1-Detailed RFP Norristown EPA Brownfields 2025.pdf

Municipality of Norristown

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS:

Environmental Consultant Community-Wide Brownfield Assessment

Issued by: Department of Planning and Municipal Development

Municipality of Norristown

235 East Airy Street

Norristown, PA 19401-5003

Municipal Council

Rebecca Smith, President Rashaad Bates, Vice President

William McCoy, District 2 Dustin Queenan, District 3

Natalie Colson, District 4 Jasmine Griffen, At Large

Mydera Robinson, At Large

Municipal Administrator Leonard Lightner

The Municipality of Norristown’s Department of Planning and Municipal Development is seeking a qualified environmental consultant with the capacity to conduct and prepare Phase I and Phase

II Assessments, Remedial Action Plans, Quality Assurance Project Plans, and Sampling and

Analysis Plans to provide environmental professional services to implement the Municipality of

Norristown’s United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Community-Wide

Brownfields Assessment Grants Project. The EPA awarded the Municipality a $500,000

Community-Wide Brownfield Assessment Grant for hazardous substances.

BACKGROUND

The Municipality of Norristown, located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has been awarded a $500,000 Community-Wide Brownfields Assessment Grant for hazardous substances for implementation purposes. The funding will be used to identify, inventory, characterize, rank, and select existing brownfield sites contaminated with hazardous substances within the Municipality of Norristown for site-specific assessment, and also develop liability management and remedial strategies that allow for safe and viable monitoring, redevelopment and/or reuse of the identified properties. The selected consultant will assist the Municipality with grant management and will be the primary entity performing site identification, inventory, characterization, ranking, selection, and environmental assessments in addition to preparing all required technical documents applicable to the grant.

Throughout the entirety of the project, the Municipality of Norristown will be involved in any decisions regarding grant funding activities. The established budget for the assessment grant is provided below. Additional details regarding the program are outlined in the following EPA approved work plans.

Community-Wide Assessment Budget – Hazardous Substances

Budget

Categories

Task 1:

Programmatic

Task 2:

Community

Outreach

Task 3: Site

Inventory and Selection

Task 4:

Site

Assessments

Task 5:

Remedial

Planning

Total

Personnel $11,000 $2,750 $4,125 $4,400 $1,925 $24,200

Fringe Benefits $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Travel $2,400 $0 $2,200 $0 $0 $4,600

Equipment $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Supplies $1,200 $1,000 $0 $0 $0 $2,200

Contractual $4,800 $6,000 $31,200 $395,000 $32,000 $469,000

Other $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Total Direct

Costs

$19,400 $9,750 $37,525 $399,400 $33,925 $500,000

Indirect Costs $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Total $19,400 $9,750 $37,525 $399,400 $33,925 $500,000

SCOPE OF SERVICES

The Municipality is seeking the professional environmental services of a Qualified Environmental

Professional (QEP) consultant for the preliminarily identified tasks below. Respondents may suggest, as part of their submission, different approaches, refinements, and improvements to the tasks, provided that are maintaining the overall purpose of the project as approved by the EPA.

The grant completion date is June 30, 2029.

1. Project Management, Reporting / Site Inventory, and Selection

Oversee the grant by providing necessary information to the EPA regarding project progress. This is typically done through submitting quarterly progress reports to EPA, engaging in verbal and written communications, and updating databases such as ACRES. During the course of the grant, necessary forms will be submitted to EPA for approval. These include the property profile questionnaire (PPQ) to be filled out by the Municipality of Norristown or the QEP and approved by EPA. PPQs will be submitted in advance of performing a Phase I assessment at a site.

Additionally, the All-Appropriate Inquiry Checklist will be submitted to EPA for review. The

Director of Planning and Municipal Development will oversee the implementation of the described grant activities as well as manage all coordination of the QEP and EPA reporting.

The QEP will be required to complete and submit the following EPA reporting documents:

▪ Quarterly Progress Reports.

▪ Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Reporting.

▪ Federal Financial Reporting (FFR).

▪ ACRES / Property Profile Form; and

▪ Final Performance Report.

Through the QEP, the Municipality of Norristown will complete an inventory of Phase I

Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) candidates. The completion of this report will establish a list of sites that can then be prioritized. Once the site inventory is complete the QEP will assist in the prioritization of the list. The QEP must have proven experience in site selection under EPA brownfields programs and provide options for communicating the inventory to the public.

2. Community Outreach

Regarding community outreach, the Municipality of Norristown is planning for the preparation of meeting materials, brochures and other printed program materials describing the project to the public. In addition, the Municipality plans to prepare a Community Relations Plan that describes methodology and schedules for the following goals:

▪ Set up and provide notice of public meetings to inform the public of the project;

▪ Present and explain the grant and brownfield program to neighborhood representatives and other affected parties; and

▪ Travel to brownfield-related training conferences.

The QEP should be prepared to be available to present at public meetings and provide community updates and project related information for printed programs for public distribution.

3. Site Assessments

Utilizing the inventory of sites, the QEP will be directed by the Municipality of Norristown to conduct site assessments on selected sites. Sites will be evaluated through performance of Phase

I and/or Phase II ESA’s. The Phase I ESA’s will be performed by the QEP in accordance with the

American Society for Testing Materials Standard (ASTM) 1527-21 and the guidelines set forth in the EPA’s All Appropriate Inquiry Rule to qualify for liability protection under CERCLA.

