FY 1998 BUDGET OVERVIEW, 03/19/1997, Testimony
- Basis Date:
- 19971030
- Chairperson:
- J. Myers
- Committee:
- House Appropriations
- Docfile Number:
- T970319B
- Hearing Date:
- 19970319
- DOE Lead Office:
- S-1
SUB
- Committee:
- Energy and Water Development
- Hearing Subject:
- FY 1998 BUDGET OVERVIEW
- Witness Name:
- F. Pena
-
Hearing Text:
-
Statement of Federico Pena
Secretary
U.S. Department of Energy
before the
House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
March 19, 1997
Mr. Chairman, and members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to
appear before you today to discuss the FY 1998 budget for the
Department of Energy. The budget request reflects this
Administration's strong commitment to the critical work performed
by the Department to secure our nation's future. Our request
proposes critical investments in energy, national security,
environmental quality, and science and technology, to ensure the
availability of solutions to face the challenges that lie ahead.
The President, in his State of the Union message to the Congress,
spoke about our nation's responsibility to keep its commitments
and to provide for the future. An important commitment he spoke
about was fiscal discipline, the duty we have to future
generations to balance the budget. He also spoke of our duty to
future generations to maintain and refresh our nation's capacity
for scientific and technological innovation and, thereby, shape
the future.
These themes, keeping commitments and providing for the future,
are at the heart of the Department's missions. Our sense of
obligation to continue investments that ensure the nation's
security, competitiveness, and improved environmental quality for
generations to come drives our program objectives. Science,
technology, research and development are the common threads tying
together the Department's varied missions and providing the tools
with which to shape our future.
PRIORITIES FOR THE FUTURE
The key priorities driving this budget request are:
1) Enhancing our energy security by developing and
deploying clean and affordable energy supplies, and by
improving the energy efficiency of our economy;
2)Ensuring a safe and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile
and reducing the global nuclear danger;
3)Cleaning up former nuclear weapons sites and finding a
more effective and timely path forward for disposing of
nuclear waste; and
4)Leveraging science and technology to advance fundamental
knowledge and our country's economic competitiveness with a
stronger partnership with the private sector.
Each of these presents unparalleled opportunities and daunting
challenges that will greatly affect the future of our nation and
indeed the world. This budget request reflects the
Administration's commitment to address these key priorities. The
FY 1998 request is an investment in our future. A future with
enough clean, affordable energy to drive a thriving economy, enjoy
global security, continue U.S. leadership in science and
technology, and in which we have cleaned up the environmental
legacy of the Cold War. This request also recognizes the
President's objective to balance the budget by 2002.
INCORPORATING CHANGES IN THE FY 1998 BUDGET REQUEST
This budget request differs from prior years' in that it includes
two financing changes and begins to incorporate performance-based
budgeting which will be required next year as part of the
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
In FY 1998, the Department requests $19.2 billion in discretionary
budget authority which is $2.7 billion above the FY 1997
comparable level. Nearly all of the increase ($2.3 billion) is
the result of two changes in the financing of construction
projects. The first increase ($1.6 billion) reflects a change in
how construction project funds are requested, bringing the
Department in line with the current practices of other agencies
such as the Department of Defense. For the first time the
Department is seeking full funding for construction projects that
are now in the pipeline -- up front, rather than incrementally.
The other increase ($0.7 billion) allows the Department to expand
the privatization pilot in Environmental Management construction
begun last year, from the FY 1997 comparable level of $0.3 billion
to $1.0 billion in FY 1998. All other Departmental programs, or
the core program request, total $16.6 billion in FY 1998, a $0.4
billion increase over the FY 1997 comparable level.
The concepts of results-oriented budgeting, up-front construction
funding, and innovative privatization projects incorporated in
this budget request are consistent with the President's goals to
reinvent the way the government does business.
TREATMENT OF FUTURE CONSTRUCTION COSTS
The Department's budgeting for future construction requires $1.6
billion in additional budget authority this fiscal year. This
request provides full, up-front authority for the total cost of
multi-year construction projects. This does not accelerate
current construction plans or change the way projects were
originally intended to be executed. Thus, no outlays from this
budget authority will occur in FY 1998. However, full
construction funding solves two problems that occur with
incremental project funding.
The full funding approach allows the Administration and the
Congress to decide on the merits of a project knowing its
associated full costs and then to budget accordingly. Often
federal construction projects begin with a small request which may
not reflect the government's total obligation to be paid down the
line. Requesting total expected costs up-front enables more
efficient management with fewer construction stops and delays that
might occur if funding is interrupted. Further, it makes it
easier to hold project managers accountable for delivering
completed construction projects on schedule and within their
original estimated cost.
PRIVATIZATION INITIATIVE
Initiated last year with a $330.0 million appropriation, the
Department began a pilot program to radically change our approach
to the cleanup of nuclear weapons production sites. A total of
$1.0 billion in budget authority is requested this year to expand
the privatization initiative.
Twelve projects have been identified as part of the FY 1998
privatization program. For these projects, the Department will
contract with private parties to construct facilities to deliver
materials processing services in later years. After the privately
constructed facility is operating to the government's
specification, the Department will pay for waste processing
services as they are provided. Thus, outlays will not result
until later fiscal years when the private sector delivers the
services (unless the government withdraws from an initiated
project prior to completion.) The $1.0 billion in budget authority
in this year's request will demonstrate the government's firm
commitment to the privatized projects. With this authority, it is
expected that private firms will be more willing to enter into
this kind of partnership with the government to construct waste
processing facilities.
In comparison to the current government-centered approach to
cleanup, it is our strong belief that privatization should
accelerate completion of cleanup projects and reduce total
taxpayer costs. Privatization holds the potential to move the
government out of a part of the construction and facility
management business, and further benefit taxpayers by shifting
most of the risk and responsibility for construction and operation
of these facilities to the private sector. However, we recognize
that this is an innovative approach and we will work closely with
you to ensure that the privatization concept yields all the
benefits we believe are possible.
PERFORMANCE BASED BUDGETING
The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), enacted in
1993, requires that federal budgets be the outcome of a strategic
planning process, containing performance-based results for
proposed spending requests beginning in FY 1999. At the
Department of Energy, strategic planning has been underway since
the beginning of the Clinton Administration. By stressing these
disciplines over the past four years, this year we are able to
provide the Congress with a budget that begins to implement the
provisions of GPRA and manages for results. The Department will
continue to work with Congress and the Office of Management and
Budget to develop meaningful performance measures for the FY 1999
budget submission.
