55 



Appendix [ 



A^ng Fedri-Aj LAbormcorie* Need Eep«ir« 



uid Upcr»dea 



mist's laboratory buildings were state-of-the-art structures when they were 

 constructed at Boulder in the mid-1950s and at Gaithersburg in the early 

 1960s. However, the combination of (1) advancing age, which requires 

 substantial maintenance and repair to retain originally designed 

 capabilities, and (2) rapidly advancing technology has made these facilities 

 inadequate for many types of advanced research essential to its mission. 

 NIST cited the need for improved temperature, humidity, air cleanliness, 

 and vibration controls for its advanced research that employs such 

 sensitive instruments as optical, electron, and tunneling microscopes. 



NIST proposed a $540 million, 10-year effon to upgrade its laboratory 

 facilities, nist plans to reno\-ate seven existing laboratory buildings and 

 construct the equivalent of two new laboratory buildings with advanced 

 systems to control temperature, humidity, air cleanliness, and vibrationa. 

 NIST also plans to improve the reliability of electrical power supplies and, 

 at Boulder, construct a central plant to provide steam and chilled water. 

 The Congress appropnated $1 10 million in fiscal year 1993 for design and 

 initial construction activities.' 



NISt's second plan addresses improvements to remedy m^or safety and 



systems capacity problems. In particular, mst would improve fire safety 

 and electrical power s>3tems at both its Gaithersburg and Boulder 

 campuses. In addition, nist plans to repair the structural deterioration of 

 building foundations and expand the chilled water plant £it the 

 Gaithersburg campus. The sisr safety and systems CEyaacity plan is 

 estimated to cost about J98 million, including $4 million that the Congress 

 has already appropriated. 



Three Agencies Have 

 Reported Facilities as 

 a Material 

 Management 

 Weakness 



EP.\, in its Ft^ reports for 1989-92, cited as a material management 

 weakness detenorating laboratory buildings and facilities among its Office 

 of Research and Development's research laboratories and field stations. 

 According to ep.\, these laboratory faciliues are in various states of 

 disrepair, resulting not only in health, safety, and environmental 

 compliance violations but also m significant delays in epa's research 

 requirements, era stated that its science program is vulnerable if its 

 research facilities do not meet the laboratory standards for the regulated 

 community. To address this material weakness, epa initiated a master 

 planmng process in fiscal year 1991 to identify and priontize projects for 

 funding through its building and facihties appropriation. The Congress 



The appropnalion included funding nol to exceed $5 million for design and 1105 million for 

 consxrucuon of new rrseairh faoliues. 



