SUMMATION
Lee Schmidt, Department of the Air Force
and
Robert Webb, Department of Energy
The symposium verified that agencies have a continuing concern with environmental remediation xof hazardous materials and that contracting strategies and methods are important considerations in the resolution of environmental problems. Several government agencies that are just starting to address their environmental problems learned from those agencies that have been working on their environmental problems for some time. Determining the best contracting method and provisions was the principal government concern while cleanup contractors worried about imposed liability.
The scope of these problems was outlined in the context of the following constraints: public concerns, site unknowns, evolving technology, and liability. Owner, operator, or generator liability can arise from statute, tort law, state law, sovereign immunity waiver, botched cleanups, contracting authority, or delegation. Government has the responsibility to: perform the tasks which will ensure compliance with environmental regulations, set the criteria, know what is wanted, determine the risks and tradeoffs, convey performance expectations, motivate performance excellence, structure the procurement action to get it, and oversee/evaluate the contractor.
Keys to success in environmental remediation are: continuous development of innovative contract vehicles yielding a large portfolio of contracting options and partnerships. However, as in all procurements, proactive and effective contract administration is the primary key to success.
The consultant's perspective is that cleanup firms are not responsible for the existence of waste created by others at a site, yet the “strict, joint, and several liability” standards impose liability for any association with the site. Negligence should be the standard of liability, which should be capped in time and amount, and indemnification and risk sharing should be used to ensure the most capable firms perform cleanup operations.
Good community relations are a vital element of environmental remediation planning. Affected citizens are the ultimate customer. Enhanced two-way communication/involvement with affected citizens results in a speedier cleanup process. Points made include: designate a contact for the public, conduct an assessment of community interest with the site, be open and honest about the process, and meet frequently with local officials to inform and hear them.
Information exchanged at the symposium will help all agencies deal with their hazardous waste remediation projects. The symposium was beneficial, but continued efforts must be made.
We would like to thank the Federal Construction Council and the National Academy of Sciences for hosting the symposium and Henry Borger for organizing it.
We would also like to thank each of the speakers for their time and their efforts to make this symposium achieve its objective of being a forum for the discussion of the intricacies of the government' s contracting for environmental remediation. They have provided important information about the experiences of their agencies and ways they have found to deal with them. Importantly, each of them is a potential resource for other agencies establishing strategies and designing contracts for environmental remediation.
We would also like to thank the other members of our Procurement Policy Committee, who led the discussion in the question and answer session: Jim Pesnell, Cal Currington, and Bill Temperly.
