U.S. ATLAS HL-LHC Upgrade LAr Level 2 and Level 3 Managers Mailing List

[John Parsons <parsons AT nevis.columbia.edu>]

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Hi all,

	FYI, see below a couple updates from NSF via Mike Tuts.  It seems to be 
good news, namely that MREFC work should be able to continue despite the 
government shutdown.  One restriction is that we will not be able to 
implement any BCPs that require NSF approval.  Fortunately the ADC BCP 
about to be presented by Tim does not, though the upcoming SRTM BCP 
might (since it might change the project end-date).
	So, let your university groups know to proceed "as usual" (at least 
until we get some other guidance).

        Regards,
                John

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	[[Usatlas-hllhc-l2deputymgmt-nsf-l] ] FW: Construction Project 
Reporting During the 2025 Lapse in Appropriations
Date:   Wed, 8 Oct 2025 21:48:21 +0000
From:   Michael Tuts <tuts AT pmtuts.net>
Reply-To:       Michael Tuts <tuts AT pmtuts.net>
To: 	Jon Kotcher (kotcher AT bnl.gov) <kotcher AT bnl.gov>, Gustaaf H 
Brooijmans (gusbroo AT phys.columbia.edu) <gusbroo AT nevis.columbia.edu>, 
Penka Novakova (penka AT bnl.gov) <penka AT bnl.gov>, Hal Evans 
<hgevans AT iu.edu>, Amy Garwood - Nevis Labs (agarwood AT nevis.columbia.edu) 
<agarwood AT nevis.columbia.edu>
CC: 	usatlas-hllhc-l2deputymgmt-nsf-l 
<usatlas-hllhc-l2deputymgmt-nsf-l AT lists.bnl.gov>



Hi All, I Was not expecting such a quick and crisp reply from NSF 
regarding post 30-day shutdown work. Sorry for all this piecemeal spam, 
but I think this is good news for our ability to largely pursue business 
as usual during the shutdown,
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Hi All,

I Was not expecting such a quick and crisp reply from NSF regarding post 
30-day shutdown work. Sorry for all this piecemeal spam, but I think 
this is good news for our ability to largely pursue business as usual 
during the shutdown,

Cheers, Mike

*From:*Kashmer, Timothy P. <tkashmer AT nsf.gov>
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 8, 2025 5:11 PM
*To:* Michael Tuts <tuts AT pmtuts.net>; tuts AT nevis.columbia.edu; 
Anders.Ryd AT cornell.edu
*Cc:* Opper, Allena K. <AOPPER AT nsf.gov>; Ali, Aamir M. <aamali AT nsf.gov>; 
Avallone, Linnea <lavallon AT nsf.gov>
*Subject:* RE: Construction Project Reporting During the 2025 Lapse in 
Appropriations

Mike,

Yes, that is correct.  Note, Aamir Ali is the NSF Program Director.

Tim

_­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________________________________________________

Tim P. Kashmer, Branch Chief

Infrastructure Support Branch

Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support

U.S. National Science Foundation
tkashmer AT nsf.gov <mailto:tkashmer AT nsf.gov>

*From:*Michael Tuts <tuts AT pmtuts.net <mailto:tuts AT pmtuts.net>>
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 8, 2025 4:37 PM
*To:* Kashmer, Timothy P. <tkashmer AT nsf.gov <mailto:tkashmer AT nsf.gov>>; 
tuts AT nevis.columbia.edu <mailto:tuts AT nevis.columbia.edu>; 
Anders.Ryd AT cornell.edu <mailto:Anders.Ryd AT cornell.edu>
*Cc:* Opper, Allena K. <AOPPER AT nsf.gov <mailto:AOPPER AT nsf.gov>>; Ali, 
Aamir M. <aamali AT nsf.gov <mailto:aamali AT nsf.gov>>; Avallone, Linnea 
<lavallon AT nsf.gov <mailto:lavallon AT nsf.gov>>
*Subject:* [EXTERNAL] - RE: Construction Project Reporting During the 
2025 Lapse in Appropriations

        

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Dear Tim,

Thank you for this.

 From my reading I believe that the first bullet applies to our MREFC 
which has funds from before the appropriations lapse, which in turn 
means we can largely continue work on a month by month basis (for any 
actions that do NOT require NSF approval) while sending our monthly 
reports during the shutdown to you, Linnea Avallone and our grants 
officer Aamir Ali.

