2024 Statement of Work -08042023.docx

8/4/2023

Statement of Work

Comprehensive Multiple Component Waste Management Services Including Solid and Medical Pathological Waste, and Recycling

Contents

ARTICLE 1. DEFINITION OF TERMS

Aluminum Can: Any food or beverage container that is composed of at least ninety-four (94) percent (%) aluminum.

Asbestos: Solid wastes containing asbestos in friable or non-friable forms.

Asbestos Waste: Waste asbestos-containing materials (ACM) as regulated under COMAR 26.11.21, 29 CFR 1910, and 40 CFR 61 that have been packaged, sealed, and labeled for disposal in accordance with COMAR 26.11.21. Such material may include sealing tape, plastic sheeting, mop heads, sponges, filters, and disposable clothing contained and sealed in plastic bags of at least six mil thickness, and large structural members containing ACM wrapped in six mil plastic.

Biohazardous Waste Disposal Box: See burn box.

Blue Bins: A term synonymous with “desk-side recycling bin.” A blue container for either commingled or mixed paper made of 100% post-consumer recycled products that is used to collect recyclable materials at the desk.

Burn Box: A term synonymous with "MPW Burn Box" and "Biohazardous Waste Disposal Box" that describes an NIH issued, 46x46x36cm (18"x 18"x14"), cardboard box which is used to package and contain Medical Pathological Waste (MPW).

Campus Recycling Units (CRU): Groups of designated recycling receptacles at various exterior locations on the NIH campus at which employees, visitors, and residents deposit selected materials for collection and consolidation for recycling. Each CRU consists of three recycling containers and a trash container.

Chemical Disinfection: Treatment to inactivate potentially infectious agents in Special Medical Waste or Medical Pathological Waste using a commercially available disinfectant.

Chemical Waste: Any discarded chemicals or chemical mixtures.

Collection: Removal and transportation of waste from its place of generation or accumulation to its place of processing, recycling, or disposal.

COMAR: Code of Maryland Regulations.

Commingled Recyclables: Plastic, glass, bi-metal, and aluminum products that are not separated by type but are mixed in one container.

Construction Debris: Non- Hazardous building materials and rubble resulting from construction, remodeling, repair, and demolition operations.

Controlled Hazardous Substances: As defined by 26 COMAR 13.

Decontamination: To eliminate or reduce to acceptable levels the chemical, biological, or radioactive contamination of an area, object, animal, or person through an appropriate treatment method such as disinfection or neutralization.

Desk-Top Receptacle: A small, cardboard container that is placed on an employee’s desk and used to collect mixed paper.

Disinfectant: A chemical agent that is used to destroy or inactivate microorganisms capable of causing infections.

Disinfection: Destruction or inactivation of microorganisms capable of producing disease.

Division of Environmental Protection (DEP): A branch of the Office of Research Facilities (ORF) responsible for the management and coordination of all NIH environmental protection, regulatory compliance, and waste management activities.

DOT: U. S. Department of Transportation.

Dump: The function of emptying and replacing on the ground a front-end waste container.

Dumpster: The common generic name for a 2-, 4-, 6-, or 8-cubic-yard commercial garbage container commonly made of steel with a plastic lid, serviced with a front-end loader truck; a 15, 20, or 30-yard open-top roll-off; or an enclosed 30-yard compactor serviced by a roll-off truck.

Dumpster Dive: The practice of sifting through a dumpster to find radioactive materials or other items that were improperly discarded.

Emergency Responder: The entity designated by the local jurisdiction to provide the first response to a fire, spill, explosion, or other emergency incident On the NIH main campus, the emergency responder is the NIH Fire Department.

Environmental Media: Surface water, groundwater, sewage, drinking water, wastewater, soil, and air.

EPA: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Ferrous Metal: Any iron or steel scrap that has an iron content sufficient for magnetic separation.

Front End Container: A general solid waste container, usually with a volume ranging from two to eight cubic yards, that is emptied by a truck operated hydraulic lift device for deposition into a collection chamber located behind the truck cab.

Disposable Labware & Broken Glass Container: A cardboard box or reusable plastic container furnished by the NIH to facilitate safe handling and disposal of discarded clean and/or decontaminated glass and plasticware. This waste stream is managed as general trash.

Haul Distance: The distance a collection vehicle travels from its last pickup stop to the solid waste transfer station, processing facility, recycling outlet, or sanitary landfill.

Haul Time: The elapsed or cumulative time spent transporting solid waste between two specific locations.

Hazardous Materials: (49 CFR 171.8), A substance or material that has been determined to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when offered for transportation in commerce by motor vehicle or other modes of transportation.

Hazardous Substances: (40 CFR 302.4), Any substance listed in the List of Hazardous Substances and Reportable Quantities table.

