A04_SOW_DRAFT_GPMP_1.pdf

Statement of Work (SOW)

Description and Specifications of Gaseous Air Pollution and Meteorological Monitoring for the National Park Service

DRAFT

Contents

1.0. Introduction

1.1. Background and History

1.2. Overview of the NPS Gaseous Monitoring Networks

1.2.1. Ozone and criteria pollutant monitoring

Figure 1. NPS air quality monitoring network map.

Table 1a. List of NPS monitoring stations for 2023 Table 1b. Partnership monitoring stations.

Table 1c. State monitoring stations.

1.2.2. Portable ozone monitoring systems (POMS)

1.2.3. Dry deposition monitoring

1.2.4. Enhanced monitoring

1.2.5. PM2.5 monitoring

2.0. Purpose of the Contract

2.1. Field Operations Support

2.2. Information Management and Reporting

2.3. Performance measures and goals

Table 2. Performance measures and goals for the NPS air quality network Table 3. Summary table of deliverables.

2.4. Summary of Deliverables

2.5. Summary of deliverables table

3.0. Scope of Work Specifics

3.1. Overview of Network Operation Tasks

3.1.1. Network performance goals

3.1.2. Overview of network operations tasks

Table 4. Detail on contractor responsibilities by monitoring site.

Table 5. Additional monitors and special projects.

3.2. General requirements for network operations

3.2.1. Initial requirements

3.2.2. Monitoring equipment

3.3. Specific Requirements for Network Operations

Task 1. Technical Support Services – Network Operations Table 6. Monitoring stations operated jointly with CASTNET.

Task 2. Twice-Annual Site Visits Task 3. Purchase, warehouse, and use repair/replace parts Task 4. Deploy and operate POMS stations

Table 7. Portable ozone monitoring systems locations.

3.4. Specific Requirements for the Data as a Service (DaaS) Model: Data Acquisition, Processing, Validation, and Reporting

3.4.1. Overview of Data Processing and Validation Tasks for DaaS

3.4.2. Data Management

3.4.3. Equipment Specifications, Documentation and DaaS

3.4.3.1. Non-IT Equipment Property Documentation

3.5. Specific Tasks for Data Processing and Validation

Task 5. Data Management and Archive Task 6. Data Acquisition, Processing, and Validation

Task 7. Data Reporting and Communications Task 8. Preparation of annual data summary tables and maps Task 9. NPS Monitoring History Database Task 10. Poll and submit data to EPA AirNow

4.0. Additional Optional Tasks

4.1. Optional tasks for which offers are requested

Task 11. Urgent Service and Travel Task 12. Purchase, Acceptance Testing and Deployment of New Equipment Task 13. Installation of a New Monitoring Station Task 14. Decommission a Monitoring Station Task 15. Fabrication, Testing and Installation of POMS Task 16. Special Studies Task 17. Special Park Monitoring Task 18. Special Data Processing, Analysis and Reporting Task 19. Air Quality Conditions and Trends Task 20. Hawaii Volcanoes SO2 Alert System and PM2.5 Monitoring Task 21. Operation of NCore site at Look Rock-GRSM, TN Task 22. Operation of Cades Cove and Cove Mountain Air Quality Monitoring Sites at Great Smoky Mountains National Park Task 23. Winter Use Air Quality Monitoring in Yellowstone NP Task 24. Operation of the West Entrance State Site at Yellowstone NP Task 25. Ozone and PM monitoring at Cottonwood Visitor Center in Joshua Tree NP Task 26. Meteorological and PM monitoring at Pinto Wells in Joshua Tree NP

Figure 2. The Joshua Tree MODULAIR-PM site locations for PM2.5 and PM10 monitoring.

Task 27. Enhanced Monitoring at Chaco Culture National Historic Park, NM Task 28. Village Green Bench operations at Grand Canyon NP Task 29. Gas and Particle Measurements using Sensor-Based Units in Parks

5.0. Glossary of Acronyms

List of Exhibits (Section J)

1. NPS Air Quality Monitoring Strategy, 2015.

2. GPMP Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP).

3. GPMP Quality Management Plan (QMP)

4. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for field operations

Available at: https://ard-request.air-resource.com/Project/documents.aspx (see Quality Assurance/Standard Operating Procedures/Network Operations)

5. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for information management Available at: https://ard-request.air-resource.com/Project/documents.aspx (see Quality Assurance/Standard Operating Procedures/Information Management Center)

6. Government-supplied equipment inventory

7. GPMP Annual Data Summary Maps and Tables - sample

8. Monthly Data Summary Report – sample

9. POMS II design and specifications

10. DataView software overview

11. Sample monthly data review materials

DRAFT

https://ard-request.air-resource.com/Project/documents.aspx

List of information web sites NPS Air Resources Division web site: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/air/index.htm NPS GPMP Data Access Page: http://ard-request.air-resource.com/ CASTNET network web site: https://www.epa.gov/castnet NPS GPMP Project web site: http://ard-request.air-resource.com/project/ Hawaii Volcanoes SO2 Alert System: https://www.nps.gov/havo/air-quality-alert.htm

List of Figures

1. NPS Air Quality Monitoring Network Map

2. The Joshua Tree MODULAIR-PM site locations for PM2.5 and PM10 monitoring.

List of Tables

1. List of sites and parameters

2. Performance metrics

3. Deliverables

4. Detail on Contractor Responsibility by Site

5. Contractor Responsibility of Additional Monitoring and Special Projects plus State Operated

Stations

6. Air Monitoring Locations Operated Jointly with the CASTNET Program

7. Portable Ozone Monitoring System locations (POMS) https://www.nps.gov/subjects/air/index.htm http://ard-request.air-resource.com/ https://www.epa.gov/castnet http://ard-request.air-resource.com/project/ https://www.nps.gov/havo/air-quality-alert.htm

1.0. Introduction

The National Park Service (NPS) anticipates the award of this fixed price indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to operate and maintain its gaseous air pollution and meteorological monitoring network. The successful offeror will provide sufficient personnel, time, and materials necessary to ensure the continued operation of the NPS monitoring network (which includes continuous and integrated measurements of air gaseous pollutants, particulate matter and meteorological parameters), including the processing and validation of data collected through this network. Substantial experience in the data acquisition, processing and validation of air quality data is required.