DELIVERING THE DEPARTMENT'S VITAL MISSIONS
The FY 1998 budget request for the Department of Energy programs
funded under the Energy and Water Development Appropriation is
$18.1 billion. This total includes $1.6 billion for future
construction included in the Energy, Science and National Defense
Asset Acquisition accounts, $1.0 billion for the Environmental
Management Privatization Program, and $15.5 billion for core
programs comparable to the FY 1997 program level of $15.1 billion.
Within the core program request, $4.4 billion is for civilian
activities and $11.1 billion is for defense activities. The core
program request increases $0.4 billion over the FY 1997 comparable
level, $0.3 billion is for civilian programs, and $0.1 billion for
defense activities. The FY 1998 budget request supports the
Department's four key priorities: Energy Resources; National
Security; Environmental Quality; and Science and Technology.
ENERGY RESOURCES: ENSURING SECURE
SUPPLIES OF CLEAN, AFFORDABLE ENERGY
Each day, Americans depend on the benefits of the energy they
consume, usually without considering the role it plays in our
quality of life. However, there have been three major oil
disruptions in the past 23 years, each causing substantial
domestic and international turmoil. In the next 15 years, U.S.
net oil imports will grow to 60 percent of domestic consumption,
and Persian Gulf oil producing nations will increase their oil
production to surpass their peak of 67 percent of global oil
exports in the embargo year of 1974. The potential of this
happening poses severe risks for America's future.
We must have a credible energy strategy that provides for our
energy security and meets our commitment to be responsible
stewards of the environment. Our energy strategy must, at a
minimum:
o increase domestic energy production through smarter
regulation and technological advances to improve
production economics and reduce environmental impacts of
both oil and natural gas development;
o expand the use of natural gas;
o diversify our oil supply options in areas such as the
Western Hemisphere, Central Asia and the Caspian Sea;
o reduce U.S. dependence on insecure sources of foreign
oil by making us more efficient in our use of all
energy;
o develop clean, renewable energy supplies, alternative
transportation fuels, and clean coal technology;
o maintain our Strategic Petroleum Reserve at levels which
meet our international responsibilities and ensure
stability in the event of supply disruptions;
o maintain the safety of nuclear power reactors;
o address the challenge of global climate change; and
o enhance the competitiveness of the electric utility
industry and other sectors of the energy industry.
The Department's budget request proposes commitments in FY 1998 to
achieve these strategic objectives.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Further development of sustainable energy sources and alternatives
to current transportation fuels are key components of the
Administration's energy policy. In support of these objectives,
the Department proposes $329.7 million for solar and renewable
energy programs in FY 1998. This is a 31.3 percent increase from
the FY 1997 enacted level, reflecting the Administration's
commitment to renewable energy as a prominent part of the national
energy portfolio.
The Administration's emphasis on renewable energy reflects what
leading private sector energy planners, including analysts at
Royal Dutch Shell, acknowledge -- renewable energy is a key option
for the 21st Century. Today renewables offer reliable and
environmentally responsible options that are: cost competitive in
many applications, suitable for rural and remote applications, and
free from fuel cost escalation.
World Bank estimates indicate that developing countries alone will
require 5 million megawatts of new generating capacity in the next
30 to 40 years. The world's total installed capacity today is
about 3 million megawatts. This anticipated growth in the energy
demand of developing countries has a potential market value of $5
to $10 trillion. Nations such as Japan and Germany are
aggressively pursuing these opportunities. Japan's total
government expenditures for photovoltaics research, development
and deployment, for example, are three times the current U.S.
budget for photovoltaics. In 1993, the United States accounted
for only 30 percent of worldwide investment in renewable energy,
down from 70 percent in 1975.
Our budget request includes $77.0 million for the Photovoltaic
program, an increase of $17.0 million from the current funding
level. Most of this increase ($12.0 million) will support
Collector Research and Systems Development projects that are cost-
shared with the Utility Photovoltaic Group, an industry
consortium. This collaboration is expected to add 6 megawatts of
installed photovoltaic systems to utility applications early in FY
2001. In addition, the FY 1998 request will enable the
collaboration to facilitate new product development in integrated
photovoltaic components for commercial and residential buildings.
This request increases research in thin-film manufacturing, the
development of solar cells similar to those that now operate hand-
held calculators; and "balance of systems reliability," which
improves the integration of photovoltaic systems into more
traditional energy systems. Research in both of these areas will
help to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic applications, which
will make it increasingly possible to deliver more power using
less space and at lower cost.
Our request for the Biopower/Biofuels program is $76.5 million, an
increase of $21.2 million from the FY 1997 comparable level.
Biomass for power generation holds enormous potential as a
commercially competitive sustainable energy source. If waste
products, such as rice straw or forestry wastes, could be used as
the biomass source, pollution prevention would be an additional
advantage. The FY 1998 request will start construction of four
Biomass Power for Rural Development projects to encourage the
development of sustainable energy crops for use in local biomass
power generating systems. Sharing costs with industry and
utilities, we will initiate development of modular biopower
systems, and design and construct cellulose-to-ethanol biofuels
facilities, to use biomass products as a potential source for
transportation fuels. For our wind energy program, we are
requesting $42.9 million, an increase of $13.8 million, most of
which will support ongoing turbine research for a next generation
technology that promises to achieve 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in
good wind sites by 2002.
We are requesting $45.5 million for Electric Energy Systems and
Storage, an increase of $13.7 million from the FY 1997 comparable
level. Following the 1996 breakthroughs in superconducting wire
research, we will initiate research into high-performance second
generation wire to markedly accelerate high temperature
superconductivity application development, with some
commercialization expected by 2000. This achievement would
increase the efficiency and capacity of electricity transmission
of great importance to the industry, particularly in the
environment of restructuring. We also will meet our cost-sharing
commitment to industrial partners to build a pilot wire
manufacturing plant, to facilitate commercial availability of
high-efficiency wires under the Second Generation Wire Initiative
by FY 1999.