Hazardous Wastes: Hazardous waste as defined in 40 CFR 261.3.

Inactivation: A process that renders a pathogenic agent incapable of infecting a susceptible host or causing a disease process.

Institutional Wastes: Solid wastes originating from educational, health care, and research facilities.

Medical Pathological Waste (MPW): The NIH term "Medical Pathological Waste" (MPW) includes wastes defined as "Special Medical Waste" herein and includes materials that may contain potentially infectious or pathogenic agents. These may be wastes generated from patient care and isolation areas (patient care material, towels, absorbent pads, or similar materials), clinical specimens, discarded etiologic agents, cultures, laboratory animal carcasses, human tissues, materials contaminated with cytostatic and/or cytotoxic drugs, drug dispensing apparatus, clinical specimens (such as blood, urine, and feces), blood products, blood-contaminated items, and used or unused sharps (such as needles and syringes, scalpels, razor blades, microfine pipette tips, capillary and Pasteur pipettes, and pathological glass slides) and animal bedding contaminated with pathological or infectious agents that cannot be decontaminated through autoclaving.

MPW Totes/Carts: A term synonymous with "MPW Totes/Carts" and "Biohazardous Waste Disposal Tote/Cart" that describes an NIH and DOT-approved, reusable, 200-gallon (500 lbs), approximately 26.7 cubic ft., 51"x 31"x47" (LxWxH), seamlessly molded polyethylene, double-bottom containment base with independent dolly and lid, heavy-duty, leak-proof cart is used for safe and efficient transport of medical pathological waste (MPW).

Mixed Paper: Acceptable paper items that are not separated by type but are mixed and collected together. Items include white paper, colored paper, boxboard, newspaper, magazines, catalogs, paperback books, envelopes, and other clean, dry paper.

Montgomery County Recycling Materials: Materials required for Residential and Commercial Recycling (including corrugated cardboard, mixed paper, commingled materials, scrap metal, and yard waste) in accordance with Montgomery County Executive Regulations 15-04, as amended.

Movable Equipment: Equipment capable of being moved by ordinary means does not require physical attachments to the building structure, foundation, and/or permanent building services. Examples include MPW Totes, recycling receptacles, hampers and other collection carts and containers, desk-top receptacles, and central inner office recycling receptacles.

NIH Chemical Waste Tag: An NIH form to label and track chemical waste containers.

NIH Main Campus: All structures, roads, land, and streams within the reservation boundaries of the National Institutes of Health located at 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. All buildings and other generators of waste on the campus are defined as contiguous and under the control of the NIH.

Off-Campus NIH Installations: An NIH-owned or leased installation not located within the boundaries of the NIH main campus.

Off-Site: Not located on or contiguous with the NIH installation that generated the waste or recyclable material.

On-Site: Located on or contiguous with the NIH installation that generated the waste or recyclable material.

OSHA: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor. Also, the Occupational Safety and Health Act and amendments thereto.

Polypropylene: PP or Plastic # 5. A type of recyclable plastic material identified by the Society of Plastics Industry with a code number of five (5) and commonly used at NIH in the form of pipette tip racks and recyclable as a commingled material.

Plastic Film/Sheet or Soft Plastic: Plastic materials made of resin code numbers 2, 3, and 4 that have an elasticity when stretched include grocery and retail plastic bags, clear packaging and shrink wrap, trash can liners, and plastic bags for newspaper, bread, and frozen food.

Project Officer's Representative: An NIH employee designated by the Project Officer to represent and act for the Project Officer in his or her absence.

Project Officer: The Contract Officer's representative to the Contractor for technical matters.

Pull: The transportation, emptying, and returning of roll-off containers includes all related costs exclusive of disposal costs.

Radioactive Waste Pick-up Receipt (RWPR): An NIH form used to label and track radioactive and mixed waste containers.

Residential Wastes: All solid waste that normally originates in a residential environment. Sometimes called domestic solid waste.

Recycling Consolidation Areas: Central collection locations that are designated and/or approved by the NIH for transferring and accumulating recyclable materials in pallet boxes, dumpsters, trailers, or other NIH-approved containers or vehicles suitable for transport to off-campus recycling facilities

Recyclable Material: A term used by the NIH to designate discarded material that would otherwise become municipal solid waste and that may be collected, separated, processed, and reused.

Recycling Outlet: An NIH-approved facility, either government-owned or privately owned, that operates as a legal receiving facility for products or materials with the expressed purpose of processing, selling, or otherwise recovering the product or material for reuse.

Recycling Remuneration: A monthly refund from the contractor to the NIH that is based on the value paid by a NIH-approved recycling facility for recyclable materials. The recycling remuneration is collected by the contractor and credited monthly on the invoice to the NIH.

