SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFThis is a featured page

MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. 103 Methodist St., Cecilia, KY 42724 Cell: 270-307-4857; Office: 270-862-4537 Skype: 270-872-4493; Fax. 270-862-4379 email: jimmiller5417@gmail.com
July 27, 2011
Mr. Joseph Williams
Associate Regional Counsel
Office of Regional Counsel
USEPA Region 5 (C-14J)
77 West Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
(312) 886-6631(phone)
(312) 692-2965(fax)

 Re: Notice of Dispute on behalf of Mutual Aid Society of America, Inc.; Second Supplemental Brief, EPA GLNPO-2011-is-2-1356
Dear Mr. Williams:
Within this Second Supplement Brief, I have referenced attached documents which are in PDF format. If any of these documents do not open or opened, cannot be read, I can easily resend them in MSWord (.doc), Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Text (.tex). Please attempt to open them and also please acknowledge receipt of this letter I have served copies on Dave Cowgill by cc email.
SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF OF MASA for Carp Catchers Cooperative Commercial Fishery.
  1. REQUEST TO SUSPEND AWARDS IN CATEGORY B.2
Request is made that you exercise your discretion to suspend all awards and negotiation or execution of cooperative agreements between EPA and any and all applicants who submitted applications under B.2 until this dispute is resolved. Provisions for such suspension are in sub-paragraph xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This immediate action is necessary to insure that the amount sought by MASA ($300,000) remains available for future award should your decision be favorable to MASA. Some doubt was expressed by reviewer James Schardt that the $300,000 would be enough to accomplish the tasks outlined in the project. MASA would welcome any amounts in addition to the amount requested.
  1. TIMELY REQUEST FOR DOCUMENTS - INCOMPLETE RESPONSE
On June 9, 2011, Applicant emailed a request to: James Schardt, schardt.james@epa.gov; Pranckevicius.Pranas@epamail.epa.gov; and Lisa Jackson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, requesting a debriefing re: Category: B.2 Invasive Species Prevention
Project Title: Carp Catchers Cooperative Commercial Fishery
Proposal ID: EPAGLNPO-2011-IS-2-1680-1356
Applicant Organization: Mutual Aid Society of America, Inc. (Attachment: LETTER TO EPA APPEALING REJECTION) Applicant objected to the failure of EPA to select MASA's application for further peer review and/or award. Applicant also protested awards made to other applicants under B.2 which did not involved commercial fishery for Asian carp. Applicant also demanded copies of all applications made under Category B.2 pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. EPA has responded with the Narrative Statements, SF 424 and SF 424A for only five of the ten or so applications under B.2. Since Applicant's score was the lowest, then all other applications “compete” with Applicant's Application, hence are relevant for review as to whether any of the remaining five or six had any prospective application to prevention of the threat of the invasion by Asian carp into the Great Lakes. From the titles alone, none appeared to have any relationship to depopulation of Asian carp, but until I can review them, the record of this dispute is incomplete due to failure of EPA to comply with FOIA in a timely manner. More than 20 days has elasped since June 9, 2011. Since all of the documents were required to be submitted to EPA in PDF format, it would appear to be a simple task to forward such PDF files via email to me. Applicant cannot meet the demands by your office for timely presentation of documents and argument until such documents are submitted to me for my review and comment. I request an extension of 10 days after submittal to me of the missing documents within which to file my closing brief.
  1. TIMELY REQUEST FOR DEBRIEFING STATEMENT OF REJECTION
Applicant participated in the debriefing, telephonically, with James Schardt on June 20, 2011. Despite an earlier email requesting written reasons for the rejection, Mr. Schradt informed me that the EPA policy/practice was to give only oral debriefings. See Attachment: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  1. TIMELY REQUEST FOR APPEAL/DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Application filed, within 15 days of the debriefing phone call, a timely request for appeal/dispute resolution. See attached: MASA APPEAL-DISPUTE OF EPA FAILURE TO SELECT MASA APPLICATION FOR AIS
  1. FAILURE OF EPA TO ALLOW ATTACHMENT OF APPLICANT'S ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS TO APPLICATION
The instructions to the applicants for the EPA grant opportunity, Grant EPAGLNPO-2011-IS-2, limited the Narrative Statement to 20 pages, provided attachments for three resumes and one letter of support and no other documents. Applicant wrote the EPA Administrator and requested that Applicant be allowed to supplement its application with new information which arose after the submission deadline, but which was alluded to in the application. Applicant got no response to this request. See attachment: xxxxxxxxxxxxx Had Applicant been able to supplement its application either at the time of initial submission or subsequently by way of supplemental information, it would have submitted these additional relevant files:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    1. Carp Catchers Business Plan PDF (in pre-submission stage)
    2. Letter to David C. Johnson, dated April 11, 2011, Mr. David C. Johnson, Vice President, Professional Associate, HDR ONE COMPANY | Many Solutions, 701 Xenia Avenue South, Suite 600 | Minneapolis, MN | 55416; Phone: 763.591.5482 | Fax: 763.591.5413 | Email: david.johnson@hdrinc.com; Web: www.hdrinc.com
This letter requested that HDR, a civil engineering firm which has a rivers and harbors division, review the proposed shipyard site at Ste. Genevieve, MO, and contains references to the development of a slackwater harbor for the shipyard in association with a marina.
