Dear EPA Region 9 Grant Recipient,
I want to be sure you are aware of the EPA's "Special Notice" regarding the use of its DBE Subcontracting Forms. This special notice, a copy of which appears below, has been reproduced from the Agency's Office of Small Business Programs web site, where it has been posted since Spring 2011. With this message, I am also providing you some additional information and clarification regarding your use of these forms. [NOTE: EPA Form 5700-52A (the MBE/WBE reporting form) is not affected by this Special Notice and remains in full effect].
***SPECIAL NOTICE***
TO: All EPA Grantees
RE: Suspended Use of EPA Forms 6100-2, 6100-3, and 6100-4
On January 31, 2011, the following EPA forms officially expired:
EPA Form 6100-2, DBE Subcontractor Participation Form;
EPA Form 6100-3, DBE Subcontractor Performance Form; and
EPA Form 6100-4, DBE Subcontractor Utilization Form.
Because these forms have expired, their required use is suspended until they are renewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and issued a new expiration date.
As an EPA grant recipient, if you initiated procurements, requiring these forms, prior to the January 31, 2011 expiration date, then the requirement to submit the forms is still valid for those procurements. Procurements initiated after the January 31, 2011, expiration date cannot require the use of these forms.
The process to improve and renew the 6100-2, 3, and 4 forms is underway. During this process there will be notices posted in the Federal Register soliciting your comments and feedback on improving the forms and their instructions. We encourage you to openly give us your suggestions on making the forms better. For future Agency updates on the EPA Forms 6100, please see the “Contract Administration Forms” heading on the following EPA web page: http://www.epa.gov/osbp/dbe_forms.htm .
Additionally, please note the following:
• Although EPA’s grant recipients cannot require the use of the EPA forms 6100s until they are renewed, recipients have the option to develop their own forms, or in other ways request or require that their bidders provide the same information being requested on the forms 6100s. However, recipients are not permitted to distribute or use the EPA forms 6100s (i.e., with the EPA logo & OMB references) while these forms are suspended.
• When the Forms 6100s are reinstated (as was the case prior to their suspension), EPA only requires that they be submitted as part of the bid or proposal package. EPA did not and does not require the EPA Forms 6100 to be a matter of bidder responsiveness. Matters of bidder responsiveness are at the discretion of the recipients of EPA financial assistance/grants.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (415) 972-3761, or Teree Henderson, DBE Program National Coordinator, at 202-566-2222.
Regards,
Joe Ochab
DBE/MBE/WBE Coordinator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street (MTS-4)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: (415) 972-3761
FAX: (415) 947-3556