4-Attachment B Scope of Work.docx

Scope of Work

1. Introduction The Division of Drinking Water (the Division) requires assistance from a contractor to help public drinking water systems address emerging contaminants.

The selected contractor will assist small or disadvantaged community public water systems by completing feasibility studies, estimates, concept designs, or other requested materials in order to help public water systems apply for emerging contaminant remediation funding.

This project will be a five year contract ending on January 2nd, 2032. Key deliverables include feasibility studies and reports, pilot testing results, State Revolving Fund (SRF) funding applications, and concept project design.

1.1 Background

The Division is the primary agency in Utah for enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Enforcement of the SDWA ensures Utah residents and visitors have access to reliable, clean, and safe drinking water. This contract will replace the existing contract number 256365.

The Contractor will support the Division in carrying out its mission and core values within the context of assisting small or disadvantaged public water systems to attain compliance with PFAS regulation within the SDWA and address other emerging contaminants listed in EPA’s Candidate Contaminant List (CCL) list.

On April 26, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) established the PFAS Rule requiring community water systems and non-transient, non-community water systems, herein referred to as public water systems, to be compliant with six PFAS MCLs by April 26, 2029.

PFAS Chart

A mixture of two or more of the following::

PFBS

Gen X (HFPO-DA)

PFNA

PFHxS Hazard Index (HI) =1

The purpose of this regulation is to prevent PFAS exposure in drinking water to millions of people, thus preventing serious PFAS-attributable illnesses.

Please refer to EPA’s Final PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation Website linked here for more information: https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas

1.2 Scope of Work

The contractor shall provide licensed professional engineers with demonstrated experience delivering engineering technical assistance to small and rural community public water systems in the Mountain West Region to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants. Any specific experience in Utah will be preferred. Additionally, key personnel must possess knowledge of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s new drinking water PFAS rule, Utah regulatory requirements, federal funding guidelines, Utah State Revolving Fund (SRF) application, and emerging contaminants including PFAS treatment technologies.

A public water system is defined as small if it serves a population of less than or equal to 10,000 people.

Utah has developed the definition of a disadvantaged community as follows:

· A PWS with a state Median Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) that is at or below 80% of the state’s MAGI, or

· A community PWS with a monthly average residential water bill that is greater than or equal to 1.75% of the local MAGI.

There are around 520 small or disadvantaged community water systems in Utah at the time of this RFP posting, any number of which may require technical assistance from the contractor. The contractor may hire subcontractors, but is not required to do so.

The Division will solicit qualifying water systems using a service request form and provide the contractor with a list of systems to receive assistance. The Division will have controls over the prioritization and general schedule of work and will establish a procedure with the contractor for relaying this information.

The contractor must contact each of the assigned public water systems to schedule site visits, coordinate research, and collect water quality samples for evaluation of PFAS or other emerging contaminants treatment planning and design, alternate options, and financial cost modeling.

Technical personnel will need to be able to coordinate and provide assistance relating to the following modules:

· Module A: Evaluate Water System Capacity to Remediate Emerging Contaminants

· Conduct a water system review, site visit, and meet with water system personnel to assess options for remediating PFAS or other emerging contaminants from their drinking water supply.

· Collect raw and finished water samples to evaluate water quality parameters that may affect the remediation, planning, and design for PFAS or other emerging contaminants.

· Evaluate the feasibility of treatment options or alternatives (such as new source development or consolidation with another system).

· Module B: Develop a Planning Report and Technical Design for Emerging Contaminants Remediation

· Submit a planning report to the State that describes a water system-specific approach to remediate PFAS or other emerging contaminants from their drinking water below EPA’s MCLs or other health advisory levels. This report must include the following:

· Service area map

· Water System Schematic

· Water Quality Results

· Labeled Site Photographs

· Treatment options summary, including recommended solution.

· Pilot testing/Bench top studies results as needed.

· Submit to the State a water system-specific technical/concept design using EPA’s Best Available Technologies (BAT) to remediate PFAS or other emerging contaminants from drinking water below EPA’s MCLs or other health advisory levels.

· Conduct pilot testing and benchtop studies as needed.

· Coordinate and collaborate with EPA Office and Research Development (ORD) as needed.

· Provide water system-specific cost estimates for planning, construction and ongoing operations, and maintenance of implementing a proposed PFAS or other emerging contaminants remediation plan. Estimates must take into consideration federal requirements from SRF, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Emerging Contaminants (BIL EC) and/or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Emerging Contaminants Small or Disadvantaged Communities(BIL EC-SDC).

· Submit to the Division a completed PWS Financial Information sheet found in Attachment E.

· Module C: Submit Funding Applications

· Assist water systems with completing the State Revolving Fund (SRF) applications to submit to the Division or any other funding application.

· Assist water systems in meeting timeline requirements for SRF funding application.

1.3 Payment Requirements

The contractor must be registered as a vendor with the State of Utah and submit a completed W-9 form in order to receive payment. Payment will be issued after the contractor submits an invoice detailing each hour of work and the qualifying work completed.

2. Compliance The Division will:

1. Provide the contractor with information about emerging contaminant issues that water systems need contractor assistance with.

2. Provide the contractor with a WaterLink account to access compliance histories and/or inventories for water systems, which the Division has identified as needing, and/or qualifying for, assistance from the contractor.

3. Meet at least monthly with the contractor to identify and discuss water systems in need of assistance and progress made with systems previously identified.

