Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

HHS shuts down assisted acquisition services

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The Department of Health and Human Services’ Program Support Center handles more than $1.4 billion in contracts for other agencies as part of its assisted acquisition services offering.

Program Support Center customer agencies include the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Special Counsel, the Environmental Protection Agency and most notably the Defense Department.  In fact, DoD accounts for about $1 billion of that total.

Unfortunately for those and many other agencies, HHS is pulling the rug out from under them at possibly the worst time.

Internal memos obtained by Federal News Network show HHS decided to stop offering assisted acquisition services on June 14 just as agencies were gearing up for the fourth quarter buying season, one which many experts say will be even busier than normal because of the 35-day government shutdown.

This means all new acquisitions are stopped, including a $150 million multiple-award contract PSC was close to awarding for EPA and numerous in-process contracts for DoD.

It also means that any award made over the last four years must be moved to other agencies or absorbed by the home agency by Sept. 30, 2020.  This basically gives agencies 15 months to move existing contracts.

The reason HHS gave for immediately discontinuing its assisted acquisition services:  “As the result of an internal review that is ongoing, PSC has determined that it does not have the policies, procedures or internal controls necessary to conduct assisted acquisitions for agencies outside of HHS,” the agency wrote in a memo to civilian agency customers.

In a similar memo to DoD customers, HHS said it can no longer certify that it complies with the requirement in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 17.7 and in the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act that “requires the heads of all non-DoD agencies that provide acquisition support to DoD to certify that their respective non-Defense agencies will comply with defense procurement requirements for fiscal 2019 for assisted acquisitions executed on behalf of DoD in FY 2019.”

Continue reading at:  Federal News Network

Government shutdown costing private-sector contractors $245 million every day

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As it rounds up its third week, the partial government shutdown isn’t only affecting hundreds of thousands of federal employees. Contractors are potentially losing out on $245 million each day the shutdown continues, Bloomberg estimates.

Private-sector organizations that serve federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Agency for International Development and the Environmental Protection Agency have been told to stop work on certain contracts, with little indication as to what happens next, the Washington Post reports.

Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) last week posted a “blanket” stop work order affecting scores of open contracts, the Post reports. “Any work done after receipt of this notice is at your own risk and will not be reimbursed,” Bobby McCane, FEMA’s head of contracting activity, wrote to federal contractors. “I thank you for your assistance during this funding lapse.”

Keep reading this article at: http://fortune.com/2019/01/07/u-s-government-shutdown-private-sector/

$1.1 trillion spending bill to trigger a ‘substantial lift’ in construction

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The construction industry should get a substantial lift in coming months, thanks to a newly enacted $1.14-trillion government-wide fiscal year 2016 spending measure that boosts most major federal construction accounts, with General Services Administration (GSA) and Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs scoring exceptional increases. But there were some funding cuts, such as in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water infrastructure, which was pared slightly.

The $1.14 trillion FY16 Omnibus Appropriations bill increases spending for many federal construction programs and gives extensions to renewable energy tax credits for wind, solar and geothermal projects and other business tax incentives,.
The $1.14 trillion FY16 Omnibus Appropriations bill increases spending for many federal construction programs and gives extensions to renewable energy tax credits for wind, solar and geothermal projects and other business tax incentives.  (Click on image above to see text of the Bill.)

The giant appropriations bill was part of a package that also included extensions for a long list of tax incentives for individuals and businesses, including construction firms, with some items extended permanently. The “extenders” bill would cost the Treasury $622 billion over 10 years, the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.enr.com/articles/38435-house-passes-spending-bill-with-big-gains-for-construction

Georgia-based firm agrees to pay $4.9 million to resolve DBE fraud allegations

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HD Supply Waterworks – Atlanta-based and the nation’s largest supplier of water, sewer, fire protection and storm drain products – has agreed to pay the government $4,945,000 under the False Claims Act to resolve allegations that it participated in a scheme designed to take advantage of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program in order to obtain subcontracts on federally-funded projects.

DBE Fraud HotlineThe U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have regulations intended to provide opportunities for businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals to perform work on projects financed, at least in part, by the federal government. Those agencies administer DBE programs that require state and local governments receiving federal funding to establish goals for the participation of DBEs on federally-funded projects. A contractor may claim credit for DBE participation on a project only if the DBE serves a “commercially useful function.”  A DBE does not serve a commercially useful function if its role is limited to that of an extra participant to a transaction through which funds are passed to create the impression that one or more members of a historically disadvantaged group worked on a project.

