RECOVERY - Engineering and Technical Support for Technical and Engineering Assistance for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Water Projects in the District of Columbia (Work Assignment 2-202) and additional support for Work Assignment 2-201

THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. This effort is being pursued under an existing Agency contract. The purpose of this Modification 37 is to obligate $100,000 in initial funding in support of Work Assignment 2-202 and Amendment 2 to Work Assignment 2-201. The period of performance for Work Assignment 2-202 will be from November 5, 2009 though September 30, 2010. The period of Performance of WA 2-201 remains from July 29 through September 30, 2010. WA 2-202 of Contract EP-C-05-046 will have the contractor support EPA in providing needed technical and engineering support to EPA Region III in its oversight of the District of Columbia in order to ensure successful implementation of the ARRA requirements and achievement of the ARRA deadline that projects are under contract or construction on or before February 17, 2010. WA 2-201 of Contract EP-C-05-046 will have the contractor assist EPA in providing ways to increase information sharing and improve collaboration between EPA Regions, EPA Headquarters and the Indian Health Service (IHS) working on Clean Water Indian Set Aside (CWISA) projects using ARRA funds. Amendment 2 adds necessary support for pre-meeting and post-meeting activities to be conducted under the work assignment. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) contains specific acquisition requirements that must be met when using appropriated funds from the Act, including the need for acquisitions to be in accordance with the FAR and, to the maximum extent practicable, awarded as fixed-price (FP) contracts using competitive procedures. However, the Office of Management and Budget's guidance allows for the use of other than FP contracts. Although the Agency's Office of Water (OW) contracts were not awarded as FP contracts, they were awarded competitively, and each contract structure was selected to provide the contractor with the greatest incentive for efficient and economical performance, given the types of services to be performed. The existing OW contracts have sufficient qualified acquisition personnel to provide appropriate contract administration and oversight to monitor contract performance to mitigate the Government's risk. In order to meet the requirements of the Act in the most prudent business manner within the time constraints imposed, existing OW contracts are the most appropriate contractual vehicles consistent with Agency plans that promote the goals of the ARRA.