D.5_-_LNG_Geotechnical_and_Structural_Consultant.doc

Scope and Qualifications for CLIN X0004

Attachment 4 (D.5)

GEOTECHNICAL AND STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT

1. Scope:

The Contractor will provide engineering services to the FERC on Geotechnical and Structural design and operation of various LNG projects proposed to or authorized by the FERC to assure compliance with appropriate requirements, including but not limited to the following: FERC Seismic Guidelines, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 7, NFPA 59A, API 620, and API 653, Design and Construction of Large, Welded, Low Pressure Storage Tanks, for the seismic design of LNG facilities), local standards, and state-of-the-art procedures.

The Contractor will review all related materials produced by the applicant and the Geotechnical consultants (in multiple drafts and final form) and provide critical feedback on the adequacy of the necessary studies to FERC staff which will then be provided to the applicant. Elements of the proposed LNG project subject to review include the applicant's regional and site-specific investigations to determine the characteristics of geology, seismic ground motion and associated response spectra, foundation design and improvement/treatment methodology, seismic response and design of storage tanks, piping support structures, seismic hazard detection and control systems, and seismic stability evaluation of topographic features of the plant, such as dikes and impoundment areas. These elements will be provided in Environmental Resource Reports prepared by the LNG applicant. The Contractor will focus on the LNG facility and typically not the associated connecting pipeline. The Contractor will review and comment on Resource Reports 1, 6, and 13 (including all pertinent appendices) and provide analyses and recommendations for FERC staff’s Environmental Assessment (EA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documents. Review of all structural basis of design, loads, combinations, and criteria will be assessed for facilities including interaction with ships and mooring lines, and their supportive calculations, drawings, and other engineering documentation, to determine whether they have been done correctly, consistently, and in accordance with federal regulations, incorporated codes and standards, and recommended and generally accepted good engineering practices commensurate with scope and the risk the proposed facilities may pose. The Contractor will also perform appropriate evaluations to verify and ensure proper selection of seismic design input values, site improvement/treatment plans, and implementation of the seismic design measures for the proposed project. Special emphasis shall be place on all external loads referenced in FERC Guidance Volume II, 2017 such as overpressures, projectiles, and thermal loads, and all natural hazards referenced in FERC Guidance Volume II, 2017, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, seiche, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, and ice/snow onto facilities. The evaluation reports are the property of the FERC and the information contained in the reports is considered proprietary.

Review basis will include knowledge of appropriate regulations, codes and standards, prior experience, precedents, and engineering knowledge. Work will be coordinated with the LNG facility owner/applicant through the FERC staff. It is anticipated that the FERC staff will obtain the necessary background and technical material including facility specifications and design details appropriate to the individual projects, as the basis for each technical review, but the Contractor may work directly with the applicant, subject to certain disclosure requirements and FERC staff approval.

During the application phase, which includes the Pre-filing phase of the project, the Contractor can work directly with the applicant and its consultants, subject to certain disclosure requirements and FERC staff approval, to ensure adequacy of the scope and methodology for assessing the site conditions and design parameters. The Contractor shall prepare and submit to the FERC brief monthly Status Reports.

The Contractor will be expected to participate in technical conferences with the applicants or operators and their consultants with respect to geotechnical and structural design issues. Based upon the studies, conferences, and inspections, the Contractor may be requested to submit summary reports to the FERC staff setting forth the technical evaluation, recommendations, and conclusions for the various aspects of the proposed project. The Contractor will review and prepare questions on relevant materials and will submit them to FERC to gain more information, evaluate and edit resource reports, draft and final EAs and EIS’s. In addition, the Contractor will be available as an expert witness on behalf of the staff of the FERC in any hearings on applications.

A post-authorization review may be performed to ensure that the seismic design, foundation treatment/improvement measures, and hydrostatic tank test are properly implemented as intended by the FERC authorization and any settlements or movements are within the design limits. The Contractor will also provide technical reviews and recommendations to FERC staff regarding any post-authorization "changed conditions" or other post-authorization requests from the project owner that require modification of the seismic design and/or foundation treatment.

2. Background The FERC regulates the interstate transmission, storage, and sale of natural gas. Companies that propose to construct, operate, and maintain jurisdictional natural gas facilities must secure approval from the FERC in the form of an Order Issuing Certificate or Order Issuing Authorization. The design requirements that apply to any individual project will vary depending upon site specific conditions and the applicable FERC regulations.

3. Objective

The objective of this contract is to provide technical evaluation services on the geotechnical, seismic, structural, earthquake, storm and wave resistant design of proposed LNG facilities. Post-authorization implementation of these required design measures, and other related tasks may also be assigned. Such studies determine the overall adequacy of the proposed seismic and structural design philosophy and input values, tank and foundation engineering, hydrostatic testing of LNG storage tanks, and compliance with applicable regulations, codes, and standards. As part of this effort, the Contractor will be expected to have experts on staff that are qualified in all of these areas.

