New Facility Doubles BEP Budget for 2022

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has submitted its fiscal year 2022 budget request to Congress.

The main component of the $1.9 billion requested funds is for special projects. Chief among them is $897 million for the Replacement Production Facility in Beltsville, Maryland. Work began in 2021 when $30 million was dedicated to contracts for the removal of hazardous building materials, demolition of old agriculture research buildings and the relocation of some needed utility systems.

The new funding request will include the award of the construction contract for the replacement facility. The BEP says the new facility, when operational, will reduce its annual operating costs by at least $38 million through production, material handling, and other efficiencies.

Expansion of the Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth, Texas, began in 2018. The purpose was to provide the space and support needed for the new equipment to be used in producing the next generation of currency, the ‘Catalyst’ series. The BEP says the focus of Catalyst will be ‘on the integration of strong, new security features.’ The work should be completed in 2022, with $1 million budgeted for construction close-out activities.

The BEP’s work on its long-term project with the federal government’s inter-agency Advanced Counterfeit Deterrent Steering Committee was emphasised. The objective of the ACD is to research and develop improved security features for the Catalyst family of notes that, the request reiterates, will focus on innovative Federal Reserve note security and anti-counterfeit technology.

Retooling the manufacturing process is another multi-year effort. It includes advanced intaglio printing presses, electronic inspection systems, and finishing equipment.

The $100 note finishing line will be upgraded and fully automated to integrate the Single Note Inspection technology. This will replace the old sheet inspection process and, according to the BEP report, will reduce spoilage, be more efficient, and save money (since its deployment by the BEP in 2015, SNI has ready resulted in savings of $100 million). Obsolete electrical and mechanical parts on existing presses will be replaced to extend the press lifetimes.

Aging COPE–PAK (Currency Overprinting Processing Equipment, Packaging) equipment is being replaced a new generation of processing technology. This will include improved Large Examining and Printing Equipment (ns-LEPE) that will allow the BEP to print all denominations on 50-subject sheets instead of 32-subject sheets.

In total, the budget request for next year of $1.9 billion, is nearly double that of the current year. The increase is almost entirely due to the new production facility in Maryland.