Center Articles and Publications

Federal Agency Biodefense Funding, FY2010-FY2011 

Crystal Franco and Tara Kirk Sell

Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Volume 8, Number 2, 2010. © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/bsp.2010.0013

Introduction: Since 2001, the United States government has spent substantial resources on preparing the nation against a bioterrorist attack. Earlier articles in this series have analyzed civilian biodefense funding by the federal government for fiscal years (FY) 2001 through FY2010. This article updates those figures with budgeted amounts for FY2011, specifically analyzing the budgets and allocations for biodefense at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Commerce, and State; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Science Foundation. This article also includes an updated assessment of the proportion of biodefense funding provided for programs that address multiple public health, healthcare, national security, and international security issues in addition to biodefense. The FY2011 federal budget for civilian biodefense totals $6.48 billion. Of that total, $5.90 billion (91%) is budgeted for programs that have both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications, and $577.9 million (9%) is budgeted for programs that deal strictly with biodefense.

Sections:
- U.S. Government Civilian Biodefense Funding (Table 1)
- Strictly Civilian Biodefense Funding (Excluding Programs with Multiple Goals and Benefits) (Table 2)
- Funding Trends
- Methods and Sources
- Civilian Biodefense Funding by Federal Agency
    - Department of Health and Human Services (Table 3)
    - Department of Defense (Table 4)
    - Department of Homeland Security (Table 5)
    - Department of Agriculture (Table 6)
    - Environmental Protection Agency (Table 7)
    - Department of Commerce (Table 8)
    - Department of State (Table 9)
    - National Science Foundation (Table 10)
- Conclusion
- References

This year’s analysis looks at funding for civilian biodefense programs across the federal government from fiscal year (FY) 2001 through the proposed budget for FY2011. This analysis reflects information collected from FY2011 budget materials, as well as information collected for the 6 previous articles in this series (formerly titled “Billions for Biodefense”).^1-6 This year’s article provides an analysis of the FY2011 presidential budget. Biodefense funding for FY2011 is proposed to increase 4% or $271.3 million above the previous year’s estimates, for a total FY2011 budget of $6.48 billion for civilian biodefense programs (Table 1, Figure 1).
  

Figure 1. Cumulative Civilian Biodefense Funding by Agency, FY2001-FY2011 (in $millions)

A majority of the programs included in the $6.48 billion FY2011 budget have both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications. These programs are intended to address a range of public health, healthcare, national security, and international security issues in addition to biodefense. Programs with both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications include those that fund basic scientific research in infectious disease pathogenesis and immunology, programs to improve planning and operations related to public health preparedness, and programs to improve preparedness and response for a range of other disasters.⁷

This analysis shows that approximately 91% ($5.90 billion) of the $6.48 billion budgeted for biodefense in FY2011 is intended not only to improve biodefense, but also to address a range of public health, healthcare, national security, and international security issues. In contrast, 9% ($577.9 million) of the FY2011 biodefense budget would go to programs that appear to have solely biodefense goals and applications (Table 2). Over the course of the 11 fiscal years included in this analysis, $50.58 billion of the $61.86 billion total in biodefense funding has been dedicated to programs with both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications, while $11.28 billion has gone to programs devoted solely to biodefense (Table 2).

Funding Trends

Based on analyses from previous “Billions for Biodefense” articles^1-6 and updated numbers for this year’s article (excluding Project BioShield funds, which were appropriated in FY2004 but have been allocated and used over multiple fiscal years [see sidebar, Figure 2]), it appears that biodefense funding has increased each fiscal year since FY2008, including a proposed increase in funding of $271.3 million in the President’s FY2011 budget. Prior to FY2008, biodefense funding rose dramatically from FY2001 to FY2003, increased more incrementally from FY2003 to FY2006, and then declined from FY2006 to FY2008 (Table 1, Figure 3).
  

