In this update: ECA December 2015 Bulletin Now Available ECA Staff ECA Releases Principles on DOE-EM Acquisition Reform ECA Staff

ECA December 2015 Bulletin Now Available
ECA Staff

The December 2015 Bulletin is now available and can be read online here, or on our website at www.energyca.org/bulletin.

Stories include:

• FY2016 Spending Agreement Reached
• 2015 CIWG Intergovernmental Meeting Wrap Up
• ECA Releases Principles on DOE-EM Acquisition Reform
• Save the Date: 2016 DOE National Cleanup Workshop

This edition of the bulletin also has information regarding ECA's NEW website.

If there are any stories you'd like featured in next month's issue or important news you'd like to share, please feel free to contact devon@energyca.org or ivana@energyca.org. 


ECA Releases Principles on DOE-EM Acquisition Reform
ECA Staff
 
ECA released its Statement of Principles on DOE's Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) Acquisition Reform.  With virtually all major prime contracts in DOE-EM and NNSA's portfolios set to expire between 2016 and 2019, there will be an unprecedented period of contract re-competition over the next four years.  As key customers for cleanup contracts, ECA communities formed a subcommittee to identify lessons learned from past procurement successes and failures and to provide the local perspective on effective acquisition reform.  The Principles were developed after discussions with DOE contractors and EM.
 
In an effort to help support DOE’s efforts to make the cleanup program successful for DOE and host communities, ECA developed the following eight principles:
 

1. DOE and communities adjacent to DOE sites are best served when there is strong competition for prime contracts, regardless of whether the intent is to award one prime contract or multiple contracts.   This strong competition brings highly qualified companies and experienced key personnel with innovative and effective strategies for success.
2. There should be adequate opportunity in the pre-acquisition phase of every prime contract competition for local government to provide meaningful input into the acquisition strategy.  Reducing the time between proposal submissions and contract award is highly desirable for smooth transitions and retention of key personnel critical to new contract execution success. DOE and the host community should engage prior to the acquisition in order to ensure there is an agreement on the basic principles and long-term goals before the acquisition is released.
3. There should be a reaffirmation of the Community Commitment clause and contracts should be incentivized to include community engagement requirements to ensure the letter and intent of the clause is honored in such contracting activities as workforce planning, labor agreements, and subcontracting practices to facilitate and expedite communities’ transitions to sustainable, post cleanup economies.
4. Future DOE-EM contracts should require a substantial amount of the work to be subcontracted to local small businesses, and the development and execution of the subcontracting plan should be evaluated at award and set as part of annual review determinations.
5. Traditional cost-plus incentive fee (CPIF) contracts (River Corridor, Rocky Flats, Mound, Fernald, and Idaho Cleanup Project I) should be considered by DOE as the model for future procurements because they have been the source of many of DOE-EM’s major past successes.       
6. DOE-EM’s consideration of risk in its acquisition strategy needs to protect taxpayers and human health and the environment (the community) and drive project success while holding contracting parties accountable.  Fee structures in contracts where a substantial portion of payment is based on final outcomes have and will continue to diminish competition through punitive damages, reduce potential for innovation and creativity, and inhibit collaboration among the parties. 
7. New contracts should specifically incentivize the deployment of new and/or innovative approaches and technologies to better and more efficiently achieve mission objectives while creating new jobs in the impacted local communities.
8. Acquisition planning, including decisions about the appropriate contract term, should reside at the site level, with site leadership on Source Evaluation Boards.

 
ECA shared these principles with EM and is exited to work with them as well as contractors to achieve our common goals of safe, efficient, and cost-effective cleanup.