STANTEC, an Edmonton -based environmental development and development service provider, Alberta, has agreed to pay $ 4 million to resolve complaints violated by the False Claims Act by sending fake certifications in applications for the United States Environmental Protection Agency Brownfield Evaluation Subsidies of the United States, United States Justice said on July 7.
The Agency argues that between 2014 and 2022, Stantec, through subsidiaries, drafted or assisted in the writing of applications for proposals and working declarations for subsidies, then competed for them, successfully gaining those that had contributed to developing, without the required separation under the Federal Purchase Rules and the EPA guidelines.
“Federal subsidy fund applicants must meet applicable contracting requirements … who are designed to prevent unfair competitive advantage,” said the Deputy Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, head of the Department’s civil division, in a statement. Federal regulations offer any contractor to “develop[s] or draft[s] Specifications, requirements, work statements or invitations for offers ”to compete for the same contracts.
)[T]The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency have not charged any administrative, criminal or civil position against Statec, “said a spokesman for the firm in an email.” We have agreed this settlement to avoid the costs, inconvenience and the intrusion of subsequent research. “He stated that for almost three decades, the company has” diligently followed “the EPA guidelines on contracting practices related to Brownfield projects.
Stanec’s practices for Brownfield’s writing and writing design projects remain unchanged, said the spokesman, and added: “We are firmly for the quality, nature and attention unmatched to ethics and fulfilling our work.”
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Developed in the first term of President Bill Clinton, the program provides federal funds and technical assistance to the municipalities to evaluate, securely clean and reuse the properties in a sustainable way contaminated by dangerous substances. The communities that request the subsidies must certify the compliance with the rules of contracting aimed at avoiding conflicts of interest between the competing companies.
Justice said that Stantec said with the Government’s investigation and, under the settlement agreement, he was not obliged to admit responsibility.
“The agreement emphasizes that the consultants involved in the preparation of subsidies are now facing the same damage and false claims of the Claims Act as main federal contractors,” said Trent Cotney, partner and chief of Adams and Reese Llp’s Construction Practice Group.
