Improving the Management of Environmental Engineering Projects through The Best Value Project Management Model (BV PMM) for The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

Abstract

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is the regulatory agency responsible for ensuring quality of air, land, and water resources. Historically, ADEQ has experienced difficulty in managing environmental professional services. To potentially address the issues, ADEQ tested a new approach to managing their projects, the Best Value Project Management Model (BV PMM), which focuses on using logic and natural laws instead of technical information and experience to improve project performance. This paper presents a case study on ADEQ's implementation of the BV PMM on their indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) Arizona Superfund Response Action Contract (ASRAC) that is utilized by the Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF) contract that ran 60 individual projects. The main function of the WQARF program is to identify, assess and remediate sites that are contaminated with hazardous substances. This paper presents the BV PMM, its development, and documents the case study results after one year of implementation. Results include an improved PM utilization rate (22% increase), increase in vendor work performed (102%) in 33% less time, and increase in customer satisfaction (22%).