY 2001 to 41.6 percent in FY 2005. The six functions accounting for most (92 percent) of the nondefense-related R&D activities are discussed below (table 1).

Health. Federal R&D funding for health is expected to increase $0.8 billion from the FY 2004 level, considerably less than the multibillion dollar annual increases provided health R&D from FY 1999 to FY 2004. R&D budget authority for health, which primarily includes programs of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is proposed to increase by 2.8 percent, to $29.0 billion, giving health R&D programs 22.8 percent of the total Federal R&D budget authority.

Space. The Bush administration has proposed a 2.3 percent increase in R&D budget authority, to $7.8 billion, for space research and technology, an increase of $176 million from FY 2004. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) programs account for the entire space research and technology budget. In all, space research and technology accounts for 6.1 percent of the proposed total Federal R&D budget authority.

Science. Research funding for general science is proposed to increase 1.3 percent (0 percent in constant dollars), or by $80 million in FY 2005, to a total of $6.5 billion. The National Science Foundation (NSF) accounts for 59.4 percent ($3.8 billion) of these general-science funds. DOE accounts for the remaining portion ($2.6 billion) of the general-science R&D funds. Under the proposed budget, general science would account for 5.1 percent of the total Federal R&D budget authority.

Environment. Natural resources and environment R&D is budgeted at $2.2 billion in FY 2005, down 3.1 percent from the FY 2004 level. Six agencies provide support for R&D activities in this category: Department of the Interior (30.0 percent), Department of Commerce (28.4 percent), Environmental Protection Agency (26.6 percent), Department of Agriculture (USDA) (13.9 percent), DoD's Army Corps of Engineers (1.0 percent), and Marine Mammal Commission (0.1 percent). Natural resources and environment R&D would account for 1.7 percent of the total Federal R&D budget authority under the proposed budget.

Transportation. Expected funding in FY 2005 for transportation R&D is $1.9 billion, down by $25 million from FY 2004. NASA, at nearly $1 billion, accounts for 48.8 percent of these funds with its aeronautics program. The Department of Transportation accounts for 39.0 percent ($735 million) of the transportation R&D, mainly for ground and air transportation projects. DHS makes up the remaining 12.2 percent at $229 million. Under the proposed budget, transportation R&D would account for 1.5 percent of the total Federal R&D budget authority.

Agriculture. Agriculture R&D is expected to be $1.6 billion in FY 2005, down by 10.1 percent from the FY 2004 funding level. USDA would receive all of these funds. Under the proposed budget, agriculture R&D would account for 1.2 percent of the total Federal R&D budget authority.

Data Collection Notes

Data in the forthcoming report, Federal R&D Funding by Budget Function: Fiscal Years 2003-05, represent agencies' best estimates of actual and proposed Federal funding for R&D as reported during the period February through April 2004. These data are primarily based on information that agencies provide to the Office of Management and Budget and account for nearly all federally sponsored R&D. The report also contains R&D information that became available from the individual agencies after the administration's budget was prepared and reported. Such information consists of agency budget-justification documents submitted to Congress and supplemental, program-specific information obtained from agency budget and program staff through April 2004. Budget numbers for individual activities, programs, or agencies may therefore differ from those published in the President's budget or agency budget documents.

This InfoBrief was prepared by

Ronald L. Meeks
Research and Development Statistics Program
Division of Science Resources Statistics
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA 22230
703-292-7787
rmeeks@nsf.gov

Footnotes

[1] All of the fiscal years reflect the FY 2004 DHS reclassification of its R&D portfolio, where DHS's R&D funding previously classified as general science and agriculture is now classified as administration of justice.



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Last Modified:  Sep 30, 2004.  Contact SRS