The "small pilot" was a 40 center study enrolling 1,750 pregnant women. There are some fixed costs to a study like that, especially if they're supposed to also apply to the larger study, and there has been a lot of work done in developing the appropriate methods for the NCS - over 100 research papers worth of it.
Also, as has been said, it's not clear if all the allocated money has actually been spent.
Also, as has been said, it's not clear if all the allocated money has actually been spent.