Missions, Organization,

and Budget

Missions

The U.S. Geological Survey was established by an act of Congress on March 3, 1879, to answer the need for a permanent government agency at the Federal level to conduct, on a continuing, systematic, and scientific basis, the investigaton of the "geological structure, mineral resources and products of the national domain." A number of laws and executive orders since have expanded the scope of the Survey's scientific responsibilities, both as to function and geographic extent.

Although established primarily as a scientific agency, the Geological Survey had from its beginning the responsibility for classifying Federal lands as to their mineral and waterpower potential—a function it still discharges. In 1925, it was given the further responsibility for supervising the operations of private parties exploring for and producing minerals from Federal and Indian lands under leases and permits. This responsibility was extended to the Federal portion of the Continental Shelf in 1953.

The Survey's most recently added responsibility has been the management of the oil and gas exploration program on the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA), which was transferred from the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Interior in June 1977 under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-258). This program, carried out under contract with a private oil exploration company, had been virtually completed by the end of the 1981 fiscal year, and preparations were underway to begin leasing acreage for private oil and gas exploration in fiscal year 1982. Other provisions of the law assign to the Department of the Interior the continuing responsibility for operating the South Barrow gasfield as a source of energy for the village of Barrow and several Federal installations. This responsibility, in turn, was given. to the Geological Survey.

In general, then, it may be said that the Geological Survey is charged with two basic missions: scientific and regulatory. The first of these is to collect, organize, interpret, and publish information about energy, mineral, water, and land

resources and to develop an understanding of the structure, processes, and history of the Earth and other members of the solar system. The primary focus of these efforts is the United States and its territories, but the reach of the Survey's investigations has extended to the ocean floor and all continents and beyond these to the Moon and the planets. The second of the Survey's missions is to classify Federal lands as to their mineral and waterpower potential and to supervise the activities of lessees who explore for and develop the mineral resources of Federal and Indian lands, including the Outer Continental Shelf.

These two missions are carried out through a variety of functions and activities, including topographic mapping; geologic, geophysical, and geochemical investigations; stream gaging and water resource assessments; research on prediction and mitigation of damage from natural hazards; assistance in applying earth science information to urban development planning; the classification and evaluation of Federal lands; the enforcement of regulations and procedures to assure the safe, orderly, and diligent development of energy and mineral resources on Federal and Indian lands; and the collection of all rents and royalties due from such development.

Organization

The U.S. Geological Survey is a bureau within the Department of the Interior headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Its work is administered through four major Program Divisions (National Mapping, Geologic, Water Resources, and Conservation) and two Offices (the Office of National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the Office of Earth Sciences Applications). These six mission units are serviced by three Support Divisions (Administrative, Computer Center, and Equal Employment Opportunity Office).

Reporting to the Survey's National Center headquarters at Reston is a field organization of more than 200 offices located throughout the United States and Puerto Rico whose work is coordinated by three Assistant Directors in Regional Offices located at Reston, Virginia, Denver, Colorado, and Menlo Park, California. Coordination among the Divisions at the National Center is accomplished through five functional Assistant Directors acting in the areas of administration, program analysis, research, resource programs, and engineering geology.

A chart of the Geological Survey organization may be found on pages140 and 141 a selective directory of the National Center and field offices begins on page 142

Budget

In fiscal year 1981, the U.S. Geological Survey obligated a total of $769.5 million, of which $623.1 million came from direct appropriations and $146.4 million from reimbursements. As shown on the accompanying table, this amount was $12.6 million less than the figure for the previous year and reflected an increase of $46.7 million in "Surveys, Investigations, and Research" and $3.4 million in reimbursements which were substantially offset by a reduction of $62.8 million in funds obligated under "Exploration of National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska."

Figure 1 presents a 10-year perspective of the Geological Survey's obligations by budget activity. The most noteworthy features of the presentation are the curve of NPRA obligations which rose rapidly from 1977 to a peak in 1979 and declined almost as rapidly since that year because of the planned phasedown of the program and the disproportionate rise in funds obligated to regulatory functions as depicted in the twelvefold increase in the budget activity "Conservation of Lands and Minerals."

The Survey relies on outside sources to accomplish an increasing share of its workload, as shown in figure 2. Between 1971 and 1981, payments to grantees and contractors for work performed for the Survey increased twelve fold from $12 million to $158.9 million, while their share of the total budget (less NPRA) rose from 7 percent in 1971 to 24 percent 10 years later. Virtually all funds obligated under the appropriation "Exploration of National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska" were for contractual services.

At the end of fiscal year 1981, the U.S. Geological Survey had 9,436 permanent full-time employees on board, an increase of 127 compared with fiscal year 1980. Of the total, 1,468 were employed at the Reston National Center, with the remaining 7,968 distributed among the three Regions, as shown in figure 3. More than one-half of the Survey's permanent full-time staff are scientists, engineers, and other professionals, and approximately one-fourth are technical specialists. Hydrologists and geologists predominate among the professional group, which. includes more than 30 other disciplines including a number from the life and social sciences.

The 10-year perspective of the Survey's permanent full-time personnel strength given in figure 4 shows a slow but steady increase between 1973 and 1978, and a slow irregular trend downward since the latter year. As the figure also shows, the entire increase was identified with the Survey's

regulatory functions, which had to do with increasingly rigorous regulatory attitudes and the expanded scope of energy exploration and development on Federal and Indian lands during that period.

In contrast, the Survey's other work has been accomplished with a virtually level full-time work force since 1973; moderate increases in the Geologic Division, the Office of Earth Sciences Applications, and the Support Divisions have been offset by decreases in the National Mapping and Water Resources Divisions. The additional workload on these scientifically oriented components has been supported in part by the rapid expansion in the use of grants and contractual services noted in the preceding discussion of the budget and in part by the extensive use of temporary and part-time personnel.

The number of these other-than-full-time permanent employees has more than doubled since 1973, as evidenced in figure 5, and includes many students and faculty members from colleges and universities and summer hires from various categories. The Survey has profited greatly from its association with the academic community that has resulted from this practice. The expertise of many eminent specialists has become available to the Survey in this manner and has given it great flexibility in solving problems and meeting surges in its workload, especially during the field season. The relationship also has been an invaluable channel for recruiting young professionals of demonstrated ability for permanent full-time positions upon the completion of their studies.