28Feb97 Benchmark Note Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 10:03:39 -0500 To: "USGS Employees" From: Benchmark Subject: 28Feb97 Benchmark Note Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" 28 February 97 Benchmark Note If you wish to send e-mail to me or my immediate staff, please use one of the following addresses: SMTP: BENCHMRK@USGS.GOV Groupwise: INTERNET:BENCHMRK@USGS.GOV Banyan Vines: BENCHMRK CCMail: SMTP_MAIL BENCHMRK@USGS.GOV Supervisors, please share this message with employees without access to e-mail. In this month's Benchmark Note, I want to bring you up to date on several news items: the status of the USGS budget for FY98, the status of the one-year rotational assignments of Associate Division Chiefs and Admin Officers that began last May, the new Survey Manual chapter on the assessment system, and an update on implementation of the Strategic Plan. BUDGET UPDATE The USGS budget for FY 1998 has passed through many of its developmental stages, having been reviewed and approved by the Department of the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget in a process that took up much of the fall for a number of you. We are currently in the midst of preparing the oral and written testimony to present our FY98 budget to the House Appropriations Subcommittee. There has been both good and bad news for our budget so far, and further changes may well take place when the Appropriations Committee finishes its work. Let me give you a quick overview of our proposed budget for next year and then place us in the context of the Federal budget process as a whole. For FY 1998, the USGS budget includes a net increase of $6.5 million above the FY97 enacted level (including the budget for the National Biological Service, now BRD). This total includes $19.5 million in program increases that are partially offset by redirecting about $13 million in program efforts, including expected savings from Reinventing Government (REGO II) initiatives ($6.8 million) and by other program changes and administrative reductions ($6.2 million). Changes in our FY 98 budget include: -An increase of $9.0 million to join with the Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to expand the available information on water quality for the 75 largest metropolitan areas in the country. -A $7.5 million increase to expand biological research on Federal land, increase technical assistance to land managers in Interior Department agencies, and increase the Cooperative Research Units Program to assist in fulfilling partnership commitments to states. New research will focus on Pacific salmon and coastal habitats, invasive and exotic species, potential threats from endocrine disruptors, migratory birds, and Great Lakes fisheries and habitats. -An increase of $3.0 million to expand and upgrade the global seismographic network to service the technical requirements of the nuclear test ban treaty. The data and network will also be used for scientific and disaster-assistance purposes. We are also redirecting $1.2 million of geographic research and application funds to support investigations of urban growth patterns in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Portland. The House Appropriations subcommittee before which I will testify on March 18 has an overall spending limit, and will have to balance the budget needs as described in the President's budget request, of USGS and six other bureaus in DOI (all except the Bureau of Reclamation), parts of the Department of Energy, the U.S. Forest Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, Indian Education (in Dept. of Education), Indian Health Services and Facilities (in Dept. of Health and Human Services), and more than a dozen other Federal entities. Other subcommittees will be performing the same balancing act with the agencies under their jurisdiction. After passage in the House, each appropriations bill is sent to the Senate. Usually the Senate will amend the House bill before passage, which results in two versions of the same bill. The differences between them are usually resolved in a conference committee composed of House and Senate members. The compromise bill drafted by the conference is submitted to both the House and the Senate for passage; after it passes both Houses, it is sent to the President to be signed into law. The level of funding recommended for the USGS by the House and Senate Appropriation Committees should be known in the late spring or summer, and our final appropriation bill will probably be enacted in the fall. If a budget has not been approved by October 1 when the new fiscal year begins, there will most likely be a continuing resolution to enable the government to continue operating until final passage and signing of the budget; most observers do not anticipate another government shutdown. ROTATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS About a year ago, we announced the reassignment of our Associate Division Chiefs and Administrative Officers for one year, beginning May 1, 1996. The objective of this Policy Council initiative was to enhance the many efforts already underway to bring about more scientific collaboration and ensure common business practices across the divisions. I am pleased to announce that the three Admin Officers (Carole Carter, Louis Pectol, and Joe Pillera) have expressed strong interest in remaining permanently in their new organizations (OPS, GD, and NMD, respectively). Larry Amos has requested to return to NMD. The Division Chiefs are pleased to approve these requests. I have asked the Associate Division Chiefs (Jack Fischer, Jim Plasker, and Dave Russ) to remain in place until around June 1, when we expect to reach a decision that similarly considers their preferences as well as USGS needs. On behalf of the Policy Council, I thank all of these employees for their substantive contributions to the organization during this exchange. The USGS is stronger as a result of their efforts. ASSESSMENT SYSTEM Printed copies of the new Survey Manual Chapter on our assessment system will be distributed through normal channels soon. In the meantime, it is available on the Intranet at http://www.usgs.gov:8888/usgs-manual/500/501-1.html Division teams are in the process of developing supplements to the Manual that will answer specific division questions. I thank all the employees whose time and energy has gone into this important effort. STRAT PLAN--BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Last year, the Policy Council, with the help of the bureau's program managers, chose a set of priority implementation actions for FY97 from the USGS Strategic Plan, selecting actions that would enable real differences to be made in the first year. The Business Activities priority actions are now being put on the Intranet and should be available soon--check under "USGS Documents." In the meantime, the second edition of the Strategic Plan has been sent to the Department of Interior for review and approval.