That is a great relief to know that we can continue our work without 
major interruption during the shutdown.

Thanks again for the clarification, Mike Tuts

*From:*Kashmer, Timothy P. <tkashmer AT nsf.gov <mailto:tkashmer AT nsf.gov>>
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 8, 2025 11:34 AM
*To:* tuts AT nevis.columbia.edu <mailto:tuts AT nevis.columbia.edu>; 
Anders.Ryd AT cornell.edu <mailto:Anders.Ryd AT cornell.edu>
*Cc:* Opper, Allena K. <AOPPER AT nsf.gov <mailto:AOPPER AT nsf.gov>>; Ali, 
Aamir M. <aamali AT nsf.gov <mailto:aamali AT nsf.gov>>; Avallone, Linnea 
<lavallon AT nsf.gov <mailto:lavallon AT nsf.gov>>
*Subject:* Construction Project Reporting During the 2025 Lapse in 
Appropriations

Dear Dr. Philip Tuts and Dr. Anders Ryd:

I am providing some additional information regarding the attached Notice 
that was sent on October 1, 2025.

The standard guidance during a lapse in appropriations is that major 
facility and mid- scale construction award recipients may continue if 
they are funded by valid obligations entered into prior to the lapse, 
and only to the extent that work can proceed without the involvement of 
Federal staff. Federal staff may be recalled solely to perform work 
necessary to protect life or Federal property from imminent harm.

The NSF Director has the authority to determine, on a case-by-case 
basis, whether a construction project has progressed to the point where 
its monthly report contains information implicating the government’s 
interests in protecting life or Federal property. Based on this 
authority, the NSF Director has determined the following:

  * If a warranted excepted or exempted NSF grants officer, in
    coordination with the Chief Officer for Research Facilities (CORF),
    determines that a monthly report is unlikely to implicate the
    protection of life or Federal property and does not require formal
    acceptance by a Federal official, the requirement for Federal
    employee review is waived. In such cases, the construction project
    may proceed to the next milestone or monthly report.
  * If, however, a warranted excepted or exempted NSF grants officer, in
    coordination with the CORF, determines that a monthly report may
    contain information implicating the protection of life or Federal
    property from imminent harm—including risks posed to individuals
    actively working on the project—then review of the report qualifies
    as an excepted activity under a shutdown. In these cases, furloughed
    staff may be recalled to review the report.

The NSF Director has determined that this applies to your major facility 
projectsin support of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) 
awards.

For monthly reports that come due during the lapse, please send a copy 
to me at tkashmer AT nsf.gov <mailto:tkashmer AT nsf.gov> and to Linnea 
Avallone, NSF Chief Officer for Research Facilities, at lavallon AT nsf.gov 
<mailto:lavallon AT nsf.gov>, in addition to the cognizant NSF Program 
Officer on your awards aamali AT nsf.gov <mailto:aamali AT nsf.gov> .

Thank you,

Tim

_­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________________________________________________

Tim P. Kashmer, Branch Chief

Infrastructure Support Branch

Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support

U.S. National Science Foundation
_tkashmer AT nsf.gov <mailto:tkashmer AT nsf.gov>_

*From:*Kashmer, Timothy P. <tkashmer AT nsf.gov <mailto:tkashmer AT nsf.gov>>
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 1, 2025 9:10 AM
*Subject:*  Lapse in Appropriations for NSF's Major Facilities and 
Mid-scale Research Infrastructure

Dear Managing Organization Cognizant Points of Contact and Colleagues,

This email provides notification that the appropriations under which the 
U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has been operating expired on 
September 30, 2025.   Consequently, NSF will shut down its operations 
with limited exemptions for specifically excepted activities.

Please review the attached memorandum for additional information.

Thank you,

Tim

_­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________________________________________________

Tim P. Kashmer, Branch Chief

Grants and Agreements Officer for Rubin Observatory Construction and JR/IODP

Infrastructure Support Branch

Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support

National Science Foundation
tkashmer AT nsf.gov <mailto:tkashmer AT nsf.gov>

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<Notice #2 - Managing Organization Cognizant Point of Contact.pdf>