EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES POLICY NEWSLETTER
October 4, 2022 | Lewis-Burke Associates LLC

A View from Washington
This newsletter captures significant developments in the U.S. Congress and within the executive branch, as well as new federal funding and engagement opportunities that have been announced over the past month that are relevant to the environmental research and higher education community.  

Congress has approved a continuing resolution (CR) to continue current spending levels through December 16 and prevent a government shutdown.  The CR, which President Biden signed into law on September 30, also provides more than $12 billion in Ukraine relief funding, nearly $5 billion for domestic natural disaster relief including wildfires in New Mexico, and reauthorizes user fee programs at the Food and Drug Administration.  Negotiations were complicated by a controversial proposal from Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) that would have installed a natural gas pipeline through West Virginia that was eventually dropped from the final package.  Congressional leaders were hoping to reach an agreement on fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations before the end of the year, but members will now be occupied with preparations for the midterm elections in November and the ability to pass FY 2023 will be determined in part by the election outcome.

The Biden Administration announced changes to the federal climate leadership team, with Gina McCarthy stepping down as National Climate Advisor after her departure was rumored for several months.  Her deputy, Ali Zaidi, will be assuming the role, and John Podesta, a former Clinton Administration official, will serve as Senior Advisor on Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation.  This announcement was made alongside developments on other signature initiatives, including an Executive Order to launch a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative and a White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. 

Federal agencies have begun strategizing implementation of funding provided by recent landmark legislation, including the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.  The Department of Commerce announced leadership at the new CHIPS Program Office and the CHIPS Research and Development Office within the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  The Environmental Protection Agency also announced the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which will oversee implementation of new environmental justice programs established in the Inflation Reduction Act. 

IN THIS ISSUE:  
Congressional Updates

• House Agriculture Committee Holds Farm Bill Hearing on the Conservation Title
• Senate Approves Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol

Federal Agency and Administration Updates  

• White House Announces New Climate and Science Leadership
• White House Launches New Efforts to Boost the U.S. Bioeconomy
• White House Releases National Strategy and Holds Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
• Steve Thur Appointed to Head NOAA Research Office
• NSF BIO Directorate Holds Fall Advisory Committee Meeting
• NIEHS Discusses Emerging Environmental Health Opportunities During Advisory Council Meeting
• EPA Launches New Environmental Justice and Civil Rights Office
• DOE Announces Three New Energy Earthshots 

Funding and Engagement Opportunities  

• NSF Invites Planning Grants Invited to Increase Collaboration/Partnerships to Address Wildland Fires
• EPA Releases STAR Program Solicitation to Enhance Aquifer Recharge
• CEC Launches 2022 EJ4Climate Grant Program
• DOD Releases CDMRP with Program on Toxic Exposures Research 
• USDA Releases Solicitation for Regional Food Business Centers Program

Congressional Updates
House Agriculture Committee Holds Farm Bill Hearing on the Conservation Title
On September 20, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry held a hearing focused on the programs in the Conservation title of the Farm Bill.  This is one in an ongoing series of hearings held by the Committee reviewing the outcomes of the 2018 Farm Bill to prepare to draft 2023 bill.  The hearing witnesses consisted entirely of non-profit and trade association representatives without representation of scientists or research universities. 

Committee Ranking Member Glenn Thompson (R-PA) gave remarks at the opening of the hearing in which he criticized the $3.5 billion in spending on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Climate-Smart Commodities Program launched in February as well as other conservation and climate spending passed in the Inflation Reduction Act.  He did note that producers should be at the center of conservation conversations and that innovative solutions such as precision agriculture can be effective with bipartisan support.  Witnesses and members of the Subcommittee mentioned the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) as one that does and could continue to make a large impact on reducing the financial burden of implementing conservation practices such as precision agriculture technology, soil health practices, and other measures. 

Senate Approves Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol
The Senate voted 69 to 27 for the United States to join the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.  The amendment, which phases down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a potent greenhouse gas that is commonly utilized as a refrigerant, was concluded in 2016 and has since been ratified by 137 nations.  The Senate’s approval of Kigali is especially noteworthy since it marks the first time the U.S. has joined an international climate treaty with the Senate’s advice and consent in 30 years, when President George H.W. Bush United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  Although Congress has already granted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority to reduce 85 percent of the production and consumption of HFCs over 15 years under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, bipartisan support for joining the treaty creates even more momentum behind the Biden Administration’s climate change agenda, which already received a boost after the Inflation Reduction Act was enacted in August.  Bipartisan support for this legislation further strengthens U.S. credibility in the context of international climate change negotiations.  The passage of Kigali is also one of the best examples of how collaboration between the U.S. federal government, industry leaders, and scientists can lead to significant policy change. 