    1. The Status of Carp Catchers Project – Outline Format PDF (in pre-submission stage) illustrates the status of the completion of the Design Criteria for the ships and the shipyard, with estimated percentages of completion. This document indicates the scope of the planning and the relative amount of progress made toward completion of the design criteria, antecedent to the development of the preliminary plans and specifications and final working drawings and final specifications. It demonstrates the Applicant's expertise in project management and application of engineering principles to construction of the fleet of three ships.
    2. The document Critical Milestones sets for the the list of steps required for the completion of the project. This list will be the basis for the Stages and Gates modality for the ongoing evaluation of the intermediate steps so as to control costs and keep to a reasonable schedule. This document is an antecedent to the Program Management Plan for the project. Jim Miller has demonstrated his project management skills by having previously submitted a PMP project to EPA entitled, Solar Furnace CHP System which when peer reviewed, was found in compliance with the FOA for that energy system. Essentially these facts establish a para-letter of support by EPA for the current project. If the files of EPA does not have the Solar Furnace CHP PMP, Applicant would have easily supplied a copy to the current evaluators.
    3. Letter to Mr. Gary Nelson, Commissioner, County of Ste. Genevieve, MO, dated seeks a resolution of support for the project.
    4. Correspondence with City of Ste. Genevieve, MO, sets forth MASA's request for a resolution of support by the City's Board of Aldermen. That Board passed its Resolution No. 2011-08 in support of the marina project which includes the shipyard for the Applicant's shipbuilding. MASA's letter is dated May 4, 2011, and Mr. Toma's favorable reply is dated May 11, 2011.
    5. The document, ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS OF CARP CATCHERS COOPERATIVE FISHERY, sets forth the environmental standards to which the Commercial Fisher will adhere, enforced by on onboard fish biologists charged with that responsibility. This document is dated July 30, 2011, and would serve as a basis for negotiation of the cooperative agreement. This document is dated May 14, 2011.
    6. By letter to Mr. Bob Riehmer, Director, Department of Conservation, State of Missouri, dated April 26, 2011, MASA inquired if there were any Missouri funds available for conducting investigation of commercially extracted “danger pheromone” from Asian carp for use in assisting net capture. Chris Vitello replied by email on April 28, 2011, that he knew of no such fund availability.
    7. The document, DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR CARP CATCHER PROPULSION & ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, 8/1/2010, revised 3/7/2011, the specific detailed design criteria is set forth for the use of Azimuth propulsion pods. Each pod uses two propellers with one set for reverse pitch so the force against the water can move the ship. Each pod is built into a cavity so that the entire propeller swing is flush with the bottom of the ship. One is placed in the stern and one in the bow. Each can rotate 360 degrees continuously.
  1. SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS ASSISTING IN THE REVIEW BY EPA
Subsequent to the submission deadline, but under preparation prior to the deadline, MASA prepared a series of documents for submission to the U. S. Maritime Administration for a small shipyard grant. These documents would form a basis of assurance that MASA is competent to fulfill its obligations under a cooperative agreement. They are:
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  1. SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO U.S. MARITIME ADMINISTRATION
An application for $4,604,143 project cost was made to the U. S. Maritime Administration for funding to locate, design and build the small shipyard in which the three vessels would be built. These files set forth the funding from USMA which requires 25% matching funding. The funding in order to build the shipyard, then requires a total of $920,828 matching funds, of which the $300,000 would qualify. The document also shows the application of the funding from all sources. Thus the failure of EPA to award a grant to MASA prevents MASA from producing the detailed, scaled working drawings and specifications which are necessary for the Bill of Materials and sourcing and pricing of all materials, tools and equipment with which to build the ships. The denial also torpedoes the application to USMA. Much of the detail regarding the execution of the shipyard and shipbuilding projects are set forth in the attached files. While the actual application postdated the EPA submission deadline, most of them were in existence (in various stages of completion) prior to the submission dead line. They are relevant to the negotiation of the cooperative agreement. They are:
    1. USMA SF424. Application by MASA for small shipyard funding: Total Project cost: $4,604,143.
    2. ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC.
    3. APPENDIX A TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC.
    4. APPENDIX B-0 TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC.
    5. APPENDIX B-1 TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC.
    6. APPENDIX B-2 TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC.
    7. APPENDIX C TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. 5-23-11 PDF
    8. APPENDIX E TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. 5-23-11 EXCEL
    9. FABRICATION OF THE ENGINEERED BAMBOO STRUCTURES AND FLOOD PROTECTION FOR THE ASSEMBLY BUILDING
    10. SUMMARY OF TASK: EARTH MOVING AND REPURPOSING PDF
    11. SCOPE OF WORK FOR INFRASTRUCTURE ALTERNATIVES FOR PLANNING THE MARINA DREDGING OPERATION - PDF
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  1. EXCEL SPREADSHEETS OF THE BILLS OF MATERIALS FOR THE SHIPYARD AND SHIPS
Attached are the Bills of Materials for the the shipyard and the three ships which also contain estimates of the weight in order to calculate the draft and the forces need to propel the ships. They are:
    1. Carp Avenger: Carp Avenger Materials Take-off and Weight Estimate
    2. Carpe Carpae: Carpe Carpae Materials Take-off and Weight Estimate
    3. Carp Ark: Carp Ark Materials Take-off and Weight Estimate

