Appropriations for R&D-funding Agencies

The major federal R&D funding agencies all received significant funding through ARRA, including:

Department of Health and Human Services

A total of $10 billion will be provided to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which will be distributed among the following entities:

• The Office of the Director of the NIH will receive $8.2 billion. Of that amount, $7.4 billion will go to support general scientific research at the various institutes and centers within the NIH, and the remaining $800 million will be chosen at the discretion of the NIH Director for short-term grants that can be completed within two years. These allocations to the NIH are not subject to SBIR/STTR set-aside requirements.
• The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) will receive $1.3 billion. Competitive awards to build or renovate non-federal research facilities will receive $1 billion while the remaining $300 million will be used to purchase share instrumentation and other capital research equipment.
• $500 million will be directed for construction and improvement projects at federal NIH buildings and facilities.

An allocation of $1.1 billion will go towards comparative effectiveness research, to examine the clinical outcomes, effectiveness, risk and benefits of two or more medical treatments for a particular condition. The funding will be divided in the following manner, according to the conference report: $300 million to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), $400 million to the offices of the director of the NIH, and $400 million to be used at the discretion of the secretary of HHS.

NASA

NASA will receive $1 billion through ARRA with $400 million targeted for earth science climate research missions and improving NASA's supercomputing capabilities; $150 million for activities related to aviation safety, environmental impact mitigation and the NextGen Air Transportation System; $400 million for exploration activities; and, $50 million for cross-agency support, with the priority of spending for NASA-owned facilities damaged in 2008 by hurricanes and natural disasters.

National Science Foundation

Funding in the bill for the National Science Foundation (NSF) is set for $3 billion. The breakout for the agency, whose entire budget was $6.065 billion in FY08, is distributed in the following manner:

• $2.5 billion for research and related activities. Of that amount, $300 million is for the major research instrumentation program and $200 million is for the modernization of academic facilities. In the conference report, advancing supercomputing is mentioned as a priority.
• $400 million is for major research equipment and facilities construction.
• $100 million for education and human resources with $60 million going to the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, $25 million for math and science partnerships, and $15 million for professional science master's programs.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The bill provides $580 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Of that, $220 million is for scientific and technical research and services and $360 million for construction of research facilities, of which $180 million is for a competitive construction grant program for research science buildings.

In addition, as part of the Health Information Technology initiative, $20 million is transferred from HHS to NIST to create and test standards related to health security and interoperability. As part of the Smart Grid initiative, $10 million will be transferred from DOE to NIST.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOAA receives $830 million from ARRA, which includes $230 million for NOAA operations, research, and facilities and $600 million for construction and repair of NOAA facilities, ships and equipment. Of the $600 million, $170 million will "address critical gaps in climate modeling and establish climate data records for continuing research into the cause, effects and ways to mitigate climate change," according to the conference report.