Roll-off Container: A general solid waste or recycling collection and hauling container with a volume ranging usually from ten to forty cubic yards that is pulled by dragline, winch, or similar mechanism onto the rear platform of a transport vehicle.

Scavenging: Sorting through solid waste looking for items of possible value or picking out individual pieces for re-use while collecting, loading, or unloading; scavenging excludes searches directed by the NIH and sorting or removal of recyclable materials from wastes as specified in this contract.

Sharps: A type of SMW or MPW that includes discarded hypodermic needles, syringes, microfine pipette tips, capillary and Pasteur pipettes, scalpels, blades, pathological slides, or other sharp objects used in human patient or animal care or that may contain human or animal blood, fluids, or tissues with pathogens.

Solid Waste: Solid wastes that do not contain components defined as hazardous waste, medical pathological waste, radioactive waste, or mixed waste and may be discarded as regular trash. General solid waste includes office trash, garbage, treated solid MPW except sharps, uncontaminated glass, and empty chemical containers with a capacity less than five gallons that have been processed in such a manner that they are not regulated as hazardous waste or a controlled hazardous substance.

Special Medical Waste (SMW): Medical wastes meeting the definition of COMAR 26.13.11.

Switching (Roll-Off Containers): A procedure in which one roll-off vehicle pulls a full container and a second roll-off vehicle immediately delivers an empty container into the vacated position.

Waste Resource and Recovery Branch (WRRB): A component of the NIH, the Division of Environmental Protection, ORF, is responsible for the management of waste generated by the NIH.

ARTICLE 2. SUMMARY STATEMENT OF WORK

a. Introduction

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducts the world's largest biomedical research program. Direct research and support activities are performed by approximately 36,000 employees in numerous laboratories, a 500-bed research hospital, and support facilities on NIH's main 340-acre campus at 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland, the 513-acre NIH Animal Center (NIHAC) in Poolesville, MD, and at numerous off-campus leased installations located in Maryland.

The NIH is one of twelve agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. The NIH is comprised of twenty-eight different institutes and centers, all of which are funded separately by Congress. All the institutes and centers work together under the Director of the NIH to pursue its mission of biomedical research.

The Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the unit at the NIH responsible for providing recycling, medical, and solid waste services. The DEP is a division under the Office of Research Facilities (ORF). The ORF is under the Office of the Director, one of the 28 institutes and centers comprising the NIH. The recycling and waste services described herein are critical services that support the NIH mission of biomedical research. The DEP has a long history of providing high-quality recycling and waste services to the NIH, which must be maintained and improved.

b. Background

The Contractor shall provide the services required herein to the NIH installations identified in Attachment 1. The NIH Bethesda campus and the NIHAC are the only properties fully owned and operated by the NIH under this contract. The other installations are leased buildings occupied either by NIH researchers or NIH Contractors providing direct research services. Additional NIH facilities within the states of Maryland and Virginia and the District of Columbia, usually small or moderate-sized waste generators, may be added during the term of the contract and shall be serviced by the contractor upon the request of the Contracting Officer. Such requests shall be accomplished by either a directive from the Contracting Officer or by a modification to the contract. The Contracting Officer will determine whether a modification to the contract is required.

The NIH main campus has approximately 75 buildings in which a wide variety of activities are performed, including but not limited to: research, animal care, administration, in-patient hospital care, child day care, fire and police services, grounds maintenance, vehicle repair and maintenance, research libraries, and facility operation and maintenance. The main campus is much like a small town with its own police and fire departments, small residential area, facility and road operation and maintenance groups, and a variety of other support operations that ensure services needed to carry out the mission of biomedical research are provided.

The NIHAC, located in Poolesville, MD, is a 513-acre secure facility dedicated to animal research. The NIHAC campus has sixteen permanent buildings and numerous temporary buildings where research work is performed. The NIHAC has its own power plant and facility operations and maintenance staff.

Approximately 13,000 tons of solid waste are generated annually by the NIH. The solid waste is comprised of institutional and on-campus residential wastes, animal bedding, construction debris, and a large quantity of recoverable material, including wood pallets, construction debris, mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, consumer beverage containers, and various plastics.

In 2022, the NIH recycled approximately 75% of the solid waste stream. Primary recyclable materials currently collected include mixed paper, soft plastic film, commingled materials (consumer beverage containers and related plastic, glass, aluminum, and bi-metal cans), empty reagent bottles (plastics # 1 and 2), corrugated cardboard, polypropylene pipette tip racks (plastic #5), wooden pallets, copier/printer toner cartridges, scrap metal, and mixed construction debris. Approximately 3,000 tons of recyclable materials, plus some 7,000 tons of mixed construction debris, are collected and recycled annually by the NIH. The NIH also initiated a Styrofoam cooler and pre-consumer food scrap (composting) collection and recycling programs, which, depending on market viability, it will seek to expand under this contract.

Approximately 1,050 tons of medical pathological waste (MPW) are collected and disposed of annually by the NIH. MPW at the NIH is currently collected in DEP-approved MPW burn boxes and MPW Totes/Carts. The burn boxes are made of cardboard and measure 46x46x36cm (1 8"x l8"x14"), and the MPW carts are made of polyethylene and measure 51"x 31"x47" (LxWxH). The burn boxes are purchased by the generators through the NIH Self-Service Stores. DEP provides MPW carts to the animal facility and the larger generators. All MPW waste is packaged by the generators, and there is no sorting by type. Sharps are packaged in puncture-resistant containers and then packaged into the burn boxes. All burn boxes include two plastic bag liners that are tied closed before being offered for collection and disposal. Some locations may require contractor-provided carts for shipping oversized MPW (e.g., animal carcasses) or, in the case of the option to service the NIAID Fort Detrick facility, bagged MPW rather than boxed MPW.

The contractor shall provide all equipment necessary to perform the work described herein. The government is providing a very limited amount of equipment (see Attachment 8 for a complete listing of government-provided equipment). An operations center will be provided for use by the contractor. The building provides warehouse space for supplies and limited recyclable materials storage, a walk-in cold box for temporary refrigerated storage of MPW boxes, a locked cage for holding MPW boxes determined to contain radioactive materials, a conveyor belt for in-house screening of MPW boxes, a radiation monitor mounted on the conveyor belt, plastics grinding equipment, a baler, one loading dock scissor lift, one loading dock load leveler, and office space.

The contractor shall minimally provide a permanent collection dumpster for construction debris waste at the loading docks of the following buildings: 10-B2, 13, 31A, 31B, 38, 38A, 45, and PRDS. The contractor shall also provide a collection dumpster for grounds maintenance ‘yard’ waste generated by the NIH Grounds Maintenance Department in the 41-yard lot or designated approved location. Yard waste normally consists of limbs and branches from trees and shrubbery. The government is providing a very limited amount of equipment (see Attachment 8 for a complete listing of government-provided equipment). An operations center will be provided for use by the contractor. The building provides warehouse space for supplies and limited recyclable materials storage, a walk-in cold box for temporary refrigerated storage of MPW boxes and MPW carts, a walk-in cold box for the holding of MPW boxes determined to contain radioactive materials, a conveyor belt, a separate RAD monitor for the MPW carts for in-house screening of MPW boxes and MPW carts, a radiation monitor mounted on the conveyor belt, plastics grinding equipment, a baler, one loading dock scissor lift, one loading dock load leveler, and office space.

c. Specific Waste and Recycling Requirements

The contractor shall manage and provide comprehensive waste management services for the collection, transportation, sanitation, and disposal of medical pathological and non-hazardous solid wastes generated by the NIH and the collection, transportation, and recovery of recyclable materials.

The requirements described herein include three primary waste management service components. Independently, and not as an agent of the NIH, the contractor shall manage and provide all services described herein.

The requirements described herein are broad in scope, requiring considerable amounts of resources, labor, and equipment to accomplish. The government places a premium on the quality of services provided. Excellent contractor management and communication will be required to ensure the requirements are met. The contractor management and support team must be both productive and efficient to deliver the services required. The requirements include extensive interaction between the contractor staff and NIH staff, both directly and over the phone. All NIH contacts shall be treated with the highest level of professionalism, especially when receiving service phone calls and directly interacting with staff in the workplace.

Services for off-campus locations shall be provided by the contractor Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays and periods when the NIH is closed due to inclement weather. Service for NIH locations other than the main campus shall be performed in a manner that does not affect scheduled service for the NIH main campus facilities. This schedule shall be proposed by the contractor and approved by the project officer.

The contractor is required to send and receive email messages. The government will provide NIH email support, computers, and software to the contractor for this requirement.

The NIH may add additional facilities to include partial or comprehensive waste management services as part of scope modifications to the contract. Currently, the NIH anticipates that an option may be needed for the contractor to provide continuous and reliable solid waste, recycling, and medical pathological waste services to support the NIH mission at NHLBI. NHLBI is working to establish a new off-campus clinical space to support research protocols located at 635 Edgewood Street NW, Washington, D.C. This new facility in D.C. needs medical waste collection services. The contractor is expected to provide medical waste collection, transportation, and disposal services for this location. Additional services of this nature will be considered within scope, and a modification is not required. The contractor will be officially notified by the CO.

