General Statement Natural resource use and conservation issues are complex, influenced by a multitude of factors, and result in a multitude of impacts from human interaction with the natural environment. As a consequence, scientific analyses and information to support the development of solutions for these problems require input from multiple science disciplines to ensure that all aspects of an issue and its potential solutions are given consideration. When addressing this type of issue, the USGS brings to bear the full spectrum of its scientific expertise, utilizing the knowledge and technology of all its science disciplines; biology, geology, mapping, and water. The Regional Activities section of these budget justifications describes many opportunities where USGS has provided integrated science investigations and information to address problems across the Nation. The USGS works in close cooperation with more than 2,000 Federal, State, and local govemmental; academic; private sector, and non-profit organizations across the country. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2003, the USGS will seek even closer and stronger cooperation and collaboration with its diverse partners and stakeholders. In particular, the Department and USGS will seek partnership funding for USGS programs that primarily benefit other Federal agencies, States, and local governments. This collaborative approach will enable the USGS to better dedicate its resources to meet the needs of the Department's land and resource management bureaus and other high-priority customers. The USGS is proud of its outstanding history of public service and scientific advances and continues to be at the forefront in understanding the Earth (the changing world), its processes, and its resources. The information products USGS provides have a direct and significant impact on management and policy decisions. Most recently, USGS scientists and technicians have made significant contributions in a number of fields, a small sampling of which is identified below. • The USGS assumed responsibility for operating the Landsat land-observing satellites, capturing, on a recurring basis, vast amounts of land-surface data of forest, coastal, wetland, cropland, or other study sites worldwide. ⚫ USGS scientists used state-of-the-art data collection techniques to determine the submerged topography of the Everglades to aid in developing plans to manage South Florida surface water flows for habitat restoration and maintenance in the Everglades National Park. ⚫ USGS improvements in the understanding of the interaction between structures • In support of the National Energy Policy, the USGS provided scientific assessment of the oil and natural gas potential of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) 1002 area. ⚫ USGS scientists provided information on the occurrence of fecal-indicator bacteria in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near Atlanta, Georgia, so that the public can make informed decisions about health risks associated with swimming, fishing, and paddling the river. 2 General Statement USGS scientists discovered that microbes living in stream-bottom sediments readily degrade MTBE (a gasoline additive) to harmless carbon dioxide, successfully demonstrating the potential for enhancing current technology to rapidly accelerate the time required to clean up MTBE contamination at the estimated 250,000 MTBE spill sites nationwide. • The USGS used geographic information systems (GIS) analyses to identify and map areas in central Idaho and western Montana where conflict between wolf populations and livestock is least likely to occur so that Federal land managers, private conservation groups, and livestock producers can manage introductions or relocations of wolves, while minimizing potential impact on livestock. The Regional Activities section and the science discipline activity sections of this document provide many detailed accounts of recent USGS accomplishments in a broad spectrum of natural science arenas, as well as descriptions of ongoing science efforts that will provide invaluable scientific information for land and resource management decisions over the next several years. As part of the Maintaining America's Heritage initiative, the USGS has developed a 5-Year Deferred Maintenance/Construction Plan. The plan provides the projects of greatest need in priority order, with special focus first on critical health and safety and critical resource protection. The bureau has undertaken an intense effort originating in the field to develop these lists. Limited modifications to the lists will occur as they are annually reviewed and updated, with the addition of a new fifth year, and submission to the Congress. The U.S. Geological Survey Annual Performance Plan has two mission goals - Hazards and Environment and Natural Resources. The annual performance increment necessary to achieve the long-term goals, as well as any proposed performance changes resulting from program and budget initiatives or decreases, are itemized in the performance tables in the Program Change section of the budget justification, as well as in the Annual Plan section (buff-colored pages at the back of the justifications). To accelerate achievement of its Environment and Natural Resources strategic mission goal, the USGS is requesting several program increases in FY 2003. However, proposed funding decreases in the Environment and Natural Resources program activities will result in reduced performance targets for science investigations and for university-based partnerships, primarily through proposed transfer of the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program and termination of USGS support for the Water Resources Research Institutes. To the fullest extent possible, the USGS will strive to maintain its performance targets for the hazards goal; however, a proposed reduction in funding for the National Streamflow Information Program would result in a reduction in the quarterly average number of streamgages reporting real-time data on the Internet by approximately 130. The USGS is also engaged in implementing the management reforms contained in the President's Management Agenda. In the summer of 1999, Director Groat of the USGS began a program of change in the business processes of the Geological Survey, referred to as "strategic change," and designed to enhance the management and direction of the science mission. The vision and guidance for this change dovetailed with the President's guiding principles, enabling the USGS strategic change to be an early contributor to the spirit of the Administration's management reform program. The USGS has a number of reform activities underway and is developing additional reforms in compliance with the Agenda's govemment-wide initiatives. General Statement In concert with the Department's Plan for Citizen-Centered Governance, the USGS is adopting a number of reforms consistent with the five government-wide initiatives in the President's Management Agenda. Under Strategic Planning of Human Capital, the USGS is conducting a comprehensive assessment of its organizational and position structures to correct workforce