|
In an e-mail dated January 13 of 2010, Mr. Ted Gabel, the Dept. of Defense (DoD) Co-chmn. of the PAERAB, notified board members that their waiver request for additional funding of the TAPP contract had been renewed for a second time – something Mr. Gabel believes is unique to the PAERAB. Mr. Michael Glaab, the board’s Community Co-chmn. who was responsible for the preparation and submittal of the waiver request, states that “...the submittal’s success is due to the efforts of the whole board - with special contributions from David Forti, Mark Hiler, Dr. Peter Lederman, Pat Matarazzo and Virginia Michelin. We have also been assisted by such elected officials as Rep. Frelinghuysen and Sen. Lautenberg - and |
|
TAPP CONTRACT RENEWAL—PRECEDENT SETTING FOR PAERAB! |
|
by the Army. With its approval of this funding extension the Army expressed its confidence in the PAERAB’s role as a participant in the multi-stakeholder ‘partnering’ cleanup effort at the Arsenal wherein the board serves as the immediate representative of the local communities”. Several years ago, shortly after the award of the Army’s performance-based contract to Arcadis, Congress mandated that the remedies for high priority sites be completed by 2009. However, there are sites at the Arsenal and apparently nationwide for which a remedy has not yet been fully implemented. Therefore environmental remedy implementation efforts will likely continue. |
|
This award is beneficial to both the PAERAB and to the Arsenal precisely because this board exists to assist the Arsenal’s cleanup effort. Recently the PAERAB’s TAPP contract lapsed. Since the TAPP Contractor’s newsletters served a vital role in the board’s process of reviewing, analyzing and disseminating information to all of its community members the DoD must now use other means to assure that the community members continue to be informed in a timely manner in accordance with statutory requirements. |
|
Technical Assistance for public participation by Michael Glaab |
|
According to DoD documents posted on the PAERAB’s website and elsewhere the Technical Assistance for Public Participation (TAPP) program is a DoD program which provides community members of Restoration Advisory Boards (RAB) and Technical Review Committees (TRC) with unbiased technical assistance. To be specific its purpose is to assist citizen and/or community groups concerned with environmental issues at military installations with qualified technical professionals. Official DoD documents identify the following types of activities as eligible for TAPP funding: · Document Reviews · Technology Assessments · Risk Assessment Review · Health Assessments · Technical Training For example, a proposal to help the public comprehend environmental remediation alternatives by providing an unbiased technical analysis and recommendation is deemed eligible for TAPP consideration. |
|
This was the basis of the TAPP funding request that had been submitted by the PAERAB’s community members. TAPP funding assured that the community members of the PAERAB could utilize the expertise of a qualified technical consultant to assist the RAB with all of the aforementioned TAPP eligible activities.
In accordance with federal statutory requirements, when applying for TAPP support it is the community members of a RAB or TRC who select their funding purpose. This purpose should serve to enable the community members to more effectively participate in their installation's environmental restoration program. Community members apply for TAPP funding through their DoD Co-chairman. If the request is granted then it is the responsibility of the DoD to prepare a Statement of Work and to actually procure a technical assistance provider. Community members may be requested to support the procurement process by reviewing and commenting on potential providers if more than one meets |
|
the established selection criteria. As the PAERAB’s Community Co-chmn. I had participated, with informed input from my fellow RAB members, in the establishment of both necessary and desirable expertise selection criteria. For example, due to the presence of considerable aquifer contamination at the Arsenal it was decided that significant groundwater contamination and some hydrogeology expertise be mandatory. DoD advisory documents assert that because the TAPP program utilizes an accelerated procurement procedure that uses purchase orders TAPP support of a RAB or TRC should become available within a very short time after its need has been established. Authoring an informative technical newsletter constitutes a significant element of the TAPP Consultant’s service to the community members of the PAERAB. This newsletter provides the community members of the PAERAB with timely updates about newly drafted documents, Arsenal field activities, upcoming events related to |
