OMB has issued yet another memo for agencies on reporting costs related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
This latest memo, M-11-09 (revised), is a follow up to M-10-29, on identifying and documenting costs related to the spill, and a management procedures memo, MPM-10-35, on cost-reporting.
The memos were created in consultation with the Justice Department, the Coast Guard and several other agencies. GAO reported that as of October the government has billed BP $581 million and it recommended improving the policies and procedures used to gage costs and obtain reimbursement.
With the next set of reports due soon, OMB is asking agencies to provide additional information to help in analyzing and categorizing agency costs – but only costs not related to a "pollution removal funding authorization or military interdepartmental purchase request approved by the federal on-scene coordinator."
For example, when identifying costs as "contracts" agencies should specify whether such costs were paid under a new or amended contract or a new task order negotiated or issued in response to the oil spill or under an existing contract or task order, according to the memo.
It said agencies should not group labor-related costs together, and that damage assessments for claims under the Natural Resource Damage Assessment that were not reimbursed by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund should include and describe those assessment costs as separate items.