(1) Solid Waste Management Service

Solid waste services shall be provided to the NIH Bethesda Campus and the NIHAC Poolesville, MD, facility. The contractor shall provide equipment for solid waste collection and consolidation at locations at the Bethesda and NIHAC campuses, respectively. The contractor shall provide equipment to haul solid waste compactors, roll offs, and front-end containers to NIH-accepted facilities. This includes, but is not limited to, the installation, repair, and maintenance of exterior solid waste dumpsters or other solid waste handling equipment. Litter and spillage control shall also be provided in the vicinity of all contractor-provided solid waste collection dumpsters located on the NIH main campus and the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville, MD. The estimated quantities of solid waste generated (by building) on the main campus and at off-site installations are provided in Attachment 3. The contractor shall make direct payments of solid waste disposal fees to the designated disposal facilities and submit to the project officer or NIH-designated staff the appropriate records of payment with the monthly invoice.

The contractor shall provide full solid waste compactor services on the NIH main campus and the NIHAC Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. This service shall be provided during the core working hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Services for the Building 10B2 Loading Dock shall be provided from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday to accommodate solid waste generated overnight. Minor variations to this schedule will be considered for approval by the project officer based on the nature of the service. The contractor shall also provide solid waste compactor services for the Clinical Center, building 10, on Saturdays and federal holidays, which include solid waste compactor removal and disposal from the building 10 B2 loading dock. All compactor solid waste loads removed from all Building 10 loading docks (10B2, 10C, and 10B1) shall be scanned for radioactivity by the Division of Radiation Safety (DRS) prior to being transported off campus for disposal. Full compactor loads that require pulling on weekends and holidays shall be set aside and scanned when DRS is available on the following workday.

All contractor-related equipment shall be maintained and repaired as needed by the contractor. Preventive maintenance shall be performed as per the manufacturer’s specifications. Repairs shall be performed to maintain the required uninterrupted solid waste collection services at the specified collection locations. Replacement dumpsters shall be provided if repair times exceed the quality standards specified in the Performance Requirements Summary located in the final section of the Statement of Work. When welding or other use of an open flame is required in performing repairs, the contractor shall obtain a "Burn Permit" from the NIH Fire Department. The "Burn Permit" shall be available at the work site when welding is being performed.

The contractor shall ensure that collection dumpsters or equipment serving buildings and related areas are emptied or pulled in a manner that minimizes the interruption of trash disposal by housekeeping staff within each building. Innovative procedures to accomplish this goal may be proposed by the contractor and encouraged by the government, subject to approval by the project officer. Government-provided balers and plastic grinding machinery shall be maintained in operable condition by the contractor. Solid waste front-end collection dumpsters must be equipped with closeable lids and allow for safe and easy loading by NIH staff from the loading dock. Where required for the proper and safe operation of solid waste collection units, the contractor shall provide and install loading ramps. Drawings and specifications for ramps shall be submitted for approval to the project officer prior to installation. Weights for each front-end pickup at each building pickup location for both the main NIH campus and the NIHAC Poolesville campus are to be provided via a monthly report to the Project Officer. A scale system will need to be furnished by the contractor to provide accurate, daily measurements.

The contractor shall provide dumpsters at the main campus solid waste collection locations. Each dumpster shall have the company name, contact phone number, and logo in a size and location to be approved by the project officer. The dumpsters shall be labeled with a unique identification number that will be used to identify each dumpster in the various reports specified in Article 3.r. Additional solid waste exterior collection locations will likely be added at various times after the contract award. The contractor shall provide collection dumpsters or equipment for these locations as requested by the project officer. Dumpsters shall be periodically cleaned at an off-campus facility.

Residential solid waste shall be collected from designated locations at buildings 15 (A-K), 16A, and 16B. Collections shall be performed one to three times per week, as agreed upon.

The contractor shall provide dumpsters at the NIHAC in Poolesville, MD, solid waste collection locations. Each dumpster shall be labeled with a unique identification number that will be used to identify each dumpster in the various reports specified in Article 3. r. Dumpsters shall be periodically Med at an off-campus facility.

The contractor shall deliver, at the request of the project officer, a lined 30-yard roll-off to the NIHAC in Poolesville, MD, for the collection of sludge produced by the wastewater treatment facility. The NIHAC staff will load the roll-off, which will then be hauled to an NIH-approved landfill for disposal.

Solid waste collection services shall be provided at each exterior Campus Recycling Unit (CRU) location and at approximately 39 additional wire mesh trash bin locations on the main campus grounds. Each CRU includes one solid waste collection unit. The contractor shall provide and replace collection liner bags for these units at each emptying to control spillage of liquids that create foul odors and attract insects. Regular cleaning shall be performed to keep the units clean and free of spillage and to maintain the positive aesthetic appearance of the dumpsters and the immediate surrounding area.

