FINAL_SOL_Attachment_1_-_PWS_jmh_cmnts_05212019gj.docx

SOL 68HERC19R0011

ATTACHMENT 1

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

TESTING AND ANALYTICAL SERVICES FOR REGULATION OF MOTOR

VEHICLES, ENGINES, FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES

I. BACKGROUND AND GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Assessment and Standards Division (OAR/OTAQ/ASD) administers portions of Title II of the Clean Air Act (CAA). OTAQ’s responsibilities under Title II include setting emissions standards for on- and off-highway mobile sources and assuring compliance with such standards; evaluating the emissions and fuel consumption characteristics of current and potential future on- and off-highway motor vehicles, motor vehicle and nonroad engines, propulsion systems and components thereof; and assessing the effectiveness and cost of current or potential future mobile source emissions control systems. Additional OTAQ responsibilities under Title II include regulating motor vehicle fuels and fuel additives; assessing the emissions characteristics of current or potential future motor vehicle fuels and fuel additives; and characterizing the environmental and health effects of exposure to currently-regulated and non-regulated motor vehicle emissions from a wide variety of mobile sources operating on a broad range of fuels and fuel additives. OTAQ is also required to evaluate the drivability, safety effects, fuel economy impact, and net benefits of vehicle and fuel regulations, as well as their impact on the regulated industry and on consumers. OTAQ also has responsibilities for developing promising new technologies to achieve these ends.

Emissions and other types of testing, engineering, and related analytical services are frequently required in support of the following activities: the characterization of emissions of both regulated and currently unregulated pollutants and assessment of their health and welfare effects, the evaluation and optimization of emissions control components and systems, the development and evaluation of baseline emissions levels for emission standards and efficiency procedures for motor vehicles, nonroad equipment, motor vehicle and nonroad engines, propulsion systems and components thereof, the development and evaluation of emissions and other test procedures/equipment, the establishment of baseline emissions levels for standards development, and to ensure compliance with applicable emission standards and CAA provisions. OTAQ also requires assistance in chemical and other analyses of fuels and fuel additives (F/FA); analysis/modeling of the effects of new emission standards or the effects of changes in F/FA formulations on emissions, emission control systems and on fuel production and distribution systems; development/evaluation of health and welfare effects test protocols for F/FA, and their combustion and evaporative products; development and evaluation of costs, effectiveness, health, welfare and fuel economy effects, drivability and safety effects of EPA regulatory activities.

OVERVIEW OF REQUIREMENT

The objective of this contract is to provide OAR/OTAQ with flexible testing and related analytical services. Key areas to be covered under the contract include testing, monitoring and analytical services for emissions characterization, technology assessment and test procedure/equipment development related to regulated/unregulated emissions and fuel consumption for a wide variety of highway and non-highway vehicles/engines operating on all types of conventional, reformulated and alternative fuels in both laboratory and real-world environments. These tasks may involve light-duty and heavy-duty motor vehicles/engines and components thereof, as well as marine, railway, aircraft, small engine and other non-highway propulsion systems. The types of fuels and/or fuel additives which may be considered in the above requirements include any conventional and reformulated gasoline and diesel fuels, alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquified natural gas (LNG), liquified petroleum gas (LPG), hydrogen, blends of hydrocarbon fuels and alternative fuels, as well as electricity (supplied from batteries or fuel cells). Electric, partial electric and non-electric hybrid vehicles using any of these fuels are also included. Off-highway fuels are included in the above requirements (if different from highway fuels), as are engine oils or other lubricants. Other related testing and analytical requirements include testing to ensure compliance with current emissions standards and other applicable regulatory requirements; safety testing of powertrains, batteries, and emission control systems; safety testing or assessment of vehicle effects on emissions; testing to develop emission factor data for in-use vehicles and engines; and development and/or evaluation of various short tests and test equipment for Inspection/ Maintenance Programs. Technical services to EPA in design and evaluation of prototype vehicle propulsion systems and related control, data acquisition and sampling systems will also be required.

Related analytical activities also include statistical and other analyses of emissions and other data to determine air pollution inventories, air quality effects and control effectiveness of specified emission control systems and their estimated costs. Also included are analysis and/or modeling of emissions and other data to determine air quality, health effects, and compliance with applicable provisions of the CAA; and analysis and/or modeling of production and distribution systems related to conventional, reformulated, or alternative fuels and additives for these fuels as well as design of experiment support. Other related requirements include industry characterizations, health and environmental effects assessment, experimental and survey design, safety evaluation of components/systems for vehicles/engines operating on conventional, reformulated and alternative fuels, monetization of benefits, and economic impact studies of the effects of regulations.

