On December 23, President Obama signed into law an omnibus bill that will support the government for the rest of fiscal 2012. The final appropriations bill included funding for the NIH, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the FDA and the EPA. Like the fiscal 2012 budgets for the NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Agriculture and part of the FDA, passed in November (see IBO 11/30/11), the amounts designated for the research agencies are less than what the Obama Administration requested. However, funding for most programs increased, albeit meagerly.

The NIH received $30.7 billion for fiscal 2012 (see table, page 3). The largest percentage budget increase among NIH institutes and centers in the table was for the Office of the Director, whose budget increased 25.3% to account for 5% of the agency’s budget. Of the institutes and centers in the table, the largest share of NIH funding was for the National Cancer Institute, which received 17% of the NIH budget. The National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases; and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke received 15%, 10%, 6% and 5% of NIH funds, respectively. All other institutes and centers in the table received less than 1% of NIH funds. The National Center for Research Resources was eliminated to make way for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) (see IBO 6/15/11). In addition to hosting the Clinical and Translational Science Awards and the Office of Rare Diseases Research, the NCATS will also include the Bridging Interventional Development Gaps, Cures Acceleration Network, Components of the Molecular Libraries, and Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases programs. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) estimates that $30.2 billion went toward NIH R&D in fiscal 2012, $1 million more than in fiscal 2011, which is an increase of less than 1%.

The DOE’s budget increased 12.0% for fiscal 2012 to $29.5 billion (see table below). The Office of Science received 15% of DOE funds. Basic Energy Sciences received 34% of the Office of Science’s budget in fiscal 2012, including $100 million for the Energy Frontier Research Centers, $24.3 million to maintain the Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub and $20 million to create the Batteries and Energy Storage Energy Innovation Hub. High Energy Physics, Biological and Environmental Research, Nuclear Physics and Fusion Energy Sciences accounted for 16%, 13%, 11% and 8% of Office of Science funding, respectively. The AAAS estimates that $4.5 billion of the Office of Science’s budget was allocated for R&D, resulting in a 4.9% increase. Elsewhere in the DOE, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) received a 1.6% funding boost to $1.8 billion. Despite the modest increase, the AAAS estimates that the amount designated for R&D within the EERE jumped 36.7% to $1.0 billion.

The EPA’s budget was reduced by $233 million, or 2.7%, for fiscal 2012 (see table below). Nine percent of EPA funds was allocated for Science and Technology. State and Tribal Assistance Grants received the largest chunk of EPA funding at 43%. Environmental Programs and Management received 32%. The Office of the Inspector General and the Buildings and Facilities account received less than 1% of EPA funds. The AAAS estimates that just 7% of the EPA’s budget was for R&D, which is still a 3.1% increase over fiscal 2011.

Discretionary appropriations for the CDC were set at $5.7 billion for fiscal 2012, with an additional $371.4 million available under section 241 of the Public Health Service Act. The total amount represents a 3.9% decrease. The CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases received a 0.6% increase to $253.9 million, including $124.2 million for the Emerging Infectious Diseases program. The CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion received $760.7 million for a 1.6% decrease. The AAAS estimates that 5% of the CDC’s funds were designated for R&D for a decrease of 11.2%.

The FDA’s total budget for fiscal 2012 increased 9.4% to $2.7 billion. Much of the FDA’s budget was finalized in November’s minibus bill. The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition received $883 million, while $329 million was allocated for the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. The AAAS estimates that the percentage spent on R&D at the FDA for fiscal 2012 dropped 28.5% to account for 5% of the FDA’s total budget.

Selected NIH Fiscal 2012 Budget Figures

                                                                            FY12($M)    Chg.

 NIH                                                                         $30,689    1.6%

 Office of Director                                                           $1,462   25.3%

 National Cancer Institute                                                    $5,081    0.5%

 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences                           $576     n/a

 National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases                      $4,500    0.5%

 National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute                                     $3,085    0.5%

 National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases                $1,800    0.5%

 National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke                      $1,629    1.0%

 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences                            $687    0.5%

 National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases          $537    0.5%

 National Human Genome Research Institute                                       $514    0.5%

 National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Biomedical Engineering            $339    8.0%

 Selected DOE Fiscal 2012 Budget Figures 

                                                    FY12($M)      Chg.

 DOE                                                 $29,500     12.0%

 Office of Science                                    $4,889      0.6%

 Basic Energy Sciences                                $1,694      0.9%

 Biological and Environmental Research                  $612      0.0%

 Fusion Energy Sciences                                 $402      7.1%

 High Energy Physics                                    $792      0.5%

 Nuclear Physics                                        $550      1.8%

 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy               $1,825      0.0%

 Algae Biofuels                                          $30       n/a

 Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy               $275     53.1%

 Selected EPA Fiscal 2012 Budget Figures 

                                                     FY12($M)      Chg.

 EPA                                                   $8,460     -2.7%

 Science and Technology                                  $795     -0.5%

 Environmental Programs and Management                 $2,683     -0.8%

 Office of the Inspector General                          $42      2.9%

 State and Tribal Assistance Grants                    $3,618     -1.0%

 Clean Water State Revolving Fund                      $1,468      0.0%

 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund                     $919      0.0%

 Buildings and Facilities                                 $36    -12.2%