Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that modifies the regulations applicable to the Energy Credit under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The NPRM also withdraws and repurposes portions of an August proposal on the rules governing the increased credit amount available for taxpayers satisfying prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship requirements established by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This post summarizes a few key aspects of the NPRM below:Continue Reading Department of the Treasury and IRS propose new guidance for the Section 48 Investment Tax Credit
Peter Terenzio
Peter Terenzio routinely advises clients regarding the multiple regulatory regimes that apply to federal contractors. His practice also extends outside of traditional government procurement contracts to include federal grants and Other Transaction Authority (OTA) research, prototype, and production agreements.
Among other things, Peter regularly helps clients with the constantly evolving domestic-preference requirements promulgated pursuant to various federal laws, including, for example, the Buy American Act (BAA) and Trade Agreements Act (TAA), but also including more recently the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). He also has particular experience with helping clients navigate the complicated prevailing wage rules imposed by the Davis Bacon Act (DBA) and Service Contact Act (SCA). Peter has used this regulatory knowledge to help clients negotiate the specifics of their contracts, grants, and OTA agreements.
Peter also has significant experience with the disputes that may arise during the execution of government prime contracts. He knows how to work closely with the client's subject matter experts to prepare and submit detailed requests for equitable adjustment (REAs) in order to secure much-needed price or schedule relief. Where necessary, he has assisted clients with converting their REAs into certified claims, and when disputes cannot be resolved at the Contracting Officer level, he has helped clients vindicate their contractual rights in litigation before the Boards of Contract Appeals.
RFI Begins to Chart Course for Federal Clean Energy Procurements
Two federal agencies recently released a joint Request for Information (“RFI”) in the latest in a series of concrete steps to meet the Biden Administration’s goal to achieve 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity (CFE)[1] in federal operations by 2030. The RFI, issued by DLA-Energy and GSA, offers industry a chance to shape future federal CFE procurements by providing information on carbon-free electricity supplied in competitive retail markets. Although not itself a procurement opportunity, the information submitted under the RFI will inform the parameters and conditions of CFE competitions that the federal government expects to begin as soon as this year, with contract deliveries starting in 2023.
Continue Reading RFI Begins to Chart Course for Federal Clean Energy Procurements
Trump’s New Executive Order Requires Additional Buy American Preferences For Infrastructure Projects
Last week, President Trump issued a new executive order, entitled “Strengthening Buy-American Preferences for Infrastructure Projects.” This order serves as an extension of the President’s earlier April 2017 “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, which we have previously analyzed in this space. The April 2017 order stated that “it shall be the policy of the executive branch to buy American and hire American,” and, among other things, directed agencies to “scrupulously, monitor, enforce, and comply with” domestic preference laws (referred to by the executive order as “Buy American Laws”) and to minimize use of waivers that would permit the purchase of foreign end products.
Continue Reading Trump’s New Executive Order Requires Additional Buy American Preferences For Infrastructure Projects