II. SCOPE OF WORK

The contractor shall provide all personnel, materials, services and facilities required to perform work in response to written task orders (TOs) issued by the Contracting Officer (CO) involving one or more of the task areas specified below. In most cases, individual task orders will involve an integrated combination of these activities. Each TO will provide available related background and technical information, an explanation of the expected output, and a task order schedule.

The contractor shall use the best reasonably available techniques and methodologies in all quantitative and qualitative analyses, including appropriate statistical design and analysis of experiments and/or surveys. The contractor shall perform and report the results of the measures as specified in the quality management plan (QMP) incorporated into any resultant contract to assure the validity and reliability (i.e., accuracy, precision) of quantitative data sampling, analysis, and modeling techniques.

Due to short legislatively or judicially-imposed deadlines, the contractor shall provide quick-response support. Quick-response or short-turnaround deadlines typically range from one to six weeks.

Contractor services will be required in the following areas:

TASK 1: FUELS AND FUEL-RELATED MODELING

A. FUEL PROCUREMENT, PROCESSING, AND ANALYSIS

The contractor shall obtain access to various fuels and/or fuel additives including conventional and reformulated gasoline; diesel fuel; specialty fuels custom developed for specific programs, alternative fuels, including but not limited to ethanol, CNG, LNG, propane, blends of hydrocarbon fuels and alternative fuels as well as hydrogen; additives, such as commercially obtainable bulk and aftermarket fuel additives, as well as any additives that may be developed for future alternative fuels.

The contractor shall store test fuels at temperatures not exceeding 75oF and shall possess, or have access to, facilities capable of cooling drums containing spark-ignition engine fuels to temperatures not exceeding 50oF in preparation for vehicle refueling.

The contractor shall conduct compositional and/or other analyses of the specified fuel(s) and/or fuel additive(s). Table 1 includes typical parameters for which analyses may be required. Additional analyses may be required for novel fuels or fuel additives.

Table 1

FUEL PARAMETER ANALYSES

The contractor may also be requested to collect fuel samples from retail outlets using standard methods to limit Reid vapor pressure (RVP) loss, and/or for measurement of retail fuel pump dispensing rates or temperature parameters.

B. FUEL INDUSTRY MODELING

The contractor shall use, evaluate, and/or modify or assist EPA in developing/modifying fuel industry models (e.g., linear, combinatorial) that represent the current state of the U.S. refining and alternative fuels industries. The models shall be used to project the capability and cost of controlling fuel quality (e.g., volatility, sulfur content, etc); the economic benefits from marketing surplus byproducts resulting from such changes; and the impacts of these changes on quantities and prices of fuels, among other outcomes. The contractor shall determine costs and benefits, and provide estimates for topics such as:

1) Research, development and design costs;

2) Testing costs, including certification or health effects testing;

3) Capital investment costs, including depreciation and opportunity costs resulting from an inability to invest in other capital goods;

4) Costs or benefits to the consumer, including initial price and changes in price, impacts on operating and maintenance costs or vehicle safety, and consumer responses to changes in fuels;

5) Gains or losses in work hours of labor due to changes in health effects or other impacts of the rulemaking on labor;

6) Costs of welfare effects, e.g., gains or losses in visibility or deterioration of natural/manufactured materials;

7) Costs/benefits from control of regulated and unregulated pollutants, including those other than the primary objective of the regulatory strategy;

8) Social welfare costs and benefits;

9) Calculation of costs and benefits on a regional and local, as well as national, basis, and for specified production sectors; and

10) Life-cycle analysis.

C. EMISSION INVENTORY, AIR QUALITY AND FUEL-RELATED EMISSIONS MODELING

The contractor shall use, evaluate, and/or modify or assist EPA in developing and modifying emission factor and air pollution inventory, air quality or engine/vehicle emission impact models. These models estimate air pollution emissions for specific times and locations, ambient air concentrations, health/welfare effects, exposure rates of pollutants emitted by motor vehicles/engines operating on specified fuels, and changes in fuel properties associated with changes in vehicle/engine exhaust or evaporative emissions of regulated or unregulated pollutants.

The contractor shall develop inputs for the EPA Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES)[footnoteRef:2] model or other emission factor models or studies and shall apply output from these models. The contractor shall use photochemical or Gaussian plume modeling (e.g., CMAQ, CAMx, AERMOD, CAL3QHCR, CALPUFF) for determining national, regional or local air quality effects of regulatory activities. For example, the contractor may be required to model the changes in inventories and the changes in ambient air (e.g., reductions in particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen oxides, toxics and other compounds) resulting from regulatory programs. [2: https://www.epa.gov/moves]

The contractor shall use various exposure models to estimate the full range of personal exposure to pollutants emitted by motor vehicles/engines operated on specified fuels, under current regulatory scenarios and under proposed scenarios. Exposure modeling shall include assessment of annual national averages, as well as assessments of short-term exposures for small geographic regions. The contractor shall conduct risk assessment analysis, including uncertainty and variability analyses that provide information pertaining to current regulatory scenarios and under proposed scenarios. The contractor shall run smog chamber experiments as necessary to obtain the data needed for modeling.

