The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management plans to try a newly minted alternate method to analyze contractor costs when it issues the final request for proposals (RFP) for the potential $4 billion Hanford Mission Essential Services Contract later this spring.
Without going into detail, Contracting Officer Lori Sehlhorst announced the alternate method in a May 4 letter posted on the website for DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC).
The EMCBC in November issued the draft RFP for the contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. In connection with the document, the agency sought comment on ways to reduce the time and effort required for prospective contractors to put together bid proposals. This included reducing the amount of detail required by DOE of bidders in certain parts of the cost analysis. The agency also said in the draft RFP it would provide bidders with historical cost data on “static” scopes of work in the contract.
In general, DOE contractors have complained about the volume of information they must routinely provide to the agency during the solicitation process.
Energy Department procurement officials said in March, during the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Ariz., they are looking for ways to expedite and streamline the solicitation process. This alternate method is part of that effort.
The changes are based on stakeholder input, Norbert Doyle, EM’s acting deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and project management, said at the conference.
The essential services contract at Hanford covers a broad range of work, including security and emergency operations, land management, information technology, and management of the HAMMER (Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response) training facility. The Energy Department has said the RFP could hit the street as early as this month.
The current $3 billion contract held by Mission Support Alliance will expire after a decade on May 25, 2019.
The Energy Department also plans to use its alternate method for the upcoming Central Plateau Cleanup Contract at Hanford. The draft RFP for that contract could be issued in May or June, DOE said recently. CH2M holds the current 10-year deal, scheduled to expire this September. Originally valued at $4.5 billion, an additional $1.3 billion in economic stimulus work was added during the Obama administration.
In addition to facility deactivation, decommissioning, decontamination, and demolition, the new Central Plateau contract will include a variety of other tasks. These include managing transuranic waste, waste site remediation, and supporting ongoing underground waste storage tank closure.
