Redacted_Amended_JA.pdf

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

PROJECT/EQUIPMENT: CONTROL NO: CECT-NWO-19-27

Amendment 01 to increase capacity of the Missouri River Recovery Program Small Business Multiple Award Task Order Contracts W9128F-14-D-0024, 0025 and 0028, Northwestern Division AUTHORITY: 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(2) as implemented by FAR 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency.

AMOUNT: $15,500,000

PREPARED BY:

DATE:

CONTRACTING OFFICER

TECHNICAL

REQUIREMENTS

SIGNATURES ARE REQUIRED BELOW

I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

PROGRAM MANAGER

SIGNATURE:

NAME:

PHONE:

DEPUTY FOR SMALL

BUSINESS

SIGNATURE:

DISTRICT COUNSEL

SIGNATURE:

DISTRICT CONTRACTING

CHIEF

SIGNATURE:

ALTERNATE ADVOCATE

FOR COMPETITION

(SENIOR CONTRACTING

OFFICIAL)

SIGNATURE:

*See Staff Action Summary

23 Sep 2019

23 Sep 2019

19 Sep 2019

23 Sep 2019

26 Sep 2019

26 Sep 2019

Control No.: CECT-NWO-19-27

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AMENDMENT 01 TO JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

MISSOURI RIVER RECOVERY PROGRAM SMALL BUSINESS MULTIPLE AWARD

TASK ORDER CONTRACTS W9128F-14-D-0025, 0026, 0027 & 0028 – INCREASE

CAPACITY

1. CONTRACTING AGENCY: United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Northwestern Division, Omaha District (NWO), Contracting Division, Civil Works Branch (CECT-NWO-C), 1616 Capitol Avenue, Omaha, NE 68102.

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: This amendment is developed in accordance with AFARS 5106.303-2-90(c)(3). NWO requests an amendment to the original Justification and Approval (J&A) document to increase contract capacity an additional $2.5 million (M), which escalates the total J&A amount from $13M to $15.5M. The increase is to cover remaining modifications to existing flood response task orders with no new work contemplated. NWO executed a modification on 5 June 2019 to the Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP) Small Business (SB) Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) increasing the total capacity from $49M to $62M, an increase of $13M.

The base contracts under this MATOC (W9128F-14-D-0025, 0026, 0027 and 0028) were competitively solicited and ultimately awarded as firm-fixed-price indefinite delivery contracts under a total shared capacity of $49M on 25 July 2014 with a five (5) year ordering period. As this is a MATOC, Contracting Division received appropriate funds at the time of each task order award. When future modifications occur on existing task orders under this MATOC, the funding provided will continue to be in compliance with Financial Management Regulations. Funds available to use for future modifications are Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies Class 310 funds.

TABLE 1 – MRRP MATOC Pool

CONTRACT # MATOC HOLDERS

W9128F-14-D-0025* Newt Marine Dubuque Barge and Fleeting Services W9128F-14-D-0026* Western Contracting Corporation W9128F-14-D-0027 Commercial Contractors Equipment, Inc.

W9128F-14-D-0028 Arrowhead Contracting, Inc.

*Only two out of the four contracts (0025 and 0026) received task orders in response to the 2019 Missouri River flood event: one task order issued under 0025 and two task orders issued under 0026.

On 4 June 2019, NWO sent a verbal approval request under the authority of FAR 6.302- 2 to the Office of Senior Contacting Official (SCO) for a $13M increase in capacity with approval received the same day. The three (3) task orders executed under subject

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MATOC in response to the initial March 2019 Missouri River flood event are the only three (3) task orders covered under the original approved J&A for anticipated modifications as a result of the second flood event in late May 2019. Since then, contractors have submitted actual costs for some modifications due to the differing site conditions (DSC) and variations in quantity (VEQ) and NWO anticipates several more modifications. With current actual costs and the ability to better estimate the remaining modifications, NWO estimates a need for an additional $2.5M in capacity.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES OR NATURE OF CONSTRUCTION:

The general scope of services under the MRRP MATOC consists of construction and repair of Missouri River training and bank stabilization rock structures; critical wildlife habitat to accomplish the mitigation goals outlined in the Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project; to ensure compliance with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2003 Biological Opinion; and levee rehabilitation construction. NWO also used this MATOC to complete operation and maintenance work on existing projects and structures as required. The geographic area of this contract covers the Missouri River flood plain and the lower portions of larger tributaries: between the upper end of Fort Peck Lake, Montana to the mouth of the river near St. Louis, Missouri.

