Grant Management Program Management Office Support Services

Added: Oct 08, 2009 11:34 am The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is playing a historical role implementing a new transportation Vision for High-Speed Rail (HSR) in America. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and address transportation challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century.

The Department of Transportations (DOT) FRA is committed to implementing those parts of the legislation delegated to our control in an efficient, expeditious, effective and transparent manner. Under the leadership of Secretary LaHood, FRA is prepared to assist states, localities, industry and transportation sector stakeholders and other Federal agencies to ensure appropriate consultation and coordination among all parties in managing ARRA investments. President Obama proposes to help address the nation's transportation challenges by investing in an efficient, high-speed passenger rail network of 100-600 mile intercity corridors that connect communities across America under a comprehensive high-speed intercity passenger rail system plan.

During Phase 1, the contractor assisted in the creation of a Grants Management Master Plan, Grants Management Master Schedule, and Communications Plan. In Phase 2, the contractor will advise RDV/FRA on the implementation, execution and monitoring of the Grants Management Master Plan, Grants Management Master Schedule, and Communications Plan. Included in these activities the contractor will assist RDV/FRA to ensure the horizontal and vertical integration of all activities in the Master Schedule through regular status meetings and communication with RDV Directors and Division Chiefs; assist RDV/FRA with the development of policies and procedures required to implement standardized grant management procedures for FRA; advise RDV on the development of deliverables required at each stage of the grants management lifecycle; advise RDV on the development and execution of project management deliverables including project plans, timelines, evaluation plans, post award-monitoring plans and status reports; and conduct training on the grants management process as required.





The FRA intends to increase the scope of an exercised option with a revised Statement of Work, entitled Phase II Option I Modification Grant Management Program Management Office Support Services, for services to support FRA in the award and implementation of the High Speed/Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) grant program and the implementation of a mature grants management program. This justification supports a determination that a sole source contract is appropriate for the contemplated work that has already been completed a by Deloitte in Phase I because the additional work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The increase in the scope of work will result in an increased cost of $999,651.14 from the original ceiling price of $1,607,769.00 to a new ceiling price of $2,607,420.16.



The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition of these services is contained in 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302.1, "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements" [48 C.F.R. 6.302-1 (1989)].



From the initial concept to the design and deployment, the High Speed Inter-City Passenger Rail (HSIPR) program developed additional complexities beyond those originally anticipated. As a result, the scope and resources that were originally envisioned when the Program Management Support Statement of Work (SOW) and contract were written have required realignment and acceleration of milestones/deliverables to achieve the Presidents goals. First, the number of FRA received for HSIPR ARRA funding was much higher than expected RDV planned for 140 applications to be received for Tracks 1a, 1b, 3 and 4. Instead 215 applications were received, more than 50% more. Additionally, since FRA is developing the program from scratch, we did not anticipate following a multi-track approach was followed at the time of contract competition where we distribute the stimulus funds across multiple tracks, in effect creating multiple grants programs. As a result, we are accepting grants from five different tracks, significantly increasing the program management and administrative workload required to successfully execute this approach as guidance had to be written, evaluation criteria had to be created, applications designed, application packages accepted and evaluated, and reports generated 5 separate times. We have also been operating under an expedited timeline. As the Program gained momentum and high-priority status from the new Administration, the timeline set by the President was expedited, forcing a surge in resources necessary to stay on track. RDV had less than a month to accept and process grants before a recommendation went to the Secretary.

The nature of the program requires a much higher level of complexity than average. The details tracked, assessed and measured are above the level of complexity originally planned, or what is common for a standard, existing and established grants program. The layers of complexity, include multiple tracks, dynamic pre-requisites that oscillate between must have and nice to have, multi tiered evaluation criteria, and ad hoc reporting requests, among others. Also, existing technology is very limited. The tools we use to support the grants management lifecycle are not in the early stage of development, and are not sufficient to support the complexity of the HSIPR program. Temporary solutions and work-arounds needed to be created to fulfill functions not performed by Grant Solutions.

Finally, we are not currently staffed to support a grants program in the size and scope of HSIPR. An aggressive on boarding plan has been developed to bring on new, permanent staff quickly in the first year. The process has taken longer than expected, and staff assimilating skilled workers into an already taxed organization is difficult. As such there have been no additions to the GMLC team at the time of the first applications submission.



The initial contract was awarded after a limited solicitation under the GSA MOBIS Federal Supply Schedule was conducted. An award to Deloitte Consulting, LLP was determined to be in the best interest of the government. A Determination & Findings resulted in exercising the Phase II Option also being awarded to Deloitte. There is no reasonable alternative to this action.



The FRA plans to fully compete any additional work under this effort in the future.