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Respectfully submitted, James E. Miller, BA, BS, JD

Cc: Dave Cowgill Attachments: LETTER TO EPA APPEALING REJECTION TIMELY REQUEST FOR DEBRIEFING STATEMENT OF REJECTION MASA APPEAL-DISPUTE OF EPA FAILURE TO SELECT MASA APPLICATION FOR AIS xxxxxxxxxxx DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR CARP CATCHER PROPULSION & ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, 8/1/2010, revised 3/7/2011 additional docs Carp Catchers Business Plan PDF Letter to David C. Johnson Status of Carp Catchers Project – Outline Format PDF Critical Milestones Letter to Mr. Gary Nelson, Commissioner letter to Mr. Bob Riehmer, Director, Department of Conservation, State of Missouri Correspondence with City of Ste. Genevieve, MO ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS OF CARP CATCHERS COOPERATIVE FISHERY



Carp Avenger Materials Take-off and Weight Estimate (Excel) Carpe Carpae Materials Take-off and Weight Estimate (Excel) Carp Ark Materials Take-off and Weight Estimate (Excel) USMA SF 424 ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. APPENDIX A TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. APPENDIX B-0 TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. APPENDIX B-1 TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. APPENDIX B-2 TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. APPENDIX C TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. 5-23-11 PDF APPENDIX E TO ADDENDUM TO APPLICATION BY MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. 5-23-11 EXCEL FABRICATION OF THE ENGINEERED BAMBOO STRUCTURES AND FLOOD PROTECTION FOR THE ASSEMBLY BUILDING SCOPE OF WORK FOR INFRASTRUCTURE ALTERNATIVES FOR PLANNING THE MARINA DREDGING OPERATION - PDF


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