&EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Publication 9200.5-4011 June 1990 CORAS Bulletin Office of Emergency and Remedial Response Office of Program Management OS - 240 Intermittent Bulletin Volume 1 Number 8 We would like to thank the Conflict of Interest Unit, Quality Assurance Staff, Procurement and Contracts Management Division for the following article on Conflict of Interest. Conflict of Interest in The SUPERFUND Program During the past year, conflict of interest (COD in the Superfund Program has been a subject of increasing con- cern. EPA has historically relied heavily upon contractors to accomplish its mission. However, as the Superfund Pro- gram and the hazardous waste industry as a whole continue to grow, the need to develop more comprehensive proce- dures for detecting and avoiding conflicts has become in- creasingly more important. The Agency recognizes that some Superfund contrac- tors working for EPA on sites sometimes also work for firms that may have liability for the pollution of these sites and this could-present those contractors with a COI that could: (1) impair or appear to impair their objectivity when per- forming work for EPA; or (2) hamper EPA's efforts to succeed in getting polluters to clean up these sites by jeop- ardizing the ability to successfully litigate enforcement cases or reducing the clean up costs EPA may be able to recover. For example, the Superfund contractor may be called upon to testify in court to support prior actions taken by the potentially liable parties, as well as testifying to support actions by EPA. The court, might then, question the contractor's objectivity. Due to the special nature of the Superfund program, EPA must be concerned with not only reviewing the COI prior to award, but also with ongoing and future COI. Last year, both the General Accounting Office (GAO) in its report entitled, "Superfund Contracts: EPA's Proce- dures for Preventing Conflicts of Interest Need Strengthen- ing" and the Agency in the Administrator's "Management Review of the Superfund Program" addressed the special vulnerability of the Superfund program to COI and strongly recommended that EPA take action to strengthen its ability to detect and avoid COI and that it issue formal guidance on the subject. Concerns were raised about the lack of consis- tency in contract clauses dealing with COI, the need for monitoring of contractor compliance with EPA's require- ment for detecting and avoiding COI, the need for requiring contractor certification concerning COI disclosure, as well as the need for better documentation of COI determinations. As a result of the recommendations of the GAO Report and the Superfund Management Review, a major effort has been underway to develop clear and comprehensive guid- ance for handling COI in the Agency's Superfund contracts. This effort is being headed up by the COI unit established within Procurement and Contracts Management Division's Quality Assurance Staff Office headed by Katherine Seikel (475-7000). The COI unit, which was established to develop and implement COI guidance and to serve in an advisory ca- pacity concerning COI in the Agency's programs, is staffed with three procurement analysts, Ann Carey (382-3152), Cal McWhirter (382-3185), and Stuart Toleman (475-8218). The COI staff have been working closely with CORAS, the Program Offices, the Contract Offices, the Office of General Counsel and others to develop a proposed COI rule. This proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on April 26, 1990, for public comments. When the rule is finalized in the Fall of this year, it should provide the Agency with comprehensive and consistent guidelines to monitor actual, apparent and potential conflicts of interest. The proposed rule includes changes to the EPA Acqui- sition Regulations (EPAAR) clause on Organizational Con- flict of Interest, which will affect all contracts, and adds several COI clauses for Superfund contracts. The rule includes: (1) notification to the Contracting Officer of ac- tual, apparent or potential organizational or personal COI