PTS_PWS_-_SS_Release_.pdf

Performance Work Statement – Production & Technical Services (PTS) Support

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration

Risk Management Directorate

Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning Program

Performance Work Statement - Production and Technical Services Support

Table of Contents

I. DESCRIPTION & PURPOSE OF REQUIREMENT

II. ORGANIZATIONAL & PROGRAMMATIC BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Strategic Direction

B. National Mitigation Investment Strategy

C. Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA)

D. Risk Management Directorate (RMD)

E. Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) Program

F. Building Science

G. National Mitigation Planning Program

H. National Dam Safety Program (NDSP)

I. Levee Program

J. HMTAP

K. Natural Hazards Risk Assessment Program

L. RMD-Risk MAP Provider Overview

M. Universal Objectives

N. Operational Environment Applicable to PTS

III. VISION FOR SUCCESSFUL PTS SUPPORT

IV. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

Task Area 1: RAD.RM.MAP – Mapping Program

Task Area 4: RAD.RM.MAP.LO – Letters of Map Change

Task Area 5: RAD.RM.RA – Natural Hazard Risk Assessment Program

Task Area 6: RAD.RM.BS – Building Sciences

Task Area 7: RAD.RM.LS – Levee Safety Program

Task Area 8: RAD.RM.DS Dam Safety Operations

Task Area 9: RAD.RM.MP – Mitigation Planning and Risk MAP Mitigation Action

Task 9.2: RAD.RM.MP.OP.MA – Risk MAP Mitigation Action

Task Area 10: Innovation

Task Area 11: RAD.RM.PM – Risk MAP Portfolio Management

Task Area 12: RAD.RM.IT – Risk MAP Program Information Technology

Task Area 13: RAD.RM.CERC – Risk MAP Community Engagement and Risk

Communications

Task Area 15 Contract Transition

V. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS &METRICS

VI. DELIVERABLES

VII. PERIOD & PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

VIII. KEY PERSONNEL

IX. INVOICING

X. OTHER DIRECT COSTS

XI. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED

XII. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

I. DESCRIPTION & PURPOSE OF REQUIREMENT

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Insurance and Mitigation

Administration (FIMA), Risk Management Directorate (RMD) requires architect and engineering services, to include supporting ancillary services, to assist the Risk Mapping, Assessment, and

Planning (Risk MAP) program’s Production and Technical Services (PTS) delivery requirement and support engineering services for FIMA through the Hazard Mitigation Technical Assistance Program

(HMTAP). The PTS requirement includes the National and Regional flood mapping project portfolio which incorporates: discovery activities; Base Level Engineering (BLE); Light Detection and Rating

(LiDAR) collection; field surveys; coastal erosion mapping; coastal surge analysis; coastal overland analysis; coastal outreach; levee analyses; levee floodplain mapping; local levee partnership team outreach; hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) analysis; re-delineation; floodplain mapping; preliminary map products; and flood-risk products.

RMD is a catalyst for a safer nation. As such, the Directorate implements several programs including the Risk Mapping Assessment and Planning (Risk MAP) Program, the National Dam Safety Program, the Levee Safety Program, the Natural Hazards Risk Assessment Program (NHRAP), the National

Mitigation Planning Program, the Building Sciences Program, National Earthquake Hazards

Reduction Program (NEHRP), the Actuarial Sciences Program, and supports a number of mitigation activities. These activities include building science efforts, actuarial and catastrophic modeling efforts, and hazard mitigation planning activities. At a broader FIMA level, FIMA operates HMTAP to provide aid to FEMA headquarters, its regional counterparts, and field offices to meet post-disaster mitigation responsibilities. Under this procurement, PTS services will support these mitigation programs and activities by bringing technical field expertise to generate and/or evaluate hazard and risk information and support the development and implementation of the aforementioned mitigation, planning, and modeling activities.

RMD has operated Risk MAP Program since 2009. Through collaboration with federal, state, local, tribal, and private entities, Risk MAP delivers quality data that increases public awareness and leads to actions that reduce risk to life and property. RMD seeks to empower stakeholders with a comprehensive understanding of risk in a way that compels and drives risk reduction.

Risk MAP combines flood hazard mapping, risk assessment tools, and hazard mitigation planning into one program. This integrated program encourages beneficial partnerships and innovative uses of flood hazard and risk assessment data to help build more resilient communities. While flooding is the primary focus of Risk MAP, FIMA actively encourages a whole-community approach, and is focused on enhancing the usability and value of natural hazard risk information. The goals of the whole-community approach is to increase the public’s awareness of risk, compel communities to take mitigation actions to reduce the risk to life and property, and increase resilience so communities may withstand, adapt, and recover from disasters.

Provider Roles in Flood Hazard Mapping Projects

There is a requirement of provider collaboration and integration as flood hazard mapping projects are initiated and move to completion. This requires clearly defined roles and scope to ensure successful collaboration. This breakdown is solely applicable to flood hazard mapping projects and does not change CERC’s role as the lead communications provider for FEMA for these types of services.