In 2008, authorities began investigating prime contractors that claimed to have conducted business with the now-defunct American Indian Builders & Suppliers, Inc. (AIB), a Native American-owned company certified as a DBE in New York and in other states. The investigation revealed that several prime contractors listed AIB as a subcontractor that had worked on or supplied materials for federally-funded projects when it did neither. Instead, a third party that would not itself qualify as a DBE performed the work or supplied the materials, and received much of the financial benefit. For its role, AIB would collect a small percentage of the subcontract amount as compensation for the fraudulent use of its name and DBE status.

The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that HD Supply Waterworks enabled several prime contractors to represent falsely that AIB had performed a commercially useful function on federally-funded contracts by negotiating price and other terms of sale when, in reality, the prime contractors had negotiated such terms with Waterworks and used AIB as a mere pass-through.

HD Supply Waterworks acknowledged in the settlement agreement, released August 14, 2015. that AIB served as a pass-through by collecting invoices from HD Supply Waterworks, transferring the information from those invoices to AIB’s own invoices, adding a markup, and passing the AIB marked-up invoices on to the prime contractors. The government alleges that the conduct described above enabled prime contractors to certify falsely that AIB supplied materials when the parties – i.e., HD Supply Waterworkss, AIB, and the prime contractors – knew that was not the case, resulting in the submission to government entities of false or fraudulent claims for payment from federal funds.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, HD Supply Waterworks “enabled prime contractors to certify falsely that American Indian Builders & Suppliers served as a subcontractor on government-funded projects, thwarting the program’s objective of creating a level playing field for legitimate minority and women-owned businesses to compete fairly on such projects.” According to the statement, the DOJ “will vigorously pursue unscrupulous contractors who engage in schemes to divert grant funds away from those for whom the money was intended.”

“Disadvantaged Business Enterprise fraud like that perpetrated by HD Supply Waterworks harms the integrity of the DBE program and law-abiding contractors, including many small businesses, by defeating efforts to ensure a level playing field in which all firms can compete fairly for contracts,” said Douglas Shoemaker, regional Special Agent-in-Charge of the DOT Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG). “Our agents will continue to work with the Secretary of Transportation, the Administrator of Federal Highways, and our federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial colleagues to expose and shut down DBE fraud schemes that adversely affect public trust and DOT-assisted highway programs throughout New York and elsewhere.”

In addition, “EPA OIG will continue to work to ensure that the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs are used for their intended purposes,” said Thomas Muskett, Special Agent in Charge for the EPA Office of Inspector General’s Washington Field Office, which covers the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. “Our agents are pleased to have contributed to the successful resolution of this investigation.”

Source: http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/hd-supply-waterworks-pay-nearly-5-million-resolve-grant-fraud-allegations

 

GTPAC-hosted Jan. 22 event to aid Georgia small businesses

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On Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) will play host to six federal agencies holding an industry day forum directed at small businesses in Georgia.  NOTE: As of Jan. 16, 2015, this event is booked to capacity, and no further registrations are being accepted.

NCMA logoThe event is being sponsored by the Atlanta chapter of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) and the regional office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The event, billed as “Building Partnerships and Collaborating for Success, a Small Business Industry Day and Matchmaking Event,” is open to all businesses in the region who wish to learn more about doing business with  the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

In addition to federal agencies, representatives of major prime contractors also are expected to be present, including Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, ICF International, RTI International, WYLE, Westat, Deloitte, and DB Consulting Group, Inc.

Businesses interested in participating in this event must preregister at: http://gtpac.ecenterdirect.com/ConferenceDetail.action?ID=7954.

More than 200 vendors are expected to attend.  Matchmaking events will be scheduled by vendors based on NAICS code requirements of government agencies and prime contractors. Details for the matchmaking aspect of the event will be promulgated separately to confirmed registrants.

All vendors participating in this event are expected to have the following completed prior to attending:  SAM and DSBS registration, business cards, an elevator speech, and a capability statement. See web link above for more information.

NY firm pays $2.72 million to settle bid-rigging and kickback charges

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Sevenson Environmental Services Inc., an environmental remediation firm based in Niagara Falls, New York, has agreed to pay more than $2.72 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Act by accepting kickbacks, rigging bids and passing inflated charges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in connection with work performed at the Federal Creosote Superfund Site in Manville, New Jersey, the Department of Justice announced Nov. 17, 2014.  Sevenson was the prime contractor responsible for the cleanup of the Federal Creosote Site, which was funded by the EPA.

“The integrity of the public procurement process is severely undermined when federal contractors engage in anticompetitive contracting practices for their own personal gain,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General August E. Flentje for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division.  “The Department of Justice will hold those accountable who abuse their positions at the public’s expense.”

