A EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Publication 9355.5-05/FS
December 1989
USAGE Preplaced and
Rapid Response Contracts
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
Hazardous Site Control Division
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE), with EPA, has been exploring methods to expedite the
initiation of remedial action at Superfund sites. To meet this objective, the Kansas City District
(CEMRK) and Omaha District (CEMRO) have implemented two innovative contracting strategies:
Preplaced Remedial Action (PRA) and Rapid Response (RR) contracts. Both are cost-reimbursable,
indefinite delivery contracts with maximum amounts of $50 million per contract. Each contract has
the flexibility to accept either fixed-price or cost reimbursement delivery orders. The period of perform-
ance for both contracts is one year with four one-year options. There is no annual ceiling other than
the total $50 million contract limit.
To award a site-specific contract under normal procurement procedures, an announcement must be
published in the Commerce Business Daily, contract proposals evaluated, and an audit must be
performed. Indefinite delivery contracts require that the solicitation criteria be performed only for the
basic contract, not for each site-specific action. Once the basic contract is in place, the time required
to initiate construction is greatly reduced, since individual delivery orders are subsequently made
against this contract. Because the delivery orders are not subj ect to bid protests, additional delays may
also be avoided. As the time lines for site-specific and indefinite delivery contracts show, a minimum
of approximately two months can be saved in procuring a contractor. (Additional delays of four to six
months for bid protests may be avoided.)
The purpose of this document is to describe the PRA and RR programs and contracts. Included is an
overview of the program, the roles and responsibilities of USAGE and EPA, program execution, resource
management, contract management, and program policies.
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APPROXIMATE TIME REQUIRED TO NEGOTIATE PROCUREMENT ACTIONS
SITE - SPECIFIC VERSUS INDEFINITE DELIVERY
SITE - SPECIFIC
COMPLETE DESIGN
NOTICE TO
AWARD PROCEED
1
DESIGN. PLAN &
SPECIFICATION
PREPARATION
VARIES
r
PREPARE
RFP-
2 DAYS
PRE SOLIC ITATION
PUBLISHED IN
COMMERCE
BUSINESS DAILY
26 DAYS (MINIMUM)
1 DAY
SOLICIT
PROPOSALS
30 DAYS (MINIMUM
1
EVALUATE PROPOSALS
AND NEGOTIATE
CONTRACT
1 S - 45 DAYS
1
SUBMIT
BONDS
1 5 DAYS
COMMENCE
WORK
ELIVERY
COMPLETE .DESIGN
NOTICE TO
AWARD PROCEED
I
DESIGN, PLAN &
SPECIFICATION
PREPARATION
VARIES
1 DAY
1 DAY
SOLICIT
PROPOSALS
^ - 21 DAYS
EVALUATE PROPOSALS
AND NEGOTIATE
CONTRACT
15 - 3O DAYS
SUBMIT
BONDS
1 3 DAYS
COMMENCE
Requests for Proposals
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PREPLACED REMEDIAL ACTION
CONTRACTS
Description
Requirements
The Preplaced Remedial Action (PRA) contracts
are cost-plus-fixed-fee with a total value of fifty
(50) million dollars per contract with no delivery
order dollar maximum. PRA contracts are struc-
tured for use in full scale remedial actions and can
be used to im-
plement a wide
range of source
control and
ground water
remedies. The
Omaha Dis-
trict has four
PRA contracts
in place and
the Kansas
City District
has three.
USAGE EXPEDITED CONTRACTING STRATEGIES
USAGE DISTRICT CONTRACT AMOUNT
OMAHA KANSAS CITY
3
Preplaced Remedial 4
Action Program
$50 Million per Contract
$50 Million per Contract,
$2 Million per Delivery Order
If the site is well defined and detailed plans and
specifications are available or can be developedfor
the proposed action, a fixed price delivery order
will normally be issued. However, if the site is less
well defined, a cost-reimbursable delivery order
may be issued. (The use of cost
reimbursable delivery orders
also allows the design time to be
shortened since quantities do
not have to be as accurately de-
scribed.) Because of the expe-
dited nature of the contract, it is
desirable to have the USAGE
perform the design work or at
least to provide technical over-
sight if the design is completed
by others.
Use
RAPID RESPONSE PROGRAM
PRA contracts may be used for projects when
delaying the remedial action for normal procure- Description
ment actions results in possible detrimental ef-
fects on human health and/or the environment.