At a high level, PTS is the communications lead during Risk MAP projects until the project reaches the issuance of the Letter of Final Determination. CERC provides advice and counsel throughout the process and assumes the communications lead once the Letter of Final Determination is issued.

https://www.fema.gov/risk-mapping-assessment-and-planning-risk-map https://www.fema.gov/national-dam-safety-program https://www.fema.gov/building-science https://www.fema.gov/national-earthquake-hazards-reduction-program https://www.fema.gov/building-science

To expand, the CERC provider is the lead provider on ensuring RMD messaging and alignment, to include setting messaging strategies for effectively telling the full story of the role the mapping process plays in helping communities and residents achieve greater resilience.

The PTS provider serves as primary provider for flood hazard mapping communication throughout the portions of the process that primarily involve data collection, analysis and initial/preliminary reviews, with five key requirements:

• At the onset of a mapping project, the PTS and CERC providers collaboratively develop an engagement strategy and plan for the full process, to include a thorough community analysis based on the combined data provided by both providers, audience mapping, messaging, timelines and tactics, metrics, and clearly defined roles.

• The PTS provider relies on the strategies, processes and tools established by CERC to set engagement standards.

• The CERC provider advises on the messaging and stakeholder identification for each community, helping to ensure that the people and organizations involved reflect what’s important to the community and will set up the community for success in driving action once it is equipped with the data.

• The CERC provider maintains scope for developing and delivering training that will help communities build their capacity for engagement, planning, and mitigation decision-making.

• In contentious or challenging communities (including those with large numbers of appeals), the CERC provider gives additional counsel and support to the PTS provider throughout the process.

As the flood hazard mapping process moves toward effective maps and beyond, the CERC provider assumes responsibility for broadening engagement with the community, building and deepening relationships, setting up structures and processes, and providing information and training from across

RMD and FIMA that will empower the community to co-create the resilience solutions and actions that make sense for them.

II. ORGANIZATIONAL & PROGRAMMATIC BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The sub-sections provided within this Section are intended to provide contextual information that assists the contractor in proposing upon and delivering holistic and appropriate PTS service support.

FEMA is a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). FIMA is a subcomponent of

FEMA and falls under Resilience.

A. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Strategic Direction

The FEMA Strategic Plan 2018-2022 creates a shared vision for the field of emergency management and sets an ambitious, yet achievable, path forward to unify and further professionalize emergency management across the country. We invite all of our stakeholders and partners to also adopt these priorities and join us in building a stronger Agency and a more prepared and resilient Nation.

This Strategic Plan was developed with input from our external partners – state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector – as well as FEMA employees from offices and directorates across the agency. We listened, and the feedback we https://www.fema.gov/strategic-plan received contributed to our Strategic Goals, Strategic Objectives, and overall vision for FEMA over the next five years.

The Strategic Plan sets out three overarching Strategic Goals:

• Build a Culture of Preparedness o Every segment of our society, from individual to government, industry to philanthropy, must be encouraged and empowered with the information it needs to prepare for the inevitable impacts of future disasters.

• Ready the Nation for Catastrophic Disasters o FEMA will work with its partners across all levels of government to strengthen partnerships and access new sources of scalable capabilities to quickly meet the needs of overwhelming incidents.

• Reduce the Complexity of FEMA o FEMA must continue to be responsible stewards of the resources we are entrusted to administer. We must also do everything that we can to leverage data to drive decision-making and reduce the administrative and bureaucratic burdens that impede impacted individuals and communities from quickly receiving the assistance they need.

B. National Mitigation Investment Strategy

After Hurricane Sandy, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified a need for a coordinated, federal government-wide investment strategy for resilience and mitigation that reduces the nation’s exposure to future losses from disasters. In 2016, the federal government initiated a National Engagement Period and started taking stakeholder input to support its Federal

Mitigation Investment Strategy (FMIS) Concept. Based on stakeholder comments, the Mitigation

Framework Leadership Group (MitFLG) transformed the FMIS concept from a solely federally focused concept to a document of national significance. The nationally focused mitigation investment strategy considers and recommends actions reflecting input and involvement from, and benefits for, all national stakeholders involved in disaster resilience, including federal, state, tribal, territorial, local and private organizations, and the public. With the National Mitigation

Investment Strategy (NMIS), there is an opportunity to be more intentional about setting resilience and mitigation investment priorities. The new strategy will increase the ability of federal departments and agencies to incorporate mitigation for disaster resiliency into plans for using resources and justifying budgets. For the first time on a national scale, the federal government will be encouraged to, on a much broader scale, plan, spend and use its resources specifically to reduce disaster losses in the future.

In January of 2018, FEMA released the draft NMIS. The draft makes a series of recommendations, organized by six desired outcomes which – if met – could result in a nation better equipped for, and less vulnerable to, natural hazards. The draft NMIS provides a national approach to investments in mitigation activities and risk management across federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and the private and non-profit sectors.

C. Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA)

FIMA manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and a range of programs designed to reduce future losses to homes, businesses, schools, public buildings, and critical facilities from floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.

https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/116787

Mitigation focuses on breaking the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. Mitigation efforts provide value to the American people by creating safer communities and reducing loss of life and property. Mitigation includes:

• Complying with or exceeding NFIP floodplain management regulations.

• Enforcing stringent building codes, flood-proofing requirements, seismic design standards and wind-bracing requirements for new construction or repairing existing buildings.

• Adopting zoning ordinances that steer development away from areas subject to flooding, storm surge or coastal erosion.

• Retrofitting public buildings to withstand hurricane-strength winds or ground shaking.

• Acquiring damaged homes or businesses in flood-prone areas, relocating the structures and returning the property to open space, wetlands or recreational uses.

• Building community shelters and tornado safe rooms to help protect people in their homes, public buildings and schools in hurricane- and tornado-prone areas.

The FIMA’s mission is to create safer communities by reducing loss of life and property; enable individuals to recover more rapidly from floods and other disasters; and lessen the financial impact of disasters on the Nation. This is accomplished through three primary objectives:

• Analyze Risk – Determining the impact of natural hazards that lead to effective strategies for reducing risk.

• Reduce Risk – Reducing or eliminating long-term risk from hazards on the existing built environment and future construction.

• Insure for Flood Risk – Reducing the impact of floods on the Nation by providing flood insurance.

D. Risk Management Directorate (RMD)

FIMA is comprised of four directorates: Risk Management, Mitigation, Federal Insurance, and

Fund Management. Additionally, there is the Office of Environmental Planning and Historic

Preservation (OEHP) and the Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate (OFIA). RMD’s primary function is to deliver quality risk data, modeling, and programs to increase public awareness of risk across the wide-range of natural hazards to drive public actions to reduce risk to life and property.

RMD is a catalyst for a safer nation. As such, the Directorate implements several programs including the Risk Mapping Assessment and Planning (Risk MAP) Program, the National Dam

Safety Program, the Levee Safety Program (in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers (USACE)), the Natural Hazards Risk Assessment Program (NHRAP), the Building

Sciences program, National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), and the Actuarial

Sciences program. RMD engages and provides actionable information to empower and motivate communities to understand and own their risk. For further information on these programs, please click on the hyperlinks.

E. Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) Program

The primary tool for identifying the flood hazard is a flood map. Risk MAP combines flood hazard mapping, risk assessment tools and Hazard Mitigation Planning into one seamless program. The intent of the Risk MAP program is to encourage beneficial partnerships and innovative uses of flood hazard and risk assessment data in order to maximize flood loss reduction.

https://www.fema.gov/risk-mapping-assessment-and-planning-risk-map https://www.fema.gov/national-dam-safety-program https://www.fema.gov/national-dam-safety-program https://www.fema.gov/fema-levee-resources-library https://www.fema.gov/hazard-identification-and-risk-assessment https://www.fema.gov/building-science https://www.fema.gov/building-science https://www.fema.gov/national-earthquake-hazards-reduction-program

The vision for Risk MAP is to deliver quality data that increases public awareness and leads to action that reduces risk to life and property. Risk MAP assesses flood hazards and flood risk in support of the NFIP and delivers flood hazard and risk products to local governments, the real estate and lending industries, and other stakeholders.

The objectives are to:

• Assess Nation’s flood risk and use this information to increase public awareness of risk. This consistent, quantitative flood risk assessment will be used to track progress toward reducing flood risk and to target resources.

• Increase public awareness of risk from natural hazards and establish a baseline of local knowledge and understanding of risk management concepts.

• Ensure 80% of the Nation’s flood hazards are current – the flood hazard data are new, have been updated, or deemed still valid.

o Provide updated flood hazard data for 100% of the populated coastal areas in the Nation.

This data originates as part of the work required within the Production and Technical

Services (PTS) contract, but the Customer and Data Service (CDS) contract is responsible for housing it.

o Evaluate levee status information to ensure the appropriate flood hazards are depicted on

Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps for counties with levees, including those impacted by expiring Provisionally Accredited Levee status.

• Continue to meet statutory requirements of the NFIP through assessing on a watershed basis, the need to revise and update all floodplain areas and flood risk zones identified, delineated, or established.

The goals include:

• Goal 1: Address flood hazard gaps to develop flood risk assessments, floodplain management, and actuarial adequacy of the NFIP.

• Goal 2: Ensure that a measurable increase of the public’s awareness and understanding of risk management results in a measurable reduction of current and future vulnerability to flooding.

• Goal 3: Lead and support states, local, and tribal communities to engage in risk-based mitigation planning resulting in sustainable actions that reduce or eliminate risks to life and property from natural hazards.

