BGT 04-05

1. Background. The Federal Building Seismic Safety (FBSS) Program is one of a number of Reclamation programs that have been referred to in the past as “Associated O&M”, “Bureauwide”, or “Reclamation-wide” Programs. These programs have been established to fund the non-reimbursable costs of those activities that Reclamation has determined to be inappropriate to charge to funded projects as “project O&M” activities. Often the activities included in this program may be related to many projects throughout Reclamation or the activities are related to a specific project where there is no specific line item in Reclamation’s budget because the activities are minor or non-recurring in nature. Refer to Reclamation Manual Directives & Standards BGT 04-02 (http://www.usbr.gov/recman/bgt/bgt04-02.html ) for general information regarding “Reclamation-wide Program Funding Criteria.”

2. Objective. These Directives and Standards (D&S) are intended to provide a general description of this program, the types of activities that are to be included under this program, and the authorities, as applicable, and rationale for the non-reimbursable funding of the program.

3. Definitions.

A. Funded project. A specific authorized Reclamation project which receives annual appropriations or revenues to fund project O&M activities.

B. Project O&M activities. Activities determined by Reclamation to be performed on behalf of and directly benefiting the ongoing operation and maintenance of a specific project or project feature, and thus are considered to be reimbursable or partially reimbursable.

C. Reimbursable costs. Costs related to project O&M activities that are reimbursed to the Federal government in accordance with established reimbursable cost allocations as determined by the original project authorizations, legislatively approved expansion of project purposes, or current project uses.

4. General Program Description. In response to Executive Order 12941 (12/94), the FBSS Program identifies those Reclamation-owned buildings that cannot provide minimum life-safety performance during the earthquakes anticipated for the specific site. When seismically deficient buildings are identified, EO 12941 requires this program to prepare and submit seismic rehabilitation cost estimates and establish risk reduction priorities through risk analyses. When shown to be risk justified, site-specific seismic risk reduction projects are completed.

5. Non-Project O&M Activities.

A. General Management Activities. Certain FBSS Program activities produce no direct improvement to any specific project and thus are not considered to be project O&M activities. These activities are intended for Reclamation to respond to the requirements of EO 12941 and only serve to improve Reclamation’s ability to manage the overall, organizational seismic risk.

B. General Investigative Activities. These general investigative activities are intended to provide Reclamation with a corporate risk profile, an understanding of the aggregate estimated seismic rehabilitation cost liability, recommendations regarding the justification for risk reduction measures, and the refinement of these estimates to support general FBSS Program budget requests. These non-project O&M activities are considered to be non-reimbursable and include:

(1) Inventory – data sharing and collection exercises from Reclamation property inventories.

(2) Exemptions – application of criteria to remove low-risk buildings from consideration.

(3) Screening – onsite, seismic risk screening inspections of nonexempt, occupied buildings.

(4) Evaluation – deficiency identification, associated cost estimates and risk analysis necessary to address EO requirements.

(5) Planning Refinement – peer review of evaluation results and proposed rehabilitation recommendations.

6. Project O&MActivities.

A. Risk Reduction Activities. Certain FBSS Program activities are considered to be project O&M activities since they are directly related to the risk reduction of a particular building, provide improvement to the building, and serve the interests of the project beneficiaries. These project O&M activities include:

(1) Rehabilitation Action Plan – project costs, funding, schedule and responsibilities planning.

(2) Design – seismic rehabilitation designs.

(3) Contracts – rehabilitation construction contract activities including specifications, administration and inspection.

(4) Construction – all construction activities.

B. Funding. Funding directed to these seismic risk reduction projects are to be reimbursed in accordance with the current project allocations. Determining the appropriate reimbursement allocation and related processes will be the responsibility of the area/regional office.

7. Funding Criteria.

A. General. Reclamation’s authority to determine which costs to charge customers is governed by general provisions of Reclamation law, project and program specific legislation, and specific provision of contracts that Reclamation enters into with water users. As such, only the costs of those activities considered appropriate by Reclamation to be “project O&M” activities are charged to water users or power customers. The costs of other activities (non-project costs) are typically captured as non-reimbursable costs under the Reclamation-wide Programs.

B. Criteria. Within Reclamation Manual D&S BGT 04-02, criteria is outlined for the establishment of Reclamation-Wide Programs (which includes the FBSS Program) and the related types of activities appropriate to fund under these programs.

C. Specific Authorities. In addition to Reclamation’s general authority, as cited above, the Fact Finders Act of 1924, Subsection O, as amended, and Public Law 92-149 provide additional basis to support the non-reimbursable funding determination of general engineering and evaluation activities that are conducted for non-specific project purposes.

(210) 03/30/05
New Release