The Municipality of Norristown anticipates up to twenty (20) Phase I ESA’s will be completed for sites potentially impacted with hazardous substances.

Once the Phase I ESA’s have been completed, a percentage of sites will be recommended for further study by the QEP. As a result, these sites will be subject to a Phase II ESA, inclusive of analytical studies to determine the impact by the site to public health and/or the environment. Prior to undertaking activities involving the collection of environmental samples, the QEP will prepare and submit a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) which meets the approval of the EPA Region

III Brownfields Program. The QAPP will describe the project, the sampling and analytical strategies, and the methods and procedures that will be used in all Phase II assessments. The QAPP will be submitted at least 30 days prior to the initiation of field activities and approval will be obtained prior to performing any field sampling. The QAPP will be utilized to facilitate the compilation of Site-Specific Sampling Plans (SSAP) to determine the degree of contamination at these sites. Additionally, the QEP will prepare a generic Health and Safety Plan to ensure that the activities of the Phase II will be conducted in a safe manner.

The Municipality of Norristown anticipates up to ten (10) Phase II ESA’s will be completed for sites potentially impacted with hazardous substances.

4. Remedial Action Program Plans

The QEP will complete Remedial Action Program Plans (RAPPs) outlining the plan for remediation on targeted locations. These RAPPs will be used to leverage cleanup funds from State brownfields grant programs and reviewed by Pennsylvania DEP in the application process. The

Municipality of Norristown anticipates up to four (4) RAPPs will be completed for sites potentially impacted with hazardous substances.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

The proposal to be submitted must include the following without exceptions:

1. A written statement of the consultant understands the project.

2. The name, resume and role of the individual(s) working on the project. Note: The resumes should not exceed two pages each.

3. Specific examples of comparable work completed within the last five years from other local government clients or private organizations where consulting services were rendered. Extra consideration will be given to those with grant-funded project experience. Provide a list of the contact names and phone numbers for each.

4. A brief description of the work schedule explaining how the consultant will meet the scope of services.

5. A list of professional references including phone numbers.

6. An itemized budget by task as relevant to Scope of Services.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Each proposal will be reviewed and scored according to the quantity and quality of information provided in response to the evaluation factors. The evaluation panel will assign individual scores, which will be totaled and averaged across all panel members to determine a final composite score for each proposal. The reasonableness of cost/price proposal will have a 25% weight of the total score.

▪ Demonstrated experience in addressing contaminated properties

▪ Demonstrated experience in successfully completing tasks/projects

▪ Demonstrated experience in effectively engaging with community members and federal and state agencies

▪ Experience and capacity of project team/personnel

▪ Reasonableness of cost/price proposal (e.g., rates) based on a comparison of prices among competing offerors and other available information on market rates for consulting services

▪ References

During the evaluation process, the panel may request clarification from proposers if any aspect of a submission is unclear. These requests are strictly limited to clarification and may not be used to introduce new information or documentation. Clarifications cannot be used to alter the substance of a proposal or make a previously non-responsive proposal responsive.

CONSULTANT SELECTION

The following criteria, in order of importance, will be used in selecting a consultant for this project:

1. Qualifications of Consultant: The consultant must demonstrate experience implementing

EPA grants and Phase I and Phase II Assessments under the Pennsylvania Land

Recycling Program (Act 2).

2. Cost as reflected in the “Not to Exceed” figure.

3. Understanding of project and availability of the consultant to work on this project as reflected in the timetable.

4. The consultant must meet the minimum insurance requirements as described by the

Municipality.

The Municipality may hold interviews prior to final selection of the program consultant.

PROPOSALS DUE

Three (3) copies of Proposals for services should be submitted to:

Jayne Musonye

Director of Planning and Municipal Development

Municipality of Norristown

235 East Airy Street

Norristown, PA 19401-5003

Proposals are due no later than 4:00pm on Monday, October 20, 2025. Late submissions will not be considered. For further information, please contact the Planning Department by email: planning@norristown.org or by phone at (610) 270-0451.

PLEASE NOTE:

▪ Proposals received after this time and date will not receive consideration.

▪ All costs of developing proposals and any subsequent expenses relating to the contract are the responsibility of the applicant.

▪ The Request for Proposal is not subject to the competitive bidding process, and any contract entered as a result of any proposal will not be based on the concept of the

“lowest responsible bidder.” Furthermore, as mentioned previously, the Municipality of

Norristown reserves the right to reject any and all proposals.

▪ The Municipality of Norristown reserves the right to procure services by another means.

▪ The Municipality of Norristown reserves the right to modify the selection process or project scope.

▪ Soliciting proposals and granting exclusive negotiation rights does not commit the

Municipality of Norristown to accept any terms of the proposal. Final terms of any agreement will be determined by direct negotiation, and all agreements are subject to approval by the governing body of the Municipality of Norristown.

▪ Negotiations may be suspended or terminated at any time that it is determined that additional negotiation would be unproductive.

mailto:planning@norristown.org

▪ Submission of a proposal constitutes express acceptance by the proponent of all provisions of the RFP.

▪ The resulting contract will be for an initial term of 4 years. The Municipality of

Norristown reserves the right to include options for contract extensions in increments up to 1 additional year, contingent upon satisfactory performance, continued need, and availability of funding (including potential future EPA Brownfield Assessment or other

EPA grants). Any such options will be considered in the evaluation of proposals under this RFP.