The contractor shall evaluate and analyze vehicle, engine, emission and activity test program data that are used as inputs for modeling and other regulatory purposes. The contractor shall develop, evaluate and analyze software and QA/QC procedures associated with EPA’s Mobile Source Observation Database (MSOD).[footnoteRef:3] The contractor shall convert data from test programs into standard MSOD or MOVES input structures and conduct a QA/QC review of test program data. [3: https://www.epa.gov/moves/mobile-source-observation-database-msod ]

The contractor shall project concentrations of individual compounds in the evaporative and/or combustion emissions from a given fuel or fuel and additive mixture, using known fuel/additive compositions and properties. The contractor shall also determine the feasibility of using emissions modeling for characterizing the individual compounds in emissions in place of analysis of actual emissions.

TASK 2: ENGINE and VEHICLE-RELATED TASKS

A. ENGINE AND VEHICLE TESTING

In general, the type of testing required by EPA is developmental in nature, rather than simple confirmatory testing. The contractor shall test, often on a short-turnaround basis (approximately one to six weeks) a variety of engine types, test types, vehicle/engine classes, and fuel types, some examples of which are listed below in Table 2.

Table 2

CATEGORIES OF REQUIRED TESTING CAPABILITY

Engine or Motor Type HD & LD Compression Ignition (Diesel Cycle) HD & LD Otto Cycle Atkinson Cycle Other (e.g., Sterling, rotary, homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI), electric or hybrid combinations)

Test Type 48” roller electric Chassis Dynamometer[footnoteRef:4] [4: 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive electric hybrid capability would be considered an enhancement.

72” roller electric Chassis Dynamometer for heavy-duty truck applications Engine Dynamometer Powertrain dynamometer that can run both engine and transmission in one system Evaporative/Running Loss Emissions; SHED (sealed housing for evaporative determination) Refueling Emissions Other (e.g., in-use ‘real-time’ emission capture, vehicle driveability, bench-testing, e.g., combustion deposits, etc.)

Aerodynamic evaluations (e.g., SAE 1252 wind tunnel procedure, SAE 1263 or 2263 coastdown procedures, or SAE 2966 computational fluid dynamic simulations) Fuel consumption evaluations (e.g., SAE 1321 “type II” or SAE 1526 “type III” tests) Mechanical and rolling resistance drag evaluations (e.g., SAE 1269)

Vehicle/Engine Class Light-, Medium- and Heavy-Duty (including but not limited to vocational trucks and combination tractor-trailers) Motorcycle Non-Road Locomotive Marine Aircraft Lawn/Garden and other Small Non-highway

Fuel Type Gasoline Diesel Fuel Alcohol/Alcohol Blends Alternative fuels (e.g., CNG, LNG, propane) Blends of hydrocarbon and alternative fuels Gaseous Fuels Other Fuel Types (e.g., hydrogen, bio-diesel, electricity)

The contractor shall operate the vehicles/engines above according to one or more of the test types in Table 3 or such test types as may be developed in the future. Specifications for most of these test schedules can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Parts 85, 86, 1033, 1036, 1037, 1039, 1042, 1043, 1045, 1048, 1051, and 1054. (See http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse) In addition, the contractor shall perform vehicle efficiency testing (items 18-20).

Table 3

TEST TYPES

The contractor shall perform other types of tests. These tests may include procedures such as extended evaporative diurnal testing within specified temperature ranges, evaporative running loss measurement (SHED tests) at various elevated temperatures, low temperature chassis dyno exhaust emission measurement (20°F cold room capability) using the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) or other driving schedules, vehicle interior air sampling, vehicle tests at high acceleration rate operation, tests to determine correlation between specified emissions sampling and measurement systems, and/or tests of current or prototype vehicle, engine, or powertrain components considered by EPA to have an impact on vehicle emissions or fuel consumption, tests to judge the state of storage device charge for battery or hybrid-device propulsion systems (superconductors, flywheels, hydraulics), and others. The contractor shall perform tests during vehicle/engine operation or using experimental apparatus designed to simulate vehicle operation. Such testing could include systems such as simulated evaporative emission generation using a bench-mounted evaporative emission generator and simulated evaporative emission testing using bench-mounted charcoal canisters.

During tests performed at FTP ambient conditions, the contractor shall control intake air temperature and humidity within 75±2oF and 75±5 grains H2O/lb dry air, respectively.

