Debris Removal
Appeal Brief
Appeal Letter
Appeal Analysis
Citation: FEMA-1292-DR-NC; Brunswick County; PW 2791 Debris removal
Cross Reference: Debris Removal; Time and Material 70-hour time limit; Reasonable Costs
Summary: Hurricane Floyd made landfall on September 16, 1999, leaving large amounts of debris across Brunswick County, NC. In response, the Applicant let five time and material debris removal contracts that were completed by December 11, 1999. FEMA obligated Project Worksheet (PW) 2791 for $406,602 to reimburse the Applicant for costs incurred for debris removal. FEMA de-obligated $308,367 from PW 2791 during final inspection for ineligible debris removal, which reduced the total obligated to $98,235. The de-obligation was based on actual costs incurred of $58,830 for debris removed and disposed prior to the 70-hour time limit and $31,974 for the amount of debris removed and disposed of after the 70-hour time limit (5,329 cubic yards x $6 per cubic yard). The Applicants first appeal request to re-obligate the $308,367 was denied because the contracts were verbal and had exceeded the 70-hour time limit. Additionally, because the contracts exceeded the time limit, FEMA considered the calculated $67.97 per cubic yard unit cost excessive. A second appeal submitted by the Applicant on August 5, 2002 asserted that total debris removal costs of $404,580 were reasonable and should be considered eligible. This brought its final claim to $416,161.
Issues: 1. Are the time and material contracts eligible?2. Is the conversion rate of 1 ton equals 16.5 cubic yards reasonable and eligible?3. Are the debris monitoring vehicle costs eligible?4. Is the $67.97 debris removal unit cost reasonable and eligible?
Findings: 1. Yes. The contracts are eligible for the first 100 hours.2. 3. No. The 1:16.5 conversion rate is higher than the traditional rate of 1:4 and is not eligible.4. 5. Yes. The costs associated with the vehicles used for debris monitoring are eligible.6. 7. No. The $67.97 per cubic yard unit cost is not reasonable and eligible. A reasonable cost is $18.50 per cubic yard.8.
Rationale: 44 CFR §206.228
Hurricane Floyd made landfall on September 16, 1999, generating vegetative debris across Brunswick County, NC (Applicant). The Applicant let five time and material debris removal contracts that were completed by December 11, 1999. FEMA obligated Project Worksheet (PW) 2791 in the amount of $406,602 on February 1, 2000, to reimburse the Applicant for costs incurred with the removal of 1,513 tons of debris. Additionally, PW 2791 accounted for the replacement of 107 garbage cans.
Final Inspection
As a result of the final inspection, FEMA de-obligated $308,367 from PW 2791 on March 7, 2001, for ineligible debris removal which reduced the total amount obligated to $98,235. FEMA de-obligated the $308,367 because the Applicant had awarded the five debris removal contracts verbally, and, on a time-and-material basis that extended beyond the 70-hour time limit for time and material contracts as stipulated in FEMA 322, Debris Management Guide, April 1999.
FEMA calculated the de-obligation amount by taking total tons deposited at the Applicants landfill (1,455 vegetative and 58 construction and demolition (C&D)) and multiplying the vegetative tonnage by 4 and the C&D tonnage by 2 to convert to cubic yards. These conversion factors were obtained from the FEMAs Debris Operations Guide on page 27. This resulted in a total debris volume of 5,936 cubic yards. FEMA determined the cubic yards removed before and after the 70-hour limit (on or about October 6, 1999). The Applicant was reimbursed actual costs incurred of $58,830 for the debris removed and disposed of prior to the 70-hour time limit. For the amount of debris removed and disposed of after the 70-hour time limit (5,329 cubic yards), FEMA applied cost code 1015 (debris removal - $6 per cubic yard).
First Appeal
On April 18, 2002, FEMA Region IV Director denied the Applicants first appeal request to re-obligate the $308,367 because the contracts had not been awarded in writing as required by North Carolina Code 143-129 Part c and the contracts had exceeded the 70-hour time limit. Additionally, FEMA considered the calculated $67.97 per cubic yard unit cost excessive.
