SURF outlines DOE cooperative‑agreement budget and DUNE construction timeline; emphasizes K‑12 outreach and economic impact
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Summary
Mike Headley, executive director of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority, told the Joint Committee on Appropriations that SURF operates under a DOE cooperative agreement renewed last September and outlined progress on the Long‑Baseline Neutrino Facility (DUNE), budget lines and education outreach.
Mike Headley, executive director of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (the Sanford Underground Research Facility, SURF), and Tim Engle, the authority's general counsel, briefed the Joint Committee on Appropriations about SURF's mission, DOE cooperative‑agreement funding, and progress on the Long‑Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF)/DUNE project.
Headley said SURF operates former Homestake Mine facilities that now host international particle physics experiments, K‑12 STEM outreach and research partnerships. He described a five‑year cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy that supports site operations and noted that the CA was renewed last September. "We have an operations contract through September of 2029 at this point," Headley said.
Why it matters: SURF is hosting the DUNE experiment — a long‑baseline neutrino facility described by presenters as a multibillion‑dollar international construction and research project — and the lab's operations and construction activities generate substantial state economic impact and workforce demand.
Key budget and program points: Headley said base operations under the CA were budgeted at roughly $125,000,000 for the initial five‑year term and about $203,000,000 for the second five‑year period. He said SURF directly employs about 190 full‑time staff and that total employment supporting the facility (including project construction contractors) approaches 400 FTE. The LBNF/DUNE excavation phase is substantially complete and infrastructure installation is underway; Headley said excavation for the large caverns was finished roughly a year earlier and that installation of utilities and detector components will continue with the first detector installation targeted for early 2026 and the first two detectors online by late 2029.
Headley said the lab's activity has delivered measurable economic returns: approximately $1.3 billion in federal and private investment for roughly $75 million of state investment, with estimated decade‑scale economic impact in the billions and annual average employment in the state near 1,200 jobs when counting broader supply‑chain effects. He highlighted SURF's K‑12 STEM program: outreach now reaches about 16,000–20,000 students per year and provides professional development for roughly 400 teachers annually.
Federal funding risk and private support: Committee members asked whether a recent federal grants pause announced for some programs could affect SURF. Headley said the DOE cooperative agreement funds operations and the LBNF/DUNE construction is funded through DOE and an international collaboration; DOE has authority over work under the CA and, if the pause were applied, DOE could request an OMB waiver to continue. "If we hold activities underneath the cooperative agreement, the multibillion dollar construction project will have to halt as well," Headley said. He told the committee the authority was in regular contact with DOE about contingencies and waiver processes.
On private support, Headley said SURF had ongoing fundraising conversations and specifically noted discussions with donor interests tied to Denny Sanford; he said the authority would continue private fundraising to build additional lab space and an institute for underground science.
Ending: Headley invited committee members to visit the facility and reiterated the authority's commitment to provide more detail about federal funding relationships and planned infrastructure. No committee action or vote occurred during the informational presentation.
Discussion points: cooperative‑agreement funding and term (DOE CA through 2029), DUNE excavation progress and timeline for detector installation, DOE pause exposure and waiver possibilities, local economic impacts and K‑12 outreach scale.
Directions: SURF to remain in contact with DOE on risk/waiver pathways and to provide further detail on specific cooperative‑agreement budget lines or outstanding infrastructure requests upon the committee's follow‑up requests.