In addition to these emission tests, the contractor shall evaluate the driveability/cold startability of a given vehicle operated on given fuels under specified ambient conditions (e.g., outdoors at low temperatures).

The contractor shall perform any necessary vehicle/engine diagnostics and repairs, as well as vehicle, engine, component or control system modifications, such as the replacement or modification of a vehicle, engine or powertrain component (e.g., emission control component, cylinder head, manifold, etc). The contractor shall monitor and/or modify the emission control logic contained in vehicle emission control modules.

The contractor shall perform vehicle chassis dynamometer tests, using Agency-specified certification cycles, on vehicles ranging from passenger cars to Class 8 heavy-duty trucks. The contractor shall demonstrate that it has the experience and ability to conduct coast-down tests, specifically for Class 8 heavy duty trucks, in supporting chassis dynamometer tests. In addition, the contactor shall have a powertrain dynamometer cell to conduct complete engine and transmission system with Agency-specified vehicle cycles.

B. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF STABLE SOURCE (Particulate Matter (PM) GENERATOR) OF COMBUSTION PM WHICH CAN BE VARIED BY CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS, CONCENTRATION, AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION

The contractor shall operate, provide expert services, and design initiatives for further development and characterization of the EPA’s particulate matter (PM) generator. The PM generator shall deliver combustion-like aerosols that vary in their properties such as chemical composition (HC’s, sulfates, nitrates, water, and soot), concentration, and size distribution. Additionally, it can be used as a first step in determining the feasibility of any initiative for a new PM measurement certification standard.

The PM generator consists of a Jing mini-Cast aerosol generator which has volatiles catalytically removed, a water vapor source, a source of individual hydrocarbon species, CnH2n+1(n=16 to 32), a SO3 source, and a nitrate source. Additional components of the generator include CO2 analyzers, SO2 analyzers, various PM number and size diagnostic equipment, catalytic stripper for volatile removal, CO2 absorbers for CO2 removal from sample stream, EC/OC analysis capability, and other diagnostic, analytic, and sampling system elements. The contractor shall have a solid familiarity with each of these components.

C. PROTOTYPE PROPULSION SYSTEM DESIGN

The contractor shall design, develop, modify, install, calibrate and evaluate propulsion systems and associated control systems and components for experimental advanced propulsion system vehicles. Vehicle systems shall include any combination of external or internal combustion (e.g., Otto-cycle and diesel-cycle) powerplants, including battery or fuel cell driven electric and hybrid vehicle designs. Related components include storage devices, actuators and/or sensors necessary to support a given system/subsystem, hardware and software development (e.g., data acquisition, speed controller), vehicle powertrains (including transmissions), and emission control systems.

D. IN-USE VEHICLE/COMPONENT RECRUITMENT

The contractor shall provide a statistically valid or otherwise representative sample of a segment of mobile source targets for emission sampling and analysis. A group to be sampled may be categorized on the basis of geographic, temporal, design, functional/weight and economic criteria. The contractor shall identify the target population, recruit a suitable sample, and document the validity of the sample. The contractor may, for example, be required to provide in-use vehicles/engines of various model years for the purpose of testing them for emissions of interest to EPA, for characterizing activity and usage patterns, or for exchanging a specified component, e.g., the catalytic converter or electronic control module, for a new part so that the used component may be tested. The contractor shall also provide used parts removed from in-use vehicles (such as by dealers or service stations).

E. SAFETY ANALYSIS OF EMISSION CONTROL STRATEGIES/EQUIPMENT

The contractor shall assess the safety impacts of possible vehicle or fuel-related operating characteristics or emission control strategies. The contractor shall assess the risks (or hazards) and benefits (or improvements) posed by the vehicle operating or emission control strategy to the specific vehicle, other vehicles or the public, as necessary. Task orders, issued under this contract, will specify whether the specified risk/hazard assessment shall be qualitative or quantitative and whether the task order involves assessing either absolute or relative risk. The contractor shall perform any of several generally accepted risk/hazard analysis methodologies, including Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Worst Case Scenario Analysis (WCSA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA).

The contractor shall generate data for such analyses for full vehicle or component effects through suitable testing or gathering of statistical accident, failure or other relevant data. The contractor shall utilize available general accident and failure data, including the following data sources: National Accident Sampling System (NASS), Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS), National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) as well as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall data, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), technical service bulletin and owner complaint files.

Examples of potential emission control strategies to be assessed include vehicle fuel and evaporative system designs, refueling emission control systems, running loss control systems, catalytic converters, diesel particulate control devices, or new or modified propulsion systems, vehicle weight reductions targeted toward lower emissions or increased fuel economy.