Federal Agency and Administration Updates 
White House Announces New Climate and Science Leadership White House Launches New Efforts to Boost the U.S. Bioeconomy
On September 12, the Biden Administration took its most significant steps to date towards advancing the U.S. bioeconomy by announcing a new Executive Order (EO) and holding an accompanying White House summit to launch a new National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative (NBBI).  Through these efforts, the White House emphasized that biotechnology and biomanufacturing have the potential to make significant positive impacts in a wide range of areas including climate change, energy, and agriculture.  The NBBI aims to unite federal departments and agencies in strengthening investments in research and development in key areas of biotechnology, as well as increase domestic biomanufacturing production capacity at all scales.  The Initiative emphasizes the need for improved biological data sharing, regulatory frameworks, and evaluation metrics, as well as the importance of training and supporting a diverse, skilled workforce to advance the bioeconomy.

Among other actions, the EO directs federal agencies and departments to evaluate and report on their current investments in biotechnology and biomanufacturing.  The Administration will then use these reports to shape future budget requests, which in turn could lead to new funding from Congress in fiscal year (FY) 2024 and beyond. 

White House Releases National Strategy and Holds Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
On September 28, the Biden Administration convened a White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the first of its kind in more than 50 years.  The Conference served as a platform for the White House to announce $8 billion in commitments in partnership with business, civic, academic, and philanthropic leaders as a part of their “call to action” to address the challenges of widespread malnutrition, diet-related diseases, and access to healthy foods.  In addition, the Administration also used the Conference to call attention to the recently released National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, which lays out priorities to address hunger, nutrition, and health involving more than a dozen federal agencies.  Priorities highlighted in the Strategy and by participants at the Conference suggested that several topics are likely to be prioritized in the President’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2024, which may have implications to the environmental research and higher education communities.  Some of these items include:

• Research on the intersection of climate change, food security, nutrition, and health, including especially the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Climate Change and Health Initiative;
• Activities by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to address food waste and loss;
• Research to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of current USDA-funded programs to address food insecurity – and to determine where resources can be invested to maximize the impact of public funds; and
• Plans to strengthen and diversify the nutrition workforce, including identifying USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) programs that could incorporate workforce development opportunities, in collaborations with Land-Grant Universities.  

The Conference featured a substantial number of high-profile speakers from Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration in addition to many well-known experts in the field.  Congressional Democrats, including Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), along with Republican Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) and former Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), were present during the summit and voiced their support for the agenda.  Senator Stabenow stressed that the Farm Bill, in addition to its namesake provisions for American farmers, also includes substantial investments in land and water conservation.  She raised the importance of local community solutions to respond to crisis, citing pilot programs in Michigan that have since been authorized in the Farm Bill to be implemented nationwide.  House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) stated that she wants to make increased investments in food and nutrition and will be looking to the FY 2024 budget request to lay the groundwork for these initiatives to move through the appropriations process.

Steve Thur Appointed to Head NOAA Research Office
On September 7, Steve Thur was appointed to replace Craig McLean as the head of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the main extramural funding agency at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which oversees the Cooperative Institutes, Climate Program Office, and other extramural and intramural research programs.  Thur has a background in coastal science and previously served as the Director of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS).  He will take over the role from the interim Director, Cisco Werner, in early October. 

NSF BIO Directorate Holds Fall Advisory Committee Meeting
On September 13 and 14, the National Science Foundation (NSF) held its Fall Advisory Committee meeting for the Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO), the last one led by the current head of BIO, Joanne Tornow.  Beginning October 1, the current Deputy Assistant Director of BIO, Dr. Simon Malcomber, will begin serving as Acting Assistant Director.  The meeting began with an overview of the existing challenges and opportunities that BIO faces; at the forefront of this list is building a sustainable future through climate resilience and clean energy research.  To achieve this goal, BIO discussed the need for cross-cutting, interdisciplinary collaboration to promote curiosity-driven, use-inspired research and to build up the STEM workforce.  Another primary goal for the Directorate is to build research capacity of new faculty in biology to broaden participation within the field and strengthen the research experiences of undergraduates.

NIEHS Discusses Emerging Environmental Health Opportunities During Advisory Council Meeting
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) held its advisory council meeting in mid-September to discuss updates from the Institute.  In his Director’s report, Dr. Rick Woychik described what he views as five major emerging opportunities for environmental health researchers: (1) precision environmental health, an approach that analyzes genome and epigenome profiles and exposures across the lifespan to understand individual risk and prevent disease; (2) climate change and health, highlighting the importance of the NIEHS-led NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative; (3) predictive translational toxicology, with a goal of developing more efficient, cost-effective, and translationally relevant methods of predicting human hazards that are also less dependent on animal studies, while further supporting the development of safer industrial and consumer products; (4) environmental justice and health disparities, outlining the work of an NIEHS working group focused on environmental justice and environmental health disparities; and (5) computational biology and data science, to allow environmental health sciences to utilize innovative data-driven approaches to advance scientific discovery.  These themes are likely to shape the upcoming NIEHS strategic plan for 2024-2028, for which the Institute will soon solicit public input.  

