Memo (Professional design)

Status: Original and derived artifacts are available for this document.

Download: docx | pdf | html


National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
Memo
Date:
May 25, 2016
Re:

Current status of differences between Federal agency-reported R&D obligations and FFRDC-reported R&D expenditures: FY 2014

From:
Ronda Britt and Mike Yamaner

To:
John Jankowski


As detailed in our August 27, 2014 memo (Attachment 1), the FY 2014 FFRDC R&D survey instructions were revised to better specify what should be excluded from the total reported for R&D. The items added under the “R&D does not include” box were:

    • Routine testing
    • Non-R&D program implementation or management
    • Policy development

The results of the FY 2014 survey showed a slight reduction in the difference between the two surveys’ totals (down $182 million to $6.8 billion); clearly large differences remain (see table 1). We do not have final data for FY 2015 yet, but based on the preliminary data we do not expect large changes in the totals for either survey. 

Therefore, we recommend adding a question beginning with the FY 2016 FFRDC R&D Survey requesting specific agency sources and sub-totals for the FFRDC’s federally financed R&D expenditures. These sub-totals by agency will allow us to determine if funding is being received from non-sponsoring agencies, which may not be captured in the Federal Funds for R&D Survey. Also, if the funds reported as obligated by and received from the sponsoring agency are significantly different, we can follow up with the FFRDC and specific agency to attempt to resolve the discrepancy. 
















R&D expenditures, operating budgets, and obligations at federally funded research and development centers, by FFRDC: FY 2014
(Dollars in thousands)









FFRDC
All R&D expenditures
Federally financed R&D expenditures
Operating budget
Federal R&D expenditures as % of operating budget
Federal Funds R&D obligations
Federal R&D expenditures as % of obligations
Sponsoring agency obligations
% from sponsoring agency
Federal R&D expenditures - obligations
All FFRDCs
17,718,556
17,331,396
18,245,841
95.0
10,565,430
164.0
na
na
6,765,966
DOD sponsored









Aerospace FFRDC
838,708
835,600
881,001
94.8
136,385
612.7
 116,146
85.2
699,215
Project Air Force
39,351
39,351
39,351
100.0
31,806
123.7
 31,806
100.0
7,545
Arroyo Ctr.
33,391
33,391
33,391
100.0
1,973
1,692.4
 1,973
100.0
31,418
Ctr. for Naval Analyses
80,283
80,283
109,582
73.3
49,938
160.8
 49,938
100.0
30,345
Ctr. for Communications and Computing
63,199
63,199
63,199
100.0
2,060
3,067.9
 2,060
100.0
61,139
Lincoln Lab.
830,076
827,461
NA
NA
303,508
272.6
 303,508
100.0
523,953
National Security Engineering Ctr.
885,382
885,382
885,382
100.0
184,627
479.6
 184,627
100.0
700,755
Software Engineering Institute
123,217
123,217
123,217
100.0
27,926
441.2
 27,399
98.1
95,291
National Defense Research Institute
62,073
62,073
62,073
100.0
12,296
504.8
 12,296
100.0
49,777
Systems and Analyses Ctr.
145,211
145,211
145,211
100.0
71,542
203.0
 71,542
100.0
73,669
DOE sponsored









