FEMA goes to new alignment for disaster response support contract
Gettyimages.com / Andrey Denisyuk
By
Ross Wilkers
The current iteration of the Public Assistance - Technical Assistance Contract has three companies, while the new version will have four and also splits up the work by geography.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded four companies positions on a potential five-year contract vehicle for technical and professional services in support of FEMA's responses to presidentially-declared disasters and emergencies.
Each awardee has a ceiling of more than $500 million with the work divided up by their assigned geographic zones for this fifth iteration of the Public Assistance - Technical Assistance Contract, also known as PA-TAC V.
FEMA consists of 10 regions across the continental U.S. and territories. The Atlantic zone covers Regions 1 and 2, while the East zone includes Regions 3 and 4. Central includes Regions 5,6 and 8. West encompasses Regions 7, 9 and 10.
Federal Procurement Data System records identify the awardees, their ceilings and geographic zones as follows:
- CH2M Hill – CDM PA TAC Recovery Services, $570.5 million and the West zone
- Fluor, $525.6 million and the East zone
- NISTAC Plus joint venture, $558 million and the Atlantic zone
- Serco's U.S. subsidiary, $525 million and the Central zone
NISTAC Plus is a newcomer to the program. The other three awardees are incumbents from the current PA-TAC IV vehicle including CCPRS, a joint venture between CDM Smith and Jacobs.
Jacobs inherited its ownership of CCPRS in 2017 via the acquisition of CH2M Hill, whose proposal for PA-TAC IV was selected for an award at around the time of the transaction's closure.
FEMA finalized the awards on Thursday. FPDS records show that the agency received five offers for the PA-TAC V Central zone, two bids for the Atlantic zone and three proposals each for the East and West zones.
Work areas for the contract include site inspection; field technical services; program delivery manager support; technical support for the PA Community Disaster Loan program and development of equipment rates, program analysis and support; and appeals, audits and arbitration support.
FEMA has obligated $1.2 billion against the PA-TAC IV contract to-date with CCPRS the largest recipient of the spend at approximately 45%, according to GovTribe data. Fluor's share rounds out to 29% and Serco Inc.'s is at around 26%.