The Bush administration's proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency's research grants program, Science to Achieve Results (STAR), came under criticism at hearing of the Science Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards of U.S. House of Representatives. The hearing was held 11 March. Subcommittee members and several witnesses said that a proposed $36 million cut to the STAR's fiscal year 2005 budget--compared to the FY2004 proposed budget--is too steep. They said the proposed $65 million budget--which would represents a cut of 30% from the previous fiscal year--would harm the program, as well as the agency's ability to receive outside research advice on a range of cutting-edge environmental issues. Funding for STAR graduate fellowships also would be cut by 3.1%, compared to the enacted level for FY2004.