The Department estimates that funding the renewable energy program
at the FY 1998 request level will result in the addition of 20
gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in the United States by
2010 displacing up to 1.2 quads of conventional energy, while
creating high tech jobs and preventing pollution. The biofuels
program is projected to result in the displacement of at least
400,000 barrels of oil per day by 2010, which would reduce the
trade deficit by $3 billion.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
Nuclear energy provides about 22 percent of U.S. electricity
generation and will provide a significant portion of U.S.
electrical energy production for many years to come. Nuclear
power plants in the U.S. make a significant contribution to
lowering the emission of gases associated with global climate
change. Whether or not new nuclear power plants are built in the
U.S. in the foreseeable future, the U.S. has a vital economic
interest in maximizing its investment in its 109 nuclear power
plants in 20 States. In addition, as developing nations expand
their use of electrical energy, nuclear power can make an even
greater contribution to keeping environmentally harmful emissions
in check. The Department's FY 1998 Nuclear Energy R&D program
intends to address issues that will affect the continued viability
of this important energy source in the decades to come.
The Department requests $308.3 million in FY 1998 for core
civilian Nuclear Energy R&D activities. In addition, $22.3
million is requested for transition to full (future) construction
costs for a total request of $330.6 million. The core R&D request
is an increase of $65.5 million from the FY 1997 comparable level.
However, $16.8 million of this increase reflects accounting
changes in the Uranium Program and does not reflect a change in
program activity. In prior years, revenues from the sale of low-
level uranium were used to offset the cost to conduct the
Department's Uranium Program. In FY 1998, the Uranium Program
will be funded entirely from an appropriation within the Energy,
Supply Research and Development account. As proposed, revenues
from the sale of excess uranium will no longer be used to offset
the Department's budget request and, instead, will be deposited
directly to the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury.
With the completion of the Advanced Light Water Reactor program in
FY 1997, the Department's FY 1998 budget for nuclear energy R&D
proposes to address technology issues affecting the continued
viability of the nuclear power option at home and overseas in the
decades ahead by including $39.8 million to initiate a Nuclear
Energy Security Program. Over the next several months, the
Department will work with an independent panel of outside experts
to develop a comprehensive strategy for this initiative to assure
that the nation carries out a strong, coordinated research and
development effort. The panel will advise on programmatic goals,
including the appropriate roles of government, industry, academia
and the national laboratories; on methods and criteria to select
projects for funding; and on means to encourage innovative
collaboration across traditional institutional boundaries in the
conduct of research.
The new program strategy is expected to address the future nuclear
power needs in such areas as: reducing the amount of spent fuel
generated by existing plants; extending the safe, reliable and
economic life of aging plants; and improving current techniques in
inspection, monitoring and repairs.
Nuclear plants continuing to operate in the future will require
skilled technical expertise to ensure maintenance of safe and
reliable operation. In FY 1998, the Department is increasing
support for higher education and research and development at
universities and colleges across the country, providing a total of
$12.3 million under Nuclear Energy's various R&D programs.
Also requested is $47.0 million for Advanced Radioisotope Power
Systems, an increase of $8.2 million from the FY 1997 comparable
level. This level will support an advanced power source for the
NASA Pluto Express mission, and maintain and enhance the Pu-238
production capability, which is an essential power source for
space missions. Additionally, $21.7 million is requested for
Isotope Support. This provides a $9.0 million increase to
establish back-up U.S. production of the isotope molybdenum-99
until more reliable commercial sources become available. This
program addresses serious concerns expressed by the U.S. medical
community about the reliability of the supply of this isotope,
currently used in over 36,000 medical procedures each day in the
U.S.
POWER MARKETING ADMINISTRATIONS
The Department's total FY 1998 request for the Power Marketing
Administrations, (excluding Bonneville Power Administration),
increases by $3.1 million to $237.0 million. This increase from
the FY 1997 comparable level reflects the lack of $47.2 million in
prior year balances previously used to offset program operations.
The fact that these funds are not available in FY 1998 means that
program funding for the Western Area Power Administration, the
Southeastern Power Administration, the Alaska Power
Administration, and the Southwestern Power Administration,
actually decreases by $44.0 million. This decrease will be
accommodated by improvements in managment efficiency and a reduced
need for purchase power funds in FY 1998 because of a good water
year.
This request assumes that the sale of the two Alaska Power
Administration projects, Eklutna and Snettisham, will be completed
by the end of FY 1998. The FY 1998 request also assumes that the
Bonneville, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western Area Power
Administrations will begin to cover their share of the unfunded
liability of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, the
Employees' Health Benefits Fund and the Employees' Life Insurance
Fund.
NATIONAL SECURITY: REDUCING THE NUCLEAR DANGER
The Department's national security programs, excluding defense
Environmental Management funding, constitute about 34 percent of
the total budget and are of vital importance to all Americans.
The Department's key national security priorities are to:
Maintain a safe and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile
without nuclear testing;
Ensure that there is an adequate and timely supply of
tritium; and
Reduce the global nuclear danger by aggressively
pursuing nonproliferation programs, eliminate excess
weapons grade materials, and safely dismantle nuclear
warheads pursuant to international arms control
treaties.
DEFENSE PROGRAMS
The ability of the United States to respond effectively to the
national security challenges of the 21st century will be
determined by the decisions we make and actions we now take. The
United States has agreed to the indefinite extension of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, ratified START II, and signed
the zero-yield Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The CTBT, is
the most significant arms control accord signed since the
beginning of the nuclear arms race, and is a fitting capstone to
the 20th century. Once ratified by the 44 nuclear capable states,
any nuclear weapons test explosion will be banned. At the present
time, 41 of the 44 states have signed the Treaty.
Within this new strategic context, the Department must continue to
ensure the safety, security and reliability of the enduring
stockpile, without nuclear testing. The Department will meet this
national security challenge through the vigorous implementation of
the integrated Stockpile Stewardship and Management program, a
scientific and technical challenge perhaps as formidable as the
Manhattan Project.
In FY 1998, the Department request $4,044.5 million for the core
budget of Defense Programs. In addition, $1,034.2 million is
requested for transition to full (future) construction activities,
for a total request of $5,078.7 million. The core budget request,
excluding future construction funds, is a 3.4 percent increase
from the FY 1997 comparable level for Defense Programs.
