Energy & Environmental Focus – SE Region Federal Construction, Infrastructure & Environmental Summit (April 12-13, Wilmington, NC)

For more information or to register, visit: https://summit.ncmbc.us

The Office of Senator Thom Tillis and the North Carolina Military Business Center are pleased to announce the Southeast Regional Federal Construction, Infrastructure & Environment Summit on April 12-13, 2023 in Wilmington, North Carolina.

WHEN.
April 12-13, 2023

WHERE.
Wilmington Convention Center
515 Nutt Street
Wilmington, NC 28401

PURPOSE.  “The Summit” brings together over 600 representatives of the Corps of Engineers, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Installations East, Seymour Johnson AFB, other Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps installations, US Coast Guard, Department of Veterans Affairs, General Services Administration, other federal agencies, general and specialty contractors, designers and construction suppliers from throughout the Southeast of the United States.

ATTENDANCE. Attendance is encouraged for:

  • General and specialty contractors that work in VA, NC, SC, GA and FL.
  • Design firms that work in VA, NC, SC, GA and FL.
  • Construction supply firms that work in VA, NC, SC, GA and FL.
  • Companies that provide facility-support contracts in VA, NC, SC, GA and FL.
  • Current federal contractors seeking partners and suppliers

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ROUNDTABLE- Keynote Panel: Department of Defense Energy and Environmental Policy

  • Christine Ploshke, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment
  • TBA, Department of the Navy

Session 1: Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure on Military Bases. Currently two Executive Orders affect the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) at our military bases:

  • by 2035, government entities will be required to purchase all new fleet vehicles as zero emission vehicles (EVs, hybrids)
  • by 2030 a goal of 50 percent of all vehicles purchased will be zero emissions.

In addition to the Executive Orders, each military branch has their own guidance on combating climate change, an important issue given North Carolina’s coastal environment.  This session will discuss the policy guidance for EV charging and what opportunities exist for North Carolina small business to assist military bases with EV deployment ranging from a base study to actual installation. Questions include: (1) who should install the EV charging infrastructure (i.e., what vendor); (2) where the charging infrastructure should be located; and (3) how electric vehicles will be used in an emergency (natural disaster, especially in a coastal environment like we have in North Carolina), among others.Speakers: 

  • Craig Frank, Resource Manager III, Marine Corps Installations East, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
  • Audrey Oxendine, Chief, Energy and Utilities Branch, Operations and Maintenance Division, Fort Bragg DPW
  • Loyd Graves, Manager, Program Delivery Transportation Electrification, Duke Energy
  • Caitlin Dorame, Offering Management Branch, Office of Fleet Management, US General Services Administration

Session 2: PFAS – What Are the Requirements? PFAS is a class of Perfluoralkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances that are widely used and long-lasting chemicals. Exposure can be linked to harmful health effects; it has been found in blood, food products, water, soil, air, fish, and other animals. Soil is a significant reservoir for PFAS and feeds into groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working to determine how to better and more efficiently detect and measure PFAS, how much people are exposed to PFAS, how harmful it is, and how to remove, manage, and dispose of PFAS.

Department of Defense records confirm PFAS in groundwater and soil at nearly 400 bases, with suspected contamination in groundwater at an additional 294 bases.  Some installations record some of the highest PFAS levels ever found in water or soil (nearly exceeding 1 million parts per trillion; some states have regulated PFAS at levels as low as 6 parts per trillion for health protections, and recent studies suggest a safe level is less that 1 part per trillion) – this is mostly for water.

States are moving to set targets to clean up PFAS in soil and a number of states have categorized PFAS  as “hazardous substances”, however not many have guidelines yet for how to clean up/remediate.  This session will provide the most up to date guidance on what to do with PFAS given the somewhat conflicting policy directions. Hear from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, military bases in North Carolina and other DoD officials for a conversation about how to deal with this environmental issue in a safe manner.​​​​ Speakers:

  • Michael Scott, Division of Waste Management Director, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
  • Lara Beasley, Chief of the Environmental Division, US Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters
  • CDR Ross Campbell, Director, Public Works, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
  • Tim Woods, Senior Project Manager/Risk Assessor, ECC
  • Cathy Kohler, Vice President, Tetra Tech

WHY ATTEND THE SUMMIT?

  • The Summit is the premier, best-established and most-recognized federal construction event in the Southeast– businesses who are already engaged or want to perform in the federal market need to be there!
  • “Program and Requirements Dialogues” address future projects and acquisition strategies, contractor experiences, teaming and supplier opportunities and other issues related to acquisition and execution of projects at military bases and government throughout the Southeast.  These sessions also include information on federal opportunities in environmental engineering and remediation, energy and horizontal infrastructure (including roads and intersections, water, wastewater, natural gas and other utilities)
  • Other Summit sessions address critical and timely topics, including supplier, service contract and public-private opportunities, small business programs and utilization, budget impacts, contracting processes and pre- and post-award legal issues for federal contractors
  • Summit networking and trade show activities allow businesses to market their services and products to over 600 general contractors, specialty contractors, engineers, architects and suppliers
  • In addition, pre-Summit networking opportunities include a golf event hosted and organized by the Cape Fear Post of the Society of American Military Engineers  and an evening Summit Social at Ironclad Brewery in downtown Wilmington – a huge hit from for the past several years!