EPA contracts hit

In one of his first official actions, President Trump on Jan. 23 ordered a freeze on all new grants, contracts and task orders at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

There initially was confusion about how long the freeze would last and whether it would impact existing EPA contract obligations.

Reuters news agency on Jan. 27 quoted the EPA’s new spokesman saying the freeze would be over within a day or two.

As of Jan. 29, there was a single EPA opportunity listed on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

While the new administration asserted that the contracting ban was not significant, ProPublica news agency quoted an EPA official saying nothing like it had occurred in the last decade.

The Professional Services Council last week raised “serious concerns” that the EPA contracting ban would hurt EPA contractors because they would miss out on work and payments.

The EPA also may see major cuts in workforce and funding. Myron Ebell, Trump’s former EPA transition head, described plans for a drastic reduction, but said they were his own ideas and were not necessarily shared by Trump.

More information: Reuters story: http://goo.gl/Q5W1Um
ProPublica story: http://goo.gl/7iKUG7
PSC input: http://goo.gl/uehAHg
Ebell’s goals: http://goo.gl/T2k08Z

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