The Department's Stockpile Stewardship and Management programs
seek to ensure a safe and reliable nuclear deterrent without
underground testing. In FY 1998, the program will maintain the
core intellectual and technical competencies of the weapons plants
and laboratories, and resume underground testing at the Nevada
Test Site if directed to do so by the President. Consistent with
Presidential Directives and Senate conditions of ratification of
the START II Treaty, the program will provide the ability to
reconstitute weapons production capacities should national
security so demand in the future. The FY 1998 request supports a
program plan which has been endorsed by the Department of Defense
and the Nuclear Weapons Council.
Stockpile Stewardship
The FY 1998 core budget request for Stockpile Stewardship
activities is $1,740.9 million. In addition, $752.8 million is
requested for transition to full (future) construction, the
majority of which is for construction of the National Ignition
Facility (NIF). Within the $217.0 million requested for Inertial
Confinement Fusion is $31.1 million for pre-construction
activities related to the NIF. The "core construction cost" of the
NIF is $197.8 million. The transition to full (future)
construction funding for NIF is $678.6 million, for a total
construction cost of $876.4 million. Completion of the NIF is
targeted for 2003.
In FY 1998, $204.8 million is requested for the Accelerated
Strategic Computing Initiative and $151.5 million for Stockpile
Computing. As a key element of science based stockpile
stewardship, the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI)
needs to achieve at least a five order of magnitude increase in
computing capability. This level of computing is essential to
maintain the safety, security and performance of the stockpile in
the absence of underground nuclear testing. Progress to date has
resulted in a ten fold increase in computing performance from a
year ago. An increase of $53.2 million is included for the
Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative to maintain the
momentum recently achieved in our simulation and computing
efforts. In December 1996, the Accelerated Strategic Computing
Initiative program demonstrated the ability to do more than 1
trillion operations per second (Teraops). With the new
breakthrough, computations that took hundreds of hours can be
performed in hours. For example, one complex simulation that
previously took 74 days to run was completed in just 7 hours on a
portion of the teraops computer. The FY 1998 request will sustain
critical code development and enable complete installation of our
1.8 Teraops platform, deliver a 3.0 Teraops platform, and allow
contracting for the next system in our multi-year acquisition
plan, a 10.0 Teraops research platform.
Stockpile Management
For Stockpile Management operations and maintenance, the
Department requests $1,828.5 million in FY 1998, a $6.0 million
decrease from the FY 1997 comparable level. In addition, $453.0
million is requested for incremental and transition to full
(future) construction. The FY 1998 request supports the
Department's dual-track strategy to obtain a reliable source of
tritium, essential to the operation of nuclear weapons and
includes a total of $392.5 million for Tritium source activities;
$262.0 million is within the core budget request for FY 1998.
This level provides full funding for Title I design activities
associated with the Accelerator Production of Tritium ($168.6
million), of which $100.7 million supports transition to full
(future) construction; and full funding for Title I/II design
activities for the Extraction Facility ($39.5 million), of which
$29.8 million supports transition to full (future) construction.
The FY 1998 request will allow for development of information
needed to select a primary technology source for new tritium.
NONPROLIFERATION
The worldwide proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
their missile delivery systems have emerged as one of the most
serious dangers confronting the United States. In November, 1994
and every year since, President Clinton has stated that, "the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction continues to pose an
unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign
policy, and economy of the United States." The President also
declared the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical
weapons, and the means to deliver such weapons, a national
emergency through Executive Order 12938.
As one of the nation's highest priorities, we must proactively
address this problem that has broad consequences for international
security and stability. At least 20 countries -- some of them
hostile to the United States -- already have or may be developing
weapons of mass destruction. Additionally, safety and security of
existing nuclear weapons and materials are of increasing concern
as economic and social pressures mount in countries such as
Russia, Ukraine, Kazakstan and Belarus. The Department is
currently working to secure nuclear materials at over 40 sites
within the Former Soviet Union.
With a total request of $668.0 million, the Department will
continue this emphasis and accelerate activities in critical areas
such as export controls, nuclear materials protection, control and
accounting, and prevention of the spread of technology and
expertise associated with weapons of mass destruction. Within
this request is $234.6 million for the Arms Control program, an
increase of $18.4 million over the FY 1997 comparable level. This
includes, $30.0 million for the Initiatives for Proliferation
Prevention program (previously called the Industrial Partnering
Program) which draws scientists, engineers, and technicians from
the Former Soviet Union nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons
programs into commercial ventures. Also included is $137.0
million for Materials Protection Control and Accounting, which
seeks to limit the use of fissile materials worldwide, establish
transparent and irreversible nuclear arms reductions, strengthen
the nonproliferation regime, and control nuclear related exports.
The Department's mission in Nonproliferation and National Security
expanded last year, when this subcommittee appropriated $17.0
million to undertake a research and development program to detect
the presence, transportation, production and use of materials to
make biological and chemical weapons. This program expands in FY
1998 and the request includes $23.0 million to address the
Department's emergency management capabilities to provide critical
information necessary for an effective response to chemical and
biological incidents. The request includes $13.0 million to
increase support for initiatives that reduce the danger of nuclear
smuggling and the associated potential for nuclear terrorism. A
recent accomplishment in this program is the development of the
Radiation Pager, that can be worn on the belt of U.S. Customs
Service and law enforcement personnel to alert them to the
presence of nuclear materials.
This request also includes $47.2 million for the Nuclear
Safeguards and Security program which will support
declassification activities to ensure that classified information
is not released under the implementation of Executive Order 12958.
SURPLUS FISSILE MATERIALS
In the aftermath of the Cold War, significant quantities of
weapons-usable fissile materials have become surplus to national
defense needs both in the United States and Russia. The danger
exists not only in the potential proliferation of nuclear weapons,
but also in the potential for environmental, safety and health
consequences if the materials are not properly safeguarded and
managed. The objectives of the Office of Fissile Materials
Disposition are: to achieve safe, secure, cost-effective and
inspectable long-term storage of surplus weapons materials; and
ensure the disposition of surplus materials that precludes their
reuse in nuclear weapons.
In January, 1997, the Department issued a Record of Decision
regarding the storage of all weapons-usable fissile materials and
the disposition of surplus plutonium. The Department will reduce
the number of sites where plutonium is stored through a
combination of storage alternatives and disposition alternatives.
Surplus plutonium pits from Rocky Flats, Colorado will be moved to
Pantex in Texas. Stabilized and separated non-pit plutonium from
Rocky Flats will be moved to Savannah River, Georgia (after
completion of an expansion to a new storage facility). Storage of
surplus plutonium at other sites will continue, pending
disposition. Highly enriched uranium will continue to be stored
at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, pending disposition of the surplus.