prior to beginning work on work assignments; (2) limitation of future contracting COI clauses, specifically tailored to the various programs, when future work may conflict with work performed for EPA; (3) a requirement for contractor ------- certification of COI disclosure on both an annual and work assignment basis; and (4) a requirement for contractors to retain employee's confidentiality agreements and ensure their employees report COI. In addition to the proposed COI rule, the COI unit is working on the development of a data base system "COINS" (Conflict of Interest National System) which will track COI actions and serve as a master data base from which COI actions can be coordinated and COI information can be researched. Although additional procedures will be implemented when the rule is finalized, the procedures that should cur- rently be followed for identifying, reporting and resolving COI situations are briefly summarized as follows. Contrac- tors are required to identify and report all actual, apparent or potential COI to their EPA Contracting Officer, who has the responsibility to make COI determinations. A copy of all notifications and Contracting Officer determinations must be provided to the COI unit c/o Katherine Seikel, PM-214F. In addition, contractor COI notifications to more than one Contracting Officer, in situations when a COI may impact multiple contracts, should be flagged so that deter- minations can be coordinated to ensure consistency in EP A's decisions. Contracting Officers will make the COI determi- nations based on a review and analysis of the facts and a con-' sideration of any recommendations requested from the Project Officer, Program Office, the COI unit and/or legal counsel. Clearly, the resolution of COI matters is often very diffi- cult because the issues are complex and frequently there is insufficient information initially provided from which to make a decision. The COI staff have been working closely with Contracting Officers and Project Officers advising them on problems associated with COI. They are available to answer any questions you may have or assist you in resolving COI issues. In addition, please contact them if you have any comments on the proposed COI rule or recom- mendations on how EP A's procedures to identify and avoid COI can be improved. New additions to the CORAS Family Please join us in welcoming two new members to the CORAS staff: Kerry Kelly most recently worked for Roy F. Weston, Inc., serving as Deputy Regional Manager of the Headquar- ters Technical Assistance Team. Prior to that she worked for the Florida Legislature's Oversight and Investigations Staff and for Velsicol Chemical Corporation. She has a masters degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She will be working on the Long-Term Contracting Strategy and other Superfund contracting issues. Juanita Wilkinson, is CORAS' new secretary. She has worked in EPA for 3 years and comes to us from the Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation; Office of Regulatory Management and Evaluation; Science, Economics and Sta- tistical Division; Statistical Policy Branch. FY 1990 Cumulative Superfund Obligations (extramural only) 300 _/ S 200 o 2 i 100 . February March April ------- dn Congratulations to the following recipients of the 1990 CONTRACTS MANAGEMENT AWARD for work related to Superfund contracts: OUTSTANDING MOHAMMAD SHAHEER ALVI (Region U, ERRD) - for his initiatives in the Superfund program that resulted in efficiencies and cost savings. Also, as a result of Mr. Alvi's recommendations, a number of changes in the third cycle ARCS RFP provided distinct advantages to the Government during the negotiation process. These changes were also adopted by Regions IV, VI, vn, Vni, and IX in their round of ARCS contract negotiations. SUPERIOR JAN ROGERS (Region IV, WMD) - for his initiation and consistent support of new and innovative contracting methods in the Superfund program resulting in improved contractor perform- ance and substantial cost savings. Mr. Rogers has also been responsible for the development