To date, NWO issued twenty-two (22) task orders under this MATOC, including the three (3) task orders executed for the flood response efforts. Each task order was competed among all contractors under the MATOC. Prior to the 2019 Missouri River flood event, approximately $28M in capacity remained on this MATOC. After the March 2019 Missouri River flood event, NWO executed three (3) flood response task orders under this MATOC (see Table 2 below). NWO awarded these last three (3) task orders in April 2019 and used the majority of the original capacity on this MATOC, leaving just over $2.1M in capacity for any modifications.

TABLE 2 – 2019 Missouri River Flood Response Task Orders

Contract # Task Order # Scope Original Award Amount

W9128F-14-D-0025 W9128F19F0107

Emergency Sand Berms, L575B at River Mile 554, Fremont County, IA

$11,897,700.00

W9128F-14-D-0026 W9128F19F0101

Emergency Sand Berms, L575A at River Mile 572.8, Fremont County, IA

$7,459,956.00

W9128F-14-D-0026 W9128F19F0113 Repair Levee L611-614 Missouri River Mile 595, Mills County, IA

$6,199,000.00

When the second round of flooding occurred in late May, the contractors executing these flood response task orders experienced differing site conditions which caused

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(and continues to cause) requests for equitable adjustments or modifications for VEQs.

The second round of flooding not only washed away the contractors’ placed material, but the river current also increased in strength in which heavier material was then required for successful levee repairs. Contractors had to raise berms that were in process in order to avoid overtopping by the higher river levels. In some instances, haul roads that had just emerged from the first flood event submerged again which also caused the need to construct the haul roads at a higher elevation.

NWO issued two task order modifications totaling $2,013,817 in response to the second flood event in late May and early June. These two modifications essentially exhausted all of the $2.1M remaining capacity. The contracting officer originally requested the additional $13M increase in capacity based off of rough estimates with some contingency provided by the Omaha System Restoration Team (OSRT).

Conditions at Levee L575B, under task order W9128F19F0107, are the primary reason for this request for additional $2.5M in capacity. The contractor notified NWO of a floodplain land mass failure occurring over a span of about thirty-six (36) hours between 23 May 2019 and 25 May 2019. A new chute opened up with high velocities and resulted in enormous scours at the breach site. The newly formed chute prevented the levee breach closure. Consequently, the contractor mitigated the chute by constructing a revetment using only floating equipment. Floating equipment was necessary due to inundation of all access roads in the area. The high velocities and deep scour holes exacerbated the operation of the floating equipment and increased challenges for the contractor to overcome.

Consequently, task order W9128F19F0107 is estimated to have experienced an additional in cost impacts as a result of the differing site conditions.

Task order W9128F19F0101 at Levee L575A experienced an estimated in cost impacts as a result of the differing site conditions. Task order W9128F19F0113 at Levee L611-614 experienced an estimated in cost impacts as a result of the differing site conditions. Cost impacts for L575A and L611-614 were within the range anticipated in early June 2019 when NWO requested the additional capacity.

Four task orders awarded prior to the March 2019 Missouri River flood event are also still active, however, the flooding and continued high river levels have made those task orders impossible to perform. All parties agreed to delay two of the task orders until the 2020 construction season as a result of the 2019 flooding. In August 2019 a contractor requested a termination for convenience of the other two task orders rather than negotiate an equitable adjustment to extend the task orders. NWO has not finalized these two termination modifications, but the actions when executed will return in ordering capacity. Since NWO will need some of this returned capacity for administration of the two remaining pre-flood task orders, NWO will assume of the returned capacity to be available for flood response modifications.

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With the additional capacity and the capacity from pending task order terminations, this currently provides for in additional capacity to utilize for flood response modifications.

NWO has not exceeded $62,000,000 in capacity and will not exceed it without the J&A amendment approval. Table 3 below illustrates the estimated, negotiated, and executed modifications with their respective amounts.

Table 3 – Task Order Modifications after June 4, 2019

Task Order Modification Scope Amount Status W9128F19F0101 P00001 Berm Raise Executed P00002 Settlement of Differing Site

Conditions Negotiated

P00003 Settlement of Variation in Estimated Quantity

$0 Estimated

W9128F19F0107 P00002 Rock Revetment Executed P00003 Backside Revetment Fill Executed P00004 Settlement of Differing Site

Conditions and Variation in Estimated Quantities

Negotiated

W9128F19F0113 P00002 Berm Raise due to Differing

Site Conditions Executed

P00003 Additional Clay & Topsoil Executed A00001 Settlement of Variation in

Estimated Quantity Executed

Total Anticipated Modifications After June 4, 2019

$15,162,326

The estimated amount of the flood response modifications after 4 June 2019 is $15,162,326 with only $13.7M of capacity for available for modifications to the three flood response task orders.

