Or it could just be the annoying Health and Safety guys justifying their budget. If they don't spend it this year they won't have it appropriated in next years budget.
The government is great at wasting money on junk no one asked for or needs. They even write regulations making it mandatory spending because no one would order the stuff if they had a choice.
As I said, my procurement days saw that kind of “hurry up blow the money or lose it next year” exercises as well.
Based on what was purchased, matrixed against other .Gov purchases, and the current climate as it is, this could be another indicator of the oncoming storm.