DOE's Alcohol Fuels Awards Process Resulted in Questionable Award Selections and Limited Small Business Success
EMD-81-125
Published: Aug 21, 1981. Publicly Released: Aug 28, 1981.
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Highlights
As part of the alternative fuels program, the Department of Energy (DOE) made two rounds of alcohol fuels feasibility study grants and cooperative agreement awards. In response to requests by four congressmen, GAO evaluated the criteria and process that DOE used to evaluate proposals and make award selections and the extent to which awards were made to large and small businesses.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Energy | The Secretary of Energy should establish guidelines governing the application of program policy factors in the selection process and the treatment of minority viewpoints during the proposal evaluation process. Concerning the program policy factors, these guidelines should set forth appropriate limits on the importance attributed to program policy factors in the selection process and direct that, when applied the factors are applied consistently to all proposals. With respect to the treatment of minority views, the guidelines should provide an equitable mechanism for hearing and considering those views, perhaps in minority report format, while still maintaining the consensus viewpoint for consideration. |
Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
|
| Department of Energy | The Secretary of Energy should strengthen the DOE commitment towards enhancing small business involvement. While implementing this commitment could involve a number of specific steps, GAO believes that some of the more obvious ones include providing assistance to help small businesses prepare better proposals, placing small business advisors on proposal evaluation teams, and establishing targets for small business involvement. |
Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
|
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Topics
Alcohol fuelsAlternative energy sourcesCooperative agreementsProcurement practicesSmall business assistanceAlternative fuelsSmall businessBiddersEvaluation criteriaBid evaluation