Performace-Based Contracting and other issues

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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[The following is the main body of the text of an letter that Ted Henry 
<ted@theodorejhenry.com> sent last week to the office of Congressman
Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD).]


At our February Restoration Advisory Board [RAB] meeting you spoke with
Ruth Ann Young and asked for additional information regarding our
efforts to combat inappropriate use of Performance Based Contracts at
Aberdeen Proving Ground [APG].  Also known as guaranteed fixed price
remediation (GFPR), fixed price remediation with insurance (FPRI), etc.,
performance based contracting is an initiative out of the Business
Initiative Council now being implemented at 80% of the active
installations by the Army Environmental Center [AEC].  If implemented
correctly at well characterized sites, PBCs [Performance-Based
Contracts] may turn out to be a useful contracting mechanism.  If
implemented poorly with inadequate oversight or used at complex sites or
sites not well characterized, PBCs will turn out to be a large bust,
wasting hundreds of millions or billions of dollars and leaving our
military lands less usable for the future and placing both installation
personnel and local community members at greater long-term health risks.
 This is a serious issue and such contracts are being implemented at
rates that are not conducive to adequately assessing the impacts of this
financially-driven cleanup approach on the existing cleanup process.

...

Thanks to the support of Congressman Ruppersberger and the attendance of
Sheilah Mirmiran from your office at our December meeting and your
attendance in February, we have been able to bring the light of day to
the Army Environmental Center's plans for implementing PBCs at APG.  We
have won some reprieve as far as how it is going to be implemented, but
this fight is really just beginning.  Our RAB will be establishing a
subcommittee to track the PBC issue at APG and we certainly will need
your support at various points in the process.

As much as I personally support a strong military, there is a sad effort
from DOD to remove itself from its environmental liabilities under this
administration.  This can be seen in a variety of ways:

         1. The Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative (RRPI)
reduction of how major environmental laws apply to the military,

         2. I have seen it personally in the significantly reduced
dialogue between DOD and various community and environmental
stakeholders on major environmental issues,

         3. How DOD is dealing with perchlorate,

         4. Efforts by APG to reduce the availability of environmental
information available to the public (which required a lawsuit to
reverse), and

         5. AEC's planned approach to implementing PBCs.

...

I think I can speak for all the community RAB members when I say we
greatly appreciate the help of Congressman Ruppersberger and your
willingness to attend our meetings.  The product of thousands upon
thousands of volunteer community member hours to build working
relationships, establish a role in the cleanup process and help ensure
adequate site characterization and remediation can be wiped away by a
misguided initiative the size of PBCs.  Our RAB will keep a vigilant
eye, but we cannot fight back the tide without your help.  Your presence
and assistance is an absolutely crucial piece.

Please convey to Congressman Ruppersberger that we request he keeps an
eye on how our federal facilities treat our environment, noting that
federal facilities are the top polluter in the United States.  This
administration and DOD leadership has too often painted those who are
trying to make sure environmental protection is not buried and forgotten
as unpatriotic and against the US military.  I believe the contrary is
actually the truth ? making sure that America does not become
short-sighted or driven by a singular opinion is, in deed, patriotic. In
fact, in these dangerous times, efforts to retain diversity of
perspective and balance in our environmental agenda and keeping an eye
on our air, water and land may well prove to be one of the most
important fights we as Americans can take on in the name of our future. 

Please ask Congressman Ruppersberger to stand strong on this front.
Please convey to him that if he needs us when he does, we are here
waiting to help.

Thank you for all your work.

Sincerely,

Ted Henry

--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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