NWO is requesting an additional $2.5M bringing the total capacity to use for flood response modification to $16.2M, which includes about $1.0M for contingency modifications or increases to the estimated modifications that are still not settled. NWO will not use the additional capacity for any new work. The basic contracts recently expired and so NWO cannot execute, nor does NWO want to execute, any new work on these contracts or task orders.

4. AUTHORITY CITED: (NO CHANGE) 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(2), as implemented by FAR 6.302-2, DFARS 206.302-2(b) and PGI 206.302-2(b)(i) – Unusual and compelling urgency.

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5. REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED: Expedited contracting procedures were necessary to continue performance of the time-critical emergency services along the Missouri River and its tributaries during the 2019 flood response and recovery operations. Flooding in Nebraska and Iowa began on 14 March compromising over 500 miles of levees in the NWO area of responsibility (AOR). Since the levee breaches were not all repaired from the initial flooding, the surrounding areas were still under significant threat. The Missouri River and its tributaries experienced a second round of flooding due to the snow melt from the northern water basin and heavy spring rainfall events within the majority of the entire water basin. The second round of flooding impacted the contractors constructing the initial levee repairs. Performance had to continue and still needs to continue in order to protect the surrounding homes, farmlands and infrastructure from incurring any additional damages.

a. Background.

During the fall months of 2018, the lower Missouri River Basin saw very wet conditions with several weather systems resulting in saturated soil conditions heading into the winter season. These saturated soils then froze resulting in greater than normal frost depths. Extreme cold temperatures persisted much longer than is typical across much of the Midwest. This allowed for the winter snowpack to continue to build on top of the frozen soil into the month of March rather than start to slowly melt with gradually warming temperatures.

A bomb cyclone storm dumped one (1) to three (3) inches (with localized higher amounts) of warm rainfall on a heavy wet snowpack across the region between 12 March 2019 and 14 March 2019. The precipitation was in the form of snow across the western and northern plains, while warmer temperatures resulted in rain across the eastern plains. The rain fell on a plains snowpack that held 3 or more inches of snow water equivalent in Nebraska and Iowa with event higher amounts in southeastern South Dakota. Temperatures over the lower Missouri River Basin then quickly warmed in front of the large precipitation event that took place on 14 March 2019. This all occurred on top of frozen ground resulting in significant runoff and high to record high flows along creeks and rivers across the lower basin.

In north central South Dakota and North Dakota that snowmelt continued to occur in the weeks after the initial event. The large majority of the rainfall runoff occurred downstream of Fort Randall Dam leading to significant flows into Gavins Point Dam and downstream on the main stem of the Missouri River. Due to the small flood control storage available at Gavins Point, USACE increased the releases from the reservoir to prevent overtopping of the flood control gates. Peak release from the reservoir was 100,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The extremely high runoff volume contributing to high flows from tributaries, including the Platte River, entered the main stem of the Missouri River. Four gages reached major flood stage and set new records for peak stage. Waters from this initial flood event came from tributaries that enter the Missouri River below the large main stem storage reservoirs.

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A significant portion of the more than 500 miles of levees on the Missouri, Platte, and Elkhorn rivers have experienced flood damage. USACE Omaha had more than fifty

(50) breaches to address, but that number has been decreasing as USACE addresses the breaches through emergency contracts, stand-alone construction contracts and task orders. The record river levels exceeded the levee systems’ design capacity from Omaha to Rulo, Nebraska and into the Kansas City District AOR, which is over 110 river miles. The devastation from the flood of 2019 was unprecedented for this region. A non-federal dam on the Niobrara River near Spencer, NE suffered a catastrophic failure.

The flooding caused Interstate 29 to close for weeks. Forty-five (45) river gages set new records: five (5) in Missouri, eight (8) in South Dakota, eight (8) in Iowa and twenty-four (24) in Nebraska. These levels were unheard of and were higher than the flood records set by the floods of both 1993 and 2011.