of a prequalification contracting strategy and for the development of a delivery order expenditure tracking system. EDDI A. SIERRA (Region VI, ESD) - for his leadership and technical skill as FIT Regional Project Officer during management and support of the Region 6 Pre-Remedial Site Assessment Program. Mr. Sierra also effectively used computer resources to develop databases which improved the quality of contractor work and reduced the amount of time needed for oversight of FIT contractors. BRONZE MEDAL AWARD ANNE M. MANGIAFICO (OIRM) • for her achievement in the development, writing, and production of the OIRM Administrative Procedures for ADP approvals under ARCS contracts. Ms Mangiafico's activities were not in the area of direct contract management; however, they indirectly contributed greatly to the effectiveness of ARCS contract managers. ------- CORAS BULLETIN BOARD Hazardous Site Control Division Remedial Design Schedule Management HSCD has completed a "Remedial Design Schedule Man- agement" project which addresses both schedules and re- sources for remedial design. The remedy specific schedules are generic in nature and have been developed with the objective of demonstrating management approaches to reducing the overall remedial design duration. They pres- ent reasonable approximations of the interrelationships of those activities required to successfully complete a remedial design. The schedules and LOE estimates are intended for train- ing purposes only and should not be used to develop site- specific schedules. The schedules and LOE estimates used by the party contracting for design to prepare an independ- ent cost estimate must reflect their own experience with similar projects. OSWER will schedule a training course covering this material in each region. The first will be scheduled at the beginning of FY91. For additional informa- tion, contact Thomas A. Whalen, P.E. of HSCD at (202 or FTS) 475-9755. Estimating Costs of Remedial Actions HSCD, in conjunction with ORD's Risk Reduction Engi- neering Lab (RREL) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE), has initiated an 18 month effort to develop sys- tems to estimate the cost of Remedial Action (RA) during design (RD). The systems will account for the RA procure- ment method, contract type, and specifications. The PRACES system, developed by ORD's RREL, can be used by the designer to estimate the cost of the technology component of the RA. The HTRW database of the USAGE Microcomputer Aided Cost Estimating System (M-CACES) can be used by the designer to estimate the more detailed, traditional items to be constructed during the RA. The expected degree of accuracy of the pre-final design estimate, using the integrated PRACES/HTRW M-CACES system should be +25/-25 percent. For additional information call Thomas A. Whalen, P.E. at (202 or FTS) 475-9755. Independent Government Cost Estimates Development of independent government cost estimates for RI/FS work assignments have been simplified through the use of software developed in Region II. Region II ARCS Project Officer, John McGarhen has de- veloped software to simplify development of independent government cost estimates for ARCS RI/FS work assign- ments. This software assists Regional Project Officers by incorporating contract specific cost information such as overhead and labor rates to the independent cost estimate. Project specific tasks and subtasks along with the requisite: labor mix and any necessary subcontract support are also incorporated. Final output is in the form of a presentable government OP Form 60. This software was presented by Mr. McGarhen at the Superfund CO/PO Quarterly Meet- ing on June 11,1990. Should you ha ve any questions regard- ing this product, contact John McGarhen in Region II at FTS 264-9212. Emergency Response Division PCMD recently prepared a report assessing the admini- stration of the TAT contracts. The report recommendations point out that we need to: • Improve the quality of specific elements on Technical Di- rector Documents (TDDs). • Ensure that verbal TDDs are followed up in writing