NOAA | The Contracting Education Academy

August 30, 2019 By cs

NOAA, NASA launched next-gen satellite with known issues, scrubbed performance metrics from contract

The main instrument of the GOES-R next-generation satellite constellation wasn’t working before launch but officials sent it into space anyway.

Persistent problems with the premier sensors of the GOES-R series satellites — designed to provide the next generation of weather observation for North America — were identified before launch and not properly tested or resolved, according to a new inspector general report.

Further, the Commerce Department IG found evidence that program managers changed the evaluation criteria for the contractor after the issues were identified—metrics that would have led to a 40-75% reduction in payment had they remained.

The $11 billion GOES-R series of satellites includes GOES-16—launched November 2016—and GOES-17—launched March 2018—as well as the pending GOES-T and GOES-U still in production. The satellite constellation is equipped with a set of next-generation sensors to better predict weather patterns, including the Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI, the “most essential instrument for mission success of the GOES-R satellites,” according to the IG.

However, shortly after GOES-17 entered orbit, the cooling system for the ABI instrument malfunctioned, “severely degrading” the amount of data the satellite could collect, NOAA officials said at the time.

“This is a serious problem,” Steve Volz, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, or NESDIS, said during a May 2018 briefing with reporters. “This is the premier Earth-pointing instrument on the GOES platform and the 16 channels … are important elements of our observing requirements.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/08/ig-noaa-nasa-launched-next-gen-satellite-known-issues-scrubbed-performance-metrics-contract/159276/

July 9, 2015 By AMK

Commerce Dept. not accurately reporting contracting data to FPDS-NG database

The Commerce Department isn’t accurately reporting contracting data to the federal government’s main procurement database, says a recent Commerce inspector general report.

The IG originally initiated the investigation to determine whether contracting officials effectively managed undefinitized actions, or a contract for which the terms, specifications or price are not agreed upon before the work is started. Undefinitized actions are only meant to be used to meet an urgent requirement, the report says.

But because NOAA and NIST incorrectly coded some of their contract actions as undefinitized in the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation, or FPDS-NG, the IG redirected the investigation to see how much of the reported data is accurate.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/ig-commerce-not-accurately-reporting-contracting-data-fpds-ng-database/2015-06-25

June 17, 2015 By AMK

Weather Service paid retired exec half a million to consult

In a maneuver some would call “writing your own ticket,” a top National Weather Service executive announced his retirement and then set himself up to perform the same work as a consultant, raising his pay by $43,000, according to the Commerce Department inspector general.

Before his contract was terminated in 2012, the official also collected a $50,000 housing allowance and allegedly pressed for the agency to hire a relative, according to a summary of the investigation. The total cost to the government: $471,875.34.

The Commerce IG did not name the “senior official,” but The Washington Post recently identified him as former deputy chief financial officer P. Donald Jiron. His lawyer, Matthew Kaiser, said, “Mr. Jiron has not done anything wrong” because he acted “at the direction of and with the approval of his supervisor at all times.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2015/06/weather-service-paid-retired-exec-half-million-consult/114718

May 20, 2013 By AMK

Commerce employees made improper purchases with Pcards, IG report says

Commerce Department employees in 2011 made improper transactions with department purchase cards that included transactions that exceeded the card holders limit, a May 2, 2013 Commerce Department Inspector General report says.

In fiscal 2011, Commerce staff used 4,515 purchase cards for 265,423 transactions, spending $118,628,549, the report says.

Errors included incomplete and mission documentation of transactions, lack of evidence of available funds and legitimate government need and lack of vendor invoices and payment receipts, the report says.

There were procedural errors as well. Cardholders inappropriately paid state and local sales tax, did not pay invoices within 30 days and faxed purchase card information, the report says. Commerce improperly paid about $292,619 in state and local taxes, the report says.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/commerce-employees-made-improper-purchases-agency-cards-report-says/2013-05-14?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

The main instrument of the GOES-R next-generation satellite constellation wasn’t working before launch but officials sent it into space anyway.

The Commerce Department isn’t accurately reporting contracting data to the federal government’s main procurement database, says a recent Commerce inspector general report.

In a maneuver some would call “writing your own ticket,” a top National Weather Service executive announced his retirement and then set himself up to perform the same work as a consultant, raising his pay by $43,000, according to the Commerce Department inspector general.

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