FEMA’s Plan for Mass Destruction Attacks: Of Course It’s True

Let me state for the record that FEMA is moving ahead with plans to create temporary cities that could handle millions of Americans after mass destruction attacks on U.S. cities.

Though the agency has denied the program to some of our readers and has made misleading claims about NewsMax’s original story to members of the press, the basic facts of the story remain unchallenged.

In early July, NewsMax first reported in our e-mail news service, Insider Report, the story "FEMA Preparing for Mass Destruction Attacks on Cities," revealing that FEMA was seeking bids from three major real estate and/or engineering firms to help prepare for the creation of the emergency cities, using tents and trailers – if an urban area is attacked by NBC (nuclear, chemical or biological) weapons.

Since that report, several NewsMax readers and members of the press contacted FEMA and asked them if the NewsMax story was true.

For example, my friend Jonathan Kemp, who hails from an illustrious California family (his father was a director of Standard Oil of California), called FEMA’s Washington office and was told by a public affairs officer, "The news report about FEMA building the temporary cities to house disaster refugees is totally bogus."

I explained to Mr. Kolton that it was improper for the agency to claim that NewsMax had fabricated this story.

Mr. Kolton denied that there was any claim by FEMA that the NewsMax story was baseless, only that it was "factually inaccurate."

He made that claim without having read the NewsMax story, which he asked me to e-mail to him.

As I pointed out to Mr. Kolton, FEMA has put out a bid notice for the program to build the temporary cities (they call it "temporary disaster housing"). The bid is not only a matter of public record, it also is available on the federal government’s Web site.

Note: You can read a synopsis of the bid by clicking here. A lengthier explanation of the program is available online at: http://www1.eps.gov/spg/FEMA/OFM/ORPD/Reference-Number-EMW-2002-TAC/listing.html

On June 19, FEMA posted a special bid notice for one of the agency’s largest contract awards ever – offering contracting firms $300 million for a five-year contract to simply prepare plans to create temporary housing on a scale never before imagined, and then stand by.

This is reportedly one of the largest contracts ever awarded by FEMA for a disaster preparedness program.

The name of the program is entitled "Standby Technical Assistance for Disaster Related Operations."

The bid notice states, as NewsMax first reported, that three real estate/engineering firms will be selected for the program.

The firms will be required to provide "technical support, consultant and project management resources" with the specific duty to "provide project management resources and expertise to support the Disaster Housing Program."

According to the bid notice, the firms need to have professionals, including engineers, architects and other real estate-related experts.

According to a source familiar with the current bid, the program is a major expansion of a smaller program FEMA has had for temporary housing in case of disasters.

The Standby Technical Assistance program bid offering never mentions "mass destruction attacks" or terrorist preparedness.

Instead, the bid notice’s "Statement of Work" sets out a broad mandate for the firms being contracted, stating that "The Contractor shall be required to provide support capability for all types of disasters with emphasis on riverine and coastal flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis."

The bid states: "... the firm must have at least one permanent and adequately staffed and equipped office located in the Washington Metropolitan area, and two (2) additional offices in other geographic locations within the United States with the capability supporting deployment operations in the event that one area is incapacitated."

The real purpose of the Standby Program was made clear to potential contractors at a meeting held on July 10 at the Department of Education headquarters in Washington.

FEMA officials met with the representatives of firms seeking the bids. Approximately 100 people attended the meeting.

FEMA officials made very clear that the purpose of one of the most massive undertakings in the agency’s history was to prepare for potential mass destruction attacks on U.S. cities.

Sources who attended the meeting tell NewsMax that most of the meeting dealt with how the firms should handle biological, chemical and nuclear disasters.

After he had reviewed the NewsMax story, I again chatted with Mr. Kolton. He identified the factual "inaccuracies" in NewsMax’s story.

One was that NewsMax reported the contracted firms need to be prepared for creating such cities by January of next year. Mr. Kolton said the firms only need be hired by January of 2003.

NewsMax reported that FEMA told contractors it had ordered tents and trailers for temporary housing. Mr Kolton said the tents and trailers have not been purchased yet. (That may be the case, but FEMA does currently possess tents and trailers for disaster housing.)

