Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017

Published date16 October 2019
Citation84 FR 55283
Record Number2019-22554
SectionNotices
CourtCommerce Department,National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 200 (Wednesday, October 16, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 16, 2019)]
                [Notices]
                [Pages 55283-55284]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2019-22554]
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                DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment,
                Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017
                AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
                Commerce.
                ACTION: Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment,
                Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017.
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's)
                Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) is
                announcing new indirect cost rates on the recovery of indirect costs
                for its component organizations involved in natural resource damage
                assessment and restoration activities for fiscal years (FY) 2016 and
                2017. The indirect cost rates for this fiscal year and date of
                implementation are provided in this notice. More information on these
                rates and the DARRP policy can be found at the DARRP website at
                www.darrp.noaa.gov.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For further information, contact LaTonya
                Burgess at 240-533-0428, by fax at 301-713-4389, or email at
                [email protected].
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of the DARRP is to restore
                natural resource injuries caused by releases of hazardous substances or
                oil under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
                Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) and the Oil Pollution
                Act of 1990 (OPA) (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), and to support restoration
                of physical injuries to National Marine Sanctuary resources under the
                National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA) (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). The
                DARRP consists of three component organizations: The Office of Response
                and Restoration (ORR) within the National Ocean Service; the
                Restoration Center within the National Marine Fisheries Service; and
                the Office of the General Counsel Natural Resources Section (GCNRS).
                The DARRP conducts Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs) as a
                basis for recovering damages from responsible parties, and uses the
                funds recovered to restore injured natural resources.
                 Consistent with federal accounting requirements, the DARRP is
                required to account for and report the full costs of its programs and
                activities. Further, the DARRP is authorized by law to recover
                reasonable costs of damage assessment and restoration activities under
                CERCLA, OPA, and the NMSA. Within the constraints of these legal
                provisions and their regulatory applications, the DARRP has the
                discretion to develop indirect cost rates for its component
                organizations and formulate policies on the recovery of indirect cost
                rates subject to its requirements.
                The DARRP's Indirect Cost Effort
                 In December 1998, the DARRP hired the public accounting firm Rubino
                & McGeehin, Chartered (R&M) to: Evaluate the DARRP cost accounting
                system and allocation practices; recommend the appropriate indirect
                cost allocation methodology; and determine the indirect cost rates for
                the three organizations that comprise the DARRP. A Federal Register
                notice on R&M's effort, their assessment of the DARRP's cost accounting
                system and practice, and their determination regarding the most
                appropriate indirect cost methodology and rates for FYs 1993 through
                1999 was published on December 7, 2000 (65 FR 76611).
                 R&M continued its assessment of DARRP's indirect cost rate system
                and structure for FYs 2000 and 2001. A second federal notice specifying
                the DARRP indirect rates for FYs 2000 and 2001 was published on
                December 2, 2002 (67 FR 71537).
                 In October 2002, DARRP hired the accounting firm of Cotton and
                Company LLP (Cotton) to review and certify DARRP costs incurred on
                cases for purposes of cost recovery and to develop indirect rates for
                FY 2002 and subsequent years. As in the prior years, Cotton concluded
                that the cost accounting system and allocation practices of the DARRP
                component organizations are consistent with federal accounting
                requirements. Consistent with R&M's previous analyses, Cotton also
                determined that the most appropriate indirect allocation method
                continues to be the Direct Labor Cost Base for all three DARRP
                component organizations. The Direct Labor Cost Base is computed by
                allocating total indirect cost over the sum of direct labor dollars,
                plus the application of NOAA's leave surcharge and benefits rates to
                direct labor. Direct labor costs for contractors from ERT, Inc. (ERT),
                Freestone Environmental Services, Inc. (Freestone), and Genwest
                Systems, Inc. (Genwest) were included in the direct labor base because
                Cotton determined that these costs have the same relationship to the
                indirect cost pool as NOAA direct labor costs. ERT, Freestone, and
                Genwest provided on-site support to the DARRP in the areas of injury
                assessment, natural resource economics, restoration planning and
                implementation, and policy analysis. Subsequent federal notices have
                been published in the Federal Register as follows:
                 FY 2002, published on October 6, 2003 (68 FR 57672)
                 FY 2003, published on May 20, 2005 (70 FR 29280)
                 FY 2004, published on March 16, 2006 (71 Fed Reg. 13356)
                 FY 2005, published on February 9, 2007 (72 FR 6221)
                 FY 2006, published on June 3, 2008 (73 FR 31679)
                [[Page 55284]]
                 FY 2007 and FY 2008, published on November 16, 2009 (74 FR
                58948)
                 FY 2009 and FY 2010, published on October 20, 2011 (76 FR
                65182)
                 FY 2011, published on September 17, 2012 (77 FR 57074)
                 FY 2012, published on August 29, 2013 (78 FR 53425)
                 FY 2013, published on October 14, 2014 (79 FR 61617)
                 FY 2014, published on December 17, 2015 (80 FR 78718)
                 FY 2015, published on August 22, 2016 (81 FR 56580)
                Cotton's reports on these indirect rates can be found on the DARRP
                website at www.darrp.noaa.gov.
                 Empirical Concepts developed the DARRP indirect rates for FY 2016
                and 2017. Empirical reaffirmed that the Direct Labor Cost Base is the
                most appropriate indirect allocation method for the development of the
                FY 2016 and 2017 indirect cost rates.
                The DARRP's Indirect Cost Rates and Policies
                 The DARRP will apply the indirect cost rates for FY 2016 and 2017
                as recommended by Empirical for each of the DARRP component
                organizations as provided in the following table:
                ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 FY 2016 FY 2017
                 Indirect Indirect
                 DARRP component organization rate rate
                 (percent) (percent)
                ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Office of Response and Restoration (ORR).......... 133.62 137.45
                Restoration Center (RC)........................... 64.46 73.26
                General Counsel, Natural Resources Section (GCNRS) 62.67 77.30
                ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 These rates are based on the Direct Labor Cost Base allocation
                methodology.
                 The FY 2016 rates will be applied to all damage assessment and
                restoration case costs incurred between October 1, 2015 and September
                30, 2016. The FY 2017 rates will be applied to all damage assessment
                and restoration case costs incurred between October 1, 2016 and
                September 30, 2017. DARRP will use the FY 2017 indirect cost rates for
                future fiscal years, beginning with FY 2018, until subsequent year-
                specific rates can be developed.
                 For cases that have settled and for cost claims paid prior to the
                effective date of the fiscal year in question, the DARRP will not re-
                open any resolved matters for the purpose of applying the revised rates
                in this policy for these fiscal years. For cases not settled and cost
                claims not paid prior to the effective date of the fiscal year in
                question, costs will be recalculated using the revised rates in this
                policy for these fiscal years. Where a responsible party has agreed to
                pay costs using previous year's indirect rates, but has not yet made
                the payment because the settlement documents are not finalized, the
                costs will not be recalculated.
                David Westerholm,
                Director, Office of Response and Restoration.
                [FR Doc. 2019-22554 Filed 10-15-19; 8:45 am]
                 BILLING CODE 3510-JE-P
                

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