Ames Lab.
41,824
40,834
46,366
88.1
22,185
184.1
 22,128
99.7
18,649
Argonne National Lab.
719,459
684,987
719,459
95.2
498,393
137.4
 481,351
96.6
186,594
Brookhaven National Lab.
573,364
556,024
573,364
97.0
456,835
121.7
 439,249
96.2
99,189
Fermi National Accelerator Lab.
334,522
333,870
324,057
103.0
312,443
106.9
 312,443
100.0
21,427
ID National Lab.
479,801
460,192
828,725
55.5
232,920
197.6
 221,489
95.1
227,272
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
762,601
707,540
773,423
91.5
656,740
107.7
 620,288
94.4
50,800
Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
1,170,571
1,113,664
1,418,496
78.5
970,973
114.7
 866,749
89.3
142,691
Los Alamos National Lab.
1,767,000
1,728,000
2,084,000
82.9
1,035,033
167.0
 974,354
94.1
692,967
National Renewable Energy Lab.
359,998
341,042
390,106
87.4
278,676
122.4
 277,438
99.6
62,366
Oak Ridge National Lab.
1,293,722
1,258,911
1,293,722
97.3
775,324
162.4
 735,972
94.9
483,587
Pacific Northwest National Lab.
1,021,912
1,010,064
1,021,912
98.8
356,998
282.9
 312,264
87.5
653,066
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab.
97,768
96,727
101,906
94.9
61,618
157.0
 57,318
93.0
35,109
SLAC National Accelerator Lab.
316,646
306,409
386,676
79.2
275,564
111.2
 275,564
100.0
30,845
Sandia National Labs.
2,507,099
2,474,159
2,636,331
93.8
1,594,225
155.2
 1,245,100
78.1
879,934
Savannah River National Lab.
121,013
121,013
220,990
54.8
25,009
483.9
 24,031
96.1
96,004
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Fac.
105,868
101,316
142,808
70.9
100,643
100.7
 97,546
96.9
673
HHS sponsored









CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare
70,458
70,458
70,458
100.0
15,437
456.4
 15,399
99.8
55,021
Frederick National Lab. for Cancer Research
448,500
448,500
500,000
89.7
349,343
128.4
 348,858
99.9
99,157
DHS sponsored









Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute
20,866
20,866
24,000
86.9
9,935
210.0
 5,985
60.2
10,931
Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute
94,353
94,353
94,353
100.0
30,720
307.1
 13,885
45.2
63,633
National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Ctr.
30,310
30,310
45,389
66.8
18,008
168.3
 18,008
100.0
12,302
IRS/VA sponsored









Ctr. for Enterprise Modernization
158,069
158,069
158,069
100.0
35,621
443.8
0
0
122,448
DOT sponsored









Ctr. for Advanced Aviation System Dev.
149,054
133,416
149,054
89.5
73,749
180.9
23,907
32.4
59,667
NASA sponsored









Jet Propulsion Lab.
1,664,539
1,664,539
1,586,000
105.0
1,328,139
125.3
 1,306,699
98.4
336,400
NSF sponsored









National Ctr. for Atmospheric Research
162,259
148,933
162,259
91.8
110,734.0
134.5
 90,440
81.7
38,199
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
25,161
21,487
27,828
77.2
25,500.0
84.3
 25,500
100.0
-4,013
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
85,327
76,668
86,084
89.1
77,410.0
99.0
 77,410
100.0
-742
National Solar Observatory
10,039
10,039
12,037

NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Science and Technology Policy Institute
10,949
10,949
10,949
100.0
5,240.0
209.0
 4,890
93.3
5,709
NRC sponsored









Ctr. for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses
12,314
10,926
12,314
88.7
6,757.0
161.7
NA
NA
4,169
AOUSC sponsored









Judiciary Engineering and Modernization Ctr.
2,299
2,299
2,299
100.0
3,200.0
71.8
NA
NA
-901
FFRDC = federally funded research and development center. na = not applicable. NA = not available.





SOURCE:  National Science Foundation/National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

 





















Attachment 1:
August 2014 Memo































National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
Memo
Date:
August 27, 2014
Re:

Update: Investigation of differences between Federal agency-reported R&D obligations and FFRDC-reported R&D expenditures: FY 2012

