E.P.A. to Lift Suspension and Debarment of BP From Federal Government Contracts/Agreement contains strong provisions to continue safety and ethics enhancements in order to comply

WASHINGTON - The E.P.A. and BP today executed an arrangement resolving all suspension and debarment actions against BP that barred the company from doing business with the federal government following the company's guilty plea in the Deepwater Horizon disaster of April 2010. The administrative arrangement will be in place for 5 years.

"This is a fair arrangement that requires BP to enhance its practices in order to meet the terms we've outlined together," said Craig Hooks, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Administration and Resources Management. "Many months of discussions and assessments have led up to this point, and I'm confident we've secured strong provisions to protect the integrity of federal procurement programs."

Under the agreement, BP is required to retain an independent auditor approved by E.P.A. who will conduct an yearly review and report on BP's compliance with the agreement. There are also specific provisions addressing ethics compliance, corporate governance, and process safety. The arrangement additionally provides E.P.A. the authority to take appropriate corrective action in the event the arrangement is breached. E.P.A. coordinated this matter with the Department of Interior, Defense Logistics Agency and U.S. Coast Guard.

Since November 2012, E.P.A. has suspended 25 BP entities and disqualified BP Exploration and Production, Incorporated from performing federal contract work at its corporate facility in Houston, Texas, stemming from its criminal conviction in the U.S. Government's Deepwater Horizon case. Suspensions are issued where there is an immediate need to protect the public interest supported by adequate evidence. The suspension did not affect existing agreements BP had with the government.

The arrangement announced today takes effect immediately.

To view the administrative agreement: http://www2.epa.gov/home/march-13-2014-administrative-agreement-lifting-suspension-and-debarment-bp-federal-government

R059

There are currently no comments for this story. Be the first to add a comment!
Click here to add a comment about this story.