Second Appeal
The North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management (Grantee), forwarded a second appeal submitted by the Applicant on August 5, 2002. The Grantee and Applicant assert that the total debris removal costs of $404,580 were reasonable and should be considered eligible. This brought its final claim to $416,161. The amount requested in this appeal is $317,926 ($416,161 $98,235).
DISCUSSION
The Grantee and Applicant believe that the $317,926 should be re-instated. Essentially, they raise four issues.
1. FEMA was aware that the contracts were time and material and had gone beyond the 70-hour time limit when the PW was prepared on December 14, 1999, and should have raised the issue then.
2. The second issue is that a conversion rate of 1 ton equals 16.5 cubic yards should be used instead of the 1 ton equals 4 cubic yards used by FEMA to prepare PW 2791.
3.
4. The Applicant neglected to include in the original Summary of Documentation costs of $4,155.52 incurred for the vehicles utilized in debris monitoring activities.
5. Lastly, the Applicant asserts that the $67.97 per cubic yard cost for debris removal was reasonable based on the rural nature of the area, the amount of debris generated and the long haul distances involved. The following discussion will address these issues.
6.
Time and Material Contracts
The Grantee has asserted that because the 70-hour time limit for time and material debris removal contracts was a relatively new policy change from FEMA, confusion about the time limit existed; therefore, the Applicant should not be penalized. Additionally, the Applicant and Grantee assert that FEMA was fully aware of the time and material contracts at the time PW 2791 was obligated and did not raise the issue until final inspection over a year later.
It appears that there was confusion about what the time limit was for time and material contracts because the issue was never raised during PW preparation, review or approval. However, the Grantee had historically imposed a 100-hour time limit on time and material debris removal contracts. Therefore, the issue is not whether there was a time limit, but what that time limit was. The Grantee was fully aware that time and material debris removal contracts had to be limited. Further, Ms. Elizabeth McEvoy (Grantee) was quoted in a February 24, 2000, memorandum to the file as stating that a debris training class for the Applicant had been held on May 13-14, 1999. During that class, a time limit of 100 hours for time and material contracts was discussed. Therefore, because of the relative newness of the 70-hour limit, the obligation of PW 2791 initially disregarding the time limit, and the Grantee-run debris training that discussed a 100-hour time limit, it is reasonable to allow 100 hours for the time and material contracts. Any debris removal activities beyond the 100-hour time limit will be reimbursed at a rate FEMA determines to be reasonable.
Based on records provided by the Applicant and in PW 2791, the Applicant is eligible for $83,500 for the first 100 hours worked, based on five contractors at the hourly rate of $167. This is $24,670 more than the $58,830 previously approved.
Debris monitoring vehicle costs
The Applicant asserts that it neglected to include costs incurred for the vehicles used by the two Applicant debris monitors. In support of this, it has included mileage logs for the days used in monitoring activities. The total costs incurred were $4,156 (12,986 miles x $0.32 per mile). The Applicant has established that the incurred costs are eligible.
Conversion from tons to cubic yards
The Applicant asserts that the conversion rate for tons to cubic yards for vegetative debris should be 1 ton equals 16.5 cubic yards. FEMA utilized a conversion rate of 1 ton equals 4 cubic yards based on the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) guidance. The USACE conversion rate is documented on page 27 of FEMAs Publication 9580.1, Public Assistance Debris Operations Job Aid.
To support its assertion, the Applicant has provided an analysis of an actual loading event at the County landfill. The analysis was performed on July 10, 2002. The County utilized a truck having capacity of 13.5 cubic yards and loaded that truck with vegetative debris from an existing pile at the County landfill. After the truck was loaded, it was then weighed. The net weight of the loaded truck was 0.82 ton. This calculates to 16.5 cubic yards per ton. This exercise was documented on videotape and included with the second appeal.
