Contracts Rushed For Katrina Recovery Effort Contractors are being urged to contact relief agencies directly if they wish to compete for work in the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. A notice posted on FedBizOpps says, “Due to the immediacy of emergency opportunities, it is unlikely that opportunities dealing with the hurricanes will be advertised through the FedBizOpps system.” The site, www.fbo.gov, includes contact information for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal and state agencies spearheading the recovery. The Defense Department has authorized the use of special emergency procurement authorities to expedite purchases for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. According to a Sept. 2 memo from Kenneth J. Krieg, undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, the micropurchase threshold is increased to $15,000, from $2,500; the simplified acquisition threshold goes up to $250,000, from $100,000; and the ceiling under the Test Program for commercial items is raised to $10 million, from $5 million. In addition, DOD has approved the use of government purchase cards for procurements up to $250,000 in support of relief efforts, except for construction contracts. Other special contracting provisions kick in when a major disaster is declared, according to the consulting firm Acquisition Solutions of Oakton, VA: •Agencies may use oral requests for proposals. •By law, there is a preference for contracting with local companies and organizations in the disaster area. •Agencies may contract with companies that are not registered in the Central Contractor Registration. •Agencies do not have to use electronic funds transfers to pay contractors. Acquisition Solutions has published a guide to emergency contracting at www.acqsolinc.com/emergencycontracting/.