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. y////////////////////////////^^^ 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 I fgjggaaxaaz^^ Printed on Recydad ------- 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. ------- cosrs 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). ------- |