FEMA Plans 8(a) Set-Asides For Hurricane Recovery The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced it will set aside some hurricane recovery contracts for 8(a) firms, giving preference to companies in the affected states. After a chorus of criticism of its sole-source awards to large national corporations, FEMA said it will set aside an undetermined number of five-year technical assistance contracts for competitive 8(a) awards. The agency did not estimate the value of the contracts, but said they could also be used to provide services in future natural disasters. “In the immediate response phase for Hurricane Katrina, our priority was to get relief quickly to those in need,” Acting FEMA Director David Paulison said in a statement Oct. 10. “The oversight safeguards are in place for those emergency contracts so critically needed when disaster struck, and we will now use competitive strategies everywhere possible – placing priority on the use of local and small disadvantaged businesses – as we move into the long-term recovery phase.” FEMA had awarded sole-source or limited-competition contracts to Fluor, CH2M Hill, Bechtel and the Shaw Group, all large national companies. Each contract is worth up to $100 million. The agency said it will re-compete those contracts under full and open competition when the ceilings are reached. It said it will require large prime contractors to meet “significant” small business subcontracting goals, including the preference for local businesses as provided for by the Stafford Act. President Bush’s domestic policy adviser, Claude Allen, said the president gets weekly briefings on the contracts that are awarded. He said Bush wants to send more work to local companies and minority-owned businesses. ‘’Frankly, the president has not been satisfied. None of us have been satisfied,’’ Allen said in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks. The Commerce Department announced it has created a Hurricane Contracting Information Center to help small businesses compete for contracts. The center will be staffed by representatives of several agencies, including the Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Labor, and Transportation departments, SBA and GSA. The center will not award any contracts, but will serve as a resource for small firms. Commerce has created a website at www.rebuildingthegulfcoast.gov and a telephone hotline at 1-888-4USADOC where companies may register with the agencies and get information on doing business with the government. “The administration is reaching out to companies of all sizes, especially minority-owned enterprises, to guarantee that those seeking to join the rebuilding efforts can navigate federal agencies and bid for contracts with ease,” said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. The Homeland Security Department’s inspector general said he has sent dozens of auditors to the Gulf Coast to monitor contracts, but there is pressure in Congress to create a coordinating agency or a special inspector general to guard against waste, fraud and abuse. Several bills have been introduced, but the Bush administration has not endorsed any of them. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group, called Congress’s $62 billion emergency appropriation for hurricane relief “a multi-billion dollar magnet for waste and abuse.” The organization is monitoring relief and recovery contracts at its website, http://taxpayer.net.