Statement of Objectives -System Map and Causal Loop Diagram .docx

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Statement of Objectives

Contents

Project Title System Map and Causal Loop Diagram – National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Process Review Team

1.0 Purpose

Multiple departments under the USDA Forest Service (USFS) are needing a System Map and Causal Loop Diagram developed to improve the process and procedures related to collaborative NEPA work performed.

2.0 Scope or Mission

Virtual meetings will be held to discuss the working relationship with each department. From these meetings a System Map, Causal Loop diagram, and Recommendations Report will be developed by the contractor. These developed products and meetings will identify the current relationships of these teams and how they operate cooperatively. The deliverables should provide enough information for the USFS to assess and evaluate opportunities or challenges based on current operational environment.

3.0 Period and Place of Performance

· Virtual pre-planning meeting will be coordinated to take place in October 2023 between the Contractor, USFS contracting officer representative (COR), and one additional USFS point of contact to discuss the development of agendas and/or plan of action to take place. This meeting will take no more than 2 hours.

· Virtual meetings will take place biweekly starting the first week of November 2023 and ending in February 2024. Microsoft Teams is preferred method for these meetings.

· Deliverables including System Map, Causal Loop diagram, and Recommendations Report due April 15, 2024. Must be accessible using Microsoft software such as Word or PowerPoint.

4.0 Background

The Code of Federal Regulations determine the limits and requirements of environmental analysis and disclosure. Agency Manual and Handbook policies further apply environmental regulations to USFS procedures for analysis and disclosure. The application and execution of the regulations and policies fall to several agency branches and teams, necessitating a general review of their processes and interactions.

One such group is EMC, which supports and manages planning and decision-making processes and serves as a central “hub” for application of the NEPA. Within EMC are teams or groups, such as the Planning Service Organization (PSO) which specializes in Forest Planning and Forest Plan revisions. Also in EMC is the NEPA Services Group (NSG), which provides essential service in operational NEPA though technical systems such as CARA (Commenting and Response Application.) There are other groups in EMC such as the NEPA and Litigation Services team, and the Adaptive Management and Monitoring group. All EMC teams are producing tools, templates, trainings, and communications to be distributed to other units.

The relatively new Policy Team also applies regulations and policies, in pursuit of its specialized mission to review, analyze and create agency policies. The Policy Team manages a range of responsibilities related to development, prioritization, and coordination of USFS policy. The Policy Office’s stated mission is: …"working across deputy areas, stations, and regions to ensure that the Forest Service is internally aligned and structured to enable efficient policymaking” and to “provide tools and support to better integrate and effectively develop and manage policy.”

Further, the USFS has a large internal team, called Enterprise, which provides direct operational support to all USFS units across many management levels. While the Enterprise team offers a very large range of support types (such as budgeting, procurement, and public affairs), this Enterprise team also provides operational support in the execution of the NEPA; Enterprise can offer to units NEPA planners, interdisciplinary team leaders, resource specialists, etc.

Lastly, the ultimate execution of the NEPA rests with localized units at Regional, Forest, or District levels of the USFS, where project-level application is coordinated. Typically, project-level response and application of NEPA is generally centralized with regional staff, often Regional Environmental Coordinators or Regional Planners.

Through contracted support, the USFS proposes to review the interaction of the teams above. USFS Area Directors and Team Leads will participate directly in conversations facilitated by the contractor, who will synthesize USFS review into two products which will efficiently and clearly visualize the relationships between these teams.

This contract will ultimately inform the USFS to identify shortcomings or suggest improvements to existing systems. The contractor’s deliverables should capture the roles, responsibilities, and typical support provided by each team, and their relationships to the other USFS teams above.

5.0 Performance Objectives

· Contractor will attend one pre-planning meeting to discuss objectives and provide information required to build the agenda to take place virtually. The pre-planning meeting will be coordinated and hosted by USFS staff. Attendees will be the Contractor, USFS COR, and 1 more FS representative. The pre-planning meeting should take no more than 2 hours.

· Virtual meetings will be coordinated and hosted by the contractor through Microsoft Teams. No more than 15 FS employees will be in attendance. The contractor is responsible for facilitating robust reflection and discussion amongst USFS Area Directors and Team leaders to review existing teams, structures, and systems which apply the NEPA. The contractor will capture the result of these discussions for synthesis into three products: a visual System Map, a Causal Loop diagram, and a Recommendations Report of issues or solutions identified in meetings. Meetings should take between 2 to 4 hours each depending on the need.

6.0 Deliverables / Schedule

· Hosting, organization, and facilitation of 5 virtual meetings beginning in November 2023 and ending in February 2024.

· Development of three products:

· System Map that gives an overview of the key characteristics in each department

· Causal Loop diagram as a visual representation of how all these groups work together.

· Report which summarizes any findings from USFS discussion which identify organizational issues and/or solutions and provides recommendations.

All products should be visually appealing, and the information presented should be clear to understand. Information obtained from the meetings are used to develop these documents according to the following schedule:

· Electronic delivery of review drafts to be delivered to the COR by March 15, 2024.

· Review and comments from the Forest Service will be returned by March 29, 2024.

· Final draft of all deliverables will be due by April 15, 2024.

7.0 Operating Constraints

· All meetings are expected to take place during normal working hours of Monday – Friday between 9am and 4pm Pacific time. No meetings are to be scheduled during Federal holidays. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/

· If any materials are produced with the USDA Forest Service logo, they must follow all requirements in accordance with the Department/Agency branding or style guide. https://www.usda.gov/policies-and-links

· Contractor logos are not permitted, other than on a removable cover page. All services, reports, documents, and material required by this contract shall become the property of the USDA Forest Service.

· Final documents must comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, in a format such as pdf and/or Word, and ready for electronic posting and/or printing hard copy documents if needed for public distribution. https://www.section508.gov/

8.0 Attachments

N/A image1.png