The decision to use the PRA contracts can be
reached in two ways:
• EPA Regions can request the USAGE to use the
contracting vehicles if they believe the situation
warrants expedited action; or
• The USAGE, during their evaluation of contract-
ing and scheduling alternatives, can determine
that use of the PRA contracts is the most effective
approach to the remedial action.
EPA Regions 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9 should make their
requests to the Omaha Design District and Re-
gions 2, 4, 6, 7 and 10 to the Kansas City District.
When EPA desires the USAGE to employ a PRA
contract, the request should include a brief state-
ment (a short paragraph) describing the need for
the expedited action. This explanation should in-
dicate that the work is time critical and must com-
mence within the next six months (this includes
design time).
The rapid response (RR) program contracts are
cost-plus-award-fee with a total value of fifty (50)
million dollars per contract. There is a two (2)
million dollar limit per delivery order. RR con-
tracts are for removal actions, closures, point
source contamination control and site stabiliza-
tion. They are available for use anywhere in the
United States and its Territories. The Omaha
District has two RR program contracts in place.
The Kansas City District does not administer any
RR contracts. All EPA Regions will be served by
the Omaha District contracts.
Use
RR contracts may be used for projects where it is
necessary to abate, stabilize, mitigate, or elimi-
nate a hazardous substance release or the threat
of a release; to remove point sources of contamina-
tion; to implement time-critical removal actions as
defined in the NCP (proposed); and to implement
small scale remedial actions.
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Under normal circumstances, EPA must request
the use of RR contracts since the primary intent of
the contracts is site stabilization not remedial
implementation. To use the RR contracts, EPA
must complete a Rapid Response Project Request
Form which may be obtained from the Missouri
River Division of the USAGE. As with the PRA
contracts, the request should include a short
statement describing the need for expedited ac-
tions.
Requirements
When using the RR contracts, site information
such as a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study,
Closure Plans, Corrective Action Plans, and any
other pertinent site information should be pro-
vided to USAGE with the Rapid Response Project
Proposal Form. If the RR contract is to implement
a small scale remedial action, the plans and speci-
fications should be furnished to the USAGE.
TIME FRAME
USAGE anticipates a time frame of approximately
30-60 days from decision to use PRA and RR con-
tracts to delivery order award. The delivery order
initiation procedures are:
• EPA/USAGE decides to use PRA or RR con-
tracts.
• USAGE prepares a Scope of Work and Govern-
ment Estimate.
• USAGE sends a Request For Proposal (RFP) to
one of the PRA or RR contractors.
• The contractor reviews the RFP and submits a
proposal.
• The final scope and cost of the proposal is then
negotiated between the government and the
contractor.
• With a price agreed upon, the government
issues a Notice to Proceed to the contractor
and the work begins.
While the PRA and RR basic contracts were com-
petitively bid, the individual delivery orders are
not. For this reason, a remedial action initiated
under a PRA or RR contract may cost slightly more
than an individually procured, competitively bid,
site-specific contract. USAGE administration and
management of these contracts is more labor
intensive, thereby raising the contract admini-
stration costs. To recover these costs, a small con-
tract utilization fee shall be applied to delivery
orders, and shall be in addition to and included in
the USAGE contract management support costs
forthe specific IAG. This fee will apply to the Initial
delivery order and any modification exceeding
$250,000 and will amount to less than one half of
one percent of the delivery order or change order
cost.
ADMINISTRA TIVE PROCESS
When EPA decides to request the USAGE to use
either the PRA or RR contracts, the Regional
Project Manager (RPM) should contact the respec-
tive USAGE District to discuss the feasibility of
using either contract. If these initial discussions
are positive, the RPM should proceed with the for-
mal request.
The administrative process is identical to the ex-
isting process for assigning work to the USAGE.
An Interageney Agreement (IAG) for the remedial
action must be executed. The request and sup-
porting documentation to use either PRA or RR
contracts should accompany the IAG. In addition,
to ensure that the USAGE has a thorough knowl-
edge of the project, it is preferable that the USAGE
either perform the design or provide technical as-
sistance to EPA during design.
CONCLUSIONS
These contract strategies are one method avail-
able to Regional personnel to expedite the initia-
tion of remedial activities. They can be used when
it is necessary to begin site activities quickly due
to the possible detrimental effects to human health
and/or the environment if action is delayed. The
EPA point-of-contact for more information is Wil-
liam Zobel (202/382-2347). The USAGE point-of-
contact for more information is Sandi Zebrowski
(402/691-4524).
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