SSTI Digest

Congressional conferees on the FY10 Consolidated Appropriations Act picked the higher funding level between the House and Senate versions of the FY10 budget on many line items of interest to the TBED community. Despite its high-wage job potential, direct support for innovation-based regional growth strategies is not as easy to come by in the federal budget as is money for conventional economic development/infrastructure projects. That said, the most adaptable source of funding – the Economic Development Administration – received a $20 million increase over last year’s appropriations, excluding ARRA funds. Included in the $293 million appropriation is language encouraging EDA to support climate change mitigation and regional cluster initiatives. Highlights from the appropriation language [Emphasis added.]:

The FY10 Consolidated Appropriations Act that passed Congress during the past week includes $124.7 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and $69.9 million for the Technology Innovation Partnership (TIP). Both initiatives are within the National Institute of Standards & Technology. MEP is a nationwide network of centers that strives to make U.S. manufacturers leaner, more competitive and more innovative. The partnership centers are funded by industry, states and NIST. TIP competitively funds high-impact applied research in areas of critical national need. February 15 is the next suggested deadline for submission of white papers to shape future TIP solicitations. More information is available at: http://www.nist.gov/tip/call_for_white_papers_sept09.pdf.

The program has not been authorized yet, but that did not stop Congress from including $2 million in the FY10 Consolidated Appropriations Act for the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (FAST). The funding, tucked in one sentence of the conference report for the Small Business Administration appropriations, will provide grants to state-based SBIR/STTR outreach and assistance programs on a competitive basis. Enabling legislation for FAST is contained in SBIR’s Reauthorization, which has been stalled in contentious conference negotiations for several months.

SBA’s appropriation also includes funding for 80 additional full-time staff at the Administration, $113 million for the Small Business Development Centers, and $10 million for a proposed Entrepreneurial Development Initiative (EDI). Within 45 days of enactment of the budget, the Administrator is to submit a spending plan for EDI to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for their approval prior to making any awards.

More information is available at: http://appropriations.house.gov/FY2010_consolidated.shtml.

To help train future scientists and support cutting-edge research in health and environmental issues, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell is recommending $109.5 million in the FY11 capital budget for the University of Alaska Life Sciences Facility in Fairbanks. The multi-purpose teaching and research facility would house the Department of Biology and Wildlife and accommodate a wide-range of research programs, reports Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. The proposal hinges on legislative approval of $88.9 million in financing through certificates of participation and $20.6 million in bond financing through the University of Alaska for construction, according to the governor’s press office. Read more at: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=5191.

To keep alive the underground deep science laboratory, a National Science Foundation (NSF) research priority for scientific discovery in geophysics, Gov. Mike Rounds is asking lawmakers to approve $5.4 million in special appropriations for bridge funding through May 2011. During his budget presentation to the legislature last week, Gov. Rounds told lawmakers the $35 million allocated toward the effort in 2004 and 2005 would run out this month and $250 million in anticipated NSF funding would not be available until 2011. South Dakota’s Homestake gold mine was selected by NSF in 2007 as the site for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, which extends more than 8,000 ft. into the earth (see the July 18, 2007 issue of the Digest).

Gov. Rounds’FY11 budget also recommends $970,000 for the creation of a Ph.D. program in Physics, complementing the mission of the Sanford Underground Laboratory. Funding for both requests totaling $6.4 million would come from other fund special appropriations, according to budget documents.

Three University of Idaho agricultural research and extension centers slated for possible closure this month due to budget cuts will remain open through June following monetary pledges from industry groups. Last week, the state Board of Education accepted a $1.5 million offer from the J.R. Simplot Co. allowing the Parma Extension and Research Center to remain open for the next five years in return for up to half of the center’s 100 acres of cropland and other facilities for the company’s own research, reports The Idaho Statesman. University officials also announced additional industry contributions will allow two other centers facing closure in Sandpoint and Tetonia to remain open through June 30. The Idaho Legislature reduced the state appropriation to the Agriculture Research Extension Service budget by 11.5 percent in FY09 due to declining state revenues, and in September, Gov. Butch Otter ordered an additional 6 percent cut. The centers conduct field crop research to create more efficient processes for growers across the state.

In an effort to spur greentech innovation, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has announced that the next 3,000 green technology patent filings will be eligible for an accelerated review process. About 25,000 pending applications will also be eligible for the pilot program, which could shave as much as a year off the process. Read more at: http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2009/09_33.jsp.