To accomplish these objectives in FY 1998, the Department requests
level funding of $103.8 million for Fissile Materials Control and
Disposition activities. This will allow the program to continue
consolidation of long-term storage by completing the shipment of
Rocky Flats Plutonium Pits to Pantex, and to complete facility
designs for Savannah River and Pantex. In FY 1998, the program
will continue highly enriched uranium disposition efforts;
complete site-specific environmental reviews and select site(s)
for plutonium disposition; complete conceptual design for a pit
disassembly and conversion facility (ARIES); complete
immobilization process development and Mixed Oxide (MOX)/Reactor
contractor selection processes; conduct research and development
on disposition technologies; and continue small scale tests and
demonstrations with Russia and other nations.
WORKER AND COMMUNITY TRANSITION
The Worker and Community Transition program was established to
assure the fair treatment of workers and communities affected by
the Department of Energy's changing missions after the Cold War.
By the end of FY 1998, the Department projects a contractor
workforce total of about 96,000, a decrease of more than 52,000
from the highest contractor employment level at the end of FY
1992. In FY 1998, the Department requests $70.5 million for
Worker and Community Transition. Of this request, approximately
53 percent will go toward workforce restructuring requirements, 40
percent will provide community transition assistance, and 7
percent will support program direction. In FY 1998, this program
will perform the asset management function previously performed in
the Office of Policy to better coordinate the Department's
enhanced effort to dispose of surplus assets and generate revenue
for the federal government.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
The Department requests $81.0 million for nuclear energy programs
within Other Defense Activities, a $12.5 million increase from the
FY 1997 comparable level.
The collapse of the Soviet Union left many emerging democratic
countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet
Union without the technical and financial resources needed to
operate the Soviet-designed nuclear power plants in a safe manner.
Since 1992, Nuclear Energy has led the Department's efforts to
develop a nuclear safety infrastructure and establish a safety
culture at power plants in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in
the region. The goal of the Department's International Nuclear
Safety Program is to reduce the health and environmental threats
posed by aging nuclear reactors in these nations and to prevent
the occurrence of a devastating Chornobyl-type accident.
One of the program's most important near-term efforts is to
cooperate with Russia to convert the current reactor cores to non-
weapons-grade plutonium producing cores, allowing the affected
communities to continue producing much needed energy while a long-
term nonproliferation strategy is developed. The Chornobyl
Initiative program is another activity directed at the national
security and environmental threats posed by the continued
operation of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. The program is
focused on securing the eventual closure of the Chornobyl plant
and addressing the ultimate disposition of Chornobyl's destroyed
Unit-4.
For International Nuclear Safety activities, the request of $50.0
million will continue the Department's effort to reduce the
national security and environmental threats posed by the operation
of risky Soviet designed nuclear power plants. In FY 1998, this
program will continue to cooperate with host countries to improve
the physical condition of Soviet designed reactors ($16.5 million)
and to establish sound operating procedures and responses to
operational abnormalities ($17.5 million). The Nuclear Security
request of $4.0 million will continue spent fuel management
activities related to breeder reactors and other international
cooperation efforts. Core conversion activities will be funded
from a transfer of funds, a total of $80.0 million over three
years, expected from the Department of Defense. In FY 1998, $2.0
million is requested to support activities relating to the
shutdown of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.
In FY 1998, Nuclear Technology R&D will continue efforts at
Argonne National Laboratory - West to complete demonstration of
the application of electrometallurgical technology to treat
sodium-bearing spent fuel removed from the Experimental Breeder
Reactor-II (EBR-II) so that it can be disposed of safely.
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY:
ACCELERATING PROGRESS, MEETING COMMITMENTS
Fifty years of manufacturing nuclear weapons in support of World
War II and the Cold War has left a legacy of environmental
contamination. The U.S. Department of Energy is comparable to a
major industrial complex that at one time was the largest
government-owned industry in the U.S. The Department's facilities
occupy a total area of about 2.1 million acres -- equal in size to
the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. This enormous
infrastructure still exists, and is largely being maintained and
remediated by the Environmental Management program, the largest
environmental stewardship program in the world.
The Department is taking an aggressive approach to cleaning up the
nation's former nuclear weapons sites. Millions of Americans want
prompt, safe, and efficient cleanup of their communities. The
Department now is achieving "on the ground" results under a program
that is far more cost-effective than it was four years ago. This
is being accomplished by working cooperatively with the states,
local officials, and citizens; and through improved contracting,
technology development, and risk management. The Department is
moving toward completion of remedial actions at many sites over
the next decade.
Equally daunting is the disposal of commercial nuclear spent fuel
and defense high-level waste. This effort requires that we answer
with confidence the fundamental scientific question on the
viability of Yucca Mountain as a site for nuclear waste disposal.
This request allows for completion of a viability assessment by
September 30, 1998.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
The Department's total FY 1998 core budget request for programs
managed by the Office of Environmental Management programs is
$5,763.7 million. This includes: $5,218.2 million for the core
budget of Defense Environmental Restoration and Waste Management,
$684.7 million for core Non-Defense Environmental Restoration and
Waste Management, $248.8 for Uranium Enrichment Decontamination
and Decommissioning, and a transfer payment of $388.0 million from
Defense Environmental Restoration and Waste Management to the
Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Program.
In addition, $477.0 million is requested for the transition to
full (future) construction funding and $1.006 billion of budget
authority for privatization. Adding together the requests for the
core budget, future construction, and privatization, the total FY
1998 request for the Office of Environmental Management is
$7,246.7 million.
The Department's budget requests $1,744.6 million in FY 1998 for
core Defense Environmental Restoration activities. This level
continues to emphasize accomplishment of actual cleanup rather
than studies. The program's FY 1998 objective is to complete
cleanup at over 400 release sites, to bring the total to 4,002
completed release sites out of 8,862. This request will also
support the decommissioning of 50 to 70 facilities for a total
number of about 352 completed facilities out of 1,090.