In addition to the above technical and analytical support, the contractor shall conduct testing programs to assess fire or other safety risks related to emissions-related vehicle, fuel system or fuel modifications. Normally, this involves components of the vehicle directly related to the fuel/emission control system for both conventional and alternative fuels. The contractor shall provide additional assessments which include a variety of crash/non-crash ignition sources and extend to all aspects of vehicle usage.

F. DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF DATA ACQUISITION EQUIPMENT/SOFTWARE IN OPERATING AND TEST CYCLE DEVLOPMENT

The contractor shall develop and/or modify as needed customized data acquisition systems, including hardware and software as needed, for emission or operating data capture (e.g., vehicle/engine operating parameters for non-road vehicles). The contractor shall program personal computers or other devices for the collection, manipulation and logging of this data or for use as controllers for vehicle engines, powertrains, or components, thereof. The contractor shall be familiar with the operation and/or modification of other equipment such as emissions samplers, dynamometers, or analytical chemistry devices (e.g., chromatographs) in obtaining vehicle emission data.

The contractor shall also use a commercially available (dSPPACE, AVL in-Motion, etc.) hardware in the loop simulation (HILS) bench to run simulations with an engine and hybrid controller in the loop.

The contractor shall perform systematic collection of laboratory and in-use operating data, such as speed, RPM, torque, fuel flow, temperatures and pressures, for various vehicle/engine categories (e.g., urban buses, electrical or hybrid propulsion system vehicles, or non-road equipment) and shall generate, process, and analyze data as necessary to support EPA’s development of vehicle or engine operating and test cycles.

G. DEVELOPMENT, DELIVERY, AND SUPPORT OF ELECTRONIC ENGINE AND VEHICLE INTERFACES AND CONTROLLERS

The contractor shall provide specialized technical services relative to electronic engine and vehicle powertrain controllers. Services related to this subtask will take place on site at the EPA’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL). The EPA will provide the engines and vehicles for this subtask; the engines and vehicles will be operated in both engine and chassis dynamometer cells at NVFEL, as well as over the road.

The technical services shall include programming and integration of flexible electronic controllers into state-of-the-art passenger car engine and vehicle systems, internal combustion research engines, and hybrid (electrical and other) power-trains. These services shall also include configuring control systems for data acquisition, and the integration of actuators (e.g., air intake boost systems) into the subject engines and controllers. The contractor shall address control issues that may arise during the course of the integration of an electronic controller into an existing state of the art production engine.

The electronic control unit shall have the capability of controlling Siemens, Bosch, and other similar intensified, high pressure common rail or port fuel injection systems. The system developed shall incorporate necessary input/output hardware to allow controlling of common rail and individual cylinder fuel injection systems, as well as vehicle hybrid drive system controls. The control systems shall combine the capabilities and features of any or all electronic control units previously built for EPA for production type 1 to 8 -cylinder engines.

The contractor shall ensure that task engines operate under electronic control with transient speed and load characteristics similar to those obtained from the use of the stock control systems only. The contractor shall ensure that data from engine operation can be captured and retained in a manner to permit data recovery and manipulation/presentation in a format such as a Microsoft Excel workbook. The electronic controller assistance required may also provide control over parameters which may be varied for an electric propulsion motor application. These parameters shall be used to simulate vehicle battery pack applications and conditions, as well as e-motor responses to these conditions. These conditions and responses include such parameters as battery voltage, battery capacity, voltage drop, and e-motor speed.

The contractor shall acquire sensor components and systems, fabricate and install torque sensor systems, and integrate them with RPECS IV torque data collection and control. It will be necessary to instrument a vehicle in a manner to obtain precise engine torque measurements to compare to model predictions as the vehicle is driven over EPA-designated speed and vehicle load conditions. Because the vehicle will be operated on a chassis dynamometer rather than engine dynamometer operation will be necessary to instrument the engine in the vehicle to acquire torque measurements which generally are made on engine dynamometer stands only.

The contractor shall work with EPA to specify the torque sensors to be added to the vehicle in order to acquire both shaft torque into the transmission, and “auxiliary” systems torque. The torque into the transmission may be acquired by the placement of an instrumented flexing plate between the engine and transmission, and feeding the data required to the RPECS to control the engine fueling and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems. A separate sensor system would be used to provide torque feedback to the RPECS concerning engine auxiliary systems, such as the alternator/starter and serpentine belts.

