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The $24 million Recovery Act funds will be used to begin renovation of Wing 5, including hazardous material abatement, new rest room fixtures, electrical switchgear and feeders, mechanical rooms, heating and cooling systems, ductwork, water piping, automatic sprinkler, and generic office build out of floors 1-3. Floors 4 – 6 and attic of Wing 5 will be completed with funds from other Appropriations, as they become available. Construction will be completed in 15-18 months once a contract is awarded.

In February 2009, the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration appointed two senior executives, the Office Directors of Operations (OO) and Management Services (OMS), to lead the implementation of the Recovery Act requirements for the South Building Modernization Project and to participate as members of the Department of Agriculture Recovery Team (DART). The OO and OMS Directors are supported by other DA subject matter experts, such as procurement and information technology officials. Both Directors are working closely across the Department to implement various aspects of the Recovery Act and they, as well as their staffs, will be held accountable for achieving DA’s Recovery Act program goals and improvement actions in regular feedback sessions and during performance evaluation periods.

The Directors will hold weekly project meetings and reviews of financial commitments and obligations. Project meetings will include the engineering project manager, contracting officer, and construction management personnel. Reviews of financial commitments and obligations will include monitoring deviations from execution plans and making adjustments to planned outlays and overall spending plans, if required. Any deviations from the project schedule or planned outlays will be discussed among the project team and reported as soon as practical to the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration, OCFO, and OBPA for further reporting to OMB. These reports will explain the reasons for the deviation and what actions are being taken to avoid further slippage.

The Recovery Act funding for the South Building Modernization Project will be disbursed through a competitively bid contract vehicle and will have performance and accountability measures in place. In determining the contract type for this project, DA considered contract schedule, cost, performance risk, measurable outcomes consistent with agency plans and the goals of the Recovery Act, maximum practicable competition, and opportunities for small businesses. DA plans to award a contract using available streamlining flexibilities, apply sufficient and adequately trained workforce to responsibly plan, evaluate, award, and monitor contracts, and will ensure adequate number of qualified government personnel are available to perform inherently governmental functions during the acquisition life-cycle, and provide appropriate executive oversight at critical decision points.

Agencies are required to post reports on spending and performance on a Government-wide website, www.recovery.gov, accessible to the public. Weekly reports providing a breakdown of funding and major actions taken to date are required. The posting of contract information is also required on a regular basis, including estimated jobs created and details on any subcontracts awarded. DA is working with the Department to ensure streamlined and consistent reporting, such as collaborating with OCFO and the other USDA agencies in the development of standard templates that will be used to collect consistent financial and project information. This will provide USDA efficient mechanisms to produce department-level reports that are easy to understand and accessible to the public.

The Act creates a Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to coordinate and conduct oversight of Recovery Act funds to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. The Board will conduct audits and reviews of spending. The Board is authorized to make recommendations to agencies on measures to prevent waste, fraud and abuse, and what actions to take, if any, to implement the recommendations. The Recovery Act provides additional funding and access to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspectors General for special review of recovery funding. DA has met with the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) to discuss the South Building Modernization Project and will be available to meet with the OIG, as requested to provide project updates, performance information, and financial data.

DA will spend funds effectively to comply with energy efficiency and green building requirements and to demonstrate Federal leadership in sustainability, energy efficiency and reducing the agency’s environmental impact. The use of biobased building materials will be embraced where technically feasible and economically viable. DA will comply with statutory and executive order requirements on new construction, major renovations, repair and alterations and major energy projects to include:

• Energy Efficient Buildings. Ensuring the design of new buildings and major renovations are at least 30 percent more efficient than ASHRAE 90.1-2004 for commercial buildings and the International Energy Conservation Code for residential buildings (Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 109 – Energy Code for New Federal Commercial and Multi-Family High-Rise Residential Buildings (10 CFR Part 434), http://www.energycodes.gov/federal/exist_fedcom.stm)

• Sustainable Design and Construction. Ensuring the project management complies with all of the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings (Executive Order 13423 http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/regulations/eo13423.html). This project will help the Department stay on track to meet the requirement that, by 2015, 15 percent of the existing Federal capital asset buildings in the Department’s inventory incorporates the Guiding Principles (Executive Order 13423). The five Guiding Principles include:

Optimize energy performance
Employ integrated design principles (and controls)
Protect and conserve water
Enhance indoor environmental quality
Reduce environmental impact of materials

• Energy Efficiency Capital Equipment. Ensuring that any large capital energy investment in an existing building that involves replacement of installed equipment employs the most energy efficient designs, systems, equipment and controls that are life-cycle cost effective. (Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 Section 434)

• Metering. Ensuring that all facilities are metered by 2012 for electric, and no later than 2016 for steam and gas as applicable (Energy Policy Act of 2005 and Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007; 42 U.S.C. 8253(e)) http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/necpa_amended.pdf).

• Solar Hot Water. Ensuring that, if lifecycle cost-effective, as compared to other reasonably available technologies, not less than 30 percent of the hot water demand in the renovated space will be met through the installation and use of solar hot water heaters (Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 Section 523).