The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management has received 117 questions from prospective bidders on the next remediation contract for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).
The office posted the latest tranche of questions Monday on the potential 10-year, $350 million successor award to the business held through January 2020 by Navarro Research and Engineering.
Some questioners wanted to know what workforce obligations the Energy Department expects of the winning vendor. A couple indicated the initial request for proposals suggests the new contractor must have a signed collective bargaining agreement by the end of the 60-day transition period.
“There is a union presence on the Nevada site that represents workers” doing both construction work and some nonconstruction work, the Energy Department said in response to one question. The agency “is not requiring the contractor to have a signed transition agreement or a signed collective-bargaining agreement with the labor union by the end of the transition period.”
Instead, the contractor must follow all applicable labor laws and regulations. The vendor will have to “bargain in good faith” with the collective bargaining representatives of unionized employees. Copies of existing labor information are available in the NNSS procurement documents, the agency said.
The deadline for questions was Aug. 15.
The winning firm will handle deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) at the former Nevada Test Site, as well as soil remediation work for industrial sites. The vendor will oversee the Radioactive Waste Acceptance Program (RWAP) to ensure generators of low-level waste or mixed waste comply with the NNSS waste acceptance criteria.
The deadline for proposals for the Nevada Environmental Program Services contract, originally set for Aug. 21, is now 4 p.m. ET Sept. 20. The contracting officer for the solicitation is John Blecher at john.blecher@emcbc.doe.gov.