From:
Ronda Britt and Mike Yamaner

To:
John Jankowski
NSF's Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development collects data from federal agencies on obligations for R&D for each fiscal year, including a breakout for obligations to federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs). Respondents are budget and accounting staff at the various federal agencies conducting R&D. Since the respondents on the survey do not actually conduct the R&D, they are limited to the information contained in their agency’s accounting system when they complete the survey. 
NSF’s annual FFRDC R&D Survey collects data from each FFRDC on their R&D expenditures for each fiscal year. The respondents for this survey are budget and accounting staff at the FFRDC itself, or in some cases at the corporate administrative level (e.g. one individual at the MITRE Corporation reports for all five of their FFRDCs). These respondents also rely on the coding in the FFRDC’s accounting system and do not usually have firsthand experience with the R&D projects being conducted.  
At issue is the fact that the federal obligations data do not correlate well with the FFRDC-reported expenditures data in any given year, and the difference is much greater than would be expected due to the inherent differences between obligations and expenditures.1 Specifically, the total obligations for R&D are significantly below the expenditures reported each year. In FY 2012 $10.1 billion was reported by the federal agencies in R&D obligations versus $17.4 billion in R&D expenditures reported by the FFRDCs, resulting in a difference of $6.9 billion. 
Six FFRDCs contributed 73% to the $6.9 billion difference in FY 2012. The Department of Energy (DOE) sponsors four of the six FFRDCs with the largest differences in absolute dollars: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.  
For these four FFRDCs, the primary factor causing the large data differences between the Federal Funds survey and the FFRDC survey is how the respondents interpret what to include as R&D funding. As can be seen by comparing their total operating budget with their reported R&D expenditures, each of the FFRDCs classify most of their expenditures as R&D, including all funding to support the operation of the FFRDC as part of the cost of conducting R&D. The federal agencies responding to the Federal Funds survey interpret R&D more narrowly and do not classify all of the funds obligated to FFRDCs as R&D, instead using other classifications to delineate direct funding for R&D projects from other types of funding for the FFRDC. 

If one compares total obligations reported by DOE to the R&D obligations reported on the Federal Funds Survey for two of DOE’s FFRDCs, the difference in interpretation in what constitutes R&D funding is stark. For FY 2012 DOE reported $1.9 billion in total obligations to the Los Alamos National Lab (not shown in table 1) but classified only $1.0 billion of that total as R&D obligations on the Federal Funds Survey. For Sandia Laboratories DOE reported $1.6 billion in total obligations (not shown in table 1), of which only $1.1 billion were R&D obligations.

Some examples of the work that FFRDCs perform that the DOE does not classify as R&D on the Federal Funds survey include environmental cleanup work done for DOE defense programs (e.g. Savannah River at $1.2 billion and Idaho National Laboratory at $0.4 billion in FY 2012), nuclear nonproliferation, readiness in technical bases and facilities, international nuclear energy cooperation, and FFRDC management and security.  These programs have large appropriations in each of the FFRDC’s budgets. Other programs such as Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and Nuclear Energy have parts that the DOE interprets as R&D and others that it does not.  

There is also an issue with funding received from other agencies via pass-through arrangements that may not be recorded as R&D obligations to the FFRDC on the Federal Funds survey. The extent of this pass-through funding is unknown since we do not request federally funded expenditures by agency on the FFRDC survey. 

In terms of reported R&D differences, the remaining two FFRDCs of the top six are both sponsored by DOD: the National Security Engineering Center (NSEC) and Lincoln Laboratory. In these cases, the DOD respondent believes the missing funding may be the “black box” R&D that DOD does not report to NSF’s Federal Funds Survey by performer but rather combines for an aggregate R&D obligation total. 

The survey manager for the Federal Funds survey contacted each of the remaining agency sponsors of FFRDCs to inquire about the differences in reporting between the surveys. In many of these cases, there were omissions in coding on the agency side that are now being corrected for FY 2013 and beyond, so there should be an improvement in the correlation between obligations and expenditures for many of the remaining FFRDCs. 

In order to attempt to encourage greater consistency in what is considered R&D on both surveys, we recommend amending the FY 2014 FFRDC R&D survey instructions to add more specificity on what should be excluded from the total reported for R&D. Currently the instructions state that only the following should not be included:
    • Outreach or training programs
    • R&D conducted by staff at outside institutions that is not accounted for in your financial records
    • Capital projects (i.e., construction or renovation of research facilities)

Our suggestions for additional items to list under the “R&D does not include” box are:
    • Routine testing
    • Non-R&D program implementation or management
    • Policy development

Prior to the launch of the FY 2014 FFRDC R&D Survey, these additional items will be tested with the six FFRDCs with the largest differences and revised as needed. In addition, NSF plans to request clearance to add a question on the agency sources of funding for the FY 2015 FFRDC R&D Su