Figure 2. BioShield Funding and Expendituresa
	a	This figure does not include a $404.7M contract for 14.5M doses of Anthrax Vaccine Absorbed announced in September 2008 because the purchase was made using CDC funds rather than the Project Bioshield Special Reserve Fund.
Sources: Congressional Research Service. Project BioShield: Appropriations, Acquisitions, and Policy Implementation Issues for Congress. June 11, 2007. http://www.fas.org/sgp/ crs/terror/RL33907.pdf. Accessed May 7, 2010. Congressional Research Service. Project BioShield: Appropriations, Acquisitions, and Policy Implementation Issues for Congress. January 22, 2010. http://www.fas.org/sgp/ crs/terror/R41033.pdf. Accessed May 7, 2010. Institute of Medicine. The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise: Innovative Strategies to Enhance Products from Discovery Through Approval Workshop Summary, Appendix E. National Academies Press; April 8, 2010. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12856. Accessed May 6, 2010. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Project BioShield Annual Report to Congress: August 2007 through December 2008. https://www.medicalcountermeasures.gov/ BARDA/documents/bioshieldannualreport2008.pdf . Accessed May 7, 2010.

Figure 3. Civilian Funding by Fiscal Year, FY2001-FY2011 (in $millions)

As in previous budgets, the majority of proposed biodefense funding for FY2011 is directed toward the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (Figure 4), which would receive $4.72 billion (73% of the $6.48 billion total for FY2011), a proposed increase of $200 million above FY2010 estimates. The Department of Defense (DoD) has the next largest biodefense budget for FY2011 at $776 million (12% of the total), an increase of $96.5 million over FY2010 estimates. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would receive the next largest proportion of federal civilian biodefense funding for FY2011 with $439.6 million (7% of the total). The FY2011 budget forDHS represents a proposed decrease in funding of $25.9 million below FY2010 estimates. Additionally, the budget proposes a $23 million increase in biodefense funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a $13.1 million increase for the U.S. Department of Commerce biodefense program, and flat funding for the Department of State and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The budget proposes a decrease in funding of $35.5 million for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Table 1).

Since the first “Billions for Biodefense” article in 2005, a number of federal agencies have become somewhat more transparent in their accounting for, and analysis of, biodefense programs. HHS and DHS continue to provide budgets that most clearly account for biodefense programs and funding. Other agencies, such as DoD and State, provide information on biodefense funding that is fragmented throughout their budget, requiring an in-depth budget review to identify programs with biodefense applications. Some agencies do not include all biodefense programs in their public budget information, necessitating personal contact with agency representatives to obtain otherwise unavailable data.
  

Figure 4. Civilian Biodefense Funding by Agency, FY2011 (in $millions)

Methods and Sources

This year’s analysis employed methods and sources similar to those used in previous articles in this series. Sources for the FY2011 analysis include agency “Budgets in Brief,” agency budget justifications, and personal contact with agency representatives to obtain and track civilian biodefense funding. A full, detailed description of methods, sources, and assumptions can be found in previous “Billions for Biodefense” analyses.^1-6

In addition to the analysis of biodefense funding by federal agency, this year’s article also includes an updated assessment of the proportion of civilian biodefense funding from FY2001 through FY2011 that has been dedicated to programs focused solely on biodefense, compared to the amount provided for programs with both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications. For the purpose of this analysis, a program with solely biodefense goals is defined as:

A program that focuses entirely on prevention, preparedness, and/or mitigation of bioterrorism’s effects on civilians.

A program with both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals is defined as:

A program that serves one or more purposes beyond biodefense. At least one element of the program is specifically related to improving biodefense. However, the program also strives to benefit other aspects of public health, healthcare, national security, or international security.

Some specific examples of programs with both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals include HHS’s Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), which helps to improve healthcare surge capacity around the country for multiple hazards including bioterrorism; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Biodefense Research Program, which, in addition to funding preclinical and clinical research on biodefense countermeasures, also funds basic infectious disease pathogenesis and immunology research with implications for a multitude of other diseases; and HHS’s Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), which stockpiles biodefense countermeasures, pharmaceutical countermeasures, and nonpharmaceutical medical supplies for radiological and chemical events, as well as supplies and countermeasures for other disasters (eg, influenza pandemic or earthquake) and for chronic health conditions.⁸ While some of these programs may have had an initial focus on biodefense following the anthrax attacks of 2001, they have evolved to include multiple hazards and infectious diseases beyond bioterrorism. A table (Table 2) has been included in this year’s analysis that totals the FY2001-FY2011 funding for programs that have solely biodefense goals and applications; the table also shows the total funding for programs with both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications for the same fiscal years.

Civilian Biodefense Funding by Federal Agency

Department of Health and Human Services

For FY2011, the HHS budget for biodefense programs is $4.72 billion. This amount represents a proposed increase in funding of 4%, or $200.1 million, over FY2010 estimated funding levels (Table 3). The majority of funds requested for HHS in FY2011 are allocated to programs at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Figure 5).