EPA Launches New Environmental Justice and Civil Rights Office
On September 24, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the establishment of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), which will operate in EPA headquarters and regional offices to address environmental issues in underserved communities.  This office is intended to elevate environmental justice (EJ) issues within the agency, taking on the functions of the former Office of Environmental Justice with political leadership at the Assistant Administrator level to be Senate-confirmed.  Among its responsibilities, the office will collaborate with local communities, provide grants and technical assistance, and work to incorporate environmental justice considerations into EPA programming.  Most notably, the office will also spearhead the implementation of the $3 billion environmental justice block grant program established in the Inflation Reduction Act which President Biden signed into law in August, and will ensure EPA programs, including those created by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, align with the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative.  We do not anticipate that the OEJECR will support research-focused programs, however, there may be further opportunities for universities to help build capacities of EJ-impacted communities to access funds and/or to partner with communities to implement work to address environmental inequities.  A full description of the new office can be found on the EPA website here. 

DOE Announces Three New Energy Earthshots 
The Department of Energy (DOE) released three new Energy Earthshots: Enhanced Geothermal Shot, Floating Offshore Wind Shot, and Industrial Heat Shot.  DOE describes the Earthshot challenges as “all-hands-on-deck call for innovation, collaboration, and acceleration of our clean energy economy” that will bring together talent from American universities, the private sector, and national labs to accelerate research and development to develop technologies to address barriers to achieving the transition to a low-carbon economy.  The Energy Earthshots are designed to drive integrated program development across DOE’s science and applied energy offices and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) and will lead to future funding opportunities.  The new Earthshots will be included with the initial Energy Earthshot Research Centers, the main basic research funding mechanism for the Earthshot program, expected to be released in spring 2023 after thematic focused stakeholder engagement sessions which have yet to be announced.  


Funding and Engagement Opportunities 
NSF Invites Planning Grants Invited to Increase Collaboration/Partnerships to Address Wildland Fires
NSF has released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) supported by all eight NSF directorates requesting planning proposals to spur innovative and inclusive wildland fire science through diverse collaborations.  While the DCL itself does not specify which large NSF funding opportunities this DCL is intending to fund planning grants for, NSF has confirmed that they are looking to use this DCL as a signal of what existing programs may be most helpful to support partnerships between researchers and other stakeholders to bring forth transformative work to address the challenges posed by wildland fire.  Proposals for up to $200,000 in planning funds over two years can be submitted at any time before May 31, 2023 though two-page concepts must first be submitted to wildlandfire@nsf.gov to obtain confirmation that the concept is aligned with NSF’s goals.  Concepts will be reviewed on a rolling basis.  The Lewis-Burke summary of the DCL is available here. 

EPA Releases STAR Program Solicitation to Enhance Aquifer Recharge
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a request for applications (RFA) under its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program for Enhanced Aquifer Recharge (EAR) Performance and Potential Risk in Different Regional and Hydrogeologic Settings.  With this RFA, EPA is hoping to better understand localized uses and risks of EAR using different source waters and is ultimately seeking to augment water supplies and increase water security.  EPA intends to issue four awards of up to $2 million each.  Applications are due November 9, 2022.  The full RFA and more information about the program is available here.

CEC Launches 2022 EJ4Climate Grant Program
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America, a multilateral organization established and governed by the United States, Mexico, and Canada to implement the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, has announced its $2 million Environmental Justice for Climate (EJ4Climate) grant program.  This cycle will support projects that take place in Canada, Mexico, and the United States that integrate community-led environmental education in support of environmental justice and community resilience to climate-related impacts.  The total award size is CAD$200,000 ($146,480 USD).  Proposals are due by November 11, 2022.

DOD Releases CDMRP with Program on Toxic Exposures Research 
The Department of Defense (DOD) released its annual solicitation for its Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), which includes a new $30 million program on toxic exposures research.  The goal of the Toxic Exposures Research Program (TERP), described in detail in the program guide, is “to improve the scientific understanding of pathobiology from toxic exposures, more efficiently assess comorbidities, and speed the development of treatments, cures, and preventions” with attention to topics that are of most import to current and former war fighters.  Awards for this topic will be facilitated through three mechanisms: Investigator-Initiated Research, worth $500,000 over three years; Translational Research, worth $800,000 over three years; and clinical trial award worth$1.5 million over four years, with the possibility of partnering PI options worth $2.5 million over four years.  For each mechanism, the pre-application deadline is 5:00pm on November 3, 2022, and the application deadline of 11:59pm on December 1, 2022.  More information on this funding opportunity can be found here.

USDA Releases Solicitation for Regional Food Business Centers Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a solicitation for the new Regional Food Business Centers program.  USDA will fund six Regional Food Business Centers to assist the development of local and regional supply chains with the goal of cultivating resilient and diverse food systems.  The Centers will provide three core services to small and mid-sized food and farm businesses: coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building support.  The Centers will also be responsible for developing and implementing monitoring and evaluation plans.  USDA anticipates awarding a total of $360 million in cooperative agreements, with award amounts ranging from $15 million to $50 million.  The duration of the program is 60 months, with the potential to extend for 12 additional months if activities are not completed.  Applications are due by 11:59pm EST on November 22, 2022.  More information can be found here.