ALEXANDRIA, Va. – EM is looking to enhance how local communities near cleanup sites can be involved in the procurement process to further develop a “field-centric approach” to acquisition and project management, EM Acquisition and Project Management Deputy Assistant Secretary Ralph Holland said at the recently National Cleanup Workshop.

   “The involvement and the role of the local communities is invaluable to the Department and is critical to our success,” said Holland, who also serves as director of the EM Consolidated Business Center. 

   EM has already begun to hold “Community Day” events to gather feedback from local communities in the early stage of procurement planning. The first of these events was held after the release of the draft request for proposals for the new legacy cleanup contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

   “We didn’t do very well,” Holland acknowledged. “But we’re going to get better and it’s something we’re going to build into our process going forward.”

   EM is looking at ways to “enhance the visibility” of community commitment plans developed as part of companies’ bids for new cleanup contracts, Holland said. Such plans will be required as part of the bid process, and the winning company will be evaluated as part of its fee determination on how it implements the plan.

   “We want to be a better partner with our communities and we want our contractors to be part of that as well,” Holland said.

   EM is also working to enhance “meaningful” small business participation in procurements, Holland said. One approach being considered is to “put some teeth” into how small business subcontracting plans are executed, such as by making it a factor in fee determination or how past performance is evaluated in contract bids, he said.

   “I’ve had a number of small businesses approach me and say, ‘We need meaningful opportunities to participate so we can grow our businesses in meaningful ways,” Holland said. “That’s a concept we are really just beginning to discuss and want to understand better.”

   Holland noted that EM is working on ways to provide field sites with more contracting oversight authority. “I believe the best decisions are those made closest to the work,” he said.