Category: Federal Agency Developments

Wednesday May 20th is NOAA Day on the Hill. This year’s theme is “NOAA Knows Climate.” UW Federal Relations staff will be in attendance.

3rd Annual NOAA Day on Capitol Hill

NOAA Day Exhibits and Displays
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 – 10:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – The Foyer – Rayburn House Office Building
See demonstrations, view exhibits, interact with NOAA tools, and speak with NOAA experts and representatives from our Line and Program Offices.

NOAA Day Climate Briefing Series
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 – 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.- 122 Cannon House Office Building
9:00-10:00 a.m. – Climate Change and Our Living Oceans – Sponsored by Representative Lois Capps (D-CA-23) and Representative Brian Baird (D-WA-3)
10:30-11:30 a.m. – Climate Change and the Arctic
12:00-1:00 p.m. – Climate Literacy – Sponsored by Representative Michael Honda (D-CA-15)
1:30-2:30 p.m. – Delivering Climate Services for National, Regional, and Local Constituents
3:00-4:00 p.m. – Climate Change and the Coasts: Effects on Coastal Communities – Sponsored by Representative Lois Capps (D-CA-23)

The National Science Foundation has taken the step, already completed by most agencies, of releasing procedures for Recovery Act funding. The NSF Recovery terms and conditions are availabe here.

Recovery Act Announcement: Secretary Chu Announces Nearly $800 Million from Recovery Act to Accelerate Biofuels Research and Commercialization
As part of the ongoing effort to increase the use of domestic renewable fuels, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced plans to provide $786.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate advanced biofuels research and development and to provide additional funding for commercial-scale biorefinery demonstration projects.

“Developing the next generation of biofuels is key to our effort to end our dependence on foreign oil and address the climate crisis—while creating millions of new jobs that can’t be outsourced,” Secretary Chu said. “With American investment and ingenuity—and resources grown right here at home—we can lead the way toward a new green energy economy.”

The U.S Department of Energy (DOE) Biomass Program will leverage DOE’s national laboratories, universities, and the private sector to help improve biofuels reliability and overcome key technical challenges, with the goal of creating third-generation biofuels like green gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels.

The $786.5 million in Recovery Act funding is a mix of new funding opportunities and additional funding for existing projects. It will be allocated across four main areas. Continue reading “DOE Announces Recovery Act Grant Competitions for Biofuels Projects”

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) and the National Center for Education Research (NCER) within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) will host a series of webinars related to research funding opportunities in May.  Six types of webinars are planned.

Click here for more information about the upcoming webinars.
Click here to view slides from past webinar sessions.

The research update below was recently released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To Friends and Partners of NOAA Research:

There are several news items we would like to share with you today.

FY 2009 APPROPRIATIONS SUMMARY

On March 11, the President signed the FY 2009 omnibus spending bill into law. The final bill provides a total of $4.37B for NOAA, an increase of $457M or 10% over the FY 2008 appropriation. It includes $408M for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which is $10.6M above the FY 2008 enacted amount. Attached is an updated table that shows the FY 2009 appropriations for OAR.

NOAA has submitted its spend plan for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to Congress. The Act provides $830M for NOAA, including a $170M increase in Procurement, Acquisitions, and Construction (PAC) for High Performance Computing (HPC) for Climate Modeling and Data. NOAA plans to procure and utilize two computing systems in separate locations that will improve the accuracy of seasonal climate and global climate change assessments. The two HPC sites will be selected by a competitive process and create jobs in manufacturing, construction, and software engineering.

NOAA press release on the ARRA spend plan

The FY 2010 President’s budget request will be released in early May. We will send an e-mail with FY 2010 budget information at that time. Continue reading “NOAA Releases Research Update”