Approved by the Infrastructure and Research Policy Committee on April 9, 2025
Approved by the Public Policy and Practice Committee on June 18, 2025
Adopted by the Board on Direction on October 7, 2025
Policy
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) believes that science and engineering plays a critical role in the development of federal, state, and local policies. ASCE supports policies permitting scientists and engineers employed or sponsored by government organizations be given autonomy to conduct their research unencumbered by political influence.
ASCE further strongly supports the ability of government and government funded to communicate and share their unclassified findings and assessments not only with their colleagues but also with policymakers and to the public in an unfettered and timely manner.
Issue
The federal research enterprise has been tremendously successful over the decades because, unlike in many other countries, it has largely remained insulated from political pressures and interference. Scientists and engineers employed or sponsored by government agencies have a responsibility to provide the factual basis for the decisions made by government policy makers and the public. Decisions based on currently accepted and relevant scientific knowledge protect public health, safety, welfare, and the environment.
The United States continues to have the largest global share of research and development (R&D) in the world. This is accomplished through a combination of investments by the government and the business sector. Since 2000, the R&D funding from the federal government has increased but has not kept pace with that of industry Government sponsored R&D is crucial to the higher education sector as well as the nation’s basic research enterprise. (Source: Science and Engineering Indicators 2020).
Rationale
The civil engineering profession relies on scientific and engineering advances funded by the federal government, among others, to develop objective facts leading to new products and processes to better protect the public health, safety, welfare, and the environment. Additionally, other professions rely on the steady advancement in science and engineering to provide for our national prosperity and a better quality of life, as well as present and future sustainability and resiliency through improvements in a range of fields such as engineering, medicine, energy, computing, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, aeronautics, and technology.
ASCE Policy Statement 550
First Approved 2017