216 



ItO ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 



targeted water quality and coastal ctosystem management; its observations and data 

 form the basis for management decisions associated with the development, lise, 

 and protection of these resources. Solar and weather research also are components 

 of the NOAA environmental research program. The Space Environmental Service 

 Center and Laboratory monitor the sun and its influence on earth-based systems, 

 and the applied atmospheric research of the National Weather Service is designed 

 to provide accurate weather forecasting for the nation. A key component of both 

 progranu is the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, 

 which is a system of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites providing data both 

 globally and regionally on ozone levels, temperature and moisture, cloud cover, 

 and wind speed. 



A significant drawback of the NOAA environmental research program, 

 many believe, is the agency's location in the Depanment of Commerce. Aside from 

 the concern that its location may incline NOAA toward providing "environmental 

 services" to business, its relative isolation limits linkages to other agencies engaged 

 in environmental R&D. In addition, in pan because of its position in the Depan- 

 ment of Commerce and its remoteness, NOAA has historically been vulnerable 

 to budget cuts, esf>ecially during the early to mid-1980s (see Figure A.i). However, 

 the recent federal global warming research initiative has helped reverse this trend. 



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 



The Depanment of Energy (DoE) operates a program in Biological and Environ- 

 mental Research that aims to identify, understand, and anticipate the long-term 

 health and environmental consequences of energy use. Research eSons include studies 

 in atmospheric chemistry, a marine program to understand the exchange of energy 

 and materials between the continental shelf and the open cKean, studies of sub- 

 surface groundwater and soil transpon of energy by-products (including problems 

 of storing and disposing of nuclear waste), studies of adverse health effects of ex- 

 posure to radiation and chemicals through DoE programs, and efforts to study carbon 

 dioxide and the global change phenomenon. These programs are carried out through 

 the Office of Energy Research and the Fossil Energy Division; also involved are the 

 National Environmental Research Parks and the National Laboratories system, in- 

 cluding Argonne, Brookhavcn, Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Oak 

 Ridge. The Nauonal Laboratories have been instrumental in the work of the Na- 

 uonal Acid Precipitauon Assessment Program. DoE devoted nearly $800 million 

 to environmental R&D in 1992., a large ponion of this supporung the development 

 of clean coal technologies."^ 



DoE plans to devote tremendous resources to the cleanup of waste gen- 

 erated at federal faciliues engaged in weapons research. It has been estimated that 

 more than $150 billion will be required over the next }0 years to clean up all of 

 the DoE facilities. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of cunent funding is 

 directed to true R&D related to hazardous waste disposal and its effects on the en- 

 vironment. As a result, relauvely little is being learned from the cleanup process. 