• Goal 4: Provide an enhanced digital platform to improve management of Risk MAP resources, steward information produced by Risk MAP, and improve communication and sharing of risk data to all levels of government and the public.

• Goal 5: Align Risk Analysis programs and develop synergies to enhance decision-making capabilities through effective risk communication and management.

Risk MAP is designed to support communities with their implementation of another element of the NFIP-- floodplain management. If communities participate in the NFIP by actively managing their flood risk, flood insurance will be available to their citizens. Flood insurance helps communities and individuals financially recover from floods. The NFIP sells and administers

Standard Flood Insurance Policies in two ways:

1. Through an arrangement with private Write Your Own (WYO) insurance companies (under authority of 44 CFR Section 62.23); and

2. Through a contract with an entity that directly sells and services NFIP policies, the NFIP

Direct Servicing Agent (DSA).

The Mitigation Planning lifecycle, and resulting strategies, play a key role in Risk Management and can be leveraged and integrated throughout the Risk MAP process and with other plans and programs to increase mitigation investment.

Hazard mitigation planning is the process used by state, local and tribal leaders to understand risks from natural hazards and develop long-term strategies to reduce the impacts of disasters on people, property, and the environment. Hazard mitigation planning enables a community to manage risks through informed decision-making and targeted mitigation investments prior to a disaster.

F. Building Science

The Building Science Branch develops and produces multi-hazard mitigation guidance and training that focuses on creating disaster-resilient communities to reduce loss of life and property. Building Science Branch activities include: deploying Mitigation Assessment Teams

(MAT) to conduct post-disaster engineering investigations for both man-made and natural hazard events. The Building Science Branch takes a lead role in developing materials that incorporate the most up-to-date building codes, flood proofing requirements, seismic design standards, and wind design requirements for new construction and the repair of existing buildings.The Branch also largely focuses on technical services that contribute towards building codes and standards development and other activities that track, monitor and promote the adoption of disaster-resistant building codes and standards across the country. The Building Science Branch provides technical support for existing and new Agency priorities and strategies related to building codes; seeks integration and expanded use of codes across programs; and, with Regional offices, conducts outreach, dissemination and awareness related to codes and the benefits of using them. Building

Science has multiple partners across other federal agencies, SLTT’s, industry groups, codes and standards organizations, the emergency management community, and the public who all collaborate and work together to advance resilience and the disaster safety movement.

G. National Mitigation Planning Program

Hazard mitigation planning is the process used by state, local and tribal leaders to understand risks from natural hazards and develop long-term strategies that will reduce the impacts of disasters on people, property, and the environment. Hazard mitigation planning enables a community to manage risks through informed decision-making and targeted mitigation investments prior to a disaster. Furthermore, the planning process builds a culture of preparedness by:

• Involving participation from a variety of partners,

• Identifying and analyzing risks and vulnerabilities from natural hazards, and

• Creating strategies that can be implemented using a wide range of public and private funds.

As of September 28, 2018, all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and five territories (Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands) have FEMA-approved state mitigation plans, 20,977 local governments and 173 tribal governments have

FEMA-approved plans or plans that are approvable pending adoption. Mitigation Plans must be updated every five years to maintain eligibility for FEMA Mitigation funding (HMA). The

Mitigation Planning lifecycle, and resulting strategies play a key role in risk management and can be leveraged and integrated throughout the Risk MAP process and with other plans and programs to increase mitigation investment.

H. National Dam Safety Program (NDSP)

The National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) is an essential part of the Nation’s comprehensive approach to dam safety and dam risk management. In 1979, Executive Order 12148 established

FEMA and provided it the authority to coordinate all national efforts in dam safety and to “reduce the risk of life and property from dam failure in the United States through the establishment and maintenance of an effective National Dam Safety Program to bring together the expertise and resources of the federal and non-federal communities in achieving national dam safety hazard reduction.” FEMA has continued to act as the lead federal agency on dam safety in the United

States and to support the safety of the Nation’s dam infrastructure through state assistance funds, emergency action planning, training, public outreach, researching, and creating new guidance regarding the maintenance and construction of dams.

One of the NDSP strategic goal is to: Increase awareness of the risks associated with dams and the benefit of federal and state dam safety programs. Two objectives of this goal are to:

o Assist federal and state dam safety programs in effectively communicating with the public;

and o Educate dam owners on effective risk reduction methods and risk communication related to dams.

I. Levee Program

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has developed a

National Levee Safety Program. FEMA defines a levee as “a man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control, or divert the flow of water in order to reduce risk from temporary flooding.”

Levees reduce risk from flooding events, but they do not eliminate it. There is always the chance a flood will exceed the capacity of a levee, no matter how well it is built. Levees are designed to manage a certain amount of floodwater and can be overtopped or fail during flood events exceeding the level for which they were designed. Levee failures can also be caused by structural failures resulting from improper maintenance, inadequate foundations, seismic activity, erosion, seepage, and burrowing animals. When a levee does fail, the result can be more catastrophic than if the levee had not been present. FEMA strongly encourages citizens living and working behind levees to understand their flood risk and take action to reduce the risk to their families, businesses, and property.