In FY 1998, $1,536.3 million is requested for core Defense Waste
Management activities. In addition, $377.5 million is requested
for transition to full (future) construction funding for a total
request of $1,913.8 million. This funding initiates operation of
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico in
FY 1998, pending completion of statutory and regulatory
requirements. This request also continues low-level waste
disposal at six sites, high-level waste treatment at the Defense
Waste Processing Facility, and implementation of site treatment
plans consistent with the Federal Facility Compliance Act. Also
proposed are two re-engineering pilot projects at Kansas City and
Savannah River to turn over responsibility and funding to the
waste generators for newly generated waste to reduce the cost of
waste management at these sites.
In FY 1998, $1,203.0 million is requested for the core budget of
Defense Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization. In addition,
$99.4 million is requested for the transition to full (future)
construction funding for a total of $1,302.4 million. This
request continues management of activities at surplus weapons
complex facilities, including the processing of nuclear materials
for long-term storage and deactivation of facilities. At the
proposed level of funding the program anticipates significant
stabilization of nuclear material and spent fuel at Idaho,
Savannah River, and Richland, including full deactivation of the B
Plant at Richland.
Additionally, $50.0 million is requested in FY 1998 for
Environmental Science and $257.9 million for Technology
Development. The majority ($42.0 million) of the Environmental
Science request will be managed as grants under the Department's
Basic Energy Sciences program within the Office of Energy
Research, to support fundamental research projects relating to
environmental cleanup. The FY 1998 request for Technology
Development continues R&D activities and proposes $50.0 million
for a technology deployment initiative to accelerate site cleanup
through aggressive deployment of existing technologies.
The Department's FY 1998 budget request for Non-Defense
Environmental Management is $684.7 million, a $96.4 million
increase over the FY 1997 comparable level. The most significant
increase ($129.6 million) is in Environmental Restoration with a
total request of $457.6 million. Most notable within this request
is a $107.0 million increase to accelerate cleanup at the various
Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Project (FUSRAP) sites
throughout the country. On this funding trajectory, completed
clean up of existing FUSRAP sites is targeted to occur in FY 2002,
14 years sooner than the current baseline completion date of 2016.
The program is working with affected communities and regulators to
reach agreement on appropriate clean up strategies to meet this
target. These strategies will, in turn, be used to guide the
priorities for this program.
Current law identifies 46 FUSRAP sites. As of the end of FY 1996,
23 of the 46 sites were completed. In FY 1998, the requested
increase will enable clean up to begin at five FUSRAP sites:
Ashland 1 and Ashland 2, and the Seaway Industrial Park in New
York; and the Luckey site and Painsville site in Ohio.
Significant acceleration will also be achieved at four of the
largest FUSRAP sites: the St. Louis site in Missouri; the Maywood
and Wayne sites in New Jersey; and the Colonie site in New York.
A total of $153.0 million is requested in Non-Defense Waste
Management to continue ongoing efforts to work with regulators and
stakeholders to reduce long-term risk, improve compliance, and
reduce costs. Within this request is funding to complete Phase I
treatment of high-level waste at the West Valley Demonstration
Project in New York. The FY 1998 request for Non-Defense Nuclear
Material and Facility Stabilization is $71.8 million to continue
activities that safeguard the public and the environment from
possible contamination from surplus non-defense facilities and
materials.
URANIUM ENRICHMENT DECOMMISSIONING AND DECONTAMINATION FUND
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 authorizes annual deposits into the
Uranium Enrichment Decontamination & Decommissioning (UE D&D)
account. Domestic utilities are to be assessed and the remainder
of the annual deposit comes from annual appropriations within the
Defense Environmental Restoration program, $388.0 million in FY
1998. In FY 1998, the Department requests $248.8 million from the
Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund. This request will continue
decommissioning and remediation activities addressing pre-existing
conditions at the three gaseous diffusion plants located in Oak
Ridge, TN; Paducah, KY; and Portsmouth, Ohio, now leased to the
United States Enrichment Corporation. In addition, $40.5 million
will be used for uranium and thorium reimbursements.
CIVILIAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
The Department requests an appropriation of $380.0 million for
Nuclear Waste Disposal Fund activities in FY 1998. Within this
amount, $325.0 million is requested to allow the Department to
complete the viability assessment of the Yucca Mountain repository
site by September 30, 1998. The program is continuing licensing
activities with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and
Environmental Protection Agency. Upon completion of the viability
assessment, if the Yucca Mountain site is determined to be a
viable option, the program will prepare the additional information
required for the Secretary of Energy's site recommendation to the
President and the license application to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY AND HEALTH
The Department's total request for programs managed by the Office
of Environment, Safety and Health is $162.9 million. This
consists of $108.9 million requested for civilian programs and
$54.0 million requested within the Other Defense Activities
appropriation. For civilian activities, this is a 4.9 percent
decrease from the FY 1997 comparable level, but an 11.7 percent
increase from the FY 1997 comparable level for defense activities.
The request for civilian programs will continue such efforts as
improvement of the safety and health of workers throughout the
Department's complex, provision of direct assistance to improve
field safety and health programs, and assurance of compliance with
all National Environmental Policy Act related environmental review
requirements.
The most significant change in FY 1998 is an increase of $6.7
million for the defense funded Health Studies program ($25.5
million). In FY 1998, all Departmental support for the
Occupational Medicine former workers program has been consolidated
within Environment, Safety and Health, increasing Health Studies
by $4.8 million. In addition, this request will support
continuation of U.S.- Russian studies of contaminated regions,
epidemiological surveillance of DOE workers, identification of
occupational health concerns, and $6.8 million to continue the
Marshall Islands medical surveillance program.
For the civilian Health Studies program, $18.7 million is
requested to support the Department's commitments with State
health departments and the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services to assess health impacts resulting from Departmental
operations. Also requested is $14.5 million in defense funding
for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation to continue to
monitor the effects of radiation resulting from atomic bombings
and promote the welfare of the atomic bomb survivors.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: IDEAS FOR TOMORROW'S JOBS AND INDUSTRIES
The Department is working to ensure that the United States
maintains its leadership in science and technology. The
Department's National Laboratories are the "crown jewels" of U.S.
scientific
leadership, providing unique research opportunities to more than
15,000 scientists working in hundreds of U.S. companies,
universities and federal laboratories.
The Department's support enables scientists to conduct
breakthrough research in: high energy physics, cancer genetics,
global climate change, superconducting materials, accelerator
technologies and supercomputing. From stockpile stewardship and
clean energy, to environmental cleanup and nuclear waste disposal,
all of the Department's key programs depend on our laboratories',
universities', and industry partners' path-breaking science and
technology. The Department is committed to the support of this
extremely valuable national resource and will continue efforts to
enhance management efficiencies in work relating to the
laboratories.