within 5 days. • Provide written support for each contractor invoice. • Ensure that Performance Evaluation Board reports are submitted to PCMD in a timely manner. • Ensure that contractor technical reports include informa- tion on problems that arise and resolution of the problems. ERD has commented on each recommendation and has forwarded the comments to PCMD. Update on Long-Term Contracting Strategy for Superfund The full Task Force met in Kansas City on April 3-4,1990 and Headquarters and the Regions were well represented. At the meeting the proposed options were discussed, com- ments provided, and one new definition and presentation of options was distributed to the Regional Division Directors of the Waste Management and Environmental Services Divisions, as well as key Headquarters management, for comment on April 23. In addition, the key subgroups convened in Kansas City to develop workplans for deliver- ables on: structure, competition, roles and responsibilities, institutional barriers and legislative issues. Since the Kansas City meeting, each subgroup has con- vened meetings via conference calls and face-to-face meet- ings in Washington. Comments on the options have been received and are currently being summarized. A meeting of the full Task Force will be held in Washington, D.C. to discuss these comments and to review the outputs of the analyses of each subgroup on June 14 and 15. At that time, plans will also be made for the approach to be used in developing the final product. The Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response was briefed on June 1, regarding the basic issues and options under consid- eration by the Task Force. If yon are interested in receiving back issues of the CORAS Bulletin, please contact Jalania Ellis. FTS 475-8533. •;. ;'..'.:. .: .-;, ^'.Y;...:.-. .'..•• For any changes to the "Key Regional Personnel in Superfund Contract Management" chart, please notify Jalania Ellis. FTS 475-8533. ------- Key Regional Personnel in Superfund Contract Management Contract REM ARCS ERCS TAT FIT TES ESAT Headquarters (PO. DPO if possible) REM II - Benjamin Hamm REM III • Rob Heffernan REM IV - Tracy Loy REMV - Chris Watling REM VI - Chris Watling Scott Fredericks Zone 1 - Joan Henry Zone 2 - Reg. 4 is PO Zone 3 - Reg. 5 is PO Zone 4 -Lisa Guarneiri Zone 1 - Pat Hawkins Zone 2 - Susan Janowiak Zone 1 • John Hollister Zone 2 - Dave Cook Zone 1- - Jack Jojokian Zone 2 - Jean Wright Zone 3 - Billy Perry Zone 4 - Nancy Deck Lynn Beasley Region 1 Nancy Barmakian U.S. EPA - HCP - CAN7 JFK Federal Building Boston. MA 02203 8-833-5797 Nancy Barmakian U.S. EPA - HCP - CAN7 JFK Federal Building Boston, MA 02203 833-1797 John Carlson U.S. EPA 60 Westview Street Lexington. MA 021 73 (617)860-4513 John Carlson U.S. EPA 60 Westview Street Lexington, MA 02173 (617)860-4613 Don Smith U.S. EPA - HSS - CAN7 JFK Federal Bulling Boston, MA 02203 833-1648 Rick Lekjhton U.S. EPA - CAN7 JFK Federal Building Boston, MA 02203 833-1654 Scon Clifford U.S. EPA 60 Westview Street Lexington, Ma 02173 (617)860-4631 Region 2 Shaheer Alvi U.S. EPA 26 Federal Plaza New York, NY 10278 8-264-2221 Shaheer Alvi U.S. EPA 26 Federal Plaza New York, NY 10278 264-2221 Norm Vogelsang' U.S. EPA Woodbridge Avenue Edison, NJ 08837 340- Norm Vogelsang U.S. EPA Woodbridge Avenue Edison, NJ 08837 340- Amy Brochu U.S. EPA Woodbridge Avenue Edison, NJ 08837 340-6802 Cathy Moyik U.S. EPA 26 Federal Plaza New York, NY 10278 264-8123 Joseph Hudek U.S. EPA Woodbridge Avenue Edison, NJ 08837 340-6713 Region 3 James McKenzie U.S. EPA 841 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 191 07 597-3229 Jerome Curtin U.S. EPA 841 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 597-4779 Rich Fetzer U.S. EPA 841 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 191 07 597- Rich Fetzer U.S. EPA 841 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 597- Greg Hamm U.S. EPA 841 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 597-8229 Elaine Spiewak / Nancy Cippola U.S. EPA 841 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 191 07 597-8183 