Levee systems are part of our nation’s landscape and important to communities because of the benefits they provide. For example, more than ten million people live or work behind levees in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Levee Safety Program. And, public and private property worth more than one trillion dollars are behind these levees. These 14,100 miles of levee reduce flood risk to people, businesses, critical infrastructure and the environment, but it’s important to recognize they don’t eliminate flooding. Additionally, levee conditions, storm/flood intensity and frequency, and populations around these levees change. So, the USACE Levee

Safety Program works with local levee sponsors and stakeholders to make sure these levees provide their intended benefits. Working together to assess, manage and communicate flood risks to residents and businesses is our priority because, more than anything, life safety is paramount.

J. HMTAP

Provide the Hazard Mitigation Assistance division licensed A&E services including, but not limited to, support for current HMA programs (Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Flood

Mitigation Assistance program, Pre disaster Mitigation program and other future programs), requirements of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 including provisions for wildfire prevention, activities for wildfire and windstorm mitigation measures, code implementation and enforcement, seismic warning systems and seismic related project scoping and implementation, the national public infrastructure Pre disaster hazard mitigation program, and post disaster building safety assessments. The contractor shall provide licensed A&E support to the new

Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) by developing guidance, technical documents, and/or performing reviews for projects when licensed A&E services are required by the program office.

This licensed A&E services requirement includes, but not limited to, lifeline type infrastructure related assistance. Lifelines may include, energy systems, water systems, transportation systems, health/hospitals, education, emergency management, buildings, etc. The type of licensed A&E services needed, may include; project development, project design, project engineering, detailed design/review, design/review of detailed construction, and overall project management support.

K. Natural Hazards Risk Assessment Program

The Natural Hazards Risk Assessment Program’s (NHRAP) goal is to provide risk assessment data, tools, and analysis to support FEMA’s strategic goals of communicating risk for all levels of emergency management. The NHRAP develops, adapts, and absorbs natural hazard data to create clear, innovative, and comprehensive risk profiles at all geographic levels.

L. RMD-Risk MAP Provider Overview

Between 2008 and 2014, FEMA crafted an acquisition strategy to optimize stakeholder acceptance; deliver results using an enabling vision; ensure needed flexibility and adaptability exists; facilitate smooth and seamless transition; and provide innovation with problem solving capabilities to meet the challenges facing Risk MAP program and related NFIP programs. This strategy involved a restructuring of the business model where a National Service Provider provided program management, customer service and many other services required to run the overall effort. The approach currently includes establishing separate contracts to provide five groupings of services:

• Program Management (PM)

The PM Provider delivers portfolio management support services to RMD and program management support services to the Risk MAP and other designated RMD programs. The

PTS Provider is Risk MAP program’s A&E service delivery support that provides flood data and mapping to the Nation. The PTS Provider manages a portfolio of flood mapping projects that covers Regional and National requirements. The PTS Provider is responsible for all portfolio and program management (cost, schedule, performance) support required to ensure the Regional and National requirements are executed in accordance with this contract. The

PTS Provider is expected to coordinate with the PM provider by delivering monthly EV reports so that the PM can produce a program

• Customer & Data Services (CDS)

The CDS Provider is Risk MAP’s Information Technology (IT) provider and responsible for the program’s primary systems and IT services: FEMA Flood Map Service Center (MSC), Mapping Information Platform (MIP), FEMA Map Information eXchange (FMIX), FEMA

Web and Data Services, and the FEMA Engineering Library. The PTS Provider is expected to coordinate with the CDS Provider by providing the necessary PTS subject matter expertise, to inform upon or deliver digital products that impact the relevant Risk MAP program systems as it relates to any needed or requested system change requirements.

• Production and Technical Services (PTS)

The PTS provider delivers architect and engineering services for the Risk MAP program.

PTS supports map development, Risk MAP meetings, and communicating the technical information related to mapping. The PTS provider is the technical expert and provides subject matter expertise communications support and review of materials. There is also integration required for meeting and conference support, outreach materials, and controlled correspondence responses.

• Community Engagement and Risk Communication (CERC)

CERC services consist of improving community engagement surrounding risk awareness, including during the map production process by leveraging behavioral science to improve risk communications, and increasing understanding of flood risk and ways to reduce it.

Additionally, there is a focus on driving risk reduction activities rather than just increasing risk understanding. There is also a focus on empowering partners and stakeholders to own more risk communications and risk reduction activities. The PTS Provider shall coordinate with the CERC Provider on necessary outreach and communication efforts to ensure technical accuracy, counsel on engaging subject matter experts, leveraging existing relationships, developing or collaborating on presentations, and conference and event support.

