Administration - DOE

Administering and maintaining compliance in DOE financings can be a complex and time-consuming exercise that, if not done properly, can entail significant risk to borrowers; non-compliance may cause DOE to stop project funding.

We can reduce the workload and minimize risk to DOE-financed projects by providing Davis-Bacon Act, Cargo Preference Act, and financial compliance services.

Davis-Bacon Act:

There are numerous Davis-Bacon Act compliance requirements for borrowers in DOE-financed projects that, if not met, could result in DOE halting funding:

• All contractors and subcontractors in the project must pay workers and laborers project-specific minimum wages and fringes
• Weekly pay must be validated and reported to DOE in an electronic system
• For some workers, the project may need to request new wage determinations from DOL
• Contractors need continuous support from the project to learn and use the payroll reporting system and obtain guidance on labor compliance issues

We provide the following services to facilitate Davis-Bacon Act compliance and minimize the risk of the DOE halting funding for the project:

• Provide training as required in respect to Davis-Bacon Act compliance requirements
• Help the customer license, set up, and operate electronic certified payroll system
• On a weekly, basis, interface with the borrower, its contractors, and subcontractors as required, to obtain certified payrolls and statements of compliance
• Review certified payrolls for compliance with Davis-Bacon Act
• Prepare certified payroll and statement of compliance package ready for submission to DOE for Customer
• In case of non-compliance, prepare notification documents for DOE for Customer
• In case of Davis-Bacon Actions, obtain and compile information required in respect of such action, such as statement of work in respect of the Davis-Bacon Action and any other information required

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Cargo Preference Act:

Provisions in the Cargo Preference Act must be met by DOE borrowers in order to avoid significant penalties:

• 50% of cargo by revenue ton must move on U.S. flag vessels
• U.S. flag requirement must be fulfilled before foreign flag vessels are utilized to stay in compliance
• Monthly reporting to the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) is required
• Bill of Lading (freighted) contains all required reporting data
• Fines are USD 25,000 per day per occurrence for failure to utilize U.S. flag vessel

We provide the following services to facilitate Cargo Preference Act compliance and minimize the risk of the DOE halting funding for the project:

• Train borrower and contractors on Cargo Preference Act provisions and implementation
• Develop compliant logistics plan
• Develop reports to MARAD indicating full details of all shipments and a plan with the project and its contractors to provide for compensatory freight for all previous shipments on non-US flag vessels if necessary
• Assist the project and its contractors with US Flag carrier options as required
• Help manage the interaction and communications with MARAD

Financial compliance:

The DOE loan agreement requires dozens of different document compliance documents to be submitted at different frequencies starting at financial closing. Failure to comply with these requirements may lead to DOE halting funding for the project:

• Loan advance requests (including significant amoutn of supporting documents)
• Construction progress reports
• Operating and management plans, budgets
• Financial statements
• Documentation is required for many parties including the borrower, contractors, project sponsors, and others

We provide the following services to facilitate financial compliance and minimize the risk of the DOE halting funding for the project:

• Prepare comprehensive document tracking list detailing all documentation that needs to be submitted to DOE to comply with covenants
• Prepare comprehensive financial compliance calendar detaling which documents need to be produced by each party during the operative period of the loan
• Develop and implement financial compliance procedures at the borrower
• Regularly prepare compliance documents and assemble execution-ready submissions

Our experience:

We have provided these services successfully for five DOE borrowers, including two onging megaprojects. We have:

• Implemented certified payroll compliance systems, helped manage Davis-Bacon compliance for complex projects with hundreds of contractors and subcontractors, and helped obtain conformance reviews from DOL
• Managed Cargo Preference Act compliance of large procurement programs for DOE borrowers
• Developed sophisticated tools to identify and manage financial compliance of DOE borrowers