Mountain snowpack peaked in mid-April and as of 8 July 2019, the snow water equivalent (SWE) of twelve (12) inches in the Fort Peck reach and twelve (12) inches in the Fort Peck to Garrison reach had melted. Heavy precipitation occurred over large areas of the basin in May causing the second round of flooding. At that time, only about 30% of the flood control storage remained available to store runoff. In August, widespread and heavy rainfall in the Missouri River basin above Sioux City, IA (upper basin) resulted in another month of above average runoff. Precipitation during August was more than 150 percent of normal in eastern Montana, portions of North Dakota, much of South Dakota and Nebraska. As a result, the Fort Randall and Gavins Point reaches experienced their wettest Augusts on record, while the Sioux City and Oahe reaches were second and third, respectively.

Only about 45% of the flood control storage remains available to store runoff this fall.

The 2019 upper basin runoff forecast is 58.8 million acre-feet (MAF) which is up from

54.6 MAF in June. If realized, this runoff total would be the second highest runoff in 121 years of record-keeping, only surpassed by 2011 (61.0 MAF) and exceeding the 49.0 MAF observed in 1997. Accumulated runoff in the lower four reaches (Oahe, Fort Randall, Gavins Point, and Sioux City) was 27.3 MAF. In each of the lower four reaches, the observed runoff exceeded the maximum annual runoff with four months of the year remaining to accumulate additional runoff. By the end of 2019, the forecasted runoff in these four reaches is roughly 30.0 MAF, which exceeds the average annual runoff for the entire upper basin. Recently, increased rainfall over parts of South Dakota in the past several days caused increased inflows at Fort Randall and coming into Gavins Point from the Niobrara River. NWO made release adjustments at Oahe, Big Bend and Fort Randall Dams to offset some of these inflows. In addition, the NOAA NWS Climate Prediction Center precipitation outlook shows increased chances for above-normal precipitation over the entire basin over the next 6-10 days (current as of 19 September 2019). As of 19 September 2019, there are still many gauges showing minor to moderate flooding, most of which are along the James River and Big Sioux River, tributaries to the Missouri River. Portions of Interstates 680 and 29 recently closed again on 19 September 2019.

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The continuing issue has been widespread with unregulated flows across western Iowa, eastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota which have caused devastating flooding on multiple tributary streams and extensive overtopping and breaching of the Missouri River levees south of Omaha. The high water elevations continue to compromise the Missouri River levee system. Emergency management teams continue to support local, state, and county flood fight actions and the district has established a 2019 OSRT to expedite advanced interim measures as well as overall restoration of the federal levee system along the Missouri River. With thirty-seven (37) breaches still present, impact of further flooding could be catastrophic. Communities and infrastructure are still vulnerable to more flooding.

The States of Iowa and Nebraska declared a local state of emergency, allowing the states to seek assistance from the federal government. The President declared fifty-six

(56) counties in Iowa, eighty-one (81) counties in Nebraska and five (5) counties in Missouri as disaster areas. South Dakota was not included in the Presidential Disaster Declarations. Impact of further flooding would be catastrophic. USACE must continue to provide expeditious contracting solutions to ensure prompt and comprehensive emergency operations to fulfill this flood response and recovery mission. Damaged communities may face additional serious health and safety hazards, both personal and ecological, and devastating economic loss if procurement processes delay the further construction of flood protection structures to safeguard critical infrastructure.

b. Justification.

NWO will only use the increase of capacity for modifications to existing task orders as shown above in Table 4. None of the task order modifications will be for new work under this increase of capacity. The second round of flooding in late May 2019 caused damages at each of the three (3) sites as defined in Table 2. NWO processed six (6) modifications since June and have received better estimates for anticipated modifications which shows that NWO will exhaust the current MATOC capacity of $62M.

NWO anticipates to receive additional modification requests shortly due to VEQs and DSCs under these task orders. This amendment to the original J&A appeared to be the best solution given the continued urgency of the situation without impacting contractor performance or potentially having a break in service. These modifications are to either protect the work site from catastrophic damage due to high river stages or place rock/material to allow continuation of work activities in high water. NWO has taken a proactive stance and recognized that the remaining modifications will exceed the $62M.

