March 2, 2011 

The Department's Infrastructure Modernization Projects under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was enacted on February 17, 2009. The goals of the Recovery Act are to retain or create jobs, increase economic efficiency, and invest in infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits. The Recovery Act provided just over $36 billion for the Department of Energy (Department), including $198 million to be used by the Office of Science (Science) for infrastructure modernization initiatives. According to Science officials, modernization was needed to many Department laboratories, offices, and other facilities due to their age. Science's Recovery Act Infrastructure Modernization initiatives include:

  • Science Laboratories Infrastructure (SLI) projects totaling $108 million to accelerate existing construction projects under Science's Infrastructure Modernization Initiative; and,
  • General Plant Projects (GPP) totaling $90 million to improve high-priority facilities, increase economy and efficiency of laboratories, reduce safety hazards, and reduce operating costs at our national laboratories. We initiated this audit to determine if the Department is efficiently and effectively managing its Recovery Act infrastructure modernization projects.

Topic: Management & Administration