Science Policy Report | Oct. 26, 2022

October 26, 2022 - Rachel K. Owen

House Science Committee requests more information on open access

Congress Responds to OSTP Memo: Leaders of the House Science Committee sent a letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) requesting more information on the recent open access guidance. The letter asks OSTP to answer the following questions:

  1. How OSTP work with stakeholders to ensure successful and equitable implementation across federal agencies?
  2. How will OSTP enable the implementation of public access to data and how will these efforts be funded?

The ASA, CSSA, and SSSA policy committees have been working to develop recommendations from our community. If you would like to provide input on federal open access policies, email Send Message. 🌱

USDA to ‘Keep Families Farming’: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide nearly $800 million in assistance to provide immediate help to over 13,000 distressed USDA farm loan borrowers. The payments were outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

EPA Climate Adaptation Implementation: In early October, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released 20 climate adaptation implementation plans for national offices and regions to increase resilience to impacts of climate change. The implementation plans reaffirm commitments made by EPA in the 2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan.

DOE’s PIER Plans: Beginning in FY 2023, DOE will require applicants to submit a Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan. PIER Plans should describe the activities and strategies applicants will incorporate to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in their research projects. PIER Plans will be evaluated as part of the merit review process and will be used to inform funding decisions.

ASA, CSSA, and SSSA urge Congress to pass a FY23 budget

What’s New: ASA, CSSA, and SSSA sent a letter to Congressional Appropriations Committee leadership urging them to robustly fund agricultural research programs in FY23. The letter, led by ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, was signed by 88 organizations across the agricultural research community. 

As Congress looks beyond the midterm election, the letter urged them to work together to come to an agreement on FY 2023 spending as soon as possible. The uncertainty created by short and long-term continuing resolutions has significant negative impacts on the research enterprise. As Congress moves forward to develop a final FY 2023 spending package, the letter encouraged them to support increased investments to advance food and agricultural research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

Specifically, the letter urged Congressional leaders to make the following investments in the final FY 2023 spending agreement. 

  • Provide $1.768 billion for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Research (NIFA) as recommended in the House Agriculture Appropriations bill. Provide $500 million in funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) as recommended in the House Agriculture Appropriations bill. Provide $2 million in funding for the Research Facilities Act (RFA) as recommended in the House Appropriations Minibus bill. 
  • Provide $1.922 billion for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) as recommended in the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill. 
  • Provide at least $2 million in funding for the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AgARDA) as recommended in the House Agriculture Appropriations bill. 

What's next: Congress will return to Washington, DC after the midterm elections and hopes to pass a FY23 spending bill in the lame duck session before the new Congress starts in January 2023. In September, the House and Senate passed a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government under FY22 spending levels until December 16, 2022. 

Go deeper: You can read the full letter text here. 

Take action to inform policy conversations

NIFA Listens: As part of NIFA’s stakeholder listening initiative, “NIFA Listening Session for Stakeholder Input to Science Priorities,” NIFA is accepting input from stakeholders regarding the agency’s research, Extension and education priorities on Wednesday, November 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT. This initiative supports NIFA’s mission of investing in and advancing agricultural research, Extension and education to solve societal challenges. Register now! 🌱

Volunteer Opportunity: Do you believe in and exemplify the values of The Societies? ASA, CSSA, SSSA are seeking diverse and inclusive candidates for President, Boards of Directors, and Division/Section Chair for the 2023 elections. Self-nominations are encouraged. Learn more and apply by Nov 30. 🌱

AGU’s Local Science Partners empowers scientists to build sustainable partnerships with their policymakers. The program provides members with the tools, resources and training needed to advance science policy and diversify sciences’ congressional champions. Apply by Tuesday, 1 November. 🌱

EPA Seeks Expert Feedback to help shape a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be established with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold two listening sessions, on Nov. 1 and Nov. 9, for stakeholders to learn more. 🌱

New reports and policy-relevant science

Vulnerable Agricultural Systems Rest on Fragile Foundations is the key finding of a recently released Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Initiative report. The report outlines six themes facing global agriculture:

  1. Global agricultural productivity growth is in steep decline.
  2. Productivity growth is not scale-dependent.
  3. Extreme climate events disrupt productivity gains.
  4. Regional differences in productivity growth reveal areas of concern, alarm, and hope.
  5. Productivity growth supports resilience during system shocks.
  6. Current efforts to accelerate productivity growth are inadequate to the scope of the challenge.

And the Academy Says: Life cycle assessments (LCAs) of transportation fuels are valuable tools for measuring environmental impacts, but uncertainties remain in the models that are currently used, and further research should be conducted to strengthen their reliability, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The report recommends ways to improve models, increase reporting and transparency, perform targeted verification of emissions, and other avenues that will better inform policymaking for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels.

2022 Earth Week Webinars: The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) hosted a webinar titled “Updating Soil Survey to Meet Dynamic New Challenges and Sustainable Soils for a Sustainable Planet”.

  • This was the final webinar in the 2022 Earth Science Week series.
  • It highlighted the importance of maintaining soil quality and how to do so sustainably, such as by incorporating organisms into the soil food web to enhance soil quality.
  • The speakers also showcased the use of GIS in mapping soils, with a case study on a project in Kansas that focuses on the Keith soil series.

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Upcoming funding and award opportunities

Peer Review Mentorship: The ASA-CSSA-SSSA Peer Review Mentoring Program is a small, selective program designed to provide hands-on peer review training over the course of six months. Accepted applicants will be paired with an experienced mentor in their field and will be guided through the process of reviewing for an ASA-CSSA-SSSA journal.

The program is free of charge, but mentees are required to be ASA, CSSA, and/or SSSA members at the time of application. Potential candidates are early-career professionals (graduate students or post-docs) with little to no prior peer-reviewing experience. Ideal candidates will have some experience with academic publishing from an author perspective.

Learn more at https://www.agronomy.org/publications/journals/peer-review-mentorship/.

Meet us in Baltimore for the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meeting

Join us in Baltimore: The ASA, CSSA, and SSSA annual meeting will take place in Baltimore, MD from November 6-9. Check out the line-up of events hosted by the Science Policy Office!

 

The bottom line: There are so many ways to learn about science policy at the annual meeting this fall. See the full program at acsmeetings.org.

 

Don’t forget to vote! The 2022 midterm election will take place on November 8, in the middle of our annual meeting. Find out more about how you can vote before you journey to Baltimore.