The Honorable Charles H. Taylor May 9, 2000 I shall, of course, be pleased to provide you with any additional information on this matter you may deem desirable. I am writing to request your approval to reprogram $175,000 to provide additional contingency funds for the construction of the book storage module at Ft. Meade, Md. At the time of the construction contract award, a conservative 5 percent contingency was available for this project. This request will bring the total contingency funding to approximately 9 percent which is in line with the industry construction contingency standard of 10 percent. Since the time of the contract award, two significant items have reduced the available contingency to approximately $7,000. The first item had to do with the cost of running electric and gas utility services to the site. At the time of award, discussions with Baltimore Gas and Electric had indicated that the up front payment for these services would not be required. The second item had to do with unanticipated costs associated with state permit requirements related to storm water management and sediment control. The construction is approximately 25% complete. If funding is not available for future change orders that may arise, the project could be delayed and additional cost could be incurred. Construction of the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this calendar year. I propose reprogramming $135,000 from "No Year" funds made available to the Library Buildings and Grounds (LB&G) for the Program for Energy Conservation. This project is complete except for the connection of several air-conditioning units that will be installed in the future. Funds have been reserved to complete the work under this project and the $135,000 savings is available for the proposed reprogramming. The remaining $40,000 will come from completed LB&G "No Year" The Honorable Charles H. Taylor June 29, 2000 Page Two A similar letter has been sent to the Honorable Robert F. Bennett, Chairman, Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, for his approval. I shall, of course, be pleased to provide you with any additional information on this matter you may deem desirable. I am writing to request your approval to reprogram funding that was provided to the Capitol Power Plant for the replacement of chillers in the East Refrigeration Plant. The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1998, (P. L. 105-55) provided $1 million for the design of the replacement of the chillers in the East Refrigeration Plant. The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1999, (P. L. 105-275) provide $5 million for the first increment for the replacement of the chillers. An engineering and economic cost benefit study of the existing facility and equipment has determined that the best option to replace the existing chillers in the East Refrigeration Plant and meet projected capacity is to expand the West Refrigeration Plant. The 40-year-old equipment in the East Refrigeration Plant is unreliable, inefficient, and uses an R-12 based refrigerant. This refrigerant is an ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) that was banned from production in 1995. In addition, two large sewer tunnels pass under the East Refrigeration Plant creating major structural and construction concerns that preclude adding additional equipment to this building. Based on the proposed type and size of the new chiller equipment, it has been determined that the construction of an addition to the existing West Refrigeration Plant presents the best solution. Therefore, I am requesting your approval to reprogram the balance, approximately $5,840,000, of the funding provided for the chiller replacement to design the West Refrigeration Plant expansion to accommodate the new chillers and to design other associated chilled water system improvements. The existing coal handling system and the associated coal storage will have to be relocated to create The Honorable Charles H. Taylor provide funding to design interim modifications to coal handling systems so we may continue to use coal as a primary fuel as long as environmental permits allow to meet daily steam load demands. Below is an estimate of the cost of proceeding with these efforts. Funding to design additional fuel storage and project management funds for the initial five years of the project is also requested. We are currently projecting that we will become vulnerable to potential difficulties in providing sufficient chilled water capacity beginning as early as 2002 based on current known and projected load demands. That deficit becomes critical in the year 2005 with the anticipated opening of the Capitol Visitor Center. If we proceed now with the design, we will have in hand necessary design and specifications to either bid the project if appropriated funds are made available, or to negotiate with the private sector for a long term turnkey type contract if Congress so authorizes. The construction of this project will take place over several phases. The construction schedule and estimated cost are outlined in the enclosed Executive Report on the Utility Master Plan for the Capitol Power Plant dated August 15, 2000. Also enclosed herewith is the approval from the House Office Building Commission to proceed with this request. In a related issue, $1,000,000 has been earmarked in the Senate Report (106-312) accompanying Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2001 (H.R. 4578) for the Department of Energy to preform a cooperative study with the Architect of the Capitol of clean coal alternatives for the Capitol Power Plant. A similar letter has been sent to the Honorable Robert F. Bennett, Chairman, Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, for his |