Asbestos project monitor and air sampling contract terms, no date

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Removal Branch comments on the draft NYC Scope of Work (SOW) document for the asbestos project monitor and air sampling contract. These comments mostly pertain to the process that is being proposed for the asbestos cleanups. Comments on the clean up process are included separately:

Backround:

- My understanding is that NYC will be executing contracts with asbestos cleanup contractors to perform the cleanups and with A/E firms to schedule and monitor the cleanups and to conduct asbestos sampling after the cleanups are complete. The SOW states that there are three classes of worker in the A/E contract, (1) Technicians to conduct the air monitoring, (2) Project Monitors to schedule the cleanups (based on the requests received by the hotline), to perform final inspections then sign a project completion report and to ensure that the clean up activities comply with the scope of work and a (3) Project Manager (not listed in the Qualifications section but mentioned in the Post Cleaning Air Sampling Proceedures section, item e)) who will advise the occupants about the advantages and disadvantages of conducting aggressive air monitoring. The process, in summary, requires the monitor to schedule the cleanup, to ensure that the cleanup complies with attached Scope of Work (the document doesn’t say how), to schedule the Technicians to perform sampling and to conduct the final inspection.

- The EPA role that is explained in the NYC SOW includes maintaining the hotline and providing appropriate procedures for cleaning up building apartments where there are large debris accumulations. An EPA coordinator provides the appropriate procedures for cleaning up apartments with large debris.

My concerns are as follows:

1) The NYC SOW does not include any provisions for EPA monitoring the work activities, assuming that EPA wants to provide such monitoring. My understanding is that NYC will execute contracts with cleanup contractors to provide the cleanups (in accordance with the attached Scope of Work) and with A/E firms to monitor the cleanup contractors and to do the asbestos sampling. The contracts will be controlled by NYC Contracting Officers and Project Officers (or whatever they call them), who will be responsible for determining if the work performed meets the contractual requirements and if payments should be made. They will also make judgements (presumably based upon the representations of the Project Monitors) of any failure to perform and the associated corrective actions. Although we have not seen the contract documents, the SOW clearly places responsibility for the determination of proper performance in the hands of the Project Monitors.

- If EPA wants to assume an oversight role that is in any way similar to the role that is performed in the monitoring of our own cleanup contractors, we would have to change the NYC Scope of Work to assign compliance assurance responsibilities to EPA employees rather than the Project Monitors (the contract dociunents would also have to be changed accordingly to empower the EPA people with the necessary authorities, such as the Contracting Officer authorities that are given to OSCs through their OSC Warrants e.g. to stop work, to approve invoices etc.).

NYC-WTC_000151291