• Letter of Map Amendment (MT-1)

The MT-1 process allows property owners to submit property-specific information to FEMA to obtain a definitive determination of the flood zone designation for a property, to clarify whether mandatory purchase of a flood insurance policy is required. Through the MT-1 process, a property owner or authorized representative map request a property-specific determination or comment regarding the flood hazard designation for as-built or proposed development. MT-1 determinations amend the community’s effective Flood Insurance Rate

Map (FIRM) by clarifying whether the subject property is located within the Special Flood

Hazard Area (SFHA). MT-1 comments provide feedback on whether proposed development, if completed as exactly as proposed, would be located within the effective SFHA upon completion of the project. During the review, FEMA considers the horizontal location of the subject property on the effective FIRM, and allows for detailed property elevation data to be submitted and compared to the calculated Base (1-percent-annual-chance) Flood Elevation

(BFE). It specifically includes processing services for Letters of Map Amendment (LOMAs);

Letters of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-F); Conditional Letters of Map Amendment

(CLOMAs); Conditional Letters of Map Revision Based on Fill (CLOMR-Fs); and Letters of

Determination Review (LODR) in support of the FEMA Risk MAP Program. Coordination with the MT-1 Provider is required to understand the type of map change being requested, along with understanding the supporting data and documentation submitted. This includes coordinating requests that are transferred from MT-1 to MT-2 and vice versus.

M. Universal Objectives

While each of the five requirements within Risk MAP is supported by a separate contract, the success or failure of total program success will hinge on the interaction and cooperation of all contractors working as a team to ensure the smooth, seamless flow of information to all stakeholders and partners, both internal and external, and a comprehensive, coordinated approach to provide information AND services to customers at all levels. It is the responsibility of these contractors to participate as team members with all other contractors. To this end, RMD has established Universal Objectives for Risk MAP contractors, which are:

Universal Objective A: Leverage technology, relationships, and mutual interests across the public and private sectors to improve project delivery, data interoperability, consistency and effectiveness in order to increase risk awareness, leading to citizens and communities taking mitigation action to substantially reduce risk to life and property and increase the Nation’s resilience to natural hazards.

Universal Objective B: Provide a high level of cooperation and integration across all FIMA contractors, ensuring seamless and integrated program delivery and advance the ability for FIMA to easily exchange data across the Enterprise. Support the Customer Experience strategy of offering an informed, relevant and unified servicing approach for all FIMA stakeholders. Offer subject matter expertise as required (e.g. business requirements, training development, authors, committees, etc.).

Universal Objective C: Implement sound program management practices to enable reliable and efficient operations, support of FIMA Governance structures, and forward-thinking innovation throughout FIMA.

Universal Objective D: Promote integration with FIMA, FEMA, Resilience, DHS, and Other

Federal Agencies’ programs.

N. Operational Environment Applicable to PTS

III. VISION FOR SUCCESSFUL PTS SUPPORT

Successful PTS support will primarily support FEMA in producing widely accessible flood hazard information that is easy to understand, available when the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) customers as well as state, tribal, and local governments and other partners need it, and served up by trusted partners in the tailored way that will drive and optimize risk-informed decisions and behaviors. Sustained delivery of this information should support the risk management lifecycle to:

identify and analyze hazards; assess risks; communicate risk; identify and prioritize mitigation options; and advance mitigation and risk transfer.

Primary objectives include:

• Including Producing required flood risk information (including regulatory flood maps) necessary to support the NFIP and for meeting/maintaining the 80% NVUE measure.

• Ensuring technical data can be leveraged in order to translate to mitigation action

• Providing architectural and engineering services to support other RMD mitigation programs such as Dam Safety, 406, Mitigation Planning, and Building Science

IV. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

The scope of work required by this PWS is detailed within this section. The performance requirements are separated into X Task Areas that align to the Risk MAP program’s Work

Breakdown Structure (WBS). Within each Task Area, there are various Tasks identified. The number of Tasks identified in a Task Area is based on the specific support needs of that Task Area.

The solicitation includes a Virtual Library that contains attachments specific to relevant Task

Areas. These attachments provide context or examples to the identified performance requirements and are to be considered as part of the offeror’s technical proposal response.

Task Area 1: RAD.RM.MAP – Mapping Program

(The approximate level of effort estimated for this Task Area is X% based on total estimated value of the requirement. This estimate is for solicitation purposes only.)

Through FEMA's flood hazard mapping program, Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (MAP), FEMA identifies flood hazards, assesses flood risks and partners with states and communities to provide accurate flood hazard and risk data to guide them to mitigation actions. Flood hazard mapping is an important part of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), as it is the basis of the

NFIP floodplain management regulations and flood insurance requirements. FEMA maintains and updates flood hazard information through Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and risk assessments.

FIRMs include statistical information such as data for river flow, storm tides, hydrologic/hydraulic analyses, rainfall, and topographic surveys.

