CONTRACTING & ACQUISITION
DOE’s End States Contracting Model Needs to Consider the Community (the Ultimate EM Customer)
ECA Staff | 3/13/2019
[ECA Note: This article is the second in a series ECA is sharing this week highlighting presentations and papers prepared by ECA members and staff for the 2019 Waste Management Symposia (WMS), March 3-7, 2019 in Phoenix, AZ.]
- Appropriately balance the risk in contracts
- Rely on proven contract types that encourage competition
- Incentivize small business opportunities and healthy subcontracting
- View the host communities as the ultimate “customer”
Mr. McLeod stated that community commitment remains a critical consideration of the contracting process, and ECA’s recommendations are important as DOE looks to implement an their new contracting model: end state contracting.
According to DOE, end state contracting will “provide EM the ability to partner with industry and stakeholders of the Program to openly negotiate the right, risk-based interim and final end states.”
Mr. McLeod’s panel highlighted a number of key questions for EM and local governments to consider regarding contracting model:
- How does end states contracting work when there is no agreement on a change to end states with the local communities?
- What is DOE’s plan to engage local governments? When?
- How will contractors engage local governments in (re)defining end states?
Mr. McLeod noted that some concerns with the end state contracting model are:
- Short term task orders may not be the best mechanism for long-term cleanup success and enduring partnerships with the community.
- Causes changeover in employment (impacting workers and benefits).
- No significant investment in the community (since a contractor may only be there for a year or two and they won’t have enough funds to support the programs).
- Contractor must comply with all current, applicable, regulatory requirements, such as Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) milestones and Records of Decision (ROD), pending approval of any proposed changes.
- Attracting and retaining workforce will problematic and transient.
In his presentation, Mr. McLeod also provided guidance to contractors on engaging with host communities both before and after a contract is awarded. For example,
McLeod identified that before a contract is awarded, the contractor should become familiar with the local community; identify workforce availability and demands; and identify economic strengths and challenges within the community. Host community should prepare to help potential contractors understand the lay of the land; establish a listing of points of contact for the contractor to use; be consistent
in communication with the contractor; and have a data package available for contractors that provides community information with which contractor should be familiar.
After a contract is awarded, contractors should meet with local government and other community representatives, develop an effective communication process for the term of the contract, identify needs of near-term and the out-years, prioritize needs alights to company budget constraints, and develop a draft community commitment plan and share with the appropriate community points of contact.
Explore ECA resources on contracting and acquisition:
|
Learn more about DOE's cleanup sites with ECA's new DOE Site Profiles
ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 13 active Environmental Management cleanup sites and national laboratories, highlighting their history, missions, and priorities. The profiles are a key source for media, DOE stakeholders, and other parties who may be interested in learning more about DOE site activities, contractors, advisory boards, and their surrounding local
governments.
|
|
|
|