The Contractor shall provide the necessary technical support as described in this section to assist the NPS in implementing its gaseous pollutant and meteorological monitoring program. Network enhancements or changes in monitoring may occur during the contract period and will be handled through task orders and contract modifications.

The successful offeror will be a firm with substantial demonstrated experience in operating and maintaining large-scale air pollution monitoring networks (e.g., networks that provide regional or national geographic coverage).

1.1. Background and History

The NPS is mandated by the Organic Act of 1916 to preserve the natural and cultural resources in units of the National Park System in such a manner as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment and use of future generations. The Clean Air Act (CAA) recognizes that air pollution can have adverse impacts on sensitive park resources and charges the Federal Land Manager (FLM) with an affirmative responsibility to protect the "air quality related values". The NPS Air Resources Division (ARD), as the FLM's technical representative for areas administered by the National Park Service, conducts studies to evaluate the effects of air pollution on sensitive resources in parks and performs air quality monitoring in these areas.

The primary monitoring objectives for the NPS Gaseous Pollutant Monitoring Program (GPMP) are to:

• Establish existing, or baseline concentrations in NPS units

• Assess air quality trends in NPS units

• Evaluate compliance with national air quality standards

• Assist in the development and revision of national and regional air pollution control policies affecting park resources

• Provide data for atmospheric model development and evaluation

• Identify those air pollutants with the potential to injure or damage park natural resources, monitor these pollutants, and correlate measurable effects on these resources to ambient levels of these pollutants

The basic NPS monitoring strategy is given in the 2015 version of this document (see Exhibit J.1).

The National Park Service's Air Resources Division (ARD) has conducted gaseous pollutant (primarily ozone, but also sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen), fine particle, and meteorological monitoring in NPS areas. In recent years, the ARD has conducted, as part of special studies, continuous monitoring of other gaseous pollutants (e.g., nitric oxide/oxides of nitrogen [NO/NOx/NOy], sulfur dioxide [SO2], carbon monoxide [CO] and volatile organic compounds [VOCs]) at concentrations in the low parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt) ranges. Whole air sampling with canisters for the analysis of speciated VOCs has been done intermittently. An active program of “portable” short-term ozone (or other gaseous parameters) monitoring (e.g., POMS) has also been added to the program. A number of parks now have continuous (hourly) PM2.5 monitoring systems. Stacked filter packs are operated at the joint Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) stations; additionally, ammonia measurements with passive samplers have been added to selected CASTNET sites. With the advances in sensor-based measurement technology, particulate matter and various gases are being evaluated for their utility to support the monitoring network. It is anticipated that during the course of this contract, other air pollutant parameter measurements will be added, and some existing methods will be retired.

This contract only addresses the gaseous pollutant and meteorological monitoring program, portable ozone, and enhanced monitoring programs administered by the Air Resources Division, not the visibility monitoring program that is done as part of the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network.

1.2. Overview of the NPS Gaseous Monitoring Program

1.2.1. Ozone and Criteria Pollutant Monitoring

NPS-operated sites will be functional in the regular network at the time this contract is awarded.

Figure 1 is a map showing the location of the NPS gaseous pollutant and meteorological monitoring stations operational as of June 1, 2022. The jointly operated EPA-NPS Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) sites are included in Figure 1 and the portable ozone sites are indicated. Table 1 (a-d) provides a listing of gaseous pollutants and meteorological monitoring parameters at each station and indicates the initial level of effort for this contract. NPS operates some monitoring stations for other agencies as part of joint studies and states have put monitoring stations in some parks, where we have some joint operation. Meteorological monitoring parameters recorded at most stations include wind direction and wind speed at 10-meters, relative humidity, precipitation and solar radiation. Current plans for fiscal year (FY) 2024 will require selected cuts to monitoring as detailed in Table 1a. As always, the number of stations and monitoring activity is dependent on the annual approved budget and availability of funds.

Other forms of monitoring are also being conducted that require support under this contract. Other active measurement devices may be included in future monitoring where short-term measurements, spatial distribution, or specialized details are needed.

Figure 1. NPS air quality monitoring network map showing the active ozone monitoring sites for the GPMP (red) and CASTNET sites (green). Locations that had portable ozone monitors in 2021 are indicated with yellow.

(Interactive map: http://ard-request.air-resource.com/current.aspx) http://ard-request.air-resource.com/current.aspx

Table 1a. List of current NPS air quality monitoring stations by network and the level of contractor responsibility through August 7, 2024.

Ozone Enhanced g

Parameters

Park Name

St at e

O 3 A na ly ze r

O th er

An al yz er

PM

2.

