AGI Geoscience Policy Annual Review 2018

Environmental Law, Regs, Litigation, State & Federal

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is a nonprofit federation of fifty-two scientific and professional associations representing more than 260,000 geoscientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society’s use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment. AGI is pleased to present this summary of the major developments in federal geoscience policy during 2018.

It was a tumultuous year for Congress and the administration. Disagreements over federal policy initiatives and legislative priorities within the two chambers of Congress,
and between Congress and the administration, resulted in three partial government shutdowns and substantial delaysin the appropriations process. The year began with federal agencies facing budgetary and managerial uncertainty as lawmakers struggled to come to an agreement on discretionary government spending for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Despite the administration’s push to diminish funding levels for many science agencies and programs,

Congress largely rejected the proposed cuts and instead provided increased funding across most science agencies. During his second year in office, President Donald Trump
sought to fill more of the key science advisory and leadership positions in the executive branch. Long delays in the nomination and confirmation processes, combined with a particularly high rate of staff turnover within the Trump administration, led to a continuation of 2017’s atmosphere of uncertainty regarding the direction of many science agencies.

As the year drew to a close, the government was in a partial shutdown with several unfinished spending bills for 2019, causing many federal employees to be put on furlough as Congress and the administration continued to tangle over funding for a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Against this political backdrop, there were many important developments in science policy at the federal level that will impact the work of geoscientists and the applications of geoscience for society moving forward.

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