These are minor points – and a far cry from claiming the NewsMax story was "totally bogus" or "riddled with inaccuracies," as some members of the press have been told.

In fact, Mr. Kolton agreed that the program includes preparation for terrorist mass destruction attacks, though the FEMA bid notice specifically avoids using such language.

He stressed that the Standby Program is being implemented to prepare for "all types of disasters” including terrorist ones.

Asked why the bid notice conveniently forgot to mention the potential for terrorism, though it must be among the highest priorities for FEMA, he again stressed that the language does include that possibility – though the program’s main focus, he said, is on natural disasters.

What natural disaster had caused such a need for the largest program of its kind ever in the history of FEMA?

In decades of emergency response, why, all of sudden, is FEMA set to spend $300 million just for architects and engineers over the next five years simply to be on "standby"?

This $300 million doesn’t include the probable billions that would be needed for infrastructure and labor to implement the emergency cities.

What natural disaster would require FEMA to create emergency cities in different geographic areas of the U.S. at the same time?

Kolton responded that FEMA could foresee two Category 4 hurricanes slamming into two distinct parts of the East Coast at about the same time.

The evidence is clear that FEMA is preparing for mass destruction attacks. There is nothing wrong with this program, and in fact, the agency has a duty to disclose its plans to the public.

Far from panicking the public, I think the public would be happy to learn that the U.S. government – our government – is preparing for potential terrorist acts. FEMA should be applauded for thinking ahead. It has nothing to hide.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/8/6/182408.shtml

Editor's Note: The following is a replica of the draft bid proposal on FEMA's Web site.]

DRAFT

SUBJECT: STANDBY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR DISASTER RELATED OPERATIONS

POC: Ms. Linda A. Sudhoff, Contracting Officer, (202) 646-4672, Linda.sudhoff@fema.gov; Ms. Virna L. Evans, Contract Specialist, (202) 646-7591, Virna.evans@fema.gov

DESC: NAICS 541990 (Professional, Scientific and Technical Services) applies to this acquisition, with a size standard of $6.0 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) intends to award three (3), Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity, Task Order contracts starting in fiscal year 2003, subject to the availability of funds. Each basic ID/IQ contract will have an ordering period of five years. The basic ID/IQ contract will be structured to allow for the issuance of Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), Time and Materials (T&M), and Firm Fixed Price (FFP) task orders. The method used to allocate task orders will include: consideration of experience, workload, and the firm's performance on other task orders. The estimated cost for services is approximately $300 million per five-year contract.

The selected firms will be required to provide services associated with Standby Technical Assistance for the purpose of providing technical support, consultant and project management resources to perform disaster related operations in accordance with the statutory authorities of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. § 5121 et seq. ("the Stafford Act"), PL 93-288, as amended. The program activities of the Stafford Act are highly visible and require coordination with Federal, State, and local governments and/or voluntary organizations.

The selected firm shall be required to provide the necessary resources to adequately support disaster operations throughout FEMA Regions I - X. The resources and support includes technical assistance, consultant services and project management services. The Contractor will provide technical assistance to support the Public Assistance Program and provide project management resources and expertise to support the Disaster Housing Program. Additionally, the Contractor will provide support in efforts such as catastrophic planning; develop training materials; provide technical support for the Community Block Grant; provide technical support for the Fire Management Program; and other program areas of the Stafford Act. The Contractor shall provide support capability for all types of disasters with emphasis on riverine and coastal flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. The Contractor shall provide technical assistance and project management resources on large, unusual, high-dollar value, and controversial or complex projects. The Contractor shall provide technical assistance and project management resources to the Recovery Division and its Regional counterparts. The goals and objectives of this requirement are to provide: technical assistance and consultant services; project management resources; forms, handbooks, criteria guidelines, and reports relating to disaster operations; training for personnel; and optimal customer satisfaction by providing exemplary service. The Contractor shall have personnel on-site at the disaster office within 48 hours of tasking notification. Due to the nature of FEMA's work, the Contractor must be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Selections will be in conformance with the provisions of Public Law 92-582 and based on the criteria and evaluation points. Responding firms and proposed teams should demonstrate specialized experience and technical competence in the following areas:

1. PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS (40 POINTS). The firm must have expertise in the disciplines listed below. The number in parenthesis ( ) next to the skill indicates the estimated maximum number of personnel per skill which may be required at any given time, with the exception of surge requirements. There will be a need for First, Mid and Senior Levels in many of the listed skills. The expected Senior Level skill usage is estimated at 30 percent and Mid Level at 40 percent. A Senior Level professional shall possess either a professional registration (such as Professional Engineer and Certified Public Accountant) and a minimum of ten (10) years of experience in their field of expertise with complex projects of similar size and scope as this contract, or a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree or equivalent (i.e., 4-year degree) and fifteen (15) years of experience in their field of expertise. A Mid Level professional shall possess either a professional registration and a minimum of five (5) years of experience in their field of expertise with complex projects of similar size and scope as this contract, or a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree or equivalent and ten (10) years of experience in their field of expertise with complex projects of similar size and scope as this contract. A First Level professional shall require a BS degree or equivalent and a minimum of two (2) years of experience in their field of expertise. Senior and Mid Level professionals are expected to have specific knowledge in their field of expertise on any Federal regulatory requirements, e.g., an Environmental Planner must be familiar with Federal environmental regulatory requirements. The primary skills are listed in descending order of importance: Civil Engineer (50); Structural Engineer (40); Construction Inspector (20); Architect (14); Sanitary Engineer (12); Flood Insurance Adjuster (12); Engineering Technician (12); Estimator (12); Environmental Planner (10); Soils/Geotechnical Engineer (6); Insurance Specialist (5); Environmental Engineer (4); Program Manager (4); Architectural Historian (4); Historical Architect (4); Planner, General (4); Accountant (4); Certified Public Accountant (4); Accountant (4); Coastal Engineer (3); Mechanical Engineer (3); Electrical Engineer (3); Financial Analyst (3); Arborist (3); Real Estate Specialist (3); and Procurement Specialist (3). The firm must also have, on an as needed basis, one (1) each of the following skills: Geologist; Principal; Landscape Architect; Horticulturist; Art Conservator; Appraiser; Archaeologist; Biologist; Chemical Engineer; Draftsman; Graphic Artist; Hydrologist; Technical Writer; Surveying Technician; Surveyor; Telecommunications Specialist; GIS Specialist; Computer Specialist; Wetlands Specialist; Health Scientist; and Word Processor.

2. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND TECHNICAL COMPETENCE (50 POINTS). The firm must demonstrate successful specialized experience of firm and key personnel in the following (tasks are listed in descending order of importance):

(a) Project management of contract of like size and type. Experience should include planning project management services including services for phase of design and construction - from beginning through project completion and closeout. Experience should include providing technical engineering services, project planning, emergency procurements, budget adherence and cost control, scheduling, identification and adherence to project time constraints while meeting quality requirements. Project management includes monitoring of project performance as well as related subcontracts. The experience must demonstrate capability of establishing group housing developments (designing, developing, constructing, and acquisition of property) and maintenance of complex(s) for periods exceeding 2 years (max. 15 pts); (b) Developing the cost estimate for disaster related damages for damage survey reporting and related activity (cost estimate of major construction projects). Other related activity include: evaluating projects for compliance with environmental regulations and preparing environmental documents (environmental assessments or environmental impact statements); conducting historical or archeological reviews, biological and endangered species surveys, or insurance adjustment (all hazards); developing hazard mitigation alternatives for projects; developing cost benefit analyses; and evaluating hazardous waste and debris removal issues, etc. (max. 15 pts);

(c) providing a technical review of appeals (max. 3 pts);

(d) estimating disaster related damages (max. 3 pts);

(e) financial analysis of budgets for State and local government entities or projects (max. 3 pts);

(f) providing technical or management expertise to coordinate on-site contract management activity (max. 3 pts);

(g) preparing handbooks, criteria, guidelines, reports, or other related technical engineering assistance (max. 3 pts);

(h) developing and conducting training courses (max. 3 pts);

(i) performing floodplain management (max. 2 pts).

