§2932 Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences

Summary

The President must set up a Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences. The Committee will run and coordinate federal global change research to make it more effective. It must include at least one representative from 15 named agencies (for example, NSF, NASA, NOAA, EPA, DOE, State, Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Transportation, OMB, OSTP, CEQ, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) and any other agencies the President or the Council Chairman thinks should join. Every two years the Council Chairman, with the Committee’s input, will pick a Chairperson who has experience running scientific research programs and who represents an agency that gives significant research capability and budget. The Chairperson appoints an Executive Secretary, with the Committee’s approval, who must be a permanent employee of one of the member agencies and stay employed there. The Council Chairman can make personnel decisions for staff assigned to work on the Committee. The Committee must plan and coordinate the Program. It will develop the Plan and oversee its work, improve cooperation among federal agencies, give budget advice as required by law, and arrange periodic public and peer review with outside groups. The Committee will work with the Secretary of State to represent the United States at international meetings and to coordinate with other nations and programs such as the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program. It must consult users of the research so results help policy makers, and it must report at least annually to the President and Congress through the Council Chairman about research priorities, policies, and programs.