President Biden and Vice President Harris cheer the Senate’s passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which partially implements the American Jobs Plan that Biden released in March. The Senate has now turned to a separate spending bill backed only by Democrats that would implement other portions of the American Jobs Plan and parts of the American Families Plan that Biden released in April. (Image credit - The White House)
On a vote of 69 to 30 this week, the Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a roughly $1 trillion multiyear spending bill that includes tens of billions for applied R&D and technology demonstration programs at the Department of Energy and nearly $3 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Nineteen Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), joined their Democratic colleagues to support the legislation.
Shortly after passing the infrastructure measure, the Senate also approved a blueprint for a separate multiyear spending package that totals $3.5 trillion and is backed only by Democrats. The blueprint, formally known as a budget resolution, outlines plans to seek tens of billions in additional R&D and research infrastructure funding for a broader set of science agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the DOE Office of Science. The resolution instructs congressional committees to produce detailed legislation and is the first step in advancing the package through Congress’ budget reconciliation process, which would allow the Democrats to circumvent a Republican filibuster.
House Democrats have stated they plan to take up the Senate-passed budget resolution the week of Aug. 23. However, the path forward for both bills is complicated by tensions within the Democratic party. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has indicated she will not schedule a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill until the Senate passes the partisan reconciliation bill, which would advance Democratic priorities such as expanding social programs and climate change mitigation efforts. But other members of the party have raised concerns about the level of spending proposed in the reconciliation bill and are seeking an earlier vote on the infrastructure bill despite opposition from more progressive Democrats.
Much of the R&D and technology spending in the bipartisan infrastructure bill derives from legislation developed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a centrist Democrat who commands considerable influence given Democrats’ razor-thin Senate majority. Some of the funded programs are newly authorized in the spending bill, while others have already been enacted through other legislation, such as the Energy Act of 2020.
The funding in the bill includes $21.5 billion for the new Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations proposed in President Biden’s budget request for DOE. Across DOE’s existing offices, the bill also includes $16.3 billion for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, $8.1 billion for the Office of Electricity, $7.5 billion for the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, $6.0 billion for the Office of Nuclear Energy, and $550 million for the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response.
Among the specific programs and projects funded within these offices, the bill would vastly expand DOE hydrogen R&D and demonstration activities, allocating $8 billion to establish four regional clean hydrogen hubs, $1 billion to support hydrogen electrolysis demonstration projects aimed at reducing production costs, and $500 million for a clean hydrogen manufacturing and recycling program.
It also would allocate a surge of funding for efforts to remove carbon emissions directly from the atmosphere, including $3.5 billion to establish four “regional direct air capture hubs.” It further includes $2.5 billion for a carbon capture demonstration program and nearly $1 billion for carbon capture technology pilot projects.
The $6 billion for the Office of Nuclear Energy is entirely allocated to a new Civil Nuclear Credit Program that would subsidize economically ailing nuclear power plants, while the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations would receive nearly $2.5 billion to support the recently launched Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. The appropriation for the demonstration program falls short of the nearly $3.5 billion authorized in the bill.
Over $1.6 billion that is directed to critical minerals R&D and supply chain security programs is split between DOE and the U.S. Geological Survey, with $167 million allocated to USGS to establish an energy and minerals research facility and $320 million to expand the agency’s Earth MRI program, which currently has an annual budget of just over $10 million.
NOAA would receive the second-largest amount of funding from the bill among science agencies, with the bulk of its nearly $3 billion appropriation going toward environmental protection and restoration activities.
A portion of the NOAA funds would be for improving scientific observation and modeling systems and supporting wildfire preparedness efforts. Of the total, $492 million would support coastal and inland flooding mapping and modeling, $150 million would go toward observations systems for ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes regions, and $80 million would support research supercomputing infrastructure for weather and climate forecasting.
The bill includes $100 million specifically for wildfire prediction and monitoring efforts at NOAA and would provide the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture $10 million each to establish a joint program with NOAA that uses geostationary weather satellites for early wildfire detection. It would also provide $10 million to the Joint Fire Science Program, which is co-managed by the departments.
Among other R&D funds included in the bill, there is $158 million for the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, to support work aimed at protecting critical U.S. infrastructure. Eligible uses include projects that build resilience to electromagnetic pulses and geomagnetic disturbances, such as those caused by solar storms.
The budget resolution for the reconciliation bill does not specify amounts for R&D programs but does include topline allocations for committees, offering a sense of how Senate Democrats envision the spending will be allocated. Notably, it indicates that $45.5 billion is allocated for programs in the jurisdiction of the House Science Committee.
In addition, a memo to Senate Democrats that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released to the public earlier this week indicates the bill is expected to fund a variety of specific R&D programs, including ones proposed in the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which the Senate passed in June.
The memo offers a notional outline of priorities each Senate committee should consider as they prepare the sections of the legislation that are under their jurisdiction.
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is tasked with deciding how to distribute $83 billion across its priority areas, which include the NSF technology directorate proposed in the USICA as well as support for “research, manufacturing, and economic development” more broadly. Other listed priorities pertain to the transportation sector and coastal resilience programs.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is allocated $198 billion, with priorities such as supporting climate research and upgrading research infrastructure at DOE national labs. At a committee hearing on Aug. 5 focused on DOE’s Office of Science, Manchin spotlighted deferred maintenance and equipment and infrastructure needs at DOE’s national labs and suggested the department requires $35 billion for such purposes, beyond the $17 billion increase that the USICA recommends for DOE R&D programs.
Among the remaining committees, the memo states the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee should dedicate a portion of its $726 billion allocation to upgrade research infrastructure at universities, prioritizing minority-serving institutions, and to enhance preparedness for future pandemics. The memo also states the Environment and Public Works Committee should use a portion of its $67 billion allocation to expand climate and research programs at the Environmental Protection Agency as well as to create a “Clean Energy Technology Accelerator that would fund low-income solar and other climate-friendly technologies.”
