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Congressional Research Service
Inforrming the legislative debate since 1914
0
March 27, 2024
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): Background and FY2025
Appropriations
Background
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in the Department of
the Interior (DOI), provides scientific information to
support the management of water, energy, mineral,
ecosystem, and land resources and to mitigate risks from
natural hazards. The USGS also collects long-term data to
understand and report on the Earth's geologic and
ecosystem processes, using satellite imagery, mapping, and
ground-based instruments. The USGS has no regulatory
authority and does not manage federal lands.
Congress created the USGS in 1879 in the USGS Organic
Act (43 U.S.C. §31). The USGS Organic Act defined the
initial scope of the USGS:
[The Director of the USGS] shall have the direction
of the United States Geological Survey, and the
classification of the public lands and examination of
the geological structure, mineral resources, and
products of the national domain.
Since 1879, Congress has expanded the USGS's statutory
authority to such examinations outside the national domain
where determined by the Secretary [of the Interior] to be in
the national interest. This expansion has included activities
related to water resources, ecosystems, and natural hazards
that span the globe. The USGS conducts scientific activities
under interdisciplinary mission areas, and each mission area
has its own budget line (see Table 1 for the mission areas).
The USGS also has budget lines for Science Support
(administrative activities and information) and Facilities.
Congress typically appropriates funds for the USGS
through annual Interior, Environment, and Related
Agencies appropriations acts.
FY2025 Budget Request
The President's budget request for USGS appropriations in
FY2025 is $1.578 billion, $122.9 million more than
FY2024 annual appropriations of $1.455 billion provided
by Division of E of P.L. 118-42 (an 8% increase; Figure 1).
For FY2024, the President requested a 19% increase over
FY2023 annual appropriations of $1.497 billion. The
FY2024 annual appropriation provided a 3% decrease
compared with FY2023 annual appropriations.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-
58) provided the USGS supplemental appropriations of
$510.7 million, $69.0 million of which are first made
available in FY2025. This total includes $64.0 million for
the Earth Mapping Resource Initiative (Earth MRI) and
$5.0 million for the National Geological and Geophysical
Data Preservation Program. The IIJA funding for the USGS
is to support scientific studies that address critical mineral
information and geological data preservation.
Figure 1. USGS Annual Appropriations,
FY2020-FY2024, and FY2025 Budget Request
(in millions)
EEl Aqnual Appropratnon m Nomi lfoladrs
--lflltior Adjusted Annudi Approprnatien
$1 00
$1,,000
$40
$3200
so
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Fiscal Year Req
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), based on enacted
appropriations laws and the President's FY2025 budget request.
Note: The yellow line shows FY2020-FY2023 amounts as adjusted
for inflation to FY2023 dollars, using FY2025 Budget of the U.S.
Government, Historical Tables, Table 10.1.
Table 1. USGS Funding: FY2023 and FY2024 Annual
Appropriations and FY2025 Budget Request
(nominal $, in millions)
Mission Area or FY2023 FY2024 FY2025
Budget Line Enacted Enacted Requested
Ecosystems 307.2 299.4 326.1
Energy and 104.2 101.1 120.3
Mineral Resources
Natural Hazards 200.3 198.6 210.6
Water Resources 304.4 288.8 309.6
Core Science 284.6 273.2 313.0
Systems
Science Support 106.3 105.0 118.2
Facilities 188.1 184.1 180.4
Total 1,497.2 1,455.4 1,578.3
Sources: FY2025 U.S. Geological Survey budget justification and
explanatory statements accompanying P.L. 117-328 and P.L. 118-42.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/goveotw0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)