The House Appropriations Committee last week approved the $467 million budget request for the research and development account of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) branch but, unlike the request, directed specific funding for each division within the Homeland Security Research and Development Agency (HSARPA).
The appropriators said that their budget “reinstitutes” the program planning breakout for HSARPA to enable additional oversight of programs. A report accompanying the committee’s markup of the FY ’14 DHS bill directs the department to submit all future HSARPA budget requests using this structure.
The $467 million House appropriations recommendation for HSARPA includes $194.3 million for the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives defense account, $130.7 million for disaster resilience, $70.8 million for cyber security, $31.6 million for border security, $24.6 million for counter-terrorism, and $15 million for the Apex account, which are high priority development projects dictated by the needs of component agencies within DHS.
The report also directs DHS S&T to establish a formal and comprehensive process for identifying specific capability gaps within the department’s components, in part by creating “permanent mechanisms” that provide feedback from the components on their gaps and requirements. The committee also wants S&T to be able to measure the return on investment within its R&D portfolio, including “how often projects transition to an acquisition program or into the operational environment.”
The report says that the need for reforms within S&T isn’t new, noting that they have been recognized previously by the Government Accountability Office and the National Association of Public Administration. It says that the reforms are needed “to ensure that limited funds are spent on the highest priorities and that duplication of effort among components is avoided.”
The total budget recommended for S&T is $1.1 billion, about $300 million less than requested. The reduction is aimed at the construction account for the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF) to be built in Kansas, but the report says the $547 million provided ensures that the project remains on schedule. The NBAF will replace the Plum Island Disease Center in New York to provide research on biological threats that may impact America’s food and livestock industries.
The committee provided $40 million for university programs and centers of excellence, $9 million more than requested.