The Applicant measured one full truckload of concentrated debris. The landfill records of the loads disposed at the landfill indicate a wide range of debris load weights ranging from a low of 0.02 ton to a high of 10.63 tons. This indicates that the loading of the trucks during debris removal operations was not uniform and that the debris was scattered in many cases. It is unreasonable to assume the conversion rate calculated from loading a single truck from a concentrated vegetative debris pile is representative of the actual debris operations performed. Therefore, the conversion rate of 1 ton equals 4 cubic yards will be applied to the 2,192.56 tons hauled and disposed of after the 100-hour time limit. This results in a cubic yards total of 4,385 cubic yards removed and disposed.
Reasonable Unit Costs
The Applicant provides sufficient detail to support is er cubic yard was the best available data at the time of final inspection. Data has been provided by the Grantee in a July 9, 2002, internal memorandum that calculates the average cubic-yard cost of debris removal in Carteret County, a neighboring county. This average was determined to be $21.60 per cubic yard. The Grantee states that based on the Carteret County average unit cost, the rural nature of Brunswick County and the excessive haul distances, an average between $17 and $20, or $18.50, per cubic yard would be reasonable. FEMA accepts the $18.50 as reasonable. Therefore, the $18.50 per cubic yard will be applied to a total of 4,483 cubic yards of debris (4,385 vegetative plus 98 C&D) removed after the 100-hour limit. This calculates to $82,936, or an additional $50,962 ($82,936-$31,974).
CONCLUSION
Because the Grantee had informed the Applicant of a 100-hour time limit for time and materials contracts and the apparent confusion surrounding the recent 70-hour time limit, it is reasonable to allow a 100-hour time limit for time and material contracts. This results in an additional $24,670. The Applicant has not established that the conversion rate of 1 ton equals 16.5 cubic yards is reasonable. Additionally, debris removed after the 100-hour time limit will be reimbursed at a rate of $18.50 per cubic yard for 4,483 cubic yards ($50,962). The $4,156 for vehicle use during monitoring debris removal is eligible. Therefore, this appeal is partially approved for $79,788.
Appeal Brief
| Disaster | FEMA-1292-DR |
| Applicant | Brunswick County |
| Appeal Type | Second |
| PA ID# | 091-99019-00 |
| PW ID# | 2791 |
| Date Signed | 2003-03-27T05:00:00 |
Cross Reference: Debris Removal; Time and Material 70-hour time limit; Reasonable Costs
Appeal Letter
March 27, 2003
Mr. H. Douglas Hoell, Jr.
Chief of Operations
North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety
Division of Emergency Management
4716 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27699-4716
RE: Second Appeal Brunswick County, Debris Removal, FEMA-1292-DR-NC, Project Worksheet (PW) 2791
Dear Mr. Hoell:
This letter is in response to the referenced second appeal transmitted by your letter dated August 5, 2002. The Applicant is requesting an additional $317,926 for debris removal costs associated with Hurricane Floyd. We apologize for the delay of our response.
As explained in the enclosed analysis, I have determined that an additional $79,788 for debris removal is eligible. Therefore, I partially approve the appeal. By copy of this letter, I am requesting the Regional Director to prepare a PW for $79,788 to implement my decision.
Please inform the Applicant of my determination. My determination constitutes the final decision on this matter as set forth in 44 CFR §206.206.
Sincerely,
/S/
Laurence W. Zensinger
Acting Division Director
Recovery Division
Emergency Preparedness and
Response Directorate
Enclosure
cc: Kenneth O. Burris, Jr.
Regional Director
FEMA Region IV
Mr. H. Douglas Hoell, Jr.
Chief of Operations
North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety
Division of Emergency Management
4716 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27699-4716
RE: Second Appeal Brunswick County, Debris Removal, FEMA-1292-DR-NC, Project Worksheet (PW) 2791
Dear Mr. Hoell:
This letter is in response to the referenced second appeal transmitted by your letter dated August 5, 2002. The Applicant is requesting an additional $317,926 for debris removal costs associated with Hurricane Floyd. We apologize for the delay of our response.
As explained in the enclosed analysis, I have determined that an additional $79,788 for debris removal is eligible. Therefore, I partially approve the appeal. By copy of this letter, I am requesting the Regional Director to prepare a PW for $79,788 to implement my decision.
Please inform the Applicant of my determination. My determination constitutes the final decision on this matter as set forth in 44 CFR §206.206.