Fi lte r p ac k

CO

NO

-N

O x-

NO

y

SO

W in ds

TM

P

RH RN

F

SO

L

Big Bend National Park TX 1 1 1 1 1 Canyonlands National Park UT 1 1 1 1 1 Carlsbad Caverns National Park NM 1 1 1 1 Chaco Culture National Historic Park NM 1 1 1 1 1 1 Chiricahua National Monument AZ 1 1 1 1 1 Craters of the Moon National Monument ID 1 1 1 Death Valley National Park CA 1 1 1 Denali National Park AK 1 1 1 1 C C C Dinosaur National Monument UT 1 1 1 1 Everglades National Park FL 1 Glacier National Park MT 1 1 1 1 Grand Canyon National Park AZ 1 1 1 1 1 Grand Teton National Park WY 1 1 1 1 Great Basin National Park NV 1 1 1 1 1 Great Smoky Mtns. Natl. Park - Clingmans Dome (seasonal) TN 1 1 1 1 C C Great Smoky Mtns. National Park - Cove Mountain TN 1 C C C C Great Smoky Mtns. National Park - Look Rock TN 1 NO2 1 1 Tr Tr Tr 1 1 1 C C Haw aii Volcanoes National Park - Visitors Center HI 1 1 1 1 1 Joshua Tree National Park - Black Rock CA 1 1 1 1 1 C C Lassen Volcanic National Park CA 1 1 1 1 1 Mammoth Cave National Park KY 1 1 1 1 1 C C Mesa Verde National Park CO 1 1 1 1 1 Pinnacles National Monument CA 1 1 1 1 1 Rocky Mountain National Park CO 1 1 1 1 1 C C Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP - Ash Mountain CA 1 1 1 1 1 1 C C Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park - Low er Kaw eah (seasonal) CA 1 1 1 1 C C Shenandoah National Park VA 1 S** 1 1 1 1 C C Theodore Roosevelt National Park ND S* S*+ 1 Voyageurs National Park MN 1 1 1 1 1 Yellow stone National Park - Water Tank WY 1 1 1 1 1 Yosemite National Park CA 1 1 1 1 1 C C Zion National Park UT 1 1 1

Subtotal NPS Operated 29 1 3 23 1 2 2 29 29 23 11 10

Table 1b. Partnership monitoring stations being operated by NPS for 2024.

Table 1c. State operated stations in parks for 2024.

Ozone Enhanced Meteorological Parameters

Park Name

St at e

O 3 A na ly ze r

O th er

PM

Fi lte r p ac k

CO

NO

- N

O X

SO

W in ds

TM

P

RH RN

F

SO

L

Great Smoky Mtns. National Park - Cade's Cove TN 1 1 1 1 1 1 Joshua Tree National Park - Pinto Wells CA 1 1 1 Joshua Tree National Park - Cottonw ood Canyon CA 1 1 1 1 1 1 Yellow stone National Park - Old Faithful WY 1 1 1 1 1 1 Yellow stone National Park - West Yellow stone MT 1 1 1 1 1 1 Village Green Bench - Grand Canyon NP AZ 1 1 1 1 1

Subtotal Partnership/Special Study 3 0 4 0 2 2 0 6 6 5 2 2

Ozone Enhanced Meteorological Parameters

Park Name St at e

O 3 A na ly ze r

O th er

PM

Fi lte r p ac k

CO

NO

- N

O X

SO

W in ds

TM

P

RH RN

F

SO

L

Acadia National Park - McFarland Hill ME S*+ S* 1 S S*+ S*+ S*+ S*+ S*+ Acadia National Park - Cadillac Mountain ME S** S S** S** S** Badlands National Park SD S**+ S** S S** U U U U U Cape Cod National Seashore MA S** S** S** S** S** Chamizal National Monument TX S** S** S** S** S** Congaree National Park SC S** S Everglades National Park - Cutler Road FL S** Great Smoky Mtns. National Park - Purchase Knob NC S** Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore IN S** S** S** S** S** Mount Rainier National Park - Jackson Visitor Center WA S** Saguaro National Park - East Unit AZ S** S** S** S** S** S** Theodore Roosevelt National Park ND S** S** S** S** S** S** S** S** Wind Cave National Park SD S** S** S** S** S** S** S** S** Yosemite National Park - Yosemite Village CA S**

Subtotal State 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Indicators responsibility of the field support contract. If at State operated site, then data handling and parts replace responsibility.

S Indicates a State responsibility for the station and parameters. Data submitted to AQS by the State.

Indicates that the field support contractor must poll the raw data and store in the database, get valid AQS data later, and report

Indicates the field support contractor must obtain validated data from AQS and include in annual reports

Pre- and post- deployment calibration and tracking for independent POMS NPS partner

C Indicates park or other organization contracts directly for validation service with Contractor.

U Unsupported equipment at station

D Indicates responsibility of GPMP support contractor for data handling only (no instrument calibration or maintenance)

Tr Indicates year-round responsibility of the GPMP support contractor for trace-level analyzers

Indicates responsibility of GPMP support contractor will provide repair parts or replacement instruments

Indicates responsibility of GPMP support contractor will provide instrument calibration and maintenance

1.2.2. Portable Ozone Monitoring Systems (POMS)

The NPS uses light-weight frame structures for self-contained monitoring systems that can be easily moved to new locations, helping to keep on-site infrastructure to a minimum. The key component is a low power UV-absorption ozone analyzer (now certified as an EPA equivalent method) that is combined with a meteorological measurements system, a solar-power system, and a cellular or satellite communications system. These units are being used for summer season ozone survey measurements in parks for periods between 1 to 5 years and then are typically moved to another location. The POMS data goes into the same hourly records database as the regular GPMP network and has a slightly simplified validation procedure. Previously, between 5-10 POMS units were deployed in a typical year, with approximately 1-3 units moving to new locations each year. Funding decreases have significantly impacted our ability to deploy numerous POMS more recently; however, this is still a critical element of this monitoring program. The POMS units will continue to be used for short-term survey measurements of ozone at park locations while the regular GPMP stations are used long-term, regulatory measurements (see Table 7).

1.2.3. Ozone and Dry Deposition Monitoring

In 1994, NPS entered into an Interagency Agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to merge the western portion of the NPS network with EPA's Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET). Under this agreement, NPS is responsible for the operation, maintenance, and data reporting of these stations. Filter-pack flow data, meteorological data, and ozone data from each site is provided to EPA or its CASTNET contractor on a quarterly schedule using a data format agreed to by both contractors. The Contractor will also assist in various tasks such as site survey data, as needed for updates.

1.2.4. Enhanced Monitoring

Another, more technically advanced program, is the enhanced monitoring being conducted at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Great Smoky Mountains, Look Rock station, has been designated an NCORE site and follows the EPA requirements for such sites. In 2014, the NPS took over full control of the site and now is responsible for the equipment support and data handling for the enhanced instruments. Data are recorded at these sites as 1-minute or 5-minute averages. For Look Rock, NPS operates the enhanced monitoring as part of the NPS network operations including all maintenance, data handling, validation, and reporting.

1.2.5. PM2.5 Monitoring

Continuous monitoring equipment for PM2.5 measurements now exist in approximately 15 parks, many of which are run by state agencies or in cooperation with other programs. There is increasing concern for this criteria pollutant and it is being measured more frequently across the country because of health concerns. Wildfire smoke and local emissions of PM2.5 to parks are leading to more widespread monitoring.

2.0. Purpose of the Contract

The purpose of this contracting effort is to provide NPS with uninterrupted, reliable operations that produce high quality data sets in addition to further enhancing the gaseous pollutant and meteorological monitoring network. The NPS expects to award a base + 4 option-year contract for the technical field support and information processing operations of the NPS network. Any deliverables and written reports will be considered property of the NPS and may be shared as desired by the NPS. No deliverables or submissions associated with this contract shall have any restrictions enacted by the contractor.

The primary objectives of this contract are to provide NPS with:

2.1. Field Operations Support

• general network supervision including maintenance of a computerized site

• twice-annual calibration and maintenance trips

• first-line troubleshooting support via phone, email, and web pages

• site selection and installation

• maintenance of a computerized inventory of NPS capital equipment, including a spare parts inventory

• instrument acceptance testing, modification, fabrications, and repair

• training of site operators, including safety protocols

• preparation and dissemination of standard operating procedures

2.2. Information Management and Reporting

• data processing, validation, archiving, and reporting support services

• database management

• reports and data communications

• access to site status and reporting, network operations information for NPS web pages

• training and communication with operators

• annual reports with material for NPS web pages and an electronic summary report

This contract requires the operation and management of some type of information management center that facilitates the involvement and review by ARD personnel in the data validation process through either on-site visits or other communication means. The successful offeror will be responsible to ensure that NPS performance goals for this contract are fully met or exceeded on a continuous basis. The Contractor will be required to report in February its performance in the previous year relative to measures and goals outlined in Table 2. In addition, the successful contractor may be requested to provide certain non-routine reporting and analysis support to the Air Resources Division related to the metadata being collected; for example, counts of how many places monitored, data capture over shorter periods, lists of parks with certain types of equipment, etc.

2.3. Performance Measures and Goals

Although the actual performance of this contract has many different actions, the success is measured by the quality and availability of the data. It will be up to the offeror to come up with the best and most cost-effective way to accomplish the goals. Within the requirements document, we have presented the range of tasks and sometimes suggestions on how they can be done or have been done in the past. ARD staff normally work closely with the contractor to assure that network goals and park needs are met. The offeror’s technical proposal will be evaluated for the ability to complete and accomplish the goals listed in Tables 2 and 3 and the responses to the requirements given in Sections 3 and 4 of the solicitation.

Table 2. Performance Measures and Goals for the NPS Gaseous Pollutant Monitoring Network

Performance Measure Performance Goal

1. Performance of calibrations for pollutant analyzers

Gas Calibrations – automated (O3, SO2, NOx/NOy) All sites:

Zero checks performed once every 24-hour period.

Span checks performed once every 24-hour period.

Precision checks performed once every 24-hour period.

Ideally, every 24-hour period will include a zero, precision and span check for all sites.

Audit and Field Calibration Results – by contractor during site visits Absolute percent difference for 80% of all calibrations at each site are within 5%; 90% within 10%; 100% within 15%.

Note: Absolute percent difference is defined as the absolute value of difference between calibration's slope estimate and 1, expressed as a percent.

2. Data gaps Data gaps for criteria pollutant analyzers not to exceed 2 weeks for the regular GPMP network stations.

3. Instrument problems Analyzers/calibrators: Maximum instrument downtime ≤ 10 days Site Visits: All problems identified during semi-annual visits are resolved within 14 days.

4. Data communications problems 100% of sites polled hourly.

Alternate data collection provided for all sites when communications are down.

5. Precision checks 100% of sites, at least 1 passing precision check every 14 days.

6. Zero/span checks 100% of sites, at least 1 passing zero/span check every 14 days.

7. Semi-annual site visit reports (Applies to emergency site visits)

100% of site visit reports are submitted as digital documents within 30 calendar days of the site visit.

8. Data capture

Valid data

Quarterly Criteria:

≥ 95% valid data capture of available hours

Monthly Criteria:

≥ 85% valid data capture of available hours ≥ 75% minimum acceptable level of valid data capture Note: The basis for percentages shall exclude hours lost due to scheduled quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) checks and calibrations.

Quarterly Criteria:

≥ 90% of hours from all sites have valid data

9. Data requests A data request access source must be hosted that has access to valid and raw (preliminary) data.

All large data requests not supported by this source must be handled in a timely fashion (≤ 3 days).

Performance Measure Performance Goal Annual summary of all data requests from current sites, discontinued sites, and state sites supported through the data request site.

Annual summary of the quantity of data downloaded (e.g., # of records, # of times, etc.) along with the types of data products downloaded (e.g., valid data file monthly data grid, rose plot, etc.).

10. Quality assurance performance checks

80% of all performance audits (on a site-parameter basis) will have an average absolute percent difference of ≤ 5%.

95% of all performance audits (on a site-parameter basis) will have an average absolute percent difference of ≤ 10%.

Absolute percent difference of 99% of performance audit points are ≤ 15%.

Note: Average absolute percent difference means the average of absolute difference (expressed as a percent based on the known value) for each audit point.

11. AQS submittals Data from 100% of sites submitted within 90 days.

12. Valid data reporting – monthly reporting

All monthly valid data reports submitted within 35 days of end of reporting period.

2.4 Summary of Deliverables

Table 3. Summary Table of Deliverables

Deliverables Schedule Required Deliverables Recipient(s)

Within 5 calendar days after the award date Meet with Contracting Officer, COR, and other ARD staff; finalize transition plans with current contractor

Contracting Officer, COR, ARD staff

Within 7 calendar days after the kickoff meeting Submit Transition Plan COR

45 calendar days from the award date Station polling operational; fully operational data processing, data review, data storage, field support

COR

60 calendar days from the award date Security plan to safeguard data and computer systems used on NPS projects or that connect or routinely transfer data and files to NPS computers

COR

90 calendar days from the award date Disaster recovery and security plans for database and IMC COR for approval

90 calendar days from the award date Monitoring-site database operational, documentation, NPS access NPS ARD, COR

120 calendar days from the award date Draft of standard operating procedures (SOP) for data management and field support operations

COR

Continuing or on-going items during the contract

2 weeks prior to site visit Written or e-mail notification of intended visit. Phone or email contact with operator and park.

Regional coordinator, Park superintendent, site operator, copy to

COR

35 calendar days after end of data collection month Preliminary data report, final data accessible from Contractor’s database

Site operator, COR

45 calendar days after end of data collection month Data finalized and prepared for submission to EPA AQS; data made publicly available and accessible

COR

90 calendar days after end of quarter Validated data for the quarter submitted to EPA AQS database, data delivered to CASTNET

EPA AQS database, list of sites and months to COR

April 10th Schedule for annual data summary preparation and delivery COR approval

July 31st Annual data summary delivered for the prior year. Email announcement for data summary.

COR, site operators, ARD mailing list

July 20th Annual operational-performance summary report COR

Monthly, date by mutual agreement Monthly invoice COR

Feb 20th and August 20th 0BSemi-annual contract status report submitted COR

Monthly by the 15th 1BProvide an off-site update backup of database contents on an external hard drive, CD or DVD

COR

No longer than 5 workdays of request Deliver data for a request that can’t be handled by routine methods or explain delay.

Approval of COR for large or unusual requests, keep record of all data request filled. Provide annual summary.

Requester, copy COR on correspondence, keep record of requests

Within 30 calendar days of site visit Report on site maintenance visits in electronic document format COR, site operators

By 5 workdays after end of month (Year-round) Summary report of all sites that have exceeded ozone NAAQS COR

No later than April 20th Annual data certification package COR

October 31st Monitoring history database updates – complete updates online COR

January 20th and July 20th Government Inventory Reports, complete listing (semi-annual data report).

COR

3.0. Scope of Work

3.1. General Requirements

In general, this contract covers all tasks required to operate and maintain a fully functional, high-quality gaseous pollutant monitoring program for the National Park Service’s Air Resources Division, and those tasks that are required to achieve the performance goals of this contract. Although the network includes meteorological measurements, it is NOT primarily a weather measurement network.

Although most of the tasks associated with this contract are identified or described herein, offerors should only assume that these are the minimum tasks associated with this effort. For example, safety would be stressed for contractor technicians and park staff when climbing towers, using shelter roof tops, changing filters on towers, or when working on analyzers with the case off. Offerors may suggest additional or modified tasks and procedures that would lead to a more efficiently run program during the technical question period.

3.1.1. Network performance goals

The following documents are the recognized EPA and NPS reference documents that form the basis for the GPMP program. The technical approach of the offeror’s proposal must fully meet or exceed the requirements set forth in these documents. These documents are available from the US Environmental Protection Agency web sites (most from: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/).

EPA Guidance Documents

• EPA Quality Assurance Handbook for Air Pollution Measurement Systems:

- Volume I, A Field Guide to Environmental Quality Assurance

(EPA/600/R-94/038a, April 1994)

- Volume II, Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Program

(EPA-454/B-13-003, May 2013)

- Part 2.12 Monitoring PM2.5 in Ambient Air Using Designated Reference or

Class I Equivalent Methods. (November 1998)

- Volume IV, Meteorological Measurements

(EPA-454/B-08-002, March 2008)

• EPA Meteorological Monitoring Guidance for Regulatory Modeling Applications

(EPA-454/R-99-005, February 2000).

• EPA Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) EPA QA/G-5

(EPA/240/R-02/009, December 2002).

• EPA Guide to Writing Quality Assurance Project Plans for Ambient Air Monitoring

Networks (EPA-454/B-18-006, August 2018).

• 40 CFR 50, National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards

• 40 CFR 50, Appendix A-1. Reference Measurement Principle and Calibration Procedure for the Measurement of Sulfur Dioxide in the Atmosphere (Ultraviolet Fluorescence Method)

• 40 CFR 50, Appendix C. Measurement Principle and Calibration Procedure for the Measurement of Carbon Monoxide in the Atmosphere (Non-Dispersive Infrared Photometry) http://www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/

• 40 CFR 50, Appendix D. Measurement Principle and Calibration Procedure for the Measurement of Ozone in the Atmosphere

• 40 CFR 50, Appendix F. Measurement Principle and Calibration Procedure for the Measurement of Nitrogen Dioxide in the Atmosphere (Gas Phase Chemiluminescence)

• 40 CFR 50, Appendix L. Reference Method for the Determination of Fine Particulate Matter as PM2.5 in the Atmosphere

• 40 CFR 53, Ambient Air Monitoring Reference and Equivalent Methods

• 40 CFR 58, Appendix A. Quality Assurance Requirements for Monitors Used in the

Evaluation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards

• 40 CFR 58, Appendix C. Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Methodology

• 40 CFR 58, Appendix D. Network Design Criteria for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring

• 40 CFR 58, Appendix E, Probe and Monitoring Path Siting Criteria for Ambient Air

Quality Monitoring

• 40 CFR 58, Appendix G. Uniform Air Quality Index (AQI) and Daily Reporting

• Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) Quality Assurance Project Plan

(QAPP) (Documents & Reports | Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) | US

EPA)

National Park Service Guidance Documents

These NPS documents on the operation of the monitoring network are available as attachment files with the solicitation and contract. Other information can be obtained from the NPS Air Resources Division web site (https://www.nps.gov/subjects/air/index.htm) or the GPMP project web site (https://ard-request.air-resource.com/project/).

• Exhibit J.1 - NPS Air Quality Monitoring Strategy, 2015.

• Exhibit J.2 - NPS Gaseous Pollution and Meteorological Monitoring Network Quality Assurance

Project Plan (QAPP)

• Exhibit J.3 - NPS Gaseous Pollution and Meteorological Monitoring Network Quality

Management Plan (QMP)

• Exhibit J.4 and J.5 - National Park Service Air Quality Standard Operating Procedures and

Technical Instructions (SOPs):

J.4 SOPs for field operations available at: https://ard-request.air-resource.com/Project/documents.aspx, see Quality Assurance/Standard Operating Procedures/Network Operations J.5 SOPs for information management available at: https://ard-request.air-resource.com/Project/documents.aspx, see Quality Assurance/Standard Operating Procedures/Information Management Center

3.1.2. Overview of Network Operations Tasks

The Contractor shall provide the necessary personnel, time, and materials, as well as develop policies, practices, and procedures, to ensure that all NPS gaseous pollutant monitoring stations, for which NPS has primary responsibility for site operations, strictly adheres to NPS Standard Operating https://www.epa.gov/castnet/documents-reports https://www.epa.gov/castnet/documents-reports https://www.nps.gov/subjects/air/index.htm https://ard-request.air-resource.com/project/ https://ard-request.air-resource.com/Project/documents.aspx https://ard-request.air-resource.com/Project/documents.aspx

Procedures. Furthermore, the Contractor must meet or exceed the NPS performance goals for this contract. Any program, practice, procedure, or policy developed and implemented must ensure NPS operations meet or exceed EPA's minimum requirements set forth in 40 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 58, particularly the quality assurance requirements of Appendix A of Part 58, unless NPS specifically states that another procedure is to be followed, such as for the Portable Ozone Monitoring Systems (POMS) or enhanced monitoring, that should generally follow EPA National Core Multi-pollutant monitoring sites (NCORE) network quality assurance requirements. Tables 4a and 4b provide further details on the contractor’s responsibilities by monitoring site and network.

Table 4a. Additional details on contractor responsibilities by monitoring site and network – fixed installation.

Regular Network - Site Operating Information Networks Monitoring Responsibilities

Site Name Abbrv Ozone monitor

NPS

CASTNET

State, EPA, other agency other

GPMP

station

Station support Data handling, validation

AirNow polling

Big Bend NP BIBE X 1 Yes Yes Yes Canyonlands NP CANY X 1 Yes Yes Yes Carlsbad Caverns NP CAVE X Yes Yes Yes Chaco Culture NHP CHCU X 1 Yes Yes Yes Chiricahua NM CHIR X 1 Yes Yes Yes Craters of the Moon NM CRMO X 1 Yes Yes Yes Death Valley NP DEVA X 1 Yes Yes Yes Denali NP and Preserve DENA X 1 Yes Yes No Dinosaur NM DINO X 1 Yes Yes Yes Everglades NP EVER 1 Yes Yes No Glacier NP GLAC X 1 Yes Yes Yes Grand Canyon NP GRCA X 1 Yes Yes Yes Grand Teton NP GRTE X 1 Yes Yes Yes Great Basin NP GRBA X 1 Yes Yes Yes Great Smoky Mtns. NP – Cade’s Cove GRSM-CC X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Great Smoky Mtns. NP - Clingmans Dome GRSM-CD X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Great Smoky Mtns. NP - Cove Mountain GRSM-CM X 1 Yes Yes No

Great Smoky Mtns. NP - Look Rock GRSM-LR X 1 1 Yes Yes No

Hawaii Volcanoes NP - Visitors Center HAVO-VC 1 Yes Yes Yes

Joshua Tree NP – Black Rock JOTR-BR X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Joshua Tree NP – Cottonwood Canyon JOTR-CC X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Lassen Volcanic NP LAVO X 1 Yes Yes Yes Mammoth Cave NP - Houchin Meadow MACA-MX X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Mesa Verde NP MEVA X 1 Yes Yes Yes Pinnacles NM PINN X 1 Yes Yes Yes Rocky Mountain NP ROMO X 1 Yes Yes Yes Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP - Ash Mountain SEKI-AM X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP - Lower Kaweah SEKI-LK X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Shenandoah NP SHEN X 1 Yes Yes No Voyagers NP VOYA X 1 Yes Yes Yes Yellowstone NP – Old Faithful Snow Lodge YELL-OS 1 Yes Yes Yes

Yellowstone NP - Water Tank YELL-WT X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Yellowstone NP – West Yellowstone YELL-WS 1 Yes Yes Yes

Yosemite NP - Turtleback Dome YOSE-TD X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Zion NP ZION X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Table 5. Additional monitoring and special projects, plus State operated stations.

