Technical Service Provider (TSP) Not-To-Exceed (NTE) Rate Guidance

1. Technical Service Provider (TSP) Not-To-Exceed (NTE) Rate Guidance For use in determining NTE rates for contracts in Maine March 2004

2. Background • TSP NTE rates are based on the TACCP (Tech. Asst. Cost of Cons. Practices) survey completed by NRCS state and field staff. • TACCP estimated the time required to plan and apply conservation practices on different land uses, by region. • Hourly wage rates were applied to calculate TA costs. These costs are by state, region, land use, practice, and unit, and are the basis for TSP NTE rates.

3. Time Team Regions • A key part of TACCP was to identify regions within states that have unique resource conditions, costs, and planning unit sizes. • Separate time teams were organized for each of these regions. • Each time team has separate TSP NTE rates.

4. Maine Time Team Regions • Maine has 2 time team regions, ME01 and ME02. ME02 is Aroostook County. ME01 is the rest of the state. • The next closest region is New Hampshire’s, NH01.

5. To calculate a TSP NTE rate you must have: • The practice you want to use a TSP for • The county it will be installed in • The land use • The extent of the practice (the size of the practice in units)

6. Practice Units • Some practices are in units not commonly used, such as animal units (AU), cubic feet per second (CFS), or acre-feet. • This was done nationally because some indication of the size of these practices was needed (for example, 313 is usually reported in “no.”; for TSP rates, the unit is AU).

7. Practices with Changed Units

8. Land Uses • 9 different land uses were identified in Maine during the TACCP process • Descriptions of them are available at the web site, here: http://www.tsp-nte.nrcs.usda.gov/def_glossary.html • Choose the land use that best fits your project

9. Using the TSP NTE Web SiteClick here: http://www.tsp-nte.nrcs.usda.gov/ NOTE: In order for the above link to work, powerpoint must be in slideshow mode (press F5). There are several different ways to calculate a rate. They all result in the same number; the difference is in which input data is requested first.

10. Planning Data At a certain point you are queried to select a practice. There will be a Planning selection. Do not use this selection at this time. Simply choose the appropriate practice you want a rate for.

11. Using other regions’ data • Maine’s data includes 48 conservation practices. You may need a TSP rate for a practice not in your time team’s data. • When this occurs you need to use rates from another time team that does have a rate for that practice. • The web site allows you to query this data nationwide.

12. Using other regions’ data (cont.) • The site will display all regions in the nation that have rates for the practice and land use you enter. • Pick regions that have similar resource conditions and practice descriptions to your own project. First check to see if Maine’s other region has a rate. • If none of these have the practice you are looking for, consult the State Office.

13. This example shows a list of regions that have a rate for 326 – Clearing & Snagging on forest land. They are in IA, MO, and VT. Choose a practice ID based on the description that best fits your project.

14. Adjusting Unit Cost for Size • Each region’s TSP rates are based on a “most typical” unit size for that area (50 acres, 100 AUs, etc.). • NHQ developed regression curves to account for economies of scale. For example, the TA cost per acre for 327 on 10 acres would be different than for 100 acres. • A calculator will automatically adjust the TSP rate based on the size you enter into the web site. NOTE: travel cost is not affected by this calculation.

15. Adjusting for size (cont.) Enter the new unit size for your project here This is the typical unit size for this time team

16. After adjusting for size, you will get a report showing the TSP rates. Print this page for documentation purposes. Per unit and total rates are given here. They are divided into 5 components. The totals of all components (with & w/o travel) are given here. Be sure to use the figures that include travel costs.

17. 5 Cost Components Design, Installation, and Checkout are the primary components. These will appear in the contract. Other and Travel appear separately because states wanted to use them in different ways. Design Installation Checkout Other Travel Primary components These will be allocated among Design, Installation, Checkout

18. Design, Installation, Checkout, Other and Travel • Descriptions of them are available at the web site, here: http://www.tsp-nte.nrcs.usda.gov/tech_assist_cat.html • Most contracts will use design, installation and check-out together. However, you can write a contract for just one of the primary components.

19. Travel and Other Costs • Maine will include “Travel” and “Other” in TSP rates. They must be allocated among Design, Installation, and Checkout. • “Other” and “Travel” cost will be spread evenly among Design, Installation, and Checkout (⅓, ⅓, ⅓). • This must be done manually.

20. Design $400 Installation $100 Checkout $200 Other $100 Travel $100 Total $900 Design $466.66 Installation $166.66 Checkout $266.66 Total (rounded) $900 Travel/Other Cost Allocation Example A Before allocation (this is how it appears on the site) After Allocation In this simplified example, Other cost ($100) was allocated equally ($33.33, $33.33, $33.33) among all 3 components. Travel cost (also $100) was allocated equally ($33.33, $33.33, $33.33).

21. After allocating Other and Travel Costs, the rates are ready to put into the contract. • Design $466.66 • Installation $166.66 • Checkout $266.66

22. Design $400 Installation $ 0 Checkout $200 Other $100 Travel $100 Total $800 Design $500 Installation $ 0 Checkout $300 Total $800 Travel/Other Cost Allocation Example B Before allocation (this is how it appears on the site) After Allocation There are practices that have $0 for installation cost. This occurs because the Time Team estimated that no time was spent on installation activities for that practice. In these cases, allocate Other and Travel evenly among Design and Checkout.

23. Special Exceptions NRCS policy allows for exceptions to TSP NTE rates under special circumstances, such as: • Impact on T&E species • Impact on historic or archeological sites • Especially difficult access to site • Presence of urban development requiring special practice design • No in-state NRCS expertise to accomplish a given task

24. Special Exceptions (cont.) • Whenever a special situation is encountered, the state office will assist in developing a time and cost estimate for the practice. • This exception will need to be approved by NHQ.

25. Demo to determine a NTE Rate http://www.tsp-nte.nrcs.usda.gov/

26. Contract Support Documents using Customer Service Toolkit (CST) • TSP assistance is from a different budget than financial assistance and needs to be approved each year. A separate contract support document for TSP work should reduce remodifying the entire contract and makes tracking of funding easier.

27. Scheduling of Practices in CST Schedule all practices to include in the contract support document

28. Component selection in CST Contracting Wizard Select FA components for cost-share practices, TA components for TSP technical assistance

29. Modifying contract support document for TSP rates Click on contract data to enter TSP rates

30. Enter TSP amounts and rates Enter component amount planned for TSP work Enter total cost determined from TSP website Note: only enter amounts and rates for current year. Units are now changed to no.

31. Selecting contract for printing Select contract tab

32. Producing a contract support document Select produce document button

33. Contract Support Document for TSP Technical Assistance Note: TSP rates are only to be scheduled in current fiscal year

34. CST Demo

35. Summary • To calculate a TSP NTE rate you will need: practice, county, land use, size • When rates for your region aren’t available, select a rate from a region that has similar resource conditions • Special cases may occur where a new rate will need to be generated at the State Office • If using Customer Service Toolkit, create a separate contract for TSP assistance to design, install and/or checkout practices For technical questions contact: John Long, Jim Johnson, Chris Jones For program questions contact: Susan Arrants, Bill Yamartino