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Duane A. Thompson Analyst
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division
Updated August 30, 1995
95-837 ENR |
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| H.R. 1977, passed by the House July 18, 1995, appropriated $87 million for FY1996 for the "orderly closure" of the Bureau of Mines within the Department of Interior. However, when the Senate passed H.R. 1977 on August 9, it approved continuation of the Bureau and appropriated $128 million for FY1996. |
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| The Bureau, an agency of the Department of the Interior, provides scientific, advisory, and informational support to the mining industry and to regulatory agencies (especially the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Office of Surface Mining, and the Environmental Protection Agency). Its work is also available to other Executive and Congressional policymakers. |
| The Bureau's initial mission (1910) focused on mine health and safety research and ore processing. Later legislation added a mineral industry data collecting and reporting function; research into synthetic fuels from coal; and development of technology to abate fires, subsidence, and other problems related to mining. |
| The Bureau's initial mission (1910) focused on mine health and safety research and ore processing. Later legislation added a mineral industry data collecting and reporting function; research into synthetic fuels from coal; and development of technology to abate fires, subsidence, and other problems related to mining. |
| As part of recent debates over the cost and size of the Federal Government and over the necessity of specific programs, the Bureau of Mines has come under close scrutiny. For years, the Bureau has been criticized for its performance in some programs, and for continuing other programs that appear to have outlived their usefulness. For example, although considered a prime source of mineral information worldwide, the Agency's basic publications on the mineral industries (the annual Minerals Yearbooks) are chronically late and the information dated when they are published. Also, the Agency's safety programs focus on technological developments, whereas, critics stress, most current mining deaths and injuries result not from lack of technology or regulation, but from violation of existing rules or misuse of modern equipment--problems that are not under the Bureau of Mine's purview. |
| In response to the Clinton Administration's National Performance Review, the Bureau closed or consolidated several field offices, reduced university research affiliations and contract arrangements, and eliminated some unreimbursed functions. In spring 1995, the Bureau convened an advisory board consisting of State, university, industry, and public interest representatives to review the Bureau's mission and future directions. At its first session, the board concluded that the Bureau needs to identify more precisely its mission. The Bureau of Mines proposes, in selective partnership with industry and universities, to broaden the scope of its research to include environmental remediation and pollution prevention, as well as mine health and safety. |
| From FY1990 to FY1993, the Bureau's budget authority was approximately $175 million annually; in FY1994, its budget decreased to $169.4 million, and the decline has been accelerating since: |
| Fiscal Year |
Budget Authority (net) |
% decrease from preceding year |
| 1994 (actual) |
169.4 |
3 |
| 1995 (estimated) |
152.4 |
10 |
| 1996 (requested) |
132.5 |
13 |
| Source: Budget of the United States Government. |
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| The FY1996 Presidential budget request proposed to cut funding for the Bureau of Mines by $20 million. The House Budget Committee, in its report (H. Rept. 104-120) on the FY1996 Budget Resolution (H.Res. 67), started with the President's budget request for FY1996 and recommended future cuts leading to a level of $63 million in FY2000--an overall decrease of 63 percent from FY1994. |
| However, in the Department of the Interior Appropriations bill, H.R. 1977, the House Appropriations Committee provided $87 million for the "orderly closure" of the Bureau. According to House Report 104-173, the Committee based its decision on what it perceived to be flagging endorsement by the Administration of the Bureau's programs. The Committee "recommends that the orderly shutdown of the Bureau be accomplished within 90 days" of enactment. The bill specifically authorizes the no-cost transfer of selected facilities to universities or governmental entities, and directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey similarly other facilities as appropriate. The House report also encourages the Department of the Interior and the Bureau to work with the Office of Management and Budget to "identify essential elements of the Bureau which should be incorporated into programs in the Department of the Interior and in other Federal agencies." |
The bill, passed by the full House on July 18, 1995, retained the provision abolishing the Bureau of Mines. However, in the Senate, the Appropriations Committee rejected closure of the Bureau and approved the President's request of $132.5 million (S. Rept 105-126.). During passage of the bill, on August 9, an amendment reduced this sum to $128 million, transferring $4.5 million to fund certain Endangered Species Act programs. H.R. 1977 now goes to conference.
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| CRS Report for Congress |
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