Terry Simpson U.S. EPA 839 Bestgate Road Annapolis. MD 21 401 (301)266-9180 Region 4 Ken Myer U.S. EPA 345 Courtland Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30365 (404) 347-2930 Doug Thompson U.S. EPA 345 Courtland Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30365 (404) 347-2930 Carol Monell U.S. EPA 345 Courtland Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30365 (404) 347-2930 Carol Monell U.S. EPA 345 Courtland Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30365 (404) 347-2930 Al Hanke U.S. EPA 345 Courtland Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30365 257-5065 Ken Myer U.S. EPA 345 Courtland Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30365 (404) 347-2930 Bobby Carroll U.S. EPA, College Station Road, ASB Athens, GA 306 13 250-3309 Region 5 Gail Nabasny U.S. EPA 230 South Dearborn St Chicago, IL 60604 353-1056 Steven Nathan U.S. EPA 230 South Dearborn St Chicago, IL 60604 886-5496 Charles Brasher U.S. EPA 230 South Dearborn St Chicago, IL 60604 353- Duane Heaton U.S. EPA 230 South Dearborn St Chicago, IL 60604 353-1788 Gail Nabasny U.S. EPA 230 South Dearborn St Chicago, IL 60604 353-1056 Lorraine Kosik U.S. EPA 230 South Dearborn St Chicago, IL 60604 353-6431 Jay Thakkar U.S. EPA 536 S.Clark St. Chicago, IL 60605 886-1972 ------- Key Regional Personnel in Superfund Contract Management Contract REM ARCS ERCS TAT FIT TES ESAT Region 6 Helen Newman U.S. EPA 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas, TX 75270 8-255-6720 Carlene Chambers U.S. EPA 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas, TX 75270 255-6720 Chris Peterson U.S. EPA 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas. TX 75270 255-2270 Chris Peterson U.S. EPA 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas. TX 75270 255-6720 Ed Sierra U.S. EPA 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas. TX 75270 255-6491 Karen Wrtten U.S. EPA 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas. TX 75270 255-6720 Michael Daggett U.S. EPA 6608 Houston. TX 77074 526-9430 Region 7 Karen Flournoy U.S. EPA 726 Minnesota Avenue Kansas City, KS 661 01 (913)551-7782 Rebecca Thomas U.S. EPA 726 Minnesota Avenue Kansas City, KS 661 01 (913)551-7593 Ron McCutcheon U.S. EPA 726 Minnesota Avenue Kansas City, KS 661 01 (913)551-3881 Paul Doherty U.S. EPA 726 Minnesota Avenue Kansas City, KS 661 01 (913)551-3881 Peter Culver U.S. EPA 726 Minnesota Avenue Kansas City, KS 661 01 (913)551-7707 Maureen Hunt U.S. EPA 726 Minnesota Avenue Kansas City, KS 661 01 (913)551-7722 Harold Brown U.S. EPA 726 Minnesota Avenue Kansas City, KS 661 01 (913)551-3881 Region 8 Lisa Beasley U.S. EPA 999 18th Street Denver, CO 80202 8-330-1282 Jeff Mashburn U.S. EPA 999 18th Street Denver, CO 80202 330- Mike Zimmerman U.S. EPA 999 18th Street Denver, CO 80202 330-7134 Jim Knoy U.S. EPA 999 18th Street Denver, CO 80202 330-7162 Gerry Snyder U.S. EPA 999 18th Street Denver, CO 80202 330-7505 Sam Marquez U.S. EPA 999 1 8th Street Denver, CO 80202 330-7151 Steve Gallic U.S. EPA 999 18th Street Denver, CO 80202 330- Reglon 9 Rob Stern U.S. EPA 21 5 Fremont Street San Francisco 941 05 454-7406 Matt Mitgaard U.S. EPA 21 5 Fremont Street San Francisco 94105 454-0307 Chris Weden U.S. EPA - (T-4-9) 21 5 Fremont Street San Francisco 941 05 454-8132 William Lewis U.S. EPA - (T-4-8) 21 5 Fremont Street San Francisco 941 05 454-7464 Doug Frazer U.S. EPA - (T-4-8) 21 5 Fremont Street San Francisco 941 05 454-7305 Judy Walker U.S. EPA - (T-4-8) 21 5 Fremont Street San Francisco 94 105 454-8550 Terry Stumph U.S. EPA - (P-3) 215 Fremont Street San Francisco 941 05 454-7483 Region 10 Joanne LaBaw U.S. EPA 1200 6th Street Seattle, WA 981 01 8-399-2594 Joanne LaBaw U.S. EPA 1200 6th Street Seattle, WA 981 01 399-2594 William Longston U.S. EPA 1200 6th Street Seattle, WA 981 01 399-1196 Carl Kitz U.S. EPA 1200 6th Street Seattle, WA 981 01 399-1263 John Osborn U.S. EPA 1200 6th Street Seattle, WA 981 01 399-0837 Mike Slater U.S. EPA 1200 6th Street Seattle, WA 981 01 399-0455 Gerald Muth U.S. EPA P.O. Box 549 Manchester, WA 09353 399-0370 ------- |