4. Applicable Documents:

The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) will provide a list of projects as they become available. The project environmental data and specifications are publically available from the FERC’s eLibrary System under the docket number for the project including project maps, resource reports, the NEPA document (EA/EIS), Commission Order, Implementation Plans, clearance letters and notices, and the company’s construction status reports. The COR may provide additional materials upon Contractor request and/or may direct the Contractor to obtain materials directly from the subject company.

5. Confidentiality of Information:

As required by the Non-Disclosure Agreement(s), to the extent that the work under this contract requires that the contractor be given access to non-public information including but not limited to confidential, proprietary business, technical, or financial information, the contractor shall maintain such information as non-public and agree not to appropriate such information to its own use unless specifically authorized by the Contracting Officer in writing.

The foregoing obligations, however, shall not apply to:

5.1 Information which, at the time of receipt by the contractor, is in the public domain;

5.2 Information which is published after receipt thereof by the contractor or otherwise becomes part of the public domain through no fault of the contractor;

5.3 Information which the contractor can demonstrate was in its possession at the time of receipt thereof and was not acquired directly or indirectly from the Government or other companies;

5.4 Information which the contractor can demonstrate was received from a third party who did not require the contractor to hold it in confidence.

The contractor agrees, that upon request by FERC, it shall execute a FERC-approved agreement with any party whose facilities or proprietary data it is given access to or is furnished, restricting use and disclosure of the data or the information obtained from the facilities. Upon request by FERC, such an agreement shall also be signed by contractor personnel.

6. Organizational Conflict of Interest:

The Contractor warrants that, to the best of the Contractor’s knowledge and belief, there shall be no relevant facts or circumstances which do or could give rise to an Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI), as defined in FAR subpart 9.5 or the appearance thereof; and that Contractor and its Subcontractors (as defined below) shall comply with the requirements set forth in this provision to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate the same.

Specifically, immediately upon assignment of a task order and prior to performance thereof and incurrence of any task order- related costs, the Contractor shall itself prepare and submit, and ensure that each of its proposed subcontractors, partners, consultants, joint ventures or other entities acting in a similar capacity (collectively referred to as Subcontractors) submits an OCI Representational Statement and an OCI Questionnaire (OCI Screening Documents) to the COR. No task order shall commence until the COR has reviewed and approved, in writing, the OCI Screening Documents provided by the Contractor. Failure of the Contractor to provide the OCI Screening Documents to the COR may result in the Contractor being determined ineligible for that task.

If the COR, after reviewing the OCI Screening Documents in consultation with agency legal staff, determines that an OCI or the appearance thereof exists, the COR will ask the Contractor to submit a full disclosure statement (Full OCI Disclosure Statement) describing the circumstances or conditions that create the OCI or appearance thereof and any measures the Contractor intends to implement to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate the OCI or the appearance thereof. If, in the discretion of the COR, the proposed measures will not avoid, neutralize, or adequately mitigate the OCI or appearance thereof, the Contractor will not be assigned to that particular task order and that task order will be competed outside this contract.

Moreover, in the event that the Contractor identifies an OCI or the appearance thereof after beginning performance or incurring task order-related costs, the Contractor shall promptly submit a Full OCI Disclosure Statement of the same to the COR, and comply with the COR’s direction regarding further activity under the task order.

The Contractor shall promptly inform and ensure that each of its sub-contractors promptly inform, in writing, the COR regarding any material changes to the information within the documentation submitted pursuant to this provision. Misrepresentation or failure to report any material fact or any fact that should have been known may result in the termination of the contract for default, disqualification of the Contractor from subsequent related contractual efforts, and other remedies as may be permitted by law or this contract.

7. Project Review Deliverables:

The COR will provide a schedule for review and data request preparation for Resource Reports 1, 6 and 13 and review and editing of the draft and final EA/EIS. Typical turn-around-time to document review and comment varies from one to six weeks depending on project schedules and the type of deliverable.

The Contractor shall provide FERC with the following deliverables at the indicated time intervals during the Pre-Filing and Application phases of a project. Examples of reports are provided:

The Contractor shall provide FERC with the following deliverables at the indicated time intervals during the Post Authorization phase of a project:

8. Quality Assurance Effectiveness

In addition to the above the Contractor shall provide FERC the following:

8.1 Progress Report. The Contractor shall provide a monthly progress report in electronic format to the COR. This report shall include: progress of all outstanding tasks, activities completed during the month; cost and status of invoiced charges and deviations from planned status of this task.

8.2 Monthly Invoices. Monthly invoices shall include dollars expended by work/expense category, percent spent of the total funds allocated per contract, etc.

8.3 Monthly Status Reports. The Contractor shall provide monthly Status Reports to the FERC staff describing progress made, including reports of discussions with the applicant and information requested from the applicant and its consultants. This should also include a summary table of all projects that the Contractor currently has in progress, date awarded, contract end date, total budget, amount invoiced to date, and amount invoiced for the month.

8.4 Report Transmittals. The