FEMA Plans BPA's For Disaster Relief The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to establish blanket purchase agreements and contingency contracts for most supplies needed in response to disasters or terrorist attacks. FEMA is using GSA and the Defense Logistics Agency to handle the procurements, GSA officials said. The BPAs will require contractors to be ready to supply large amounts of goods and services immediately after a disaster, said Laura Ray, acting director of GSA’s product acquisition center. She spoke Dec. 5 at a conference sponsored by the Coalition for Government Procurement in Arlington, VA. Ray said her office has already awarded a BPA covering 31,000 hardware items. Others will cover bottled water and thermal blankets. She said FEMA is putting together a shopping list of requirements that will be included in BPA’s and contingency contracts. They will be used in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, but FEMA is required by law to favor local companies in its longer-term recovery contracts. FEMA was widely criticized for its slow response to Hurricane Katrina last year and for its inability to get basic supplies such as ice, water and shelter, to the people who needed them. GSA has created an Office of Emergency Response and Recovery to coordinate disaster-related contracts. The acting director, John Phelps, said contractors should learn about the National Incident Management System so they will understand how federal agencies respond to a disaster. (See www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/index.shtm.) Phelps said the 2006 Defense Authorization Act allows state and local governments to buy disaster-related goods and services through GSA schedules. A rule implementing the law will be published shortly.