January 12, 2010

ARRA Funds at Work at NSLS-II

Brookhaven Lab was the largest New York State beneficiary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) passed by Congress in 2009 to help jump-start the American economy. Of the more than $260 million awarded to BNL by the U.S. Department of Energy, more than half – $150 million – was given to the NSLS-II Project.

These funds are allowing us to accelerate the conventional construction activities, take advantage of favorable market conditions, and reduce project risk. Discrete activities within our detailed schedule were coded for ARRA, and contractors invoice us separately for that work. To date, the project has spent $24 million of the $150 million allocation. We anticipate that costs will ramp up to about $30 million per quarter by the second quarter of FY2010, and ARRA funds should be fully spent by the end of FY2011.

Because all of the funds have been applied to conventional construction activities, which are primarily conducted by outside vendors, no Brookhaven National Laboratory employees are working against the NSLS-II ARRA funds. However, the job impact on the local construction community is substantial. In October 2009, NSLS-II ARRA funds supported 125 full-time jobs, of which 74 were new jobs and 51 were retained. For the entire 30-month lifetime of the NSLS-II ARRA funds, we anticipate that 183 full-time jobs will be supported – 122 new jobs and 61 retained jobs. While it is difficult to estimate, a large number of jobs also are being created to produce the materials and supplies that our contractors are purchasing.