H. PROVIDE AND PREPARE VEHICLE/ENGINE TEST ARTICLES FOR BENCHMARK TESTING

The contractor shall acquire and then instrument specific test vehicles/engines for benchmarking test programs. Additionally, the contractor will receive written technical direction, to perform all, or some subset, of the following work:

The COR shall specify through written technical direction what instrumentation shall be installed to prepare the vehicle for chassis dynamometer testing or for an engine for dynamometer testing. Sensors to be acquired and installed most often include torque sensors on the engine flywheel, transmission output shafts, and accessory pulley, but may include other vehicle sensors to fulfill the data collection goals for the specified vehicle. As part of this sub-task, the contractor shall design, fabricate, or modify vehicle/engine parts as needed to allow installation of torque and other sensors on the vehicle and its subcomponents as needed to prepare the vehicle for vehicle/engine dynamometer testing

The contractor shall perform mileage/hours accumulation, the exact mileage/time will be specified for each vehicle by the COR via written technical direction, to break in the vehicle before vehicle dynamometer testing is conducted.

After mileage accumulation is completed, the contractor shall transfer the instrumented vehicle to EPA’s Ann Arbor, MI testing facility for testing by EPA engineers.

I. EVALUATION OF EMISSION CONTROL COMPONENTS/SYSTEMS

The contractor shall evaluate emission control systems or components thereof, e.g., catalysts, oxygen (O2) sensors or electronic control modules. These components/systems may be prototype, new, aged, or removed from EPA in-use vehicles. In general, the contractor shall verify a system or component’s operating parameters and conduct diagnostic tests to determine the overall condition of the component/system and to evaluate its effectiveness (including, bench-aging of systems and on-vehicle testing).

For example, in the case of catalytic converters (or unhoused catalytic material) for use with conventional, reformulated, and/or alternative fuels, the contractor shall perform analyses such as:

1) Catalyst light-off time and conversion efficiency as a function of catalyst temperature, air/fuel ratio and reactant concentrations, using an engine dynamometer or other bench apparatus;

2) Visual inspection of catalysts for external or internal damage/evidence of overheating;

3) X-ray inspection of the catalytic converter for evidence of substrate melting or blowout (monoliths only);

4) BET surface area test for loss of surface area due to thermal deterioration;

5) X-ray diffraction to determine the level of conversion of gamma alumina to alpha alumina; and

6) Bulk x-ray fluorescence to test for total noble metal and poisoning.

In addition, the contractor shall provide, or be able to access, facilities suitable for thermo-aging and durability testing of catalytic converters.

For O2 sensors, analyses such as the following shall be performed:

1) Inspection of the oxygen sensor for physical integrity; and

2) Evaluation of oxygen sensor electrical response as a function of air/fuel ratio.

J. EMISSIONS AND ACTIVITY SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS

The contractor shall monitor mobile source (highway and nonroad) emissions in ambient and indoor environments. The contractor shall perform sampling and analysis for regulated and unregulated pollutants. Sampling shall be provided in accordance with sound experimental procedures and experimental/survey statistical design and shall be provided on a short-turnaround basis (approximately one to six weeks), when necessary. The contractor shall provide analysis of multiple compounds in a single sampling time period and over multiple sampling periods. At minimum, the contractor shall have the emission sampling equipment listed in Appendix C at contract award.

Analysis of emission products shall be done according to specified methods and using specified equipment, including, at minimum, those referenced in Appendices A and B, respectively. Compounds in this category include, at minimum, those listed in the “Master List of Compounds Emitted by Mobile Sources” which can be found at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/toxics.htm. The contractor shall also analyze individual hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols or ethers, individual polynuclear aromatics (PNA) (including wet chemistry and liquid chromatography), individual nitrated-PNAs, soluble organic fractions, sulfates, organic amines, organic sulfides, phenols, certain acids (e.g., formic), carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, nickel carbonyl, cyanide, nitrous oxide, dimethylnitrosamine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and carbonyl sulfide. Properties that may be required to be determined include boiling range, smoke content, particulate size distribution, odor (CCS-DOAS) and organic fractionation. Analysis of lubricating oils may also be required.

The contractor shall provide sampling and analysis of mobile source particulate matter. This would include measurement and analysis of particulate mass, number, size, surface area, morphology, chemical characterization, and particle size-differentiated mass and number concentrations. Particulate size-differentiated sampling should include both steady-state and transient vehicle/engine operation. The sampling and analysis requires detailed knowledge of aerosol physics and aerosol statistics in order to assure the validity and reliability of quantitative particulate sampling, as well as hands-on experience with the particulate instrumentation listed in Appendix B.