The contractor shall provide "Recovery Operation Support Services" as needed to remove hazardous materials, prohibited items, or items inadvertently disposed of in solid waste containers. This service includes the delivery of the container suspected to contain a hazardous material (medical pathological waste) to a project officer-specified location (on-site) within 45 minutes of the request by the project officer. The contractor shall search for and remove the undesirable material from the dumpster, and any removed material shall be placed into the same or a different collection dumpster. Operational procedures shall include measures to provide physical and visual barriers and other mechanisms to prevent the contamination of paved services, scattering by the wind, or the release of contaminants to the ground or water. The site shall be fully cleaned after removal. The contractor shall provide the personnel, training, equipment, and supplies necessary to perform this task safely and efficiently. It is estimated that 1–2 recovery operations requiring support services may occur per year. Personnel required shall at a minimum be: one roll-off driver, one contract manager, and two support staff for an estimated 2 hours.

(a) The major contractor furnished resources for solid waste services are anticipated to include:

· Exterior solid waste collection dumpsters (paint color to be approved by NIH) are located at NIH and NIHAC buildings, including required loading ramps, on an as-needed basis.

· Personnel and equipment necessary to provide vehicle tracking and dispatching services and to receive and respond to solid waste-related phone calls, which must be logged and communicated to service crews.

· Contractor equipment and personnel are necessary to empty or pull solid waste collection containers and transport solid waste to approved disposal facilities.

· The contractor shall collect the contents of wire mesh trash containers at the entrances and exits of all multi-level garages on the NIH Main Campus.

· Contractor equipment and personnel are necessary to provide litter and spillage control services in the vicinity of solid waste collection containers on the NIHAC and NIH main campuses.

· Appropriately fitted scales for front-end trucks are designed to allow the contractor to weigh front end trash containers from each building location on the NIH main campus and the NIHAC, Poolesville campus, and capture the individual weights of each trash pull as data to be provided to project officer in the form of an Excel and or PowerBI based monthly report.

· Personnel and equipment, including printers, copiers, and facsimile machines, necessary to track required data, receive and transmit e-mails, create and print required reports, send and receive faxes, and make copies of documents as needed. Computer systems will be provided by the NIH.

(2) Medical Pathological Waste Management (MPW) Services

Under this component, the contractor shall provide the personnel, vehicles, equipment, and repackaging supplies for the collection of packaged medical pathological waste (MPW) from designated NIH facilities in Montgomery County. All NIH MPW shall be delivered to an NIH-accepted offsite treatment and disposal facility following the required quality control inspection process or to on-site treatment systems owned and operated by the NIH. If on-site MPW treatment systems are implemented, the requirements of this section will be modified to reflect the change in work procedures and quantities of MPW shipped off-site for treatment.

The contractor shall provide full medical pathological waste services on the NIH main campus Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. This service shall be provided during the working hours of 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MPW loading services for the building 10-B2 Loading Dock shall be provided from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to accommodate MPW generated overnight. Approximately 200 boxes of MPW are generated per day from Building 10. The government provides a space at the 10-B2 loading dock to accommodate a contractor-provided holding unit for MPW. All MPW shall be transferred to Building 25 for the required quality check each morning daily and loaded onto the refrigerated trailer as soon as possible. MPW shall be transferred to Building 25 on weekends or at the request of the Project Officer.

The contractor shall provide medical pathological waste interior collection services for Building 10, including the Clinical Research Center, every day of the week, including federal holidays. The interior collection services shall be provided between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Sunday, including federal holidays. The extended hours are required to provide MPW collections from the clinical areas that deliver MPW to clinical staging areas throughout the period specified above. All other MPW boxes from Building 10 are to be collected from laboratory areas. This service requires the use of the Clinical Research Center elevators, which are normally in very high demand. The Project Officer may direct the contractor to work different shift hours within the range specified above or work less than 8 hours per shift if needed to service the building 10 work demand.

Under this component, the contractor shall collect MPW from both the main campus building interiors and loading docks. The contractor shall also collect MPW from off-site NIH installations, which are specified in Attachment 1. Collections at off-site installations will be performed from NIH cold rooms located at building loading docks. MPW to be collected by the contractor will be sealed in approved packaging by the generators. The only NIH-approved packaging currently is the NIH burn box and MPW totes/carts. The estimated number of MPW packages to be collected from each building and off-site installation is provided in Attachment 7. The estimated weight of MPW to be collected, processed, and shipped on an annual basis is 1,050 tons. Once MPW boxes are collected by the contractor, they are required to repackage any leaking MPW boxes into overpacks. Any spills resulting from the handling or storage of MPW boxes shall be cleaned and disinfected by the contractor. The contractor’s MPW spill cleanup procedure shall be reviewed and accepted by the project officer. The contractor shall operate and maintain all contractor- and government-provided MPW equipment.