All investments to promote national scientific excellence beyond
the year 2000 cannot their full potential if the American people
do not have the appropriate skills. Given the current problem of
math and science illiteracy, this should be of concern to us all.
The Department has the opportunity to help. We have an extensive
network of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians which can be
used to prepare America's young people to carry out the science of
the future. I am aware of this Subcommittee's action to eliminate
in FY 1997, funding for the Department's science education
programs. In the months ahead, I would like to work with you to
tap into the Department's significant educational resources for
the benefit of the nation's young people, in a way that we can
both enthusiastically support.
ENERGY RESEARCH - ENERGY SUPPLY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
In FY 1998, the Department requests a total of $1,499.2 million
for core Energy Research and an additional $23.0 million for
transition to full (future) construction funding for a total of
$1,522.2 million. The Department's highest Energy Research
priorities in FY 1998 are to move the U.S. toward international
leadership in neutron science, develop the Next Generation
Internet, maintain scientific user facilities utilization, sustain
high energy physics at the scientific frontier, implement a
redirected fusion energy sciences program, and provide for
targeted research investments within a constrained budget.
Neutron science is a Departmental research priority because of its
importance for fundamental discoveries and practical benefits.
Chemical companies use neutrons to make better fibers, plastics,
and highly efficient and selective catalysts; automobile
manufacturers use the penetrating power of neutrons to understand
how to cast and forge gears and brake discs in order to make cars
run more efficiently and more safely; airplane manufacturers use
neutron radiography for nondestructive testing of defects in
airplane wings, engines, and turbine blades; and drug companies
use neutrons to design drugs with higher potency and fewer side
effects.
Funding for neutron science is included within the Department's
$668.2 million request for the core Basic Energy Sciences program.
An additional $4.0 million is requested for the transition to full
(future) construction funding in Basic Energy Sciences, for a
total of $672.2 million. Within this program, the most
significant changes relate to neutron science: the budget proposes
the design and fabrication of instrumentation for the Short Pulse
Spallation Source at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center ($4.5
million), and the National Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge,
Tennessee ($23.0 million). The Department also operates a large
number of major scientific user facilities (such as the Advanced
Photon Source at Argonne National Lab) and the Basic Energy
Sciences request also restores operation of user facilities to the
FY 1996 level and includes full funding ($11.0 million) for the
construction of the Combustion Research Facility, Phase II, at
Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, California.
In meeting the needs of scientific and research community to live
in the future, the President has proposed the Next Generation
Internet Initiative (NGI) enabling our national laboratories and
universities to develop an infrastructure that will propel our
Nation's competitive edge in the global economy well into the next
century.
The NGI initiative is a multi-agency effort that includes the
Defense Department, Energy Department, National Science
Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the
Commerce Department. The Department and its peer agencies will
work together to coordinate research activities and technology
knowledge to build a foundation of computer network technology and
applications for the future. The Initiative provides $100 million
per year for the next three years to participating federal
agencies to carry out its scientific and technological goals by
investing $40 million in Defense, $35 million in Energy, $10
million in the National Science Foundation, $10 million in NASA
and $5 million in Commerce.
The Energy Department is a co-leader with the National Science
Foundation in encouraging partnership opportunities for
universities, national laboratories and industry and is leading
the effort to fully support the initiative's core goals: by the
year 2000, to connect 10 universities and national laboratories at
1,000 times faster than their current internet system, and connect
100 universities and national laboratories at 100 times faster
than today's internet; promote experimentation with networking
technologies; and demonstrate new applications important to
networking systems.
The Department has been assigned a major role because it has
managed a balanced research program relevant to the goals of the
Next Generation Internet and already has capabilities essential to
the initiative's success. For example, for more than ten years
the Department has operated the Energy Sciences Network (ESNet),
which is widely regarded as the best large-scale network in the
federal government and one of the most technically advanced pieces
of the current internet for research. ESNet provides a way for
researchers at universities, laboratories and other federal
agencies to conduct experiments at the Department's user
facilities and share and analyze research findings through
Internet technology. These 'virtual co-laboratories' will be a
test bed of experimentation to the Next Generation Internet
Initiative.
The request for Biological and Environmental Research is $376.7
million which will continue basic research into the environmental
and health effects associated with energy production and use.
Within this request is $157.0 million for Life Sciences. A total
of $85.0 million is provided to continue work relating to the
Human Genome Project. This $7.2 million increase from the FY 1997
comparable level will accelerate the rate of DNA sequencing by
four times the current rate. This research will continue to yield
keys to human illness such as the recently identified gene thought
responsible for certain migraine headaches and a severe blood
disease called Fanconi's Anemia.
Also, within Biological and Environmental Research is a small ($7
million in FY 1998) but exciting program, the Microbial Genome
Program. This has accomplished the complete genomic sequencing of
several microbes of potentially great importance, from the
production of energy, to improving the understanding of the effect
of radiation on living cells, and to the cleanup of radioactive
wastes. Last August, a company funded by the Department announced
it had sequenced the genome of a methane producing microbe that
lives 8,000 feet deep in ocean thermal vents at 250 atmospheres of
pressure, and 185 degrees Fahrenheit. These pressures would
easily crush ordinary submarines. Noted by Discover magazine as
one of the key scientific advances of 1996, and carried by the New
York Times and the prestigious journal Science as front page
articles, the sequencing of the genome of this microbe also
confirmed the existence of the third branch of life that
previously only had been suspected -- the archea. The story was
deemed to be of sufficient public interest to be covered that
evening in all the major broadcast network news shows.
In FY 1998, $28.1 million is requested for bioremediation research
to help resolve many of the questions that currently prevent
bioremediation from being a major tool for environmental cleanup.
In addition, $29.1 million is requested for the first year of full
operation of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at
Pacific Northwest Laboratory completed in FY 1997. Together,
these activities will help to resolve many of the questions that
prevent bioremediation from being a major weapon in the arsenal of
tools for environmental cleanup.
For Fusion Energy Sciences, the Department is requesting $225.0
million. This level of funding will support a restructured Fusion
Energy Sciences program that focuses on innovations and scientific
discoveries while strengthening ties to other fields of science.
