6-5082-Letcher County-Environmental Review IFB Round 1.docx.pdf

Invitation for Bids

Letcher County Request for Environmental Database Reviews

Round 1 Letcher County is seeking to contract with an environmental firm or environmental professional to complete an environmental database search, review local and state records, and submit environmental database reports for approximately 125 residential properties participating in Letcher County’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Home Buyout Program.

Submission:

● Proposals and all required forms shall be submitted through the DFS Procurement Portal at dfs.bonfirehub.com/portal no later than October 16th, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. EST.

Submissions received after the due date and time will be considered non-responsive and will not be considered.

● Bid opening and award will occur at the Fiscal Court meeting scheduled for October 20th, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. EST.

● Questions regarding bids should be submitted in the procurement portal. For questions regarding procurement portal navigation, email: procurement@erassist.com

● Required Documents for Submission:

○ Copy of necessary licensing and certifications

○ Copy of errors and omissions professional liability insurance policy http://dfs.bonfirehub.com/portal mailto:procurement@erassist.com

Scope of Work:

The Contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, transportation, permits, testing, and incidentals necessary for the performance of the work specified in this Scope of Work. The report must address the items identified in this Scope of Work and include a review of the records in Table

1.1 to identify potential environmental concerns for each subject property. In addition, the contractor will conduct a review of the records listed in Table 1.2 for adjacent and surrounding properties within the minimum distance in accordance with the most recent 40 C.F.R. § 312 AAI rule.

Preparation of environmental reports may not begin without written documentation (email) of Notice to Proceed.

Conduct an Environmental Database Search Conduct an Environmental Database Search in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 312 and 33 C.F.R.

§ 137. All searches on land parcels included on the contract will be consistent with the most current American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E1527 or E2247 Standard and any ASTM revisions which supersede these standards.

Identification of the environmental issues and liabilities with the parcel beyond those associated with Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) liabilities and petroleum products is required. These environmental issues and liabilities include, but are not limited to, those issues and liabilities under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). These issues and liabilities include, but are not limited to, asbestos containing material, radon, lead-based paint, non-hazardous solid waste disposal areas, wastewater treatment or disposal systems, drinking water systems, drinking water and/or other wells. In addition, available information regarding concentrated animal feeding operations and historical pesticide uses in orchards must also be included.

Recently proposed changes to the requirements of the current ASTM E1527-13 standard (ASTM E1527- 21) are currently being reviewed prior to acceptance by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). These include but are not limited to changes to the historical sources review, data gaps, and emerging contaminants sections of the evaluation as described as follows:

Historical Review for Adjoining Properties Conduct a review of all available historical resources, such as, aerial photographs, topographic maps, city directories, and insurance maps for the adjoining properties to support each call order deliverable. The research of additional resources, such as building department records, property tax files, interviews, and zoning/land use records, etc., may also be necessary to adequately identify the historical uses of adjoining properties.

If not available, state why the review was not able to be completed within the deliverable at the call order level. No additional research or resources are required to fill in gaps in the history for adjoining properties under the current ASTM E1527-13 Standard.

However, the proposed E1527-21 requires an expanded scope of historical sources research of adjoining properties. All historical sources reviewed will be included as an attachment to each Environmental Database Records Search report prepared.

Significant Data Gaps The proposed ASTM E1527-21 Standard includes a definition of what constitutes a “significant data gap”. A significant data gap is defined as, “a data gap that affects the ability of the environmental professional to identify a recognized environmental condition.” The new E1527-21 Standard requires a discussion of how significant data gaps affect the environmental professional’s ability to make conclusions regarding recognized environmental conditions (REC’s). This discussion, if necessary, will be provided in each Environmental Database Records Search report prepared.

Emerging Contaminants Emerging contaminants including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) including their salts and structural isomers, represent a group of chemicals that have been under consideration for possible regulation as hazardous substances by the USEPA and many state agencies. Some states have adopted regulatory standards for PFAS, but the USEPA has not yet listed PFAS as a federally regulated hazardous substance under CERCLA. The proposed ASTM E1527-21 Standard indicates that until an emerging contaminant is regulated as a federal CERCLA hazardous substance, these substances are not required to be included in the scope of work; however, these will be added to the Phase I ESA as “Non-Scope Considerations.” Therefore, emerging contaminants such as PFAS, including their salts and structural isomers, must be identified, assessed to the extent possible, and the findings incorporated into the evaluation of the environmental issues and liabilities with the subject properties. Each Environmental Records Search (ERS) Report will include a review and summary of available state/local government resources that identify sites or incidents that reported release(s) of PFAS including their salts and structural isomers or related chemicals.

Each ERS Report provided must also identify and document when state/local PFAS mapping resources are not available or insufficient.

Where appropriate and as requested by the COUNTY, the Contractor shall also utilize the most recent version of ASTM E2247, Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process for Forestland or Rural Property, and all updates and revisions. This practice is specific to the assessment of environmental conditions on forestland or rural properties. The contractor shall provide a written report for the environmental concerns listed above.

Prepare and Deliver Environmental Database Search Report The Environmental Database Search Report shall, at a minimum, include a search of all databases shown in Table 1.1, and any state/local resources that provide information related to PFAS sites, incidents, or land uses that potentially use, store, or dispose of materials that contain PFAS including their salts and structural isomers or related chemicals.