FEMA uses the best available technical data to create the flood hazard maps for the NFIP, which help communicate flood risk to a variety of audiences ranging from homeowners, to engineers and mapping professionals. In support of this Task area, the contractor shall:

• Provide technical support for Risk Management Directorate priorities across internal and external stakeholders, including FEMA HQ, Regions, state, tribal and local partners on complex technical

Risk MAP issues such as levees (including, but not limited to 44 CFR 65.10 compliance reviews), coastal, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data, the National Flood Hazard Layer

(NFHL), dam safety, risk assessments, and post-preliminary processing.

• Provide technical support to FEMA HQ on complex flood risk assessment issues including risk quantification, visualization, reduction, as well as qualitative assessments.

o RMD is looking for innovative solutions to reduce risk, build a culture of preparedness, ready the nation for catastrophic disasters and drive towards a more resilient and prepared nation.

• Actively participate in FEMA’s Community of Practices and Integrated Project Teams to inform, update, and develop best practices, guidance, policies, and procedures to improve programmatic and operational delivery of Risk MAP.

• Develop and maintain FEMA policy, guidance, standards, and best practices for flood risk mapping.

• Provide support for short notice ad-hoc mapping related inquiries, such as congressional and media inquiries, and rapid response reports.

• Process Letter of Map Changes (MT-2s) in a cost-efficient and timely manner with as-needed training, appeals support, and support to Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) Delegation Partners

IAW the provisions of Part 65 of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations (44

CFR Part 65).

• Provide technical (engineering/mapping SME) assistance in coordination with the MT-1 provider for complex Letters of Map Change.

• Provide Mission Support that is tailored to the specific needs of each Region.

• Provide Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) support services though engineering studies, evaluation/design/mitigation of electrical systems, transportation systems, water systems, and engineered flood control structure/systems.

• Provide subject matter expertise to perform building science statistical and forensic analysis, research and problem-focused studies, modeling and assessment, tool development and maintenance, field investigations, and reporting on building and infrastructure performance, building codes and standards, and building code adoption tracking.

• Support, advise, pilot and implement recommendations from the Technical Mapping Advisory

Council (TMAC) and/or other Risk MAP evolution and NFIP reform efforts.

• Coordinate with Cooperating Technical Partners (CTPs), other federal agencies (e.g. USGS, USACE), Community Engagement and Risk Communication (CERC) and legacy PTS contractor(s), as required.

• At FEMA’s direction, engage other federal agencies (e.g. USACE, USGS, etc.) to improve interagency collaboration, data sharing, and identification of hazards and associated risks.

• Perform Quality Assurance on all mapping partners’ Risk MAP products (regulatory & non-regulatory), coordinating with legacy PTS contractor(s) and CTPs as needed.

• Maintain FEMA’s systems of record (Mapping Information Platform, for example) for accurate and timely data archiving, project management, and program risk management.

Task 1.1: RAD.RM.MAP.PT – Risk MAP Production and Technical Services

RAD.RM.MAP.PT.MS – Mission Support

The objectives of Mission Support are to identify improvements that simplify operations, reduce costs, increase program performance understanding; track actual results, risks, and revised production forecasts on a quarterly basis for Riverine-, Coastal- and Levee-based mapping projects, while maintaining visibility at a watershed and county-level; and to help close high-priority Risk MAP implementation gaps.

The contractor shall perform the following activities to achieve these objectives:

• Assist RMD’s PM and CERC contractors in evaluating and documenting potential impacts on the Government’s performance against Risk MAP goals and objectives. The Contractor shall leverage existing databases (including but not limited to Coordinated Needs Management

Strategy, National Levee Inventory, MIP, and the P4 Tool) to coordinate program reporting efforts.

• Provide technical SME to FEMA Regions, HQ, the CERC and RMD PM provides to prepare and deliver training (including but not limited to: Emergency Management Institute, TMAC/BW-12/HFIAA implementation, levee, riverine, coastal and other production-related guidance training) o Technical SME assistance shall include travel and technical presentation support.

• Provide technical and administrative support to the TMAC as requested. These activities may include but not limited to meeting attendance when requested as a subject matter expert, technical content review, and providing programmatic insight.

• Provide national level analysis of production-related data to assist FEMA with Congressional and external stakeholder inquiries.

• Archive self-certification documentation submitted by CTPs, IDIQs, and other federal agencies to ensure compliance with the Floodplain Boundary Standards in accordance with the Data Capture Standards. The Contractor will provide oversight and reporting of performance within their Regions and utilize CNMS to track FBS compliance on a quarterly basis.

• Provide on-site general technical support FEMA HQ headquarters to provide FEMA staff support, post-preliminary docket preparation, post-preliminary floodplain management administrative support, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) coordination, and Congressional inquiry support. The Contractor will actively support the administrative process associated with the post-preliminary approval workflow to streamline concurrence and increase quality of the products, including monitoring mailed correspondence that should be re-directed.