imbalances, better align skills with current and future workforce requirements, reduce managerial layers, co-locate and consolidate administrative functions, co-locate and consolidate scientific functions, eliminate or reduce low priority functions, and motivate and energize employees in the pursuit of science and business excellence through a rewarding environment. The USGS performs its scientific and support activities through a combination of Federal employees and external capabilities and staff. The current workforce balance will require outsourcing aspects of the scientific and administrative activities in response to mandates contained in the FAIR Act. The USGS is developing a long-term strategy and additional alternatives to meet these Competitive Sourcing requirements, including implementing studies to analyze the conversion or competition of approximately 360 "commercial" positions by the end of FY 2003. The USGS is undertaking several Financial Management Improvement projects, including implementing recent changes to the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board's accounting standards and concepts, improving budget allocation and reporting processes, as well as working capital fund reporting; developing automated general ledger reconciliation and interfaces to Treasury; engaging a private industry consultant to assist in determining an information technology "Total Cost of Ownership"; developing a new bureauwide assessment policy for implementation at the beginning of FY 2003; instituting common business practices among the disciplines, regions, and programs; and improving the recovery of reimbursable costs. As part of its Expanded Electronic Government initiative, the USGS engaged a private industry consultant in FY 2001 to assist in developing and documenting a Capital Asset Planning and Investment Control process for the bureau and developing well-documented capital asset plans (Exhibit 300s). The USGS is a participant in the development of the DOI enterprise information architecture, which describes the current and desired relationships among business processes and information technology. And the USGS participates in three government-wide E-Government initiatives: Geospatial One-Stop, Recreation One-Stop, and Recruitment One-Stop, which are single, unified entry points to government-wide electronic information about their respective topical areas. In addition, the USGS maintains several other electronic information infrastructures: the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, the National Biological Information Infrastructure, and the Electronic Natural History Museum. To accomplish Budget and Performance Integration goals, a key element of the bureau's strategic change agenda is linking planned performance with budget requests and financial reports. To develop a tool to assist managers in this effort, USGS is participating in the definition and implementation of the Department's activity-based costing approach. USGS is also working with other DOI bureaus to revise the Department's current strategic plan and create a "Single Strategic Plan" for DOI that will integrate budget and performance. The USGS instituted a new, regionalized management structure, matrixed with science leadership, to strengthen the programs that meet local and regional customer needs. One of the highest priorities in streamlining USGS functions has been to implement a bureauwide infrastructure that facilitates uniform administrative, program development, performance measurement, and information systems across disciplines, regions, and programs. The 4 General Statement increased emphasis on integrated science has resulted in an integrated program and budgetplanning process that ensures that the management of programs and funding is handled appropriately at local, regional and national levels. Strategic change renewed the bureau's high-priority commitment to meeting the needs of customers and partners. New methods of engaging customers and partners include customer listening sessions, cyber seminars, science workshops, customer feedback forums, and a team to facilitate customer communication and information exchange between programs. The USGS has implemented a Leadership Program to instill a leadership-oriented culture within the organization by fostering visionary leadership and management professionalism throughout all levels of the USGS. The FY 2003 USGS budget request continues support for USGS science contributions to the solving of national issues. National assessments of coal, oil, natural gas, and other energy and mineral commodities, which have long been part of the USGS mission, are increasingly important for the President's National Energy Policy. The FY 2003 budget not only proposes continuing national assessments of traditional energy sources, but also offers options for nontraditional evaluations such as geothermal energy potential. In Alaska, USGS maps and geospatial data are assisting land and resource managers in critical decisionmaking for both energy development and natural resource protection. USGS analyses of water quantity and quality continue to supply information for water use planning in critical areas such as the U.S.Mexico border, the agricultural heartland, and burgeoning urban population centers. For crossborder urban areas along the Rio Grande River, the FY 2003 USGS budget includes funding for studies of environmental health issues and the movement of pathogens through soil, air, and water. Few areas of the country are untouched by invasive plant or animal species, placing USGS research in this arena high in demand. In addition to funding scientific analyses and information development, the budget also supports the development of information technology that enables the integration of the vast array of USGS information, as well as information from many other sources, in decision support tools for addressing many national issues. In keeping with the Administration's fiscal objectives and priorities, the USGS is presenting a budget request of $904.0 million, including $36.7 million as part of the Administration's proposal to require agencies to fund the full cost of CSRS/FEHB benefits. Without the pension and health benefits legislative proposal, the 2003 request is $867.3 million, a net decrease of $46.7 million from 2002. As noted above, the 2003 budget envisions expanded partnerships for the USGS to carry out its work. To sustain ongoing research programs that primarily benefit other Federal Agencies, States, and local governments, DOI and USGS will work with these partners to achieve a funding model that more appropriately reflects the value of these programs to nonInterior partners. The FY 2003 budget request is presented in the following summary tables, text, graphics, and supporting justifications. Uncontrollable cost increases for this account total $20,268, of which $11,643 will be budgeted and $8,625 will be absorbed through increased efficiencies. Program changes for this account total include: a reduction of -$1,128 for travel and transportation and -$6,025 in streamlining savings resulting from organizational restructuring and workforce balancing. |