The US government enacted the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in early 2009. The ARRA provided $21.5 billion for R&D (see IBO 2/28/09). ARRA funding was required to be obligated by September 30, 2010, the end of the federal government’s fiscal year 2010.

Although ARRA obligations have been completed, ARRA spending has not. Federal agencies are continuing to distribute ARRA monies this year. As a result, recipients of ARRA-funded grants could be spending funds over the next two years. Consequently, ARRA funding can be expected to continue to benefit sales of analytical instruments and related consumables.

At the top of the list of recipients of ARRA R&D funding was the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (see IBO 4/30/09), part of the Department of Health and Human Services. The NIH received $10.4 billion from the stimulus program. By the end of fiscal 2011, 62% of the $10.4 billion will have been spent, according to the NIH’s “FY 2012 Budget Request.”

As the table on page 3 illustrates, NIH ARRA funding was divided into five categories. The Scientific Research category largely includes funding for research grants. In fiscal 2010, the NIH awarded 639 ARRA-funded grants worth a total of $1,569 million, according to NIH’s Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools. Among the NIH agencies with the largest ARRA awards last fiscal year were the Office of the Director, which awarded $90.9 million in ARRA funding, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which awarded $82.4 million. A total of 400 projects received ARRA-related Challenge Grant awards in fiscal 2010, and 910 received ARRA-related Rand Opportunities grants. In addition, $332 million in ARRA funding went to 684 non-ARRA solicited grants.

Shared Instrumentation, as listed in the table, refers to ARRA-funded Shared Instrumentation grants and High-End Instrumentation grants, which are administered by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). The NIH’s FY 2012 Congressional Justification reported that 374 such grants were awarded in fiscal 2009, and 84 were awarded in fiscal 2010, for a total of 458. By instrument type, NCRR reported that the largest amount of this grant money went toward purchases of biomedical imagers ($88.4 million), confocal microscopes ($52.9 million) and MS systems ($37.4 million). For Scientific Research and Shared Instrumentation combined, the NCRR awarded $979.4 million in ARRA-funded grants in fiscal 2010, according to the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools. However, as of September 30, 2010, only 128 awarded projects had been completed (defined as when the instrument has been delivered and is functioning properly), according to Congressional Justification. In fiscal 2011, 150 SIG projects are expected to be completed. In fiscal 2012, 200 are scheduled to be completed.

The Department of Energy (DOE) received the largest chunk of ARRA funding among all federal agencies with $36 billion (see IBO 6/15/09). Out of this funding, Energy Efficiency received $12 billion, Science and Innovation received $2.0 billion and Renewable Energy received $1.64 billion. For all of the DOE, only 36% of authorized ARRA funds had been spent as of February 25, as reported on the DOE’s recovery website. The table on this page shows total outlays as of February 18 for the DOE’s Office of Science and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, as well as outlays for selected ARRA-funded projects administered by each Office that impact the purchase of analytical instruments and related consumables.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) received $3 billion in ARRA funding, of which “Research and Related Activities” received $2.5 billion. According to the NSF’s fiscal 2012 Budget Request to Congress, at the end of fiscal 2010, total NSF ARRA outlays were $598 million. For “Research and Related Activities” funding, $2.1 billion and $439 million were obligated in fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010, respectively.

Two NSF grant programs that received ARRA funding and that directly benefited instrument purchases were Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) and Academic Research Infrastructure (ARI) (see IBO 6/15/09). The MRI program received $300 million in ARRA funding, of which $100 million was obligated in fiscal 2009 and the remainder obligated in fiscal 2010, according to the Budget Request. The ARI program received $200 million, with $100 million obligated in fiscal 2009 and $200 million obligated in fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2009, ARRA funded 398 grants made by both programs. A search of ARRA-funded MRI grants in the NSF grants database returned 250 active and expired grants awarded. A search of ARRA-funded ARI grants returned 10 active and expired grant awards.

Out of the $610 million the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), part of the Department of Commerce, received in ARRA funding, $580 million went to two programs: Construction of Research Facilities ($360 million), and Scientific and Technical Research Services (STRS) ($220 million). Within STRS, $108 million was appropriated for Advanced Scientific Equipment awards. In fiscal 2009, $22.5 million was obligated to such awards, resulting in the purchase of 17 pieces of equipment, according to the NIST’s FY 2010 Performance and Accountability Report. In fiscal 2010, 45 pieces were purchased with an obligation of $88.2 million. Among the equipment purchased was a clinical PET-CT scanner for use in developing standards.

 NIH Recovery Act Outlays ($M) 

                          Total Available     FY09 and FY10         FY11 Est.        FY12 Est.

 Scientific Research         $8,200               $2,948              $2,795          $2,253

 Comparative Effect. Rsch.     $400                  $88                $150            $145

 Shared Instrumentation        $300                  $96                $113             $60

 Extramural Construction     $1,000                  $18                 $82            $100

 Buildings and Facilities      $500                  $50                $123            $145

 DOE Recovery Act Outlays for Selected Programs as of Feb. 18, 2011 ($M) 

                                                        Authorized/Appropriation   Awarded/Obligation   Spent/Gross/Outlay

 Office of Science                                           $1,669.2                  $1,669.2               $873.9

  Bioenergy Research Center Capital Equip.                      $13.5                     $13.5                $12.8

  Energy Frontier Research Centers                             $277.0                    $277.0                $64.5

  Joint Genome Institute                                        $13.1                     $13.1                $12.8

  Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab.                         $60.0                     $60.0                $57.6

  Nanoscale Science Research Centers                            $25.0                     $25.0                $20.6

  Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy                      $16,666.3                 $16,666.3             $5,883.2

  Adv. Materials RD&D in Support of EERE Needs

  to Advance Clean Energy Techs. & Energy-

  Intensive Process R&D                                        $46.7                      $46.7                $24.3

  Fundamental Research in Key Program Areas                   $106.9                     $106.9                $27.7

  Integrated Biorefinery Rsch. Expansion                       $13.4                      $13.4                 $6.1

  Lab Call for Facilities and Equipment                       $104.8                     $104.8                 $7.7