{"id":10839,"date":"2014-12-05T13:16:13","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T18:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=10839"},"modified":"2014-12-05T13:16:13","modified_gmt":"2014-12-05T18:16:13","slug":"esa-policy-news-12-05-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2014\/12\/05\/esa-policy-news-12-05-14\/","title":{"rendered":"ESA Policy News December 5: House floats FY 2015 spending deal, NEON scrutinized, Apply for 2015 GSPA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

APPROPRIATIONS: HOUSE FLOATS FY 2015 SPENDING BILL<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week, House leadership announced its plan to continue spending for most government agencies throughout the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 and avert a government shutdown.<\/p>\n

The House\u2019s 2015 omnibus appropriations bill would fund most government agencies through Sept. 30, 2015. The sole exception would be the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which would only be funded through March. The deal has often been nicknamed a \u201ccromnibus\u201d package, given that it\u2019s mostly an omnibus, save for DHS, which is funded at existing levels, much like a continuing resolution.\u00a0 An omnibus is preferential to a continuing resolution in that it gives appropriators more leeway to direct spending levels at a programmatic level.<\/p>\n

GOP lawmakers singled out the DHS because it has jurisdiction over implementation of the president\u2019s controversial immigration executive order to provide a pathway to legal status for an estimated five million undocumented immigrants. The shortened extension would allow next year\u2019s Republican-controlled House and Senate to pass an FY 2015 funding bill with spending constraints on the agency related to the executive order.<\/p>\n

The bill is expected to be introduced on Dec. 8.<\/p>\n

HOUSE: SCIENCE COMMITTEE EXAMINES NEON ACCOUNTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Dec. 3, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee held a hearing to review a series of audits of spending by the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON).<\/p>\n

National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of the Inspector General and the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) conducted the audits. The first 2011 audit found that the documentation proposing a $433.7 million NEON construction project was inadequate to audit as \u201cnone of its proposed cost elements for labor, overhead, equipment, etc., reconcile to its supporting data.\u201d\u00a0Subsequent audits reports were conducted.<\/p>\n

Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) acknowledged \u201cin response to these audits, NSF has made a number of adjustments to how the agency evaluates costs of major projects\u201d while maintaining that \u201c$150 million in unsupported and questionable costs in the NEON proposal demonstrates that major problems at NSF continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic committee members noted there was no representative from NSF itself to provide a balanced perspective. \u00a0An NSF spokesperson has stated that the agency has already addressed some issues raised in the audits and is actively working to resolve others.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the 2011 audit report. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the 2012 audit report. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the 2014 audit report.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for additional information on the hearing.<\/p>\n

NSF: CORDOVA ANNOUNCES REVISED TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY GUIDELINES<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the November National Science Board (NSB) meeting, National Science Foundation (NSF) Director France A. C\u00f3rdova outlined the agency\u2019s new approaches to enhancing transparency and accountability, including a revision to the agency\u2019s guidelines for program officers and providing regular updates on the agency\u2019s transparency and accountability web page.<\/p>\n

The guidelines for program officers in the Proposal and Award Manual now state that a nontechnical project description must explain the project\u2019s significance and importance and \u201cserve as a public justification for NSF funding by articulating how the project serves the national interest, as stated by NSF\u2019s mission: to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; or to secure the national defense.\u201d The titles and abstracts of NSF\u2019s awards are made public on the agency\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for additional information.<\/p>\n

EPA: AGENCY EASES MEDIA RULES FOR SCIENTISTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a memo released last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tempered its media policy, stating that its science advisers may speak to the media as long as they clarify they are not representing the views of the committees they sit on or the agency itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould a [Federal Advisory Committee (FAC)] member receive a press or other inquiry related more generally to their scientific area of expertise or related to their participation in a FAC (other than related to deliberations), they are free to respond to the inquiry in their capacity as a private citizen,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the full EPA memo. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the April document. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the August organizational letter.<\/p>\n

INVASIVES: ESA VOICES CONCERN WITH SALAMANDER FUNGAL DISEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Nov. 20, the Ecological Society of America sent a letter to US Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe requesting that the agency address the threat posed to salamanders by the fungal disease\u00a0Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans\u00a0<\/em>(Bs).<\/p>\n

\u201cBs, a recently described emerging fungal pathogen of Asian origin, most likely carried via the pet trade, is now killing native salamanders in Holland and Belgium,\u201d the letter notes. \u201cAll steps must be taken to keep Bs out of the United States where it does not exist yet. Our native salamanders are known to be vulnerable to decimation by this new disease if it arrives. The US is the global center of salamander diversity. They must be protected for their own sake and because of the significant role they play in the forest ecosystems of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the full letter.<\/p>\n

CLIMATE CHANGE: ESA COSPONSORS CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING ON CLIMATE ENGINEERING<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Dec. 4, the Ecological Society of America helped organize and cosponsor a congressional briefing entitled \u201cClimate Engineering: Future Guiding Principles and Ethics.\u201d The briefing was also sponsored by the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America.<\/p>\n

The briefing featured former House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon, who held a hearing on climate engineering \u2013 also known as geoengineering \u2013 in 2010. Featured speakers also included Paul Bertsch, Deputy Director of Australia\u2019s Land and Water Flagship of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Michael MacCracken, Chief Scientist for Climate Change Programs with the Climate Institute.<\/p>\n

Speakers outlined how the various impacts of global climate change on ecosystems and elaborated on the various options available to mitigate these impacts through climate engineering as well as the challenge of developing a framework of guiding principles and ethics amid current political circumstances.<\/p>\n

POLICY ENGAGEMENT: APPLY FOR 2015 ESA GRADUATE STUDENT POLICY AWARD<\/strong><\/p>\n

ESA invites applications for its 2015 Graduate Student Policy Award (GSPA). This award, offered annually to up to three winners, provides graduate students hands-on science policy experience in Washington, DC including interacting with congressional decision-makers, federal agency officials, and others engaged in science and public policy.<\/p>\n

ESA covers travel and lodging expenses associated with this event for GSPA recipients. The two-day event will occur in late April.<\/p>\n

The application deadline is\u00a0Wednesday, January 14.<\/strong>\u00a0For more information, click this\u00a0link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News\u00a0here.\u00a0 APPROPRIATIONS: HOUSE FLOATS FY 2015 SPENDING BILL This week, House leadership announced its plan to continue spending for most government agencies throughout the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 and avert a government shutdown. The House\u2019s 2015 omnibus appropriations bill…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":10762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,91],"tags":[180,864,60,134,1512,1461,274,597,490,66,67,70,903,1248,11],"class_list":["post-10839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology-in-policy","category-policy-news","tag-bart-gordon","tag-briefing","tag-climate-change","tag-congress","tag-esa-graduate-student-policy-award","tag-funding","tag-geoengineering","tag-graduate-student-policy-award","tag-national-ecological-observatory-network","tag-national-science-foundation","tag-nsf","tag-policy","tag-policy-engagement","tag-public-policy","tag-salamander"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}