“EPA is vigilant to ensure that the type of fraud perpetrated by Sevenson employees at Federal Creosote is not tolerated and that federal funds are recovered,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck.

The settlement resolves allegations that Sevenson solicited and accepted more than $1.6 million in kickbacks from six companies in exchange for the award of subcontracts for work at the Federal Creosote Site.  It also resolves allegations that Sevenson conspired with the subcontractors to pass the majority of those kickbacks to the EPA and that it conspired with one subcontractor to pass to the EPA additional inflated charges for soil disposal.

This case was handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, with assistance from the New York Field Office of the department’s Antitrust Division, the EPA Region 2, the EPA’s Office of the General Counsel and the Kansas City District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/sevenson-environmental-services-inc-agrees-pay-272-million-settle-claims-alleged-bid-rigging

Report: small biz panel manipulated by trade associations

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The government panel that reviews federal rules and how they affect small businesses is manipulated by trade associations, a Nov. 12 Center for Effective Government report says.

Three federal agencies – the Environmental Protection Agency, the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – are required to convene a small business review panel any time the govenrment plans to issue a rule that could have a significant economic impact on small businesses.

But the report says trade associations have too much power over the panel. Trade associations are supposed to identify small business representatives to advise the panel, participate in meetings and even help write their comments, the report says.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/report-small-biz-panel-manipulated-trade-associations/2014-11-13

Contractors affected by recent hikes in Service Contract Act’s health & welfare rates must file timely claims

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On federal contracts subject to the Service Contract Act, the prevailing health and welfare (H&W) fringe benefit rate was increased, effective July 22, 2014, to $4.02 per hour.  (One exception: The new benefit rate in Hawaii is $1.66.)

The new H&W rate applies to all invitation for bids opened, or other service contracts awarded on or after July 22, 2014.

Contracting offices are to include a new wage determination reflecting the new H&W rate to trigger the contractor’s obligation to pay the higher H&W rate. Contracting offices may make “pen and ink” changes to the current wage determinations received for contracts beginning on or after July 22, 2014 and for which the updated rates were not included.

Once the contracting authority provides a new wage determination, contractors must submit — within 30 days of the change — any claim for an equitable adjustment as a result of increased costs attributable to wage determination rate changes.

This group could make — or break — FOIA reform

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A proposed advisory committee to modernize how agencies comply with the Freedom of Information Act could herald a major improvement in relations between government agencies and the researchers, journalists and others who seek documents from them, a privacy advocate says.

If the committee is poorly composed or led by agencies like the Justice Department that have typically advocated more latitude for agencies to deny records requests, however, it could prove little use, said Ginger McCall, federal policy manager at the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for government transparency.

“At the very least it would do no harm, and it has the potential to do great good depending on the composition,” McCall said. “I’d want it to include people who are knowledgeable about FOIA and passionate and willing to take agencies to task. If it’s stacked with people who are very friendly with agencies and more concerned about maintaining their relationship with agencies, then that would not be good.”

Ideally the committee should include groups from outside government that have deep experience both requesting documents under FOIA and litigating over documents the government refuses to release, she said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2013/12/group-could-make-or-break-foia-reform/75429 

 

EPA proposes new guidelines for greener federal purchases

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing draft guidelines that will help the federal government buy greener and safer products.  In response to broad stakeholder interest, EPA is seeking public input on these draft guidelines and a potential approach to assessing non-governmental environmental standards and ecolabels already in the marketplace.

“As the largest purchaser in the world, the U.S. government is working to reduce its environmental footprint,” said Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “The government buys everything from furniture to lighting to cleaning products. These guidelines will make it easier for federal purchasers to meet the existing goal of 95 percent sustainable purchases while spurring consumers and the private sector to use and demand safer and greener products.”

The draft guidelines were developed by EPA, the General Services Administration, and others following several listening sessions with a wide range of stakeholders on how the federal government can be more sustainable in its purchasing and how it can best meet the numerous Federal requirements for the procurement of sustainable and environmentally preferable products and services. The draft guidelines were designed to assist federal purchasing decision makers in more consistently using existing non-governmental product environmental performance standards and ecolabels.

The draft guidelines address key characteristics of environmental standards and ecolabels, including the credibility of the development process and the effectiveness of the criteria for environmental performance. The draft guidelines were developed to be flexible enough to be applied to standards and ecolabels in a broad range of product categories.

For more information on the draft guidelines visit:  http://www.epa.gov/epp/draftGuidelines

For more information, read the Federal Register Prepublication Notice (PDF) and the EPA’s press release.

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