Site Name Abbreviation Ozone monitor CASTNET

State, EPA, other agency other

GPMP

station

Station support

Data handling, validation

AirNow polling

Special Monitoring or Studies by NPS in parks Hawaii Volcanoes NP – Sensor Network SO2 Sensor Net+PM2.5 10 Yes Yes No Kaloko-Honokohau NHP KAHO (PM2.5 sensor) 1 No Yes No Pu'uhonua o Honaunau NHP PUHO (PM2.5 sensor) 1 No Yes No Joshua Tree – Pinto Wells JOTR-PW 5 Yes No No Grand Canyon NP – Mather Point Bench GRCA-MP X 1 Yes Yes Yes

Monitoring stations in parks but not operated by NPS Acadia NP - McFarland Hill ACAD 1 S some some * No Acadia NP - Cadillac Mtn ACAD S some some * No Badlands NP BADL S No some ** No Cape Cod NS CACO S No some ** No Chamizal N. Mem. CHAM S No some ** No Congaree NP CONG S No some ** No Cowpens NB COWP S No some ** No Everglades NP - Cutler Road EVER-CR S No ** No Great Smoky Mtns. NP - Purchase Knob GRSM-PN S No some ** No Indiana Dunes INDU S No ** No Mount Rainier NP – Jackson Visitor Center MORA S No some ** No Saguaro NP SAGU S No some ** No Theodore Roosevelt NP THRO S No some * No Wind Cave NP WICA S No some * No Yosemite NP - Yosemite Village YOSE-YV S No No No

1 Indicators responsibility of the field support contract. If at State operated site, then data handling and parts replace responsibility.

* Indicates that the field support contractor must poll the raw data and store in the database, get valid AQS data later, and report ** Indicates the field support contractor must obtain validated data from AQS and include in annual reports C Indicates park or other organization contracts directly for validation service with Contractor.

3.2. General Requirements for Network Operations

The Contractor shall provide the personnel, time, and materials to develop and implement a monitoring program, including practices, procedures and policies, to ensure that the tasks in the following sections are accomplished.

• Technical support services

• Site maintenance visits

• Equipment acceptance testing and modification

• Site operations and review

• Equipment and parts inventory

• Portable station operations

• Additional support services

3.2.1. Initial Requirements

The Contractor (e.g., project manager and other key personnel) shall meet with the NPS Contracting Officer, the GPMP program COR, and other ARD personnel, ideally at the NPS Lakewood, CO office, but may also be held virtually, to discuss the contractor's proposed operational procedures and how these procedures may differ from those currently employed within the first 5 days after award.

Also, the new Contractor shall communicate with the outgoing Contractor to develop a written phase-out/phase-in transition plan for presentation to the COR and approval by NPS.

A written transition plan shall be due within 7 calendar days of this initial meeting. The transition plan must address all aspects of transferring network operations from the current contractor to the new contractor, including, but not limited to, acquiring NPS historical data, switch over for data polling, contacting of site operators, transferring government-owned equipment, and preparing new database systems to accept NPS data. Proposals should give a general description of additional activities to be performed during the transition.

Proposed procedures for field operations support and information management must be equivalent to, or enhance, the procedures included in Section J of this Solicitation, EPA's applicable quality assurance regulations (Appendices A and B, 40 CFR 58), and the guidelines found in EPA's Quality Assurance Handbook for Air Pollution Measurement Systems, Volumes I, II, and IV. Proposals must describe how and why any proposed changes or enhancements to existing procedures will benefit operations, maintenance, management, costs, or other aspects of the NPS network.

3.2.2. Monitoring Equipment

All NPS gaseous pollutant monitoring stations are equipped with continuous ozone monitors and ozone transfer-standard instruments; some monitoring stations also contain continuous sulfur dioxide monitors, continuous PM2.5 analyzers, or other analyzers (see Table 1 for equipment in place and Exhibit J.6 for an inventory count of equipment) provided by NPS or partners. Most stations are equipped with 10-m tilt-down towers for the measurement of wind speed and wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, and precipitation. All NPS regular network GPMP stations are also equipped with ESC dataloggers; some stations may use Campbell Scientific dataloggers for webcams or special purposes. Most stations have cellular communication service and are polled hourly to retrieve collected information; several stations also have satellite data communications. Each station uses a contractor provided laptop personal computer (PC) running

DataView software (see Exhibit J.10) that allows operators to view data, perform calibrations, use station checklists, view the station SOPs, view training materials, and enter electronic log notes. The Contractor is able to poll the monitoring station PC to obtain all logbook entries and calibration information, to access both hourly and 1-minute data, and to view parameter strip charts. The Contractor shall be responsible for helping specify the equipment, install and maintain the devices on-site, and incorporate the data into the current centralized database.

NPS also operates some stations as part of partnerships or interagency agreements that are not located in parks. These stations are handled under additional tasks if not listed in the contractor responsibility tables.