Increases in biodefense funding are proposed for NIH and the Biomedical Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The NIH FY2011 budget for biodefense includes a proposed $53 million increase in funding over FY2010 levels for the biodefense research program administered through NIAID.

The FY2011 budget also includes a 40% increase ($135 million) for BARDA, which is located within the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The FY2011 total amount budgeted for BARDA is $476 million. BARDA is charged with coordinating development and federal procurement of medical countermeasures (eg, medicines and vaccines) against biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear threats. While the FY2011 budget proposes a funding increase for BARDA, “funding for this office is now allocated from the remaining balance in the BioShield Special Reserve Fund (SRF).”⁹ As a result, the funding for BARDA represents a reallocation of BioShield funds and not a separate funding stream.⁹
  

Figure 5. HHS Civilian Biodefense Funding, FY2011 (in $millions)

Department of Defense

The FY2011 DoD biodefense budget of $776 million represents an increase of $96.5 million, or 14%, for DoD civilian biodefense activities above FY2010 estimated funds (Table 4). DoD biodefense activities in this FY2011 budget include the Army National Guard WMD Civil Support Teams; Biological Threat Reduction programs located in the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA); the Biological Warfare Defense Program, located in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); and the Medical Biological Defense program under the Chemical and Biological Defense heading.^10-14

All DoD civilian biodefense programs, with the exception of the Biological Warfare Defense program, would receive increases under the FY2011 budget. The Biological Warfare Defense program faces a reduction of $7.7 million.

The Medical Biological Defense program represents a majority of DoD’s investment in biodefense activities with civilian applications and includes funding for basic and applied biological research. For FY2011, Medical Biological Defense is budgeted to receive $452.2 million, an increase of $17.8 million over FY2010 estimates. It should be noted that DoD funding for the Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI) is included in this total.

The Biological Threat Reduction program is budgeted to receive the largest dollar amount increase in funding— $59.8 million, or 37.7%—over FY2010 estimates. This program oversees the location, collection, and destruction of “dangerous pathogens” from weapons created under biological weapons programs, and it seeks to engage scientists from the former Soviet Union and other areas of the world in open and ethical research to prevent them from being sought out and employed by terrorist groups and “rogue states” that might intend to create and use biological weapons.¹⁵

Finally, the Army National Guard WMD Civil Support Teams (WMD-CST) would receive the largest percentage increase in DoD civilian biodefense funding: a 52% increase, or $29.6 million above FY2010 estimates. The mission of WMD-CST is “to support local and state authorities at domestic WMD/NBC incident sites by identifying agents and substances, assessing current and projected consequences, advising on response measures, and assisting with requests for additional military support.”¹⁶

Department of Homeland Security

The DHS budget request for FY2011 totals $439.6 million for civilian biodefense programs, a proposed 6% decrease of $25.9 million from FY2010 estimated levels (Table 5). The DHS FY2011 budget request would eliminate funding for the Medical Surge Grant Program (formerly the Metropolitan Medical Response System [MMRS]) and for laboratory construction.

The requested budget for the BioWatch program, in the Office of Health Affairs, is $173.5 million, a proposed increase of 94% or $84.0 million over the FY2010 estimate. The FY2011 proposed increase for BioWatch would fund procurement of 476 Generation 3 BioWatch detectors in addition to deployment and support activities. All other DHS biodefense program funding budgeted for FY2011 remains at or near FY2010 estimated levels (Table 5).^17,18

Department of Agriculture

The FY2011 USDA budget requests an increase in civilian biodefense funding of 12%, or $23 million, over FY2010 funding levels, for a total of $252.0 million (Table 6).¹⁹

The USDA no longer proposes funding in terms of its Food Defense and Agricultural Defense initiatives. Instead, a similar amount of funding for biodefense-related activities is budgeted for programs under the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). In addition, the budget indicates that $2 million is budgeted for homeland security initiatives within USDA.

In this FY2011 budget, a majority of funding continues to go toward surveillance activities, including the APHIS Animal Health Monitoring and Surveillance program, Plant and Animal Health Monitoring, and the NIFA Regional Diagnostic Network. Other significant amounts of funding are requested for the APHIS Veterinary Biologics and Diagnostics program and the FSIS Public Health Data Communication Infrastructure System.