Termination for convenience is not an acceptable alternative. The increase in capacity is perilous to ensure continued Contractor performance to construct and repair emergency levee rehabs and flood risk management structures, all critical for avoiding damage to infrastructure and private property, for ensuring life safety and also for

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maintaining habitat for native and listed species. The ongoing project requirements include repairing spur dikes, island revetments, river bank revetments, chute entrance and exit structures, and the filling of deep scour holes caused by flooding. The contractors are almost complete with providing these services after the second round of flooding which has been challenging due to the changing conditions. A break in service now could still lead to additional damages of agricultural lands, infrastructure, private property, private levees, federal levees, in-channel federal flood risk management structures, and federal habitat restoration projects. Not having the ability to quickly address the change in conditions via modifications on the current task orders can result in safety, health, and environmental issues along the Missouri River. Due to the size, scope and complexity of the projects, the MRRP MATOC has been the most suitable contracting vehicle for these requirements. This is the only contract vehicle in Omaha District specifically awarded for river construction and with specialized equipment such dredges, draglines, barges, and floating plant.

NWO is not requesting a contract extension on the MRRP MATOC. NWO is only requesting an additional increase in capacity of $2.5M due to the final anticipated modifications on current task orders. There will be no new work issued under a task order.

The need for these emergency services does not result from a lack of planning. There was capacity left untouched on the MATOC which normally would be sufficient for any minor modifications that may arise on typical task orders. However, due to the unforeseen major impacts of the flooding, the amount needed for these modifications exceeded NWO’s expectations.

c. Impact.

Based upon the current flood situation with thirty-seven (37) breaches still identified along the Missouri River and its tributaries and with the continued widespread precipitation in the watershed basin, flood waters could continue to pose a significant threat to human life, infrastructure, property, and damage within Omaha District’s area of responsibility. Many areas are still at risk for more flooding and can face the loss of water treatment facilities and other critical infrastructure if contractors cannot complete the closure of these breaches. Flood damage will often contaminate water treatment facilities which then pollutes drinking water. Without a sufficient water supply, local businesses and schools will not be able to operate. Flood waters can also cause the growth and spread of disease and mold.

As the widespread, above-average precipitation continues, populated towns along the Missouri River continue to feel the impacts of high water stages. Impacts of further flooding could continue to be catastrophic as many areas are still saturated. The threat is still imminent as many small towns and many farms are located in a flood plain on the east and west sides of the Missouri River with many breaches still active.

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Delaying further repairs will increase threats from future flood water and damages could increase significantly in a short amount of time. Many areas along the Missouri and the tributaries are at a high vulnerability to another flood episode with high river levels, potential for rain storms upstream. Overall, this 2019 flood event has affected the local businesses and farmers because they have been unable to access their properties, land/farms, businesses, equipment, animals and homes. Some of the levee repairs under these task orders are for in-flow breaches. Delaying the repair of an in-flow breach can create active out-flow breaches which in turn become new in-flow breaches and greatly increases the risk of more damage due to the floods. Flooding often requires emergency rescues and endangers those who are vulnerable, especially those in the local hospitals and schools. The current impact resides within Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota which have over thirty-eight (38) populated towns along the Missouri River alone, not including towns along the tributaries.

d. Alternatives.

The increase in capacity allows for streamlined procedures to address in-scope modification requests while continuing contractor performance. An alternative to this situation may be to terminate the task order for convenience and re-solicit as a new scope under a new stand-alone construction solicitation, a request for task order proposal under an RDI MATOC or issuance of a letter contract. Stopping performance under these current task orders and unnecessarily delaying any more levee repairs will be detrimental to the surrounding areas. USACE should not consider this as an alternative.

In addition, there are no similar contract vehicles available that allow for river construction utilizing specialized equipment such dredges, draglines, barges and floating plant. RDI would be the next closest contract vehicle to use fairly quickly, however, the current MRRP task order would need terminated in order for NWO to issue a new task order on an RDI contract, which still unnecessarily delays the contract performance of closing the breaches.

The other alternatives would be to award letter contracts or separate construction contracts using the authority under FAR 6.302-2. To reiterate, in order to re-solicit as another action means that NWO will need to terminate the current contract performance first. In addition, a letter contract would be undefinitized and may put the contracting officer in weak negotiating position, possibly resulting in an unreasonable price. The remaining alternative is to issue separate contracts similar to the recent construction contracts for levee repairs that NWO awarded under limited competition. None of the above alternatives are acceptable because this request is only for a capacity increase to handle modifications for current work performed on the levees. If the contractors were to demobilize and remobilize due to either a termination or a lengthy delay in processing a modification, it will cause many more postponements which could have significant threat to human life, infrastructure, property, and damage within Omaha District’s area of responsibility.

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6. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: NWO competitively awarded the MRRP MATOC to four contractors for a five (5) year ordering period with a shared capacity of $49M under NAICS 237990 “Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction”. NWO procured this under one solicitation (W9128F-14-R-0005) as a small business set-aside.