Particulate matter (PM) samples shall be collected by the contractor by continuous and time-averaged methods for PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0. Continuous methods shall include, but are not limited to, Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM), Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM), and Beta Gauge for mass, as well as Aetholometers for black carbon (BC), photoacoustic samplers for BC, Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) for particle size, and Condensation Particle Counter (CPC) for particle number. The time-averaged PM samplers shall include, but are not limited to, size selective medium and high volume, Versatile Air Pollutant Samplers (VAPS), miniVOL, dichotomous filter samplers, and Federal Reference Methods. Time-averaged samplers shall employ appropriate filter media. Analyses for speciation of the time-averaged PM samples may be conducted for EC/OC, organic speciation (notably PAHs, but may include diverse compound classes with carbon numbers from 4-45+), acidity, ions (sulfate, nitrate, hydrogen), and metals (chromium, manganese, lead, etc.). The contractor shall also collect continuous, grab samples, and passive samples for CO, CO2, O3, SO2, and NOx. The contractor shall sample and analyze semi-volatile organic species through collection on XAD media followed by extraction and analysis using both traditional gas chromatography (GC) and two-dimensional GC. The contractor shall also provide materials for semi-volatile organics collection as well as extraction and analysis of semi-volatiles from testing and collection at NVFEL or other test facilities. To the extent feasible, calibration and maintenance schedules for the continuous PM and CO monitors shall not occur on PM time-averaged sample days. The contractor shall continue to assess artifacts.

The contractor shall install, operate, retrieve, and process the data from Portable Emission Measurement Systems (PEMS) and Portable Activity Measurement Systems (PAMS). Deployment of these devices may be done on highway vehicles and nonroad equipment of all sizes and types. The emissions to be measured include THC, CO, CO2, NOx and PM. Examples of activity measurements collected by either PEMS or PAMS include, but are not limited to, vehicle speed, engine speed, engine on and off times, vehicle location, vehicle altitude, use of auxiliary equipment, road grade, date, and time. The contractor shall improvise and create procedures to install such equipment to vehicles and nonroad equipment such that the equipment remains operational and secure while sampling real-world emissions and activity.

The contractor shall deploy, collect, and evaluate vehicle activity and emissions data using remote sensing techniques. When specified, the contractor shall install and maintain a portable weather station to collect near real time data on wind speed, direction (1 or 2 axes), temperature, barometric pressure and humidity in a study area. The contractor shall design experiments or surveys and recruit sufficient numbers of vehicles or engines requisite to address the objectives of each task order with sufficient statistical power.

The contractor shall evaluate and analyze the vehicle, engine, emission and activity data that are derived from the test programs. In some cases, the datasets generated from these systems may be too large to store and/or analyze on a single computer and the contractor shall develop tools and/or use existing tools appropriate for working with these large datasets.

For every task order issued under this contract involving analytical measurement of regulated or unregulated pollutants (or measurement of a physical property of a vehicle or fuel) the contractor shall provide a precision statement for repeatability and method detection limits (MDL), using practices specified by EPA in the task order. Reporting of a situation where the property is below the method detection limit shall be identified as either “not detected” or “< MDL”, with an estimate of the MDL for each such measurement. The contractor shall provide written procedures detailing calculation of method detection limits or limits of quantization, provide raw measurement data, and/or perform additional analyses on raw measurement data.

K. ENGINE AND VEHICLE MODELING

The contractor shall model complete engine and vehicle systems. In order to align with the agency modeling tools and maximize the rulemaking support, the contractor shall use the GT-Suite software developed by Gamma Technologies, Inc., ensuring seamless model transfer from the contractor to the Agency. Other software may also be required. (Note: Licenses for the GT-Suite and other essential software will be procured by EPA, as necessary, through a separate procurement process. If needed for high-end modeling, computer work stations will also be procured by EPA under a separate procurement effort from this contract and will be loaned to the contractor). Examples of technical services in this area include, but are not limited to, complete engine system modeling and optimization with the combustion, air handling system and aftertreatment system, dimensional scanning of engine parts for use in a model and full vehicle system modeling and optimization with all key vehicle components such as engine, clutch, transmission, driveline, axle, and wheels. This subtask also includes hybrid vehicle modeling.

TASK 3: ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

A. COST AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF REGULATORY STRATEGIES, EQUIPMENT

The contractor shall determine the costs and benefits on an absolute basis, dollar-per-ton of emission reduction basis, and other approved metric, for possible regulatory strategies involving vehicle/engine emission control regulations. Industry characterizations may be required for baseline determinations. Small business concerns of affected industries may also need to be addressed. The contractor shall determine costs and benefits of program options and provide estimates for various components, including:

1) Emission control component production costs, including cost of materials, direct labor and other costs, indirect labor and other costs, facilities costs, storage/shipping costs and profit;

2) Research, development and design costs;

3) Testing costs, including design prototype, certification or health effects testing;

4) Capital investment costs, including depreciation and opportunity costs resulting from an inability to invest in other capital goods;

5) Costs or benefits to the consumer, including initial price and changes in price, changes in operating and maintenance costs or vehicle safety, and consumer responses to changes in vehicles;

6) Gains or losses in work hours of labor due to changes in health effects or other impacts of the rulemaking on labor;

7) Costs of welfare effects, e.g., gains or losses in visibility or deterioration of natural/manufactured materials;

8) Costs/benefits from control of regulated and unregulated pollutants, including those other than the primary objective of the regulatory strategy;

9) Social welfare costs and benefits; and

10) Calculation of costs and benefits on a regional and local, as well as national, basis, and for specified production sectors.

