Opinion ID: 667573
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lack of Contemporaneous Explanation

Text: 40 Saratoga also protests that the PADC gave no explanation of its decision to select Delta Partnership as the winning developer. Saratoga's analysis turns in part on language from the FAR, 48 CFR Sec. 15.612(d)(2), but as the FAR was inapplicable we do not address its meaning. Saratoga also insists that the PADC's failure to provide a statement of reasons for its selection violated an implicit requirement of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and, indeed, of pre-APA administrative law. The basic theory is that the power of the courts to review agency action, see 5 U.S.C. Sec. 706, implies that agencies must provide a contemporaneous explanation of actions subject to review, for courts cannot exercise their duty of review unless they are advised of the considerations underlying the action under review. SEC v. Chenery Corp., 318 U.S. 80, 94, 63 S.Ct. 454, 462, 87 L.Ed. 626 (1943); cf. Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402, 420, 91 S.Ct. 814, 825, 28 L.Ed.2d 136 (1971). 41 Without considering whether the principle has quite so broad a scope as plaintiff suggests, we find no violation here. It is true that the PADC's only official explanation for its decision to select the Delta Partnership over the six other bidders was that Delta had won a majority of the ballots cast by the PADC's directors. (Of the thirteen votes cast, Delta received seven, four more than its next closest competitor, and Saratoga received none. J.A. 1060-62.) But in light of the final report of the PADC staff evaluating the various proposals, submitted one day before the final vote, we think that as between Saratoga and Delta we can discern the reasons for Delta's victory. 7 See Bowman Transp. v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, 419 U.S. 281, 286, 95 S.Ct. 438, 442, 42 L.Ed.2d 447 (1974); cf. Development Policies and Procedures at 23, J.A. 466 (The Board of Directors shall consider the selection of a developer after hearing a final staff analysis....). 42 To judge from the staff report, Saratoga's proposal enjoyed one advantage over Delta's: the PADC's staff estimated that it would cost $26.3 million less to execute. J.A. 1029. Saratoga's smaller price tag, however, evidently came at quite a sacrifice of other values. Though the staff did not rank proposals or make any recommendations, it vigorously criticized Saratoga's design plans, speaking of disjointed and confusing elements, unusable open space, and awkward and [un]convincing[ ] architecture. J.A. 1023; cf. J.A. 1022 (praising Delta's design). The staff also commented that all but one of Saratoga's principals have limited or no experience developing complex, mixed-use projects in dense, downtown settings; the staff concluded that Saratoga does not have the development experience that other teams possess, J.A. 1025, and that [t]he performance capability of this development team for this project is questionable, J.A. 1028. Cf. J.A. 1024, 1027 (praising experience and capability of Delta's development team). 43 In this context, the PADC's vote effectively announced that in the judgment of the majority of the voting directors, the superior aesthetic and functional features of Delta's design (coupled with the superior experience and proven capability of Delta's principals) were worth the extra $26.3 million that Delta's proposal would cost. It is precisely this sort of subjective judgment that Congress entrusted to the PADC--not the courts. 44 Even conventional procurement matters are normally so discretionary that the disappointed bidder bears a heavy burden of showing that the award decision had no rational basis. Kentron Hawaii, Ltd. v. Warner, 480 F.2d 1166, 1169 (D.C.Cir.1973); see also M. Steinthal & Co. v. Seamans, 455 F.2d 1289, 1301 (D.C.Cir.1971). [J]udges are 'ill-equipped to settle the delicate questions involved in procurement decisions....'  Delta Data Systems Corp. v. Webster, 744 F.2d 197, 203 (D.C.Cir.1984) (quoting Kinnett Dairies, Inc. v. Farrow, 580 F.2d 1260, 1271 (5th Cir.1978)). The special statutory scheme involved in this case, and the largely aesthetic nature of the trade-offs required, only accentuate the limits on our role. It would therefore be senseless to insist upon a detailed explanation of the PADC's decision to select Delta over Saratoga. Even if that decision was not committed to [the PADC's] discretion by law, see 5 U.S.C. Sec. 701(a)(2), the current administrative record gives us ample information to review, and to affirm, the PADC's judgment. 45