R311-207-7. Consultant Labor Codes, Titles, Duties and Fee Schedules

  (a) This rule incorporates by reference the Consultant Personnel Qualifications and Task Descriptions table, dated May 1998, and consisting of standardized personnel qualification categories and task descriptions to be used for PST Fund-reimbursable activities. Consultants must assign to one of the categories listed in the table, any service time for an individual that is billed to a claimant or directly to the PST Fund and for which reimbursement is claimed, unless the duties of the individual are so unusual that they do not closely approximate any of the listed categories. By submitting a claim for reimbursement for a labor category, the consultant warrants that the person so claimed meets the described education, skills and experience.

  (b) A consultant may file with the Director, and amend once a year in January (absent unusual circumstances), the hourly fees at which it bills clients in Utah for the service of its personnel as described in (a). The Director shall calculate new allowable reimbursement rates once a year. Consultant fees, reimbursement rate schedules and amendments must be maintained in confidence by and accessible only to the staff of the Director, as the consultant's expectation of privacy is reasonable and outweighs the merits of public disclosure. The calculated maximum allowable reimbursement rates must be maintained in confidence by and accessible only to the staff of the Director.

  (c) When fee schedules, from companies who have performed work reimbursed by the Fund, have been filed in a number sufficient for meaningful statistical analysis, the Director shall compute a range of allowable reimbursement rates for each code listed in (a), the maximum of each range shall be the mean fee for each code plus one standard deviation (rounded up to the nearest whole dollar) unless modified as provided for in R311-207-7(e). The Director shall then notify each filing firm whether its fees exceed the range of allowable reimbursement rates. If they do exceed the allowable range, the firm shall then resubmit a revised fee schedule that is within the allowable range. The amount by which a consultant's fee for a particular code exceeds the allowable reimbursement rate will be presumed unreasonable and will not be reimbursed by the Fund.

  (d) The Director may approve a range of reimbursement rates for a particular category when proposed by a consultant. However, the maximum of this range shall not exceed the maximum reimbursement rate as calculated in R311-207-7(c). When a range is proposed, the average of the range will be used for the calculations in R311-207-7(c).

  (e) If a consultant's fees exceed the maximum of the range in not more than three categories but are lower in the other categories, the average of the maximum reimbursement rates as calculated in R311-207-7(c) for the categories for which that consultant provides services will be calculated. If the average of the consultant's fees is lower than this average, the Director may approve all of the fees as proposed.

  (f) The Director may request a detailed explanation of fee structures when a submitted fee appears to vary significantly from those submitted by other consultants for the same code. The Director reserves the right not to use fees that significantly vary from similar fees submitted by other consultants, fees from consultants who have not submitted claims for reimbursement, fees from consultants who have not submitted proper documentation for claim reimbursement, fees from consultants that do not currently have key personnel holding valid certification as a Certified UST Consultant and other fees not deemed acceptable by the Director.

  (g) A consultant not filing its schedule of fees must submit its invoices for services formatted in accordance with R311-207-7(a). Any fees which exceed the average of allowable reimbursement rates will be presumed unreasonable.

  (h) A claimant or consultant may overcome the presumption that a fee is unreasonable by presenting clear and concise evidence to the Director that the fees are reasonable and customary. Excessive overhead factors will not meet this test.

  (i) The Director may determine the amount of fund monies that will be reimbursed to a claimant for commonly performed tasks. The amount of fund monies that will be reimbursed for a particular task, item or activity may be established by R311-207-7(c), competitive bid, market survey or other applicable method as determined by the Director. Public comment will be taken before proposed reimbursement rates are adopted.