CLAUSE H.23 – ALLOCATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CONTRACTOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE ACTIVITIES
(a) The Parties commit to full cooperation with regard to acquiring any necessary permits or licenses required by environmental, safety and health (ES&H) laws, codes, ordinances, and regulations of the United States, states or territories, municipalities or other political subdivisions, and which are applicable to the performance of work under this contract. It is recognized that certain ES&H permits will be obtained jointly as co-permittees, and other permits will be obtained by either party as the sole permittee. The Contractor, unless otherwise directed by the Contracting Officer, shall procure all necessary non-ES&H permits or licenses.
(b) This clause allocates the responsibilities of DOE and the Contractor, referred to collectively as the “Parties”, for implementing the environmental requirements at facilities within the scope of the contract. In this Clause, the term “environmental requirements” means requirements imposed by applicable Federal, State, and local environmental laws and regulations, including, without limitation, statutes, ordinances, regulations, court orders, consent decrees, administrative orders, compliance agreements, permits, and licenses.
(c) (i) Liability and responsibility for civil fines or penalties arising from or related to violations of environmental requirements shall be borne by the party causing the violation irrespective of the fact that the cognizant regulatory authority may assess any such fine or penalty upon either party or both Parties without regard to the allocation of responsibility or liability under this contract. This contractual allocation of liability for any such fine or penalty is effective regardless of which party signs permit applications, manifests, reports, or other required documents, is a permittee, or is the named subject of an enforcement action or assessment of a fine or penalty. The allowability of the costs associated with fines and penalties assessed against the Contractor shall be subject to the other provisions of this contract.
(i) In the event that the Contractor is deemed to be the primary party causing the violation, and the costs of fines and penalties proposed by the regulatory agency to be assessed against the Government (or the Government and Contractor jointly) are determined by the Government to be presumptively unallowable if allocated against the Contractor, then the Contractor shall be afforded the opportunity to participate in negotiations to settle or mitigate the penalties with the regulatory authority. If the Contractor is the sole party of the enforcement action, the Contractor shall take the lead role in the negotiations and the Government shall participate and have final authority to approve or reject any settlement involving costs charged to the contract.
(d) DOE agrees that if bonds, insurance, or administrative fees are required as a condition for permits obtained by the Contractor under this contract, and the Contractor has been directed by the Contracting Officer to obtain such permits after the Contractor has notified the Contracting Officer of the costs of complying with such conditions, such costs shall be allowable. In the event such costs are determined by DOE to be excessive or unreasonable, DOE shall provide the regulatory agency with the acceptable form of financial responsibility. Under no circumstances shall the Contractor be required to provide any corporate resources or corporate guarantees to satisfy such regulatory requirements.