The working fuel of fusion is a plasma, a gas of charged
particles. The plasma is confined experimentally by magnetic
fields or, in some cases, by the instantaneous pressure of
powerful lasers (inertial confinement). When confined by magnetic
fields at sufficiently high temperatures and pressures, the plasma
particles "fuse" and release fusion energy. The bulk of the U.S.
fusion energy research program is focused on developing techniques
for confinement of these high temperature plasmas by magnetic
fields.
The program will focus on fusion science, including fusion plasma
and general plasma experimental research, and alternative concepts
to tokamaks which are doughnut-shaped structures that hold the
plasmas. Because the Department's Fusion Energy program can no
longer support experiments of its size and scale, the Tokamak
Fusion Test Reactor, at Princeton Plasma Physics National
Laboratory in New Jersey, will be placed in mothball status in FY
1997. This frees up $24.8 million in FY 1998 for enhancements of
fusion devices of a smaller scale: the Alcator C-Mod at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts;
the DIII-D facility at General Atomics in San Diego, California;
and the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at the
Princeton Plasma Physics National Laboratory in New Jersey.
Funding for the core Multiprogram Energy Labs Facility Support
program is level with the FY 1997 comparable appropriation of
$21.3 million. In addition, $19.0 million is requested as
transition to full construction (future construction) funding for
a total of $40.3 million.
ENERGY RESEARCH - GENERAL SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
In FY 1998, the Department requests a total of $1,001.2 million
for core General Science and Research and an additional $16.6
million for transition to full construction for a total General
Science request of $1,017.8 million.
The request includes $675.0 million for the core budget of the
High Energy Physics program. This program seeks to understand the
nature of matter and energy at the most fundamental level, as well
as the four basic forces which govern all processes in nature.
During the past three decades, high energy physicists, many of
them working at Department of Energy supported accelerator
laboratories and universities, have established that neutrons and
protons, once regarded as basic building blocks of matter, are
themselves composed of particles called quarks.
Progress in high energy physics research depends on the
availability of forefront experimental facilities, effective use
of specialized particle detectors, and the availability of new
state-of-the-art upgraded accelerators, colliders, and detectors.
The Department supports three major accelerator centers, each of
which provides unique capabilities and is operated as a national
facility open to qualified experimenters around the nation and
abroad on the basis of the scientific merit of their proposed
research. Approximately 2,000 U.S. scientists and 200-300 foreign
scientists work at these facilities at any given time.
The U.S. will finalize negotiations to participate in the CERN
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland -- a machine
that will have about 7 times the proton energy of world's highest
energy accelerator, the Tevatron. Funding for the LHC increases
from the FY 1997 level of $15.0 million to $35.0 million in FY
1998. In addition, an advance appropriation through FY 2004 of
$394.0 million is requested in FY 1998 to fund the Department's
participation in the CERN collaboration. The total Department of
Energy contribution to the LHC will be $450.0 million from FY 1996
through FY 2004, with much of this funding going to U.S.
laboratories, universities and industry.
The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) is home to
the Tevatron, which supplies energetic particles for both fixed-
target and colliding beam research programs. The colliding-beam
research program has two very large detector facilities, the
Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) and the D-Zero detector, which
complement each other in having different technical capabilities.
In FY 1998, the Department is requesting $35.0 million for these
detectors, an increase of $20.6 million from the FY 1997
comparable level.
In FY 1998, $315.9 million is requested for the core budget of the
Nuclear Physics program, which seeks to gain better understanding
of the structure and interactions of atomic nuclei and the
fundamental forces and particles of nuclear matter. In addition,
$16.6 million is requested for transition to full construction
(future construction) funding, for a total of $332.5 million.
This request provides increased funding ($8.0 million) for the
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory
which will maintain the construction schedule for a targeted
completion in FY 1999. The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator
Facility will operate for 4,500 hours with all three major
experimental halls completed and available for experiments to
continue understanding of quarks and their interactions with other
internal nucleons. Operations and research at the Radioactive Ion
Beam (RIB) facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will continue
at the FY 1997 level with additional funding provided for capital
equipment to expand beam variety. This level of funding will
allow the facility to operate for 2,000 hours for studies of
processes which are crucial to our understanding of how complex
nuclei are being synthesized in stars and supernovas.
DEPARTMENTAL ADMINISTRATION
In keeping with the clear intent of the Congress, staffing for the
headquarters administration offices funded within the Departmental
Administration appropriation has been reduced significantly over
the last two years. Funded within this appropriation are the
Offices of Human Resources and Administration, General Counsel,
Congressional, Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Policy, Chief
Financial Officer, Field Management, Economic Impact and
Diversity, and Board of Contract Appeals. Including the Office of
the Secretary, the FY 1998 request supports 1,319 full time
equivalents (FTEs), a 31 percent decrease from the FY 1995 FTE
allocation of 1,920. Departmental Administration staffing,
excluding the Office of the Secretary, peaked at a head count of
1,862 on May 27, 1995, declined to a FY 1996 end of year
headcount of 1,602, and by January of 1997, this had been reduced
to a head count of 1,328. This will decrease further to our
projected FY 1998 end of year headcount of 1,297.
This request provides $104.5 million for salary and benefit costs
to support 1,297 FTE employees, excluding the Office of the
Secretary. Proposed within this request is $8.0 million to
finance a Corporate Management Information System initiative to
reduce systems duplication and increase efficiency within the
Departmental complex. A $5.8 million increase is proposed for
Cost of Work for Others ($32.1 million) to continue to support the
cost of products and services provided by the field offices and
national laboratories for users outside of the Department.
FIELD OPERATIONS
To support the operations of the Department's four multi-purpose
field operations offices in Chicago, Idaho, Oak Ridge, and
Oakland, the budget request includes $100.2 million, an increase
of $1.8 million from the FY 1997 comparable level to support the
costs of inflation and pay increases. This request adheres to the
Strategic Alignment Initiative staffing reduction targets
established in FY 1995 and supports 958 full-time equivalent
employees in FY 1998. Employment has already been reduced in the
four field offices by 14 percent since FY 1995, and is projected
to be reduced by 22 percent through FY 2000.
CONCLUSION
The Department's FY 1998 budget request represents a balanced
portfolio of investments in energy technologies required for the
nation's advancement into the 21st century. This budget request
stays on course to ensure America's future in the areas of:
energy, national security, environmental quality and science and
technology. These investments are critical, now more than ever.
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