Overhead Rates in the National Water Quality Laboratory
To: "A - Division Chief and Staff",
"B - Branch Chiefs and Offices",
"S - Special Distribution for Research",
"FO - State, District, Subdistrict and other Field Offices",
"PO - Project Offices"
cc: "David A Rickert, Chief, OWQ, Reston, VA ",
"David W Morganwalp, Hydrologist, Reston, VA ",
"Franceska Wilde, Hydrologist, Reston, VA ",
"Herman R Feltz, Hydrologist, Reston, VA ",
"Iris M Collies, Writer-Editor, Reston, VA ",
"John R Gray, Hydrologist, Reston, VA ",
"Janice R Ward, Assistant Chief, OWQ, Reston, VA ",
"Nana L Frye, Editorial Assistant, Reston, VA ",
"F. Paul Kapinos, Supervisory Hydrologist, Reston, VA ",
"Terry L Schertz, Hydrologist, Denver, CO ",
"Peter F Rogerson, Chief, BAS, NWQL, Denver, CO ",
"Arthur J Horowitz, Chemist, Atlanta, GA ",
"Paul D Capel, Research Chemist, Sacramento, CA ",
"Stuart W Mckenzie, Hydrologist, Portland, OR ",
"Valerie J Kelly, Hydrologist, Portland, OR ",
"Richard P Hooper, Hydrologist, Atlanta, GA ",
"HS - Headquarters Secretaries",
"File WRD Archive, , Reston, VA ",
"Deborah M Treseder, Admin Off Nwql, Denver, CO "
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 1996 10:21:04 -0500
From: "David A Rickert, Chief, OWQ, Reston, VA "
In Reply Refer To:
Mail Stop 412 February 6, 1996
OFFICE OF WATER QUALITY TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM 96.04
Subject: Overhead Rates in the National Water Quality Laboratory
The Water Resources Division (WRD) of the U.S. Geological Survey has
established a policy that overhead rates will be calculated using a
standard basis (WRD Memorandum 92.21). Two years ago, the Management
Advisory Committee to the National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL)
approved the charging of overhead on laboratory services. Since that
time, the NWQL has computed overhead into the pricing model for routine
analyses and has also charged overhead for all special projects involving
methods development, methods adaptation, special analyses, field work
requested by customers, and specialized training of customers. This memo
serves to formally document these ongoing practices.
Special projects at the NWQL are developed in response to customer
requests through proposals generated jointly by the NWQL and the
customer. Each proposal includes a problem statement, the proposed
solution, the deliverables, a time schedule, the budget, and appropriate
signature lines for both NWQL and customer concurrence. Budgets prepared
under this process contain overhead amounts that conform to WRD
Memorandum 92.21.
For fiscal year (FY) 1996, the overhead rate for the NWQL is 25 percent.
This rate will be recomputed annually, and the next computation will be
done in the beginning of FY 1997. Prudent management practices are used
to keep these overhead costs to a minimum, just as is done in our
District offices.
This memorandum does not supersede any existing memoranda.
Distribution: A, B, S, FO, PO