Each report will be specific to the property under consideration and the contractor shall provide a copy of all historical sources and other documents/information, including maps and aerial imagery referenced in the Environmental Database Search Report. These attachments to each report will apply to both the subject property and the adjoining properties.

The written report must also list what resources were used in gathering the environmental information and website(s) where information was found.

The written report shall discuss the findings of the database reviews, including (but not limited

to) potential hazardous substances, petroleum products, and/or site-specific issues that may have an impact on the property. The report will contain no speculative language and only have conclusions specific to the database search results.

The written report will include no unnecessary language such as suggestions, opinions, or recommendations; but will include a database search-specific summary of the information identified in the databases searched. The summary section of the report will present the underlying facts, including features, activities, and uses that may indicate the presence or likely presence of hazardous substances or petroleum. An Environmental Professional’s opinion on the likelihood of impact to the property from the findings, along with the rationale for concluding the findings are or are not a REC, will be provided. The report will identify all RECs, controlled RECs, historical RECs, significant data gaps, etc., and will justify in writing why or why not something is considered a REC.

All data gaps will be fully documented and explained in each summary report. If no web-based records can be found for any one of the specific environmental concerns listed in the report, then that will also be documented.

The contractor must state the minimum search distance used for each environmental concern reviewed, the number of sites identified, whether the subject property is listed or not, and if there are any recognized environmental concerns (REC) at, on, or adjoining to properties under review. The minimum required search distances are provided in Table 1.2.

The Contractor shall accomplish the assigned work by employing and utilizing personnel who meet the following qualifications:

1. An Environmental Professional (as defined by the most recent version of the ASTM E1527 and ASTM E2247 Standards and any revisions which supersede the Standards),

2. Person or persons under the responsible charge of an Environmental Professional as defined in 40 C.F.R. § 312 (AAI rule) and 33 C.F.R. § 137.25.

All invoices must include the following:

1. Invoice number and date

2. Date of notice to proceed

3. Description of services provided, number of hours billed, and rate(s) for each, property address regarded in search.

4. Name (where practicable) title, phone number, and mailing address of person to notify in the event of a defective invoice

5. Any other information or documentation requested by Letcher County.

Invoices shall not be submitted until the reports have been accepted by the County.

The following records to identify potential environmental concerns for each subject property In addition, the contractor will conduct a review of the following records for adjacent and surrounding properties in accordance with the most recent 40 C.F.R. § 312 AAI rule:

Table 1.1 - Database To Review For Each Property As Well As Any Adjacent And Surrounding Properties

● CERCLA Information System (CERCLIS) or Docket List

● Critical Habitat

● DOT Hazardous Materials Information Reporting System (HMIRS)

● EPA Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS)

● EPA Emergency Response Notification System (ERNS) Database

● EPA FIFRA/TSCA Tracking System (FTTS)

● EPA National Priorities List (NPL)

Table 1.1 - Database To Review For Each Property As Well As Any Adjacent And Surrounding Properties

● EPA No Further Remedial Action Planned (NFRAP) Database

● EPA NPDES

● EPA PCB Activity Database (PADs)

● EPA PCB Transformer Registration Database

● EPA Permit Compliance System (PCS)

● EPA RCRA Corrective Action Report (CORRACTS) Database

● EPA RCRA Information System (RCRIS) Database

● EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS)

● EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Database

● EPA/State Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), treatment, storage, or disposal (TSD) facility

● Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Map

● Federal/State Permitted and Closed Solid Waste Facilities

● Local Zoning/Land Use Records

● State environmental agency equivalent of an NPL site or a CERCLIS site

● State Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUSTs)

● State Registered Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs)

● State Registered Underground Storage Tanks (USTs)

● State/local Environmental Lien/Deed & Land Use Restriction Records

● State/local Hazardous Materials Management Records (Business Plan, Contingency Plan, etc.)

● Wastewater Systems

● Potential PFAS, including their salts and structural isomers, sources such as, but not limited to, wastewater treatment facilities, use, or disposal sites; sludge or biosolids use, storage, or disposal sites; nearby airports, landfills, military installations, as well as spill/release incidents, firefighting foam (e.g., AFFF), usage or release, and investigations and remediation sites, etc.

● Wetlands Inventory

Table 1.2 - The AAI rule requires a review of Federal, State, and local government records of the surrounding properties and a minimum search distance is indicated for specific records below:

Record/ Source Kilometers

Federal NPL Site Database 1.6

State- and Tribal-Equivalent NPL Sites 1.6

EPA Deleted NPL Site List 0.8

Former CERCLIS Sites with No Further Remedial Action Planned 0.8

EPA RCRA CORRACTS Facilities List 1.6

Registries or Publicly Available Lists of Engineering Controls 0.8

Federal, State, Tribal Permitted and Closed Solid Waste Landfill or Management Facilities

0.8

Federally or State-Registered, or State-Permitted, Hazardous Waste Sites Identified for Investigation or Remediation

0.8

EPA RCRA non-CORRACTS TSD Facilities List 0.8

State- and tribal-equivalent CERCLIS 0.8

EPA CERCLIS List 0.8

Federal, State, Tribal Leaking Underground Storage Tank 0.8

State and Tribal Voluntary Cleanup Sites 0.8

State and Tribal Brownfield Sites 0.8

Submission: