§8903 Comprehensive Research Plan

Summary

The Task Force must write a ten-year research plan to find out what causes acid rain, how it harms people and the environment, and what can be done to reduce that harm. The plan must cover 14 kinds of work, including finding emission sources, running a nationwide long-term monitoring network, studying atmospheric chemistry and transport, mapping affected and at-risk areas, expanding water and soil data, making dose-response info for plants and animals, doing ecosystem and plant-physiology studies, doing economic studies of damages and fixes, coordinating and documenting federal research, working with states and other countries, managing research funds (subject to limits below), overseeing technical program work and contractor selection (subject to limits below), and giving regular recommendations to Congress and agencies. The draft plan must be sent to Congress and opened for public review within six months after June 30, 1980. The public can comment for 60 days. A final plan, updated after those comments, must go to the President and Congress within 45 days after the comment period ends. The final plan will be the basis for budget requests for the nine fiscal years after the fiscal year when the final plan is submitted. The Task Force must meet as needed but at least twice each fiscal year during the ten-year program. It must send an annual progress report with recommendations to the President and Congress by January 15 each year. The plan does not let the Task Force change laws about which agency gets money or the rules for federal contracts and grants.