Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 9

Energy Bills are Moving

ACEC Urges USACE to
Rethink its ID/IQ Policy

I

n July, at the urging of the Federal Agencies and Procurement
Advocacy Committee, ACEC wrote to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE) objecting to changes member firms were
experiencing.
Specifically, the USACE began competing at the task order level
of A/E Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDC). This includes competing tasks among holders of multi-award, multi-agency, and even
single-award IDC (including indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity
contract holders), with similar scopes of work across districts and
even agencies.
Per ACEC's letter to USACE, "We disagree with the contention
that every task order be fully recompeted, based on our analysis of
the FAR [Federal Acquisition Regulation]. Requiring such competitions will add cost and time to the award of each task order, both for
the A/E industry and more importantly for the government."
For many ACEC members, this could add a significant cost and
up to several weeks to each task order award/negotiation. In discussions with numerous levels of USACE staff, ACEC believes these
competitions would add an unsustainable burden in both cost and
time at the government level. A process that fully recompetes every
task order would make working for USACE less attractive to industry and thereby, in fact, limit competition.
ACEC worked with a legal team to provide recommendations to
update EP 715-1-7, the engineering pamphlet that provides guidance to USACE staff on A/E contracting.

committee leadership declared that these efforts
would address climate change. The simultaneous
bipartisan committee actions strongly suggest House and
Senate floor action to follow, perhaps as early as the fall.
On July 16, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee advanced a slate
of 22 bipartisan energy bills.
The bills are part of an "all of
the above" energy strategy
to address climate change,
according to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va.
Notable among the bills is
S. 903, the Nuclear Energy
Leadership Act, which supports advanced nuclear reactors, and S. 816, the Small
Scale LNG Access Act of
2019, which expedites, withSen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va.
out delay, the export of small
amounts of liquefied natural
gas. Other bills that advanced
included measures to develop a pilot program on the identification of security vulnerabilities in the electric power
sector; a smart manufacturing plan; critical minerals on
federal lands; and a carbon capture and storage research
and development program for emissions from natural gasbased power generation.
On July 17, by bipartisan voice votes, the House Energy
and Commerce Committee reported 10 energy bills.
Beyond bills to enhance workforce development, reauthorize weatherization programs, and improve public building
energy efficiency, several bills seek to improve water efficiency, smart building development, grid modernization
and security, energy emergency functions, and resiliency
of natural gas and related systems.
Together the House and Senate Committee actions
suggest optimism on near-term Congressional action on an
CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES

UTAH778 / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES

H

ouse and Senate Committees passed numerous
energy or energy-related bills in July. Respective

energy package.

ACEC Workforce Priorities

T

he Department of Labor is expected to finalize its new rule on overtime pay under the
Fair Labor Standards Act by the end of 2019.
ACEC submitted comments in support of the
proposed rule, which would raise the overtime pay salary threshold to $679 weekly/$35,308 annually. The
proposal also retained the current duties test for determining whether an employee who earns more than the
salary threshold is exempt from overtime pay.
In Congress, support is building for the Employer
Participation in Repayment Act (H.R. 1043/S. 460),
which would allow employers to provide up to $5,250
per year in student loan payments without that being

a taxable benefit for the employee. ACEC citizen lobbyists asked their members of Congress to support the
legislation during the Annual Convention and Legislative Summit in May. The congressional sponsors are
looking for a legislative vehicle to advance their bill.
The ACEC Retirement Trust is also moving forward
with a program to allow participating employers to
make a contribution to the retirement savings account
of employees who make a student loan payment. This
plan is designed to help employees, particularly recent
graduates, who may find it difficult to make their
student loan payments and save for retirement at the
same time.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019

For
More
News
For
legislative
news, visit
ACEC's Last
Word blog
online at
www.acec.
org.

ENGINEERING INC.

9


http://www.acec.org http://www.acec.org

Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019

Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019
Contents
From Acec to You
Market Watch
Legislative Action
The Private Side
Powering Forward
Website Brilliance
Creating Compelling Proposals
Latest It Innovations
Restorative Spirits
The Infinity Loop
Mergers and Acquisitions
Members in the News
Business Insights
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Intro
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Cover2
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Contents
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 2
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 3
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - From Acec to You
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 5
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Market Watch
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 7
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Legislative Action
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 9
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - The Private Side
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 11
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 12
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 13
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 14
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 15
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 16
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 17
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Powering Forward
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 19
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 20
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 21
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 22
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 23
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Website Brilliance
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 25
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 26
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 27
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Creating Compelling Proposals
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 29
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 30
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 31
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Latest It Innovations
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 33
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 34
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 35
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 36
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 37
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Restorative Spirits
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 39
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 40
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 41
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - The Infinity Loop
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 43
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 44
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 45
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Mergers and Acquisitions
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 47
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Members in the News
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 49
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 50
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 51
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Business Insights
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Cover3
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Cover4
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