Containers will be provided by the contractor for the collection, shipment, and disposal of large test animal carcasses up to 200 pounds and shipped to incineration for disposal. The Fort Detrick Service Option will also require bulk containers for bagged MPW instead of the NIH MPW box.

The MPW collection shall also include the collection of specific data. The data to be collected daily for all MPW packages and provided to the project officer is specified below.

· The main campus building or off-site installation name

· Date the package was collected

· The room number (if available)

A monthly summary of the above information shall be provided in the report titled "MPW Collection Report" (see Article 3.r).

MPW services shall include quality check inspections of all collected MPW Boxes and Totes prior to the loading of MPW packages and transport to an NIH approved treatment/disposal facility. The quality check is to include monitoring for presence of low-level radioactivity in each box. This is to be performed in Building 25 using Government provided equipment. Any alternative methods for performing quality check inspections and loading of MPW shall be approved by the Project Officer before implementation. Any MPW boxes and MPW totes with detected radioactivity shall be removed and transferred to the NIH Radiation Safety Branch accompanied with RAD Boxes and Totes detected at Bldg 25 report. It is estimated that 15 - 20 such boxes may be discovered per week. All Contractor staff involved in the handling of MPW boxes and totes shall receive radiation safety training from the NIH Radiation Safety Branch and Blood borne Pathogens training and are required to maintain certificates of current training and updates. For the Fort Detrick option, provision will be made by the government for monitoring for the presence of low-level radiation at that facility.

In addition to the above services, contractors will be required to monitor, package, and label medical pathological waste as directed during COVID-19 or similar public health outbreaks. Additional operational changes and/or waste management requirements may become necessary in the event of a declared national emergency or other significant public health outbreak throughout the contract term. This will include the secure closing of the inner plastic bags and the closure and label of the MPW box top. Boxes will then be transported to building 25 for processing. The contractor can add additional staff to support MPW operations. This staff member will only be added if needed and upon approval from the project officer.

(a) The MPW services shall also include the following:

· Preparation of shipping papers as needed and dispatcher services for contract service vehicles.

· Provision of carts to replace defective or broken government provided carts for transport of MPW boxes in Building 10.

· Personnel and equipment necessary to receive and respond to MPW related phone calls and e-mails per day, which must be logged and communicated to service crews.

· Personnel and equipment necessary to enter and track required data, receive, and transmit e-mails, create, and print required reports, send, and receive faxes, and make copies of documents as needed.

· MPW Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Storage Service: MPW personnel, spill cleanup supplies and equipment, radiation monitoring, inspections for leaks, related overpacking of boxes and a refrigerated trailer for MPW storage.

· MPW Shipping and Disposal Service: Requires access to two or more separate, fully licensed, permitted treatment and/or disposal facilities or another NIH-approved facility for disposal and destruction of MPW. The contractor shall provide access to at least one additional facility that uses a treatment method other than conventional medical waste incineration; and

· Medical waste tissues and samples at the NIH are stored for long periods in freezer units. This medical waste, along with the freezer units, may, at times, require disposal. The contractor shall provide certified decommissioning and Freon removal of freezer units as directed by the project officer. Freon shall be disposed of in accordance with all state and federal regulations.

(3) Resource Recovery and Recycling Management Services

Under this component, the contractor shall provide on-site collection and processing services and all equipment, including but not limited to vehicles, consolidation dumpsters, balers, residential containers for curbside collection, collection carts, and recycling receptacles, for effective resource recovery operations. Resource recovery recycling service (RRRS) shall minimally include the scheduling and collection of recyclable paper, toner cartridges, pipette tip racks, plastic film, and commingled (includes glass, plastic, and metal containers) recyclables from existing containers inside buildings. Select materials, including but not limited to mixed paper, aluminum cans, commingled recyclables, and trash, shall be collected from existing outside containers. These containers are grouped together in units known as Campus Recycling Units (CRU). Remuneration for recyclable paper and other recycled materials shall be made to the government based on prevailing market prices for these commodities and credited to the NIH on the monthly invoice.

Resource Recovery and Recycling Services for the NIH Facilities shall be provided Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. Collections for each building shall be provided in a manner that meets applicable performance standards. This service shall be provided during the core working hours of 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Solid waste is managed by housekeeping staff in Building 10 and the Clinical Research Center (CRC). Housekeeping utilizes blue "tugger" carts as part of a towable mechanized system to remove the solid waste from Building 10 and CRC and transfer the solid waste to the 10-B2 loading dock. The contractor shall remove cardboard from the "tuggers" at the building 10-B2 loading dock and load directly into a cardboard compactor at the same location during the period of 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Life Technologies Styrofoam cooler return program has been suspended, so the incumbent subcontracts to provide a trailer at the building 10 B2 dock for the collection and transportation of Styrofoam. The subcontractor dedicates two 30-foot-long pup trailers for the accumulation and transportation of cooler waste generated at the NIH main campus. This material is transported and delivered to the subcontractor’s processing facility, where it is offloaded and densified for re-use.