B. PREPARE ECONOMIC PROFILES OF AFFECTED ENTITIES

The Contractor shall prepare an economic profile of industries, entities, and populations potentially subject to regulatory action. The profile shall contain economic and financial assessment information pertinent to analyses conducted under this contract. The information collected shall include, but is not limited to, data on directly and indirectly affected products, product market characteristics such as the nature of competition and international trade, prices of inputs and outputs, income and price elasticities, industry characteristics such as location, production/sales levels, employment, level and type of industry integration, substitutes, industry and company financial data including income (revenue and profitability data), company balance sheet data, and government agency expenditure data (when relevant).

The profile shall contain baseline projections of growth and change in production, and the number of entities in affected industries. The profile shall also contain the requisite data to inform an analysis to comply with the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), Executive Order (EO) 12898 (environmental justice), EO 13211 (energy impacts), EO 12866 (regulatory planning and review), and EO 13045 (children’s health), and other relevant EOs. The profile shall also characterize the regulatory baseline to the extent that other environmental programs (local, state, national and international) will influence baseline conditions in the future.

C. CONDUCT CONTROL STRATEGY ANALYSES

The Contractor shall perform technical and analytical analyses of alternative approaches for control of pollutants. These analyses shall (1) estimate current and/or future year baseline vehicle/engine and ambient emissions and air quality levels accounting for the effects of other proposed or promulgated pollution control programs (e.g., motor vehicle standards, acid rain program), (2) assist in the identification and evaluation of possible control strategies necessary to achieve targeted levels for air toxics, criteria pollutants, and visibility impairment, and (3) evaluate post-regulatory impacts. Impacts to be estimated include current and/or future costs, air pollutant emissions, and air quality concentrations. The control strategies to be developed and analyzed may include economic incentive programs and other non-traditional innovative control strategies, such as the use of economic incentive strategies, pollution prevention techniques or practices, or other emission reduction measures that are not strictly traditional add-on control devices.

D. CONDUCT ECONOMIC ANALYSES

The Contractor shall analyze, report on, and document the economic consequences of regulatory actions and/or programs as those impacts fall on affected industries or entities and the economy as a whole. The Contractor shall work to achieve the following analytical and procedural objectives in conducting these analyses:

1) Analyze potential changes in market prices and quantities for goods and services directly and indirectly affected by the regulatory program and/or action.

2) Analyze industry- and national-level impacts that include, but are not limited to, changes in capacity utilization and/or growth projections, process and/or facility closures, process substitution, energy usage, employment impacts, international trade, impact on other industry, and profitability.

3) Quantify and compare the distributional impact on different entities or populations by economic, financial, or physical characteristics. This includes, but is not limited to, small entities, low-income and/or high-minority populations, and governmental (State, Tribal, county, city) and non-profit entities.

4) Address the potential for regional and/or community impacts for those regulatory alternatives that may have significant economic impacts as a result of a regional or local concentration of affected entities/populations.

5) Estimate the social costs of the regulatory program and/or action and their distribution across stakeholders and address the socioeconomic effects of the regulatory actions.

E. CONDUCT BENEFIT ANALYSES

The Contractor shall assist in the development of scientifically defensible methods for calculating the benefits and risks to society that result from regulatory actions. Methods may include, but are not limited to, estimation of ambient pollution levels, estimation of health or environmental risks associated with potential exposure to air pollutants, estimating population and ecological exposures to pollution, population health impacts of exposure to pollution, population welfare impacts from pollution-related environmental damages, impacts on natural and managed ecosystems, and valuation of health, welfare, and ecological impacts. The Contractor shall also review or develop and report on new benefit and risk analysis tools, techniques, and methods that can be applied to defined analysis problems.

The Contractor shall identify, quantify, value, and report on the social benefits expected to result from regulatory actions. Where applicable, the Contractor shall compare the benefits of innovative regulatory strategies to traditional (or as identified in a specific task order) regulatory alternatives. The Contractor shall work to achieve the following analytical and procedural objectives:

1) Identify the benefits to society that result from the regulatory action, including, but not limited to, human health benefits, ecosystem benefits, use or recreation benefits, aesthetic benefits, materials damage benefits, cultural benefits,…