Sincerely,
/S/
Laurence W. Zensinger
Acting Division Director
Recovery Division
Emergency Preparedness and
Response Directorate
Enclosure
cc: Kenneth O. Burris, Jr.
Regional Director
FEMA Region IV
Appeal Analysis
BACKGROUNDHurricane Floyd made landfall on September 16, 1999, generating vegetative debris across Brunswick County, NC (Applicant). The Applicant let five time and material debris removal contracts that were completed by December 11, 1999. FEMA obligated Project Worksheet (PW) 2791 in the amount of $406,602 on February 1, 2000, to reimburse the Applicant for costs incurred with the removal of 1,513 tons of debris. Additionally, PW 2791 accounted for the replacement of 107 garbage cans.
Final Inspection
As a result of the final inspection, FEMA de-obligated $308,367 from PW 2791 on March 7, 2001, for ineligible debris removal which reduced the total amount obligated to $98,235. FEMA de-obligated the $308,367 because the Applicant had awarded the five debris removal contracts verbally, and, on a time-and-material basis that extended beyond the 70-hour time limit for time and material contracts as stipulated in FEMA 322, Debris Management Guide, April 1999.
FEMA calculated the de-obligation amount by taking total tons deposited at the Applicants landfill (1,455 vegetative and 58 construction and demolition (C&D)) and multiplying the vegetative tonnage by 4 and the C&D tonnage by 2 to convert to cubic yards. These conversion factors were obtained from the FEMAs Debris Operations Guide on page 27. This resulted in a total debris volume of 5,936 cubic yards. FEMA determined the cubic yards removed before and after the 70-hour limit (on or about October 6, 1999). The Applicant was reimbursed actual costs incurred of $58,830 for the debris removed and disposed of prior to the 70-hour time limit. For the amount of debris removed and disposed of after the 70-hour time limit (5,329 cubic yards), FEMA applied cost code 1015 (debris removal - $6 per cubic yard).
First Appeal
On April 18, 2002, FEMA Region IV Director denied the Applicants first appeal request to re-obligate the $308,367 because the contracts had not been awarded in writing as required by North Carolina Code 143-129 Part c and the contracts had exceeded the 70-hour time limit. Additionally, FEMA considered the calculated $67.97 per cubic yard unit cost excessive.
Second Appeal
The North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management (Grantee), forwarded a second appeal submitted by the Applicant on August 5, 2002. The Grantee and Applicant assert that the total debris removal costs of $404,580 were reasonable and should be considered eligible. This brought its final claim to $416,161. The amount requested in this appeal is $317,926 ($416,161 $98,235).
DISCUSSION
The Grantee and Applicant believe that the $317,926 should be re-instated. Essentially, they raise four issues.
1. FEMA was aware that the contracts were time and material and had gone beyond the 70-hour time limit when the PW was prepared on December 14, 1999, and should have raised the issue then.
2. The second issue is that a conversion rate of 1 ton equals 16.5 cubic yards should be used instead of the 1 ton equals 4 cubic yards used by FEMA to prepare PW 2791.
3.
4. The Applicant neglected to include in the original Summary of Documentation costs of $4,155.52 incurred for the vehicles utilized in debris monitoring activities.
5. Lastly, the Applicant asserts that the $67.97 per cubic yard cost for debris removal was reasonable based on the rural nature of the area, the amount of debris generated and the long haul distances involved. The following discussion will address these issues.
6.
Time and Material Contracts
The Grantee has asserted that because the 70-hour time limit for time and material debris removal contracts was a relatively new policy change from FEMA, confusion about the time limit existed; therefore, the Applicant should not be penalized. Additionally, the Applicant and Grantee assert that FEMA was fully aware of the time and material contracts at the time PW 2791 was obligated and did not raise the issue until final inspection over a year later.
It appears that there was confusion about what the time limit was for time and material contracts because the issue was never raised during PW preparation, review or approval. However, the Grantee had historically imposed a 100-hour time limit on time and material debris removal contracts. Therefore, the issue is not whether there was a time limit, but what that time limit was. The Grantee was fully aware that time and material debris removal contracts had to be limited. Further, Ms. Elizabeth McEvoy (Grantee) was quoted in a February 24, 2000, memorandum to the file as stating that a debris training class for the Applicant had been held on May 13-14, 1999. During that class, a time limit of 100 hours for time and material contracts was discussed. Therefore, because of the relative newness of the 70-hour limit, the obligation of PW 2791 initially disregarding the time limit, and the Grantee-run debris training that discussed a 100-hour time limit, it is reasonable to allow 100 hours for the time and material contracts. Any debris removal activities beyond the 100-hour time limit will be reimbursed at a rate FEMA determines to be reasonable.
Based on records provided by the Applicant and in PW 2791, the Applicant is eligible for $83,500 for the first 100 hours worked, based on five contractors at the hourly rate of $167. This is $24,670 more than the $58,830 previously approved.
Debris monitoring vehicle costs
The Applicant asserts that it neglected to include costs incurred for the vehicles used by the two Applicant debris monitors. In support of this, it has included mileage logs for the days used in monitoring activities. The total costs incurred were $4,156 (12,986 miles x $0.32 per mile). The Applicant has established that the incurred costs are eligible.
Conversion from tons to cubic yards
The Applicant asserts that the conversion rate for tons to cubic yards for vegetative debris should be 1 ton equals 16.5 cubic yards. FEMA utilized a conversion rate of 1 ton equals 4 cubic yards based on the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) guidance. The USACE conversion rate is documented on page 27 of FEMAs Publication 9580.1, Public Assistance Debris Operations Job Aid.
To support its assertion, the Applicant has provided an analysis of an actual loading event at the County landfill. The analysis was performed on July 10, 2002. The County utilized a truck having capacity of 13.5 cubic yards and loaded that truck with vegetative debris from an existing pile at the County landfill. After the truck was loaded, it was then weighed. The net weight of the loaded truck was 0.82 ton. This calculates to 16.5 cubic yards per ton. This exercise was documented on videotape and included with the second appeal.
The Applicant measured one full truckload of concentrated debris. The landfill records of the loads disposed at the landfill indicate a wide range of debris load weights ranging from a low of 0.02 ton to a high of 10.63 tons. This indicates that the loading of the trucks during debris removal operations was not uniform and that the debris was scattered in many cases. It is unreasonable to assume the conversion rate calculated from loading a single truck from a concentrated vegetative debris pile is representative of the actual debris operations performed. Therefore, the conversion rate of 1 ton equals 4 cubic yards will be applied to the 2,192.56 tons hauled and disposed of after the 100-hour time limit. This results in a cubic yards total of 4,385 cubic yards removed and disposed.
Reasonable Unit Costs
The Applicant provides sufficient detail to support is er cubic yard was the best available data at the time of final inspection. Data has been provided by the Grantee in a July 9, 2002, internal memorandum that calculates the average cubic-yard cost of debris removal in Carteret County, a neighboring county. This average was determined to be $21.60 per cubic yard. The Grantee states that based on the Carteret County average unit cost, the rural nature of Brunswick County and the excessive haul distances, an average between $17 and $20, or $18.50, per cubic yard would be reasonable. FEMA accepts the $18.50 as reasonable. Therefore, the $18.50 per cubic yard will be applied to a total of 4,483 cubic yards of debris (4,385 vegetative plus 98 C&D) removed after the 100-hour limit. This calculates to $82,936, or an additional $50,962 ($82,936-$31,974).
CONCLUSION
Because the Grantee had informed the Applicant of a 100-hour time limit for time and materials contracts and the apparent confusion surrounding the recent 70-hour time limit, it is reasonable to allow a 100-hour time limit for time and material contracts. This results in an additional $24,670. The Applicant has not established that the conversion rate of 1 ton equals 16.5 cubic yards is reasonable. Additionally, debris removed after the 100-hour time limit will be reimbursed at a rate of $18.50 per cubic yard for 4,483 cubic yards ($50,962). The $4,156 for vehicle use during monitoring debris removal is eligible. Therefore, this appeal is partially approved for $79,788.
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