3. CAPACITY TO ACCOMPLISH WORK WITHIN REQUIRED TIME (40 POINTS). The firm must demonstrate (tasks are listed in descending order of importance) the ability to: a) provide and coordinate the activities of teams of professionals with expertise in restoring damaged infrastructure systems (e.g., roads, schools, hospitals, and power and water systems); and to provide project management staff with the expertise to support major capital projects; i.e., technical advice or assistance, project and construction management, property management, and mobilization and de-mobilization of resources; (b) have personnel on-site within 48 hours of notification; (c) field up to 250 professionals, simultaneously, for technical assistance support taskings from within the skills listed under Criteria #1; (d) have staffing capability to respond to two concurrent project management assignments (namely temporary housing missions) and provide adequate staff (defined as 100 professionals from within the skills listed under Criteria #1) to continue temporary housing missions at four concurrent disaster field office operations; and, (e) field and conduct initial training for up to 100 additional professionals beyond requirements listed above, concurrently, for two months, to meet surge requirements.

4. PAST PERFORMANCE (50 POINTS). The offer's past performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry in terms of project management, cost control, quality control and compliance with performance schedules. Submittals must include the names, affiliations and telephone numbers for five references. The references must be within the past five years and be related in scope and magnitude. The Government reserves the right to use information outside of the response in evaluating past performance.

5. LOCATION IN THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF THE PROJECTS AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE LOCALITY OF THE PROJECTS (20 POINTS). a) Location (10 Points). In order to facilitate management and timely deployment, the firm must have at least one permanent and adequately staffed and equipped office located in the Washington Metropolitan area, and two (2) additional offices in other geographic locations within the United States with the capability supporting deployment operations in the event that one area is incapacitated. An adequately staffed office is defined as one that is capable of satisfactorily performing the necessary project management operations and administrative tasks (personnel, finance and accounting, logistics, task order assignment coordination, communications, etc.,) to sustain the field representatives and for the duration of the contract. b) The Firm must be knowledgeable on high disaster risk localities (10 points). The firm must demonstrate in-house expertise with all types of disasters to include flood, hurricane, earthquake and typhoon type disasters.

Engineering firms interested in performing this work are to submit one (1) original and seven (7) copies of their Standard Forms (SFs) 254 and 255 showing project experience and personnel, which will perform the work. Strict adherence to the submission instructions will be enforced. Firms not performing all work in-house must identify subcontractors in their submittal. Qualifications of subcontractors will be considered only in the evaluation for rating Criteria #1 and #2 as appropriate Firms using subcontractors must submit separate SFs 254 and 255 for each subcontractor. The submittal, including subcontractors, must not exceed thirty (30) pages, 8 1/2" x 11" front side only. Charts and drawings will be counted. All pages following the first thirty (30) pages will be discarded upon receipt. All submittals, to include portions from subcontractors, must use a type pitch that is twelve characters per inch for ease of reading and evaluation. All other material such as brochures or samples of work, attachments or extra pages will be discarded upon receipt.

Joint ventures must include a copy of the legal joint venture signed by an authorized officer from each of the firms comprising the joint venture with the chief executive of each entity identified. Copies of agreements between firms participating in a prime/subcontractor relationship must also be included in the submittal. The joint venture and the prime/subcontractor documents will be subject to the page limitation set forth above. All interested large firms are reminded that the successful firm will be expected to place subcontracts to the maximum practicable extent with small and disadvantaged firms in accordance with Public Law 95-507. If a large business firm is selected, a small business subcontracting plan, describing how it will manage their subcontractors and ensure quality control, will be required prior to award.

The Government intends to enter into a voluntary partnership arrangement with the awardees and its subcontractors on this procurement. Our objective is to identify and achieve reciprocal goals, insure effective and efficient contract performance, and resolve disputes in a timely, professional and non-adversarial manner through the use of voluntary Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methodologies. Responses must reference "EMW-2002-TAC, Technical Assistance Contract", on the face of all forms. No other announcement is anticipated for this requirement. To assure consideration, all information must be received by the Contracting Officer no later than 3:00 PM local time, at FEMA, 500 C Street, S.W., Room 350, Washington, DC 20472, on Jan 15, 2003. Late submissions will be subject to the provisions of FAR Part 14.304. This is not a Request for Proposal. *****

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