RECOVERY - Engineering and Technical Support for Technical and Engineering Assistance for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Water Projects in West Virginia (CONTRACT EP-C-05-046, Modification 34)

THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. THIS ACTION IS BEING PLACED AGAINST AN EXISTING EPA CONTRACT . The purpose of this Modification 34 is to obligate $250,000 in initial funding in support of Work Assignment (WA 2-200). The period of performance for this work assignment will be from July 27, 2009 though February 10, 2010. WA 2-200 of Contract EP-C-05-046 will have the contractor support EPA in providing technical and engineering support to the state of West Virginia's Department of Health and Human Services in order to expedite State processing and review of infrastructure projects so that the projects meet ARRA requirements of being under contract or having construction initiated on or before February 17, 2010. Specific sites are not known, but rather the sites will be across the state of West Virginia. 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.