DOE Management: Impediments to Environmental Restoration Management Contracting
RCED-92-244
Published: Aug 14, 1992. Publicly Released: Aug 26, 1992.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Department of Energy's (DOE) proposed contracting approach for cleaning up contaminated nuclear weapons sites, focusing on: (1) the goals DOE established for environmental restoration management contractors (ERMC); and (2) DOE preparations to implement pilot tests.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Energy | To improve the implementation of the ERMC pilot test, the Secretary of Energy should direct the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management to prepare and execute a plan for evaluating the pilot tests. The evaluation plan should establish specific objectives for the ERMC pilot test, criteria for judging its success, data that will be needed to conduct the evaluations, and time frames for conducting the evaluations. |
Closed – Implemented
DOE has implemented various contract reform measures, such as: (1) increased use of performance measures to determine award fees; (2) introduction of incentives for cost reduction in current contracts; and (3) shift to greater use of objective, as opposed to subjective, measures to assess performance. These reforms mean that DOE will not be awarding future contracts of the type evaluated by GAO in this report. Therefore, this recommendation should be closed.
|
| Department of Energy | The Secretary of Energy should direct the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management to identify the staffing and training needs for overseeing the pilot tests, and prepare and execute a plan for acquiring and training the necessary staff. |
Closed – Implemented
DOE has increased the staff and prepared a plan for training the staff. DOE has also found a consulting firm that will train DOE personnel in invoice review. The ERMC contract structure evaluated in this report is no longer being used for new awards. DOE has taken the recommended steps to improve oversight of contractors and train staff. The initiatives are being implemented over a 2-year period.
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Topics
Contract oversightContract performanceCost controlEnvironmental monitoringEvaluation criteriaHazardous substancesNuclear waste disposalNuclear weapons plantsSubcontractorsEnvironmental restoration