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Agency Liable For Negligent Estimate In LOE Contract

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 10.07.04

In Sanford Cohen & Assocs., Inc. (Sept. 8, 2004), the Interior BCA held the EPA liable for a negligently-prepared estimate included in a level-of-effort (LOE) contract when the EPA ordered significantly less than its estimated quantities for each performance period. Because the contractor reasonably relied on the EPA's original estimate in arriving at its offered prices, the board ordered an equitable adjustment and condemned both the "egregious" manner in which the EPA unilaterally modified the contract language to shirk liability for lesser orders and the EPA's "essential[ly] unfair[]" but routine practice of ordering substantially less than 90% of the specified LOEs in its contracts.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 04.25.24

JUST RELEASED: EPA’s Bold New Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Collaboration Policy

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) just issued its new Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy, setting the stage for the new manner in which the agency manages its pollution investigations. David M. Uhlmann, the head of OECA, signed the Policy memorandum on April 17, 2024, in order to ensure that EPA’s civil and criminal enforcement offices collaborate efficiently and consistently in cases across the nation. The Policy states, “EPA must exercise enforcement discretion reasonably when deciding whether a particular matter warrants criminal, civil, or administrative enforcement. Criminal enforcement should be reserved for the most egregious violations.” Uhlmann repeated this statement during a luncheon on April 23, 2024, while also emphasizing the new level of energy this collaborative effort has brought to the enforcement programs....

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