Environmental Protection Agency

For FY2011, the EPA budget for civilian biodefense is $118.0 million, a significant decrease of 23%, or $35.5 million, below FY2010 estimated funds (Table 7). The budget proposes decreases in funding in 3 of the 4 programs under the Homeland Security heading, including Science and Technology, Environmental Program and Management, and the Hazardous Substance Superfund. Only the Buildings and Facilities line item is budgeted to remain at the same level ($8.1 million) compared to estimated FY2010 funds.²⁰

Department of Commerce

Included for the first time this year, the FY2011 civilian biodefense budget for Commerce totals $115.6 million, a 13% increase of $13.1 million above the FY2010 estimate (Table 8). The Commerce biodefense budget is comprised solely of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) program on export controls. This number represents an overestimation of the Commerce biodefense budget, as biodefense is only part of this program. However, it is unclear exactly what portion of the $13.1 million budget is focused on biodefense.

The BIS imposes export controls on potential dual-use goods for the purpose of countering proliferation of WMD (including biological weapons) and combating terrorism, as well as for other national security and foreign policy purposes. The Department of Commerce “exercises export controls over certain microorganisms, toxins, biological equipment, and related technology to further U.S. foreign policy opposing the proliferation and illegal use of biological weapons.”²¹ In addition, the BIS works specifically to ensure industry compliance with arms control treaties, including the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).²² Part of this work is done in collaboration with the Australia Group, “an informal forum of 33 nations cooperating to halt the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons.”²¹

Department of State

For FY2011, the State Department civilian biodefense budget totals approximately $41.4 million for 3 programs: the Biosecurity Engagement Program, the Office of Biological Weapons Affairs, and the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation’s (ISN) program on Chemical and Biological Weapons Threat Reduction (Table 9).²³ New to this year’s analysis, the ISN program on Chemical and Biological Weapons Threat Reduction is intended to lead efforts to “impede states and entities from pursuing, using, and/or proliferating these [chemical and biological] weapons and related equipment and technology.”²⁴ The Department of State notes in its budget documents that its Chemical and Biological Weapons Threat Reduction program has the federal lead for implementing and strengthening the BWC and CWC and the lead for developing and implementing U.S. chemical and biological weapons (CBW) export control policies, including within the Australia Group (mentioned in the Department of Commerce analysis above).²⁴

It should be noted that the FY2011 budget for the Biosecurity Engagement Program (BEP) is an approximation, as the State Department was unable to confirm this amount. The BEP is an international program that seeks to engage scientists and laboratories in “programs that promote the safe, secure and responsible use of biological materials that are at risk of accidental release or intentional misuse.”²⁵

National Science Foundation

The NSF FY2011 budget proposes flat funding of $15 million for its civilian biodefense program. In the FY2011 budget, biodefense funding is solely directed to Microbial Genome Sequencing in the NSF BIO Directorate (Table 10).²⁶

Conclusion

The President’s proposed FY2011 budget requests $6.48 billion for civilian biodefense, a proposed increase of 4%, or $271.3 million, above the previous year’s estimates. Many of the programs included in the FY2011 budget and previous budgets are intended not only to improve biodefense, but also to improve preparedness and response more broadly.⁷ This year’s article provides an updated assessment of the programs in the biodefense budget that have both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications, including in the areas of infectious disease pathogenesis and immunology research, public health preparedness, and disaster response. Of the FY2011 $6.48 billion budget for civilian biodefense, $5.90 billion (91%) is budgeted for programs with both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications, and $577.9 million (9%) is budgeted for programs that deal strictly with biodefense.

As in previous “Billions for Biodefense” analyses, HHS continues to receive the majority of FY2011 federal biodefense funding (73%), followed by DoD with 12%, DHS (7%), USDA (4%), EPA (2%), Commerce (2%), State (<1%), and NSF (<1%). Four of the 8 agencies included in this budget analysis would receive increases in their biodefense budgets in FY2011, with DHS and EPA receiving funding cuts, and State and NSF funding remaining flat.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Monica Schoch-Spana, Gigi Kwik Gronvall, and Jennifer Nuzzo for their assistance with this year’s article. We would also like to acknowledge Ari Schuler as the original author of the “Billions for Biodefense” series. Mr. Schuler developed this concept and was the first to identify the civilian biodefense programs on which this analysis is based. Tracking biodefense funding is a complex process that evolves each year. The authors encourage readers to submit any updates or additional information that they believe should be included in future reports in this series.

References

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