Government Printing Office--Environmental Protection

B-259208 Mar 06, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is only liable for the publication services that authorized personnel requisitioned from the Government Printing Office (GPO). We conclude that EPA's liability for the publication services is limited to the $14. GPO was to convert the sixteen volumes of title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) from its paper format to an electronic format at a GPO-estimated cost of approximately $600 per volume. The EPA volumes of the CFR were the first of the 200 CFR volumes that GPO planned to convert. Identified the EPA employees who were authorized to commit the agency to printing services. The memorandum does not identify Richards as an official authorized to order printing services nor does GPO argue that Richards was given such a designation at one of the several meetings between the two agencies. View Decision Matter of: Government Printing Office--Environmental Protection Agency--Interagency Orders--Appropriations File: B-259208 Date: March 6, 1996 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is only liable for the publication services that authorized personnel requisitioned from the Government Printing Office (GPO). After having enlarged the publication project without first receiving the approval of authorized EPA officials, GPO cannot charge the requesting agency for the costs of the expanded project. DECISION This responds to the request from the General Counsel of the Government Printing Office (GPO) asking for an opinion concerning a $304,334 bill that his agency submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for publication services. For the following reasons, we conclude that EPA's liability for the publication services is limited to the $14,000 that it obligated through requisitions, and that GPO must cover the additional costs incurred. Background In June 1992, EPA submitted a requisition to GPO ordering an electronic publication at a total cost, as estimated by GPO, not to exceed $9,000. According to the EPA technical representative for the project, GPO was to convert the sixteen volumes of title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) from its paper format to an electronic format at a GPO-estimated cost of approximately $600 per volume. The EPA volumes of the CFR were the first of the 200 CFR volumes that GPO planned to convert. In April 1993, EPA submitted another requisition, at GPO's request, for an additional $5000 to add graphics to the publication, committing EPA to a total of $14,000. The GPO General Counsel states that as work under these two requisitions progressed, verbal instructions from the EPA technical representative for the project, John Richards, caused GPO to enlarge the scope of its work beyond the $14,000 already committed. The General Counsel asserts that GPO incurred over $300,000 in project costs because Richards "provided the impression to GPO representatives that funding for the enlarged and evolving experimental project would be available." Prior to the April 1993 requisition where authorized EPA officials fixed EPA's total commitment at $14,000, the EPA Chief, Printing Management Section, in a memorandum to GPO dated November 17, 1992, identified the EPA employees who were authorized to commit the agency to printing services. The memorandum does not identify Richards as an official authorized to order printing services nor does GPO argue that Richards was given such a designation at one of the several meetings between the two agencies. According to EPA, Richards' sole function on the project was to act as a technical advisor, available to assist GPO in the use of microcomp, an electronic document format adopted by several federal agencies, to produce the electronic publication. The EPA Associate General Counsel, Contracts, Claims and Property Division, states that EPA never had any anticipation of funding the project at a level greater than the $14,000 that it obligated. He further asserts that even if Richards gave GPO the "impression" that additional funding would be available, the technical advisor had no authority to commit EPA appropriations to expenses exceeding the amounts in the requisitions. Richards, himself, denies that he asked GPO to enlarge the project, and states that the bill from GPO for additional work came as a "total surprise" to him. Analysis The agreement between EPA and GPO for the electronic publication was governed by the two GPO Standard Form 1 Printing and Binding Requisitions that EPA used to order the work. After an ordering agency certifies that it requires the services of GPO, the Public Printer is required to furnish an estimate of the cost of the services pursuant to which the ordering agency may make a requisition for performance from GPO. 44 U.S.C. sec. 1103.