4. Provide training for the contractor on the requirements and standards to address the issue(s) of the emerging contaminant(s) the contractor is working on.

5. Respond to contractor requests for technical assistance or clarification in carrying out the provisions of the scope of work.

6. Provide prompt processing monthly of contractor reimbursement claims as work is completed.

7. Review the contractor’s work and submittals for federal compliance to grant requirements where applicable.

8. Adhere to Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Emerging Contaminant (DWSRF BILEC) and Emerging Contaminant-Small or Disadvantaged Community (EC-SDC) standards including eligibility requirements and Justice 40 objectives.

Contractor will:

1. Meet at least monthly with Division program representatives to identify and discuss water systems in need of assistance and progress with systems previously identified.

2. Respond promptly to Division inquiries regarding actions taken and progress achieved with water systems the vendor is assisting.

3. Assist water systems with financial, managerial and technical issues, including, but not limited to:

a. Evaluate the feasibility of treatment options or alternatives (such as new source development or consolidation with another system).

b. Assist water systems with completing their State Revolving Fund (SRF) applications to submit to the Division. An example of an SRF application in the Division of Drinking Water’s SRF website at: https://deq.utah.gov/drinking-water/federal-state-revolving-fund-srf-program-drinking-water

c. Submit a planning document to the Division that describes a water system-specific approach to remediate PFAS or other emerging contaminants from their drinking water below EPA’s MCLs or other health advisory levels.

d. Submit to the Division a water system-specific technical/concept design to remediate PFAS or other emerging contaminants from drinking water below EPA’s MCLs or other health advisory levels.

e. Submit to the Division a completed PWS Financial Information sheet found in Attachment E.

f. Submit appropriate documentation e.g. estimates and designs meeting federal guidelines and requirements for SRF, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Emerging Contaminants (BIL EC) and/or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Emerging Contaminants Small or Disadvantaged Communities(BIL EC-SDC) funding where applicable.

g. Conduct a water system review, site visit, and meet with water system personnel to assess options for remediating PFAS or other emerging contaminants from their drinking water supply.

h. Purchase point-of-use treatment devices, as appropriate, for water systems requiring them.

i. Collect raw and finished water samples to evaluate water quality parameters that may affect the planning, remediation, or design of PFAS or other emerging contaminants. The water quality parameters must be analyzed by a Utah-certified drinking water laboratory. Results are required to be submitted to the Division.

j. Communication with customers and other key stakeholders about emerging contaminant treatment, development, and actions impacting customers.

k. Provide presentations or training as requested.

l. Provide a total estimated cost for each technical assistance project provided to a public water system.

m. Provide the Division with a proposed timeline for completion of all Modules for each project. The Contractor shall complete Module C within one year of project initiation unless an extension is authorized in writing by the Division.

n. Other duties as requested by the Division Director or designee

3. Project Deliverables Contractor will:

1. Provide monthly reports using a service log template (Attachment D); (included for informational purposes only) reflecting systems assisted and activities undertaken. This template may be modified by the contractor with Division approval. The Division will coordinate with the contractor to establish how these reports shall be submitted.

2. Provide designated individual(s) to serve as points of contact for the Division and systems.

3. Submit monthly invoices that include an itemized list of hours worked, along with a detailed description of the tasks or activities completed for each hour, and hourly rate per employee.

4. Assist water systems with the submission of a completed SRF application to the Utah Drinking Water Board.

4. Project Timeline This project will begin at the execution of the contract and end January 2nd, 2032 or after the project budget is fully expended. The initial budget is $1,100,000.

Recurring events/requirements:

· Monthly reports must be submitted to the Division by the 10th of each month for the preceding month.

· Attend monthly progress meetings with the Division to identify and discuss water systems in need of assistance and progress with systems previously identified.

5. Project Budget The total budget will be dependent on the actual number of projects. The initial budget is limited and adjustments may be made to the number of projects depending on need, demand, and available funding for future amendments.

6. Mandatory Minimums

· Offeror MUST certify they can meet the Scope of Work

· Offeror MUST upload a Technical Response

· Offeror MUST upload a Cost Proposal

7. Evaluation Criteria Personnel Experience- Points Possible (300 points) The vendor's relevant personnel and experience including a list of personnel that would work on the project along with a brief summary of each individual's relevant education, professional experience, and professional licenses and/or credentials.

Project Approach- Points Possible (100 points) The vendor's relevant personnel and experience including a list of personnel that would work on the project along with a brief summary of each individual's relevant education, professional experience, and professional licenses and/or credentials.

Vendor Capacity (300 points) The vendor's capacity and experience to provide assistance to remote/rural areas in the State of Utah.

Technical Evaluation:

Offerors that achieve minimum score threshold of 490 will proceed to the Final Stage: Cost Proposal Evaluation. Offerors with a score of less than the minimum required technical points will be deemed non-responsive and ineligible for further consideration. The evaluation score sheet has been attached to this RFP. The attached evaluation score sheet states the relative weight that will be given to each evaluation criteria.

The evaluation committee, for this RFP, will tally the final scores for criteria other than cost to arrive at a consensus score by the following method: an average of the individual scores.

Cost Proposal Evaluation Offerors successful in the technical evaluation will advance to the Final State: Cost Proposal Evaluation. The Offeror with the lowest total cost will receive 300, or 100% of the total cost points. All other Offerors will receive a portion of the total cost points based on what percentage higher their total cost is than the total lowest cost. The formula to compute the points is: Cost Points x (Lowest Proposed Price/Proposed Price).

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