The recycling crew at the B2 dock will perform a quality check by ensuring all coolers are empty and free from any biological or chemical residual materials. They will remove the shipping labels or packing slips. Also, the recycling teams servicing buildings 37, 49, and 50 collect Styrofoam from storage areas and transfer it to the 10B2 dock for processing.

In addition to the main campus and Baltimore Research Center (BRC), the contractor will provide Styrofoam cooler pickup services at offsite locations. The Styrofoam boxes from offsites will be brought back to the NIH Bethesda campus for processing and loading into the Styrofoam trailer. All offsite facilities must be approved by the COR.

Cardboard shall be collected by the contractor from common corridors within certain buildings and from all loading docks on both the main campus and NIHAC. Buildings requiring interior cardboard collections currently include 12A (4 floors), 31A (1 floor), 31B (13 floors), 31C (10 floors), 37 (6 floors), 4 (4 floors), 6A (6 floors), 6B (4 floors), 13 (4 floors), 41 (1 floor), and 10 B-1 floor cafeterias. Cardboard on the loading dock will be either loose or in government-provided metal cardboard holders. Collected cardboard shall be placed into consolidation containers by the contractor at approved locations on the main campus. Other recyclable materials and collection locations may be added as recycling opportunities become available.

Wooden pallets shall be collected from building loading docks and consolidated at building 45's loading dock into a trailer. Wooden pallets that are abandoned within buildings shall be collected upon request. When full, the trailer will be removed and replaced with an empty one for further collections.

Residential recyclable materials shall be collected once per week from locations at the residential sites. Collection containers shall be provided by the contractor.

Government-provided exterior containers are fire and weather-resistant receptacles (CRUs) and are located on the main campus and at the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville, MD. Each grouping of exterior containers includes four containers designated for the collection of mixed paper, aluminum cans, commingled materials, and trash, respectively. The contractor shall provide clear collection liner bags for these containers to control spillage of liquids that create foul odors and attract insects. A replacement bag shall be provided each time the container is emptied. Regular cleaning shall be performed to keep the containers clean and free of spillage and to maintain the positive aesthetic appearance of the containers and the immediate surrounding area.

There are 12 NIH used ID badge containers located on the main campus for locations that need to be collected and the contents processed for optimum recycling (e.g., remove name tags and metal clips) as comingled waste or plastic film and consolidated for shipping to a recovery/recycling facility.

Government-provided interior recycling containers are fire-resistant receptacles and are located within most buildings on the main campus. The NIH Clinical Center (CC) requires special fire-safe step-on recycling bins to comply with life safety and fire marshal codes. These bins should meet CC esthetics, hygiene, and life safety requirements. The number, size, and types of interior containers vary somewhat for each work area. Each grouping of interior containers generally includes containers designated for the collection of mixed paper and commingled materials. Containers for plastic pipette tip racks and toner cartridges are also provided at the customers’ request and are prevalent in the research laboratory areas. The contractor shall provide a new clear liner bag for the pipette tip rack and commingled containers at each emptying to control spillage of liquids that create foul smells and attract insects. Regular cleaning shall be performed to keep the containers clean and free of spillage and to maintain the positive aesthetic appearance of the containers. Upon request, the contractor shall provide a hamper to NIH staff that are having an office or lab cleanout and require a larger container than the standard recycling bins. These hampers will be emptied at the request of the NIH staff and returned until the cleanout is complete.

The contractor shall minimally provide 1 collection dumpster for construction debris waste at the loading docks of the following buildings: 10-B2, 13, 31A, 31B, 38, 38A, and 45. The contractor shall also provide a collection dumpster for grounds maintenance ‘yard’ waste generated by the NIH Grounds Maintenance Department in the 41-yard lot or designated approved location. Yard waste normally consists of limbs and branches from trees and shrubbery.

The NIH has a significant construction debris program on the main campus. The program recycles approximately 7,000 tons of debris per year resulting from new construction, renovation, or demolition activities at the NIH. Normally, there are 20–25 roll-offs located throughout the campus for ongoing construction and demolition projects that are requested and managed through the DEP Construction Debris Program. The contractor shall be responsible for managing all construction debris roll offs that are requested by ORF Construction Project Officers through the NIH Site Selection Coordination, which includes the placement, hauling, replacement, and disposal.

The contractor shall minimally provide two collection dumpsters at the 10-B2 dock for scrap metal. Additional sites on the NIH campus are Buildings 11 East Side, 13, and the 25 Scrap Yard.

The NIH has a design-build contract for the Surgery, Radiology, and Laboratory Medicine Building (SRLM) addition…