Research Programs of the U.S. Bureau of Mines First Assessment, 1994 (1994) / Chapter Skim
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1 THE BUREAU'S RESEARCH MISSION
1 THE BUREAU'S RESEARCH MISSION
Pages 5-19
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From page 5... ...
Over the years, the bureau's research mission has evolved as science and technology have changed, so that in its budget justification for FYi995 the bureau states its mission as "to ensure that the Nation has an adequate and dependable supply of minerals to meet its defense and economic needs at acceptable environmental, energy, and economic costs." HISTORICAL CONTEXT For more than 50 years the bureau was a peer of leading universities and research laboratories at home and abroad in its fields of interest, boasting a long list of r
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From page 6... ...
, the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970, the Surface Mining Act of 1977, and the State Mining and Minerals Resources Research Institute Program Act of 1984. This latter piece of legislation is important, as it expanded the so-called mineral institute programs at eligible universities; established a mechanism to coordinate research in federal, state, and private laboratories; and created a Committee on Mining and Mineral Research reporting to the secretary of the Department of the Interior.
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From page 7... ...
secretaries chose to omit funds for the committee's operation, making it a "poor relation" of USBM, on which it was dependent for even routine support services. In response to budget cuts from DOT, the bureau usually omitted requests for appropriations to support the mineral institutes and generic centers as well, and the universities fell into the dubious habit of lobbying Congress to restore the funds.
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From page 8... ...
Where such work is parallel to identified bureau research missions, there is little harm done, but the bureau has been widely and frequently criticized for doing research too narrowly focused on the interests of a single industry segment, a single government entity, or even a single company. For this reason, in an era of declining budgets the bureau has been trying for some time to engage users in cooperative agreements to spread costs, facilitate USBM missions, and improve relevance and the bureau's image among budget makers in Washington.
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From page 9... ...
What is surprising is that other government entities, state and federal, seldom pay for USBM research that they suggest and even specify. In some cases this is a recognized and desirable means of carrying out federal research missions, as exemplified by relationships such as that between the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)
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From page 10... ...
Division of Health, Safety, & Mining Technology Branch of Health and Safety Technology Branch of Ming Technology 0 1994 Research Assessment: U.S. Bureau of Mines RESEARCH DIRECTORATE Associate Director ~ _ l Process Evaluation Staff Office of Technology Transfer Division of Environmental Technology Rolla Research Center (Rolla, MO)
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From page 11... ...
As directed by the DOl, the USBM conducted a program review that was essentially completed in time for the bureau's FYI995 budget request. Passage of the FYI995 Interior Appropriations Bill by the appropriate House and Senate committees essentially validated the bureau's
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From page 12... ...
Environmental technology, including both remediation and pollution prevention and control, receives about a 25 percent budget increase after allow ances for materials partnerships. Materials partnerships, the name now applied to the bureau's research on metals and advanced materials, is specifically addressed in the program review.
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From page 13... ...
This position fails to take into account that most minerals-related pollution arises from the mining, processing, and recycling of a handful of very large tonnage commodities and that the technologies employed are indeed commodity specific. A further discontinuity arising from the program review's plans for pollution prevention and control research has to do with cost sharing of commodity-specific work for which no federal budgets exist.
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From page 14... ...
The new program is expected to work closely with the Abandoned Mine Land Program, and to demonstrate techniques at sites selected with land management agencies, but no mention is made of cost sharing with these other agencies or with industry. With respect to health and safety, the program review argues that progress toward such goals as removing workers from the most dangerous workplaces would not be accelerated by committing more resources to research and so cuts the budget for such work.
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From page 15... ...
2. the Office of Program Planning and Coordination, charged with developing long-range plans for all current technical programs and candidate long-range plans for emerging issues, coordinating all implementation activities, and monitoring programmatic progress and accomplishments; and 3.
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From page 16... ...
One-Time Cost of Closure Minimum Cost to FY1994 Other Keep Center Open Savings in FY1995 Facility Funding Relocation Costs in FY1995 with Early Closure Alaska Field 3.1 0.40 0.59 3.0 2.0 Operations Center Rolla Research Center 4.1 0.75 1.09 3.3 1.5 Tuscaloosa Research 4.3 0.60 1.10 3.1 1.4 Center TOTAL 11.5 1.75 2.78 9.4 4.9 SOURCE: Letter to Congressman Sidney R Yates (Chairman, Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies)
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From page 17... ...
The Program Centers and Divisions and the headquarters Program Support Offices then develop long-range plans for their activities to be submitted to the Management Council for consideration during the strategic planning process.
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. The CIT, one of eight NSTC committees, is chartered with ensuring close communication with industry, designing federal technology programs to meet industry goals of improved profitability and global competitiveness, and focusing on critical industry sectors.
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From page 19... ...
In another, partnering is expressed in the form of a hope that outside sources, presumably other agencies as well as industry, may be willing to make up budget shortfalls. Finally, there are references to partnerships in areas such as pollution prevention and control but without specific budget allocations to cover the USBM share.
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