3.3. Specific Requirements: Field and Operational Support

The tasks contained in this document reflect the current state of the program. Since this program evolves and changes subject to the availability of funds, the offeror should be aware that various tasks maybe subject to negotiations resulting from various program pressures.

The Contractor shall provide in the technical proposal the responsibilities of each individual position assigned to field support and operations as well as an estimate of the hours each individual will be assigned to the tasks described in this document. It is not required that personnel be assigned full-time to this contract and the offeror may recommend a personnel mix.

As part of the technical proposal, the offeror should identify the anticipated minimum requirements for field support and operational personnel.

Task 1. Technical Support Services – Network Operations ARD has the primary responsibility for operations of this monitoring network (see Tables 4 and 5).

Basically, the NPS wants the field support contractor to handle all aspects of operating the air quality stations in the parks. NPS will assist in locating and providing a site and an operator for the station.

Contractor personnel shall maintain periodic contact (weekly or more often as needed) with Park station operators, who are usually NPS employees but may be subcontractors, and provide technical support to Park personnel as needed. Support to Parks shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

a) Obtain and train local site operators, as needed. Currently there are three site operator personnel, which includes Badlands, Trapper Creek, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks, that are the responsibility of the contractor, and there must be a plan to ensure these are continued through this award. It is likely that there may be additional site operators needed in the future that are not Park personnel, thus, this is critical to the success of the program.

b) Periodic scheduled (generally weekly) phone or email contact with Park station operators to determine status of site operations.

c) Routine screening of data polling reports, polled data, and any site status reports from data processing personnel assigned to this project to verify that all site data parameters are within acceptable limits (generally hourly-weekly).

d) Provide a toll-free telephone number for site operators to call to obtain technical assistance and electronic communication, such as email accounts or web pages, to help site operators with standard operating procedures and to diagnose and correct instrument malfunctions.

e) The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that sufficient spare parts are on hand to meet or exceed the performance goals of this contract. The Contractor will be required to purchase spare parts. A list of current parts for NPS monitoring sites is found in Exhibit J.6.

f) The Contractor shall maintain an updated, computerized inventory of all NPS capital equipment serial numbers and NPS property numbers and shall provide the COR a complete accounting of all serial/property numbers for each location on a semi-annual basis, and upon request by the COR. For quality assurance reasons, the history of all analyzers should be traceable using the database (Exhibit J.6).

g) Review documentation generated by site operators during contractor site visits to assure that site operators are properly following written operating procedures. If DataView is not proposed by the offeror to be used, then an alternate electronic notebook must be provided.

h) Provide a support laboratory/workshop for instrument testing, calibration, maintenance and repair of equipment used at the monitoring stations.

i) Identify when problems occur with instruments or other equipment, enter problems in the Electronic Status Board (ESB), and take action to solve the problem. If replacement parts costing in excess of $2,000 are needed or the instrument needs to be delivered to the manufacturer for repair, the Contractor's Project Manager must obtain prior approval from the COR. Plan on at least 2 special repair visits per year for the network. Urgent repairs and service other than those special visits will be handled through Task 19, as deemed necessary by the government.

j) Coordination with EPA's Clean Air Trends and Status Network (CASTNET). The Contractor shall be required to coordinate with EPA and EPA's contractor (currently WSP, Inc.) to ensure that NPS meets CASTNET monitoring objectives and quality assurance guidelines. The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

• Periodically communicate with EPA contractors to ensure a coordinated effort exists between the two agencies.

• Provide filter-pack sample system flow data, meteorological parameters, and ozone data to EPA's contractor on a periodic basis and in an electronic format needed by the EPA contractor.

• Participate in monthly conference calls to coordinate CASTNET operations.

• Review log sheets from the CASTNET filter-pack sampler to assure proper functioning of the equipment and that the operator is following procedures.

• Participate in the preparation of joint standard operating procedures (SOP) and the quality assurance plan (QAPP). The NPS operations are equivalent to EPA operations and are generally described in the NPS standard operating procedures and quality assurance criteria.

• Transfer validated data to the EPA Contractor quarterly in the format they require.

Accept hourly data from the EPA contractor for NPS sites operated by them or needed by NPS for analysis. Accept weekly concentration data and deposition data resulting from the filter-pack sampling. Store the CASTNET data in a database and make the data accessible to the NPS and general public.

• Attendance at the annual CASTNET Summit (location TBD) to assess the network issues and needs.

k) Maintain the DataView software systems and electronic notebook at stations or provide an equivalent. The contractor should have a plan for the software that will be used, laptop PC maintenance and replacement, and all operational details required to ensure the network functions properly.

l) The Contractor shall be responsible for calibration, maintenance, repairs, and consumable supplies at two enhanced monitoring stations. Currently, repair parts, consumable supplies, and troubleshooting assistance are provided at Mammoth Cave NP and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks NP for additional measurements such as SO2, NOx/NOy, PM2.5, and CO. Data from these monitoring sites shall be archived by the Contractor in a database as 1-min and hourly averages. Data is validated by the Contractor for the Mammoth Cave and the Great Smoky Mountains stations. Moreover, Mammoth Cave requires additional site support so please account for this extra support. For instance, this may assume an extra day of work per site visit at this location to achieve the extra support.

m) The NPS PM2.5 monitor at Hawaii Volcanoes NP (Met One BAM 1020) is supported by the ARD field support contractor, and includes the full support and data processing, repairs, data submittals, and reporting. This site is queried hourly for data submittal to EPA AirNow for 12-month seasons. Validated data are submitted to the EPA AQS database and to AirNow.

n) Equipment Acceptance Testing and Modification.