NWO initiated a competitive replacement procurement of these services, however, MRRP funds to complete the solicitation, evaluation, and award of a MATOC are not currently available as there was a significant reduction in the program for FY19. NWO requested resources and will continue this action as the agency receives those resources. NWO anticipates to procure the second generation of the MRRP MATOC as another small business set-aside.

7. ACTIONS TO INCREASE COMPETITION: The current contractor performance on these MRRP task orders for the flood response mission is to construct temporary flood structures. Since June 2019, Omaha District has procured and will continue to procure contracts for permanent repairs of all of the levee breaches. The OSRT recently developed an Acquisition Plan, approved by the SCO on 02 July 2019, for these anticipated construction contracts and continues to receive adequate competition, especially from small businesses, on the proposed acquisitions.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: (NO CHANGE) NWO most recently conducted full market research for the Prequalified Sources Listing (PSL) for the aforementioned Acquisition Plan. In response to the Industry Day, there were a total of 135 individuals in attendance with a variety of different business sizes. In reply to the Market Research Survey, the Omaha District received responses from twenty-five (25) firms with a wide range of different skills and business sizes, including eight (8) large businesses, and seventeen (17) Small Businesses (SB), two (2) 8(a) Businesses, two (2) HUB Zone Businesses, one (1) Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), and six (6) Woman Owned Small Businesses. From this market research, there were ten (10) small business firms and three (3) large business firms who responded to the sources sought notice and identified as potentially being capable of performing such rapid response type scope. This market research supported NWO’s efforts on the PSL.

However, due to the current capacity need to handle incoming modifications on the flood response task orders that are time-sensitive in nature, it is not feasible to fully compete separate construction contracts and execute awards within a reasonable time.

9. INTERESTED SOURCES: (NO CHANGE) The increase of capacity will not be synopsized due to the time critical nature of the requirement and is covered by an exception under FAR 5.202(a)(2). In addition, the increase of capacity will be used for in-scope modifications on existing task orders which are actions being made under the

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terms of an existing contract that were previously synopsized in sufficient detail which is covered by an exception under FAR 5.202(a)(11).

10. OTHER FACTORS: Terminating or delaying current performance to develop and compete new contract awards under full and open competition prohibits time based on life, health and safety risks involved. It would require significant time and resources and would cause unacceptable delays. By having an adequate contract capacity, the contracting officer can go from receiving a modification request to executing the modification in less than six (6) days knowing that there is available capacity. If NWO cannot execute an increase in capacity to assist in streamlining the modification procedures, further negative impacts to the levee breached areas could result.

The reason for this amendment is to increase capacity an additional nominal amount due to the inaccurate assessment at the time of requesting the first increase of capacity.

NWO dealt with many unknowns when providing original estimates for the anticipated modifications. Site access was impossible during the highest flood stages in order to conduct surveys and gather accurate data, materials became difficult to obtain and some at higher prices due to the demand and some contractors had to leave the work area due to increased hazards and then reconvene and reassess damages on work already performed.

Since the last approved J&A, NWO updated Paragraph 3 above substantially to provide a detailed assessment of actual awarded modifications. In addition, NWO inserted a Table showing specific anticipated modifications with more accurate prices taking into consideration the prices submitted and negotiated on recently awarded modifications.

NWO also updated Paragraph 5, especially Paragraph 5.a, to document the current situation as more widespread rains continue to effect the Missouri River and its tributaries.

NWO provided minor updates in Paragraphs 6 and 7 showing the steps taken recently to increase competition for the more permanent levee repairs.

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11. TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION:

“I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the Justification and Approval are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.”

Name: Signature: ____ Title: Chief, Readiness Branch Date: ______________________________

12. REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION:

"I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which is included in the Justification and Approval is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief."

Name: Signature: ____ Title: Chief, Readiness Branch Date: ______________________________

13. FAIR AND REASONABLE COST DETERMINATION:

“I hereby determine that the anticipated cost for the task order modifications will be fair and reasonable based on comparison to the Government Estimate, initial pricing in a competitive environment, and judgment of professional engineering and contracting staff on site.”

Name: Signature: ___ Title: Contracting Officer Date: _______________________________

14. CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION:

"I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which is in the Justification and Approval is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief."

Name: Signature: ___ Title: Contracting Officer Date: _______________________________

23 Sept 2019

23 Sep 2019

23 September 2019

23 September 2019