FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BY THE THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES 2014

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FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BY THE
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES 2014
Prepared by Peter Saundry, Ph.D. for the COUNCIL OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEANS AND DIRECTORS,
AND THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE AFFILIATE PROGRAM OCTOBER 2014
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

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Contents
Foreword ............................................................................................. 4
Summary ............................................................................................. 5
NIEHS Environmental Management Programs .................................... 7
Other NIEHS Research Areas ............................................................. 7

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Foreword
he National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) is pleased to acknowledge and express its deep appreciation to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program has provided the budget analysis behind this report for the past fifteen years, first under Kei Koizumi and, in recent years, under Patrick Clemins and now Matthew Hourihan.
AAAS drew the data for this report from White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) R&D data, Budget of the United States Government, and from agency and historical data. Yearly values are adjusted for inflation using OMB's GDP deflators. Nominal values are unadjusted. FY 2013 are estimates adjusted for the full-year continuing resolution and sequestration. The text of this report is largely drawn directly from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) budget justification to Congress,1 from NIEHS websites, and from other NIEHS resources.
The definition of environmental R&D used in this report includes environmental physical, life, and social sciences; environmental engineering; energy-related fields; environmental data and information; and studies that utilize any or all of the above to address pollution problems or activities that impair the sustained functioning and productivity of the earth’s environment.
Note: Most human health R&D is not included in this survey, even though such research often includes study of the relationship between humans and their environment. Human health R&D focused on specific environmental issues, such as the contaminated sites/Superfund program (including expenditures) and biodiversity (expenditures not included), is included.
We have made no effort to analyze activities by specific “fields of science” or “scientific disciplines.”
Because terms such as “environmental science” and even “research” and “development” have imprecise definitions, estimates of federal funding for environmental R&D must be considered approximations. That is not to say the data and descriptions of particular programs are not accurate, rather that definitions are important in deciding which programs and projects to include in the analysis. We have attempted to maintain consistency over the past fourteen years in order to identify trends.
The budget of the federal government and the activities of its agencies are subject to change — sometimes significant change at short notice. We again encourage readers to explore the websites and documents of the respective agencies and programs for the latest information.
1. NIEHS Fiscal Year 2015 Superfund Congressional Justification - http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/congress/justification/2015/2015scj/index.cfm

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Summary
ith a mission to acquire new knowledge to help prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disability, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the federal focal point for biomedical research. NIH is composed of 27 separate research institutes and centers.
The focal point for environmental research is the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), but several other institutes and centers support environmental R&D. Only funding for NIEHS is described here, but selected programs at other institutes are described.
The mission of the NIEHS is to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives. NIEHS research focuses on diseases that have a strong environmental component and a high or increasing prevalence in the U.S. population.
As noted in the Foreword, most human health R&D is not included in this survey, even though such research often includes study of the relationship between humans and their environment. Here research supported by the NIEHS for the Superfund program is the only R&D included.
Figure 1. Environmental R&D at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (budget authority in millions of dollars)

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In 1986, through the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, Congress established two Superfund Programs at the NIEHS. The NIEHS Programs respond to a crucial need to address challenges posed by environmental contamination such as health risks, prevention and intervention strategies, emergency response efforts, and cost-effective remediation related to hazardous waste found throughout the United States.
The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP)2 fosters multidisciplinary research, fundamental creative discoveries, and innovative research strategies focused on solving problems related to Superfund sites. The NIEHS Superfund Worker Training Program (WTP) provides health and safety training to hazardous waste cleanup workers and emergency responders.
The NIEHS SRP seeks innovative strategies and technologies to provide solutions to the magnitude and complexity of the nation’s hazardous waste site assessment and remediation as well as better ways to respond to national disasters. The major objective of the NIEHS WTP is to train workers in how best to protect themselves and their communities from exposure to hazardous materials encountered during hazardous waste operations, hazardous materials transportation, environmental restoration of contaminated facilities, and emergency response. The NIEHS SRP and WTP constitute a shared effort to improve human health and the environment through reducing or eliminating the harmful health effects from hazardous environmental exposures.
Table 1. Environmental R&D at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
(budget authority in millions of dollars)
FY 2011
FY 2012
FY 2013
Change FY 12-13 Actual Actual Estimate Percent
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
79
75
77
3.3% TOTAL 79 75 77 3.3%
Today, the Program supports peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary research in 19 university Centers, encompassing 142 collaborations at 120 institutions. The SRP also provides funding for Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Research (SBIR/STTR) grants designed to foster the commercialization of relevant technologies, products, and devices, as well as funding for individual research grants to address specific issues that complement the multi-project center grants.
2. NIEHS Superfund Research Program - http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/dert/programs/srp/about/index.cfm

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NIEHS Environmental Management Programs
Environmental management programs were established to assure compliance with federal, state, and local environmental regulations:
• Aboveground Storage Tanks
• Air Emissions
• Asbestos
• Green Purchasing
• Hazardous Materials Management
• Hazardous Waste Management
• Medical Waste Management
• Natural Resources
• Pesticides
• Radioactive Waste Management
• Solid Waste Management
• Storm Water Management
• Transportation Management
• Wastewater
• Water Consumption
Other NIEHS Research Areas
The studies conducted at NIEHS are often long term and high risk in nature and involve unique components, such as epidemiological studies of environmentally associated diseases, toxicological testing of environmental substances, and intervention and prevention studies to reduce the effects of exposures to hazardous environments. NIEHS trains over 200 fellows and postdoctoral scientists on-site annually. Division branches and laboratories are organized into four programs: environmental biology, environmental disease and medicine, clinical research, and environmental toxicology. Researchers work in the following areas:
 Biostatistics
 Comparative Medicine
 Epidemiology
 Molecular Carcinogenesis
 Molecular Genetics
 Neurobiology
 Reproductive & Developmental Toxicology
 Respiratory Biology
 Signal Transduction
 Structural Biology
 Toxicology & Pharmacology
The Institute’s extramural division supports a variety of programs and centers to address a range of environmental health issues and to better understand how environmental agents cause or exacerbate human diseases and disorders. Across the programs, scientists pursue the full spectrum of research: basic, applied, clinical, and community-based approaches.
 Autism Research
 Bisphenol A (BPA) Research Program
 Breast Cancer & the Environment Research Program
 Centers for Neurodegeneration Science
 Centers for Children’s Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research
 Climate Change and Human Health Research
 Deepwater Horizon Research Consortia
 Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
 DNA Repair Research
 Environmental Epigenetics
 Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers
 Exposure Biology Research Program
 Nanotechnology Consortium
 Oceans and Human Health
 Partnerships for Environmental Public Health Program
 Superfund Research Program
 Worker Education and Training Program

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

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