• Provide technical support and consultation for Risk MAP implementation strategies impacting Risk MAP product production, including but not limited to:

o Development Cooperating Technical Partners guidance to improve operations;

o Review technical models and methodologies to ensure adherence to NFIP mapping regulations, and related to design and construction flood mapping aspects per ASCE

24 Flood Resistant Standard;

o Support efforts of the Federal Interagency Subcommittee for Hydrology; and o Participate in ad hoc technical workgroups and communities of practice to create and revise technical guidance and best practices (ex. Engineering and Mapping

Community of Practice)

• Participate in monthly coordination meetings to review, monitor, and manage operational risks and issues related to map production, including monthly Mapping Program

Management review meeting support; provide management support to assist FEMA

Headquarters in map production contractor coordination and floodplain mapping policy coordination. The contractor will prepare for and participate in the IBR and address any IBR action items, prepare the monthly F6 report, and support FEMA HQ and the PM provider in risk management of the Mapping Program risks.

• During a projected or ongoing natural disaster, assist FEMA HQ in improving situational awareness to provide technical SME support. The following activities will be performed to achieve this objective:

o Preparing Rapid Response Reports upon request of the HQ o Developing maps and visual representations for Area of interest (AOI) o Mapping Status for potential impacted areas, and a refined collection before land fall.

(On-Site HQ) o Coordinate with Regional Service Center (RSC)/CTP POCs to gather the necessary data for rapid response needs o Participate in Geospatial calls to access data to deliver meaningful information to

HQ/National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) o Tracking and reporting of relevant ongoing or historical program efforts and data daily and posting to a site accessible to suit FEMA’s needs.

o Other ad hoc support from the on-site contractor may be requested.

Task 1.2: RAD.RM.MAP.PT.TS – Technical Support

RAD.RM.MAP.PT.TS.CO – Coastal

The objective of Coastal Support is to mitigate high priority coastal risks to the Risk MAP program

(i.e. G&S, Technology, Performance Management or Non-regulatory Risk MAP products) and provide coastal technical support and consultation for program implementation strategies. The contractor shall perform the following activities to achieve these objectives:

• Participate in coastal program meetings to ensure sufficient coastal technical expertise is available.

• Prepare meeting minutes and assist with other logistical support.

• Assist FEMA with establishing workgroups to support coastal program objectives and mitigate program risk.

• Assist FEMA in developing best practices, operating guidance, and standards to address technical program issues that impact map production operations and coastal analysis technical credibility.

• Provide program support and technical risk management, which will include activities to mitigate program risk, such as technical support, that may include Primary Frontal Dune

Review Groups; technical training support; response to recommendations from the Technical

Mapping Advisory Group and other external groups; technical support for advances in coastal analysis to support Risk MAP; technical support for coastal outreach; and Project reporting to include portfolio reviews.

• Assist with data collection efforts and production monitoring support to maintain national visibility of mapping progress.

RAD.RM.MAP.PT.TS.LE – Levee

The objectives of Levee Support are to:

• Mitigate levee-related risks to the Risk MAP program;

• Ensure the operational competency of mapping partners for supporting FEMA in consistent and appropriate flood hazard identification in levee impacted areas;

• Manage short-term and long-term policy initiatives to efficiently steward available levee data;

and

• Communicate effectively with both internal and external stakeholders.

The contractor shall perform the activities listed in the Tasks below to achieve this objective.

Levee Inventory Management and Data Integrity

• Support FEMA in the consolidation of levee records for the inventory of levees available in

USACE’s National Levee Database (NLD) and in current FEMA databases (such as the

FEMA Accreditation Status Tool (FAST), NFHL, and FIRM Database) to support ad-hoc levee data requests and scheduled deliverables.

• Support FEMA with ongoing maintenance and revisions to the FAST database structure to accommodate the relationship with the NLD as well as provide FEMA with data suitable for planning of future projects.

• Support the bulk population, consolidation, and updating of levee data in the NLD, as requested, to include NLD Levee System Summary (LSS) reporting.

• Identify and implement innovations to be incorporated into the FEMA databases that support near-term and long-term business requirements.

• Support the development and rollout of training for RSCs and Regional stakeholders on topics related to Levee Inventory Management.

• Coordinate and align with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on data management best practices to ensure a future seamless integration of levee datasets.

• Develop standard operating procedures and templates for responding to recurring and ad hoc levee data requests (e.g., Rapid Response Reports, Congressional briefings, etc.).

• Provide to FEMA Headquarters an annual delivery of a national levee inventory summary report and, accompanying national accreditation status map, and bi-annual delivery of a consolidated levee dataset, utilizing the NLD.

Technical Support and Training Related to Levee Communications and Outreach:

• Provide technical SME support for the routine community/stakeholder (external) and

Headquarters/Regional (internal) correspondence related to levees.

• Provide technical SME support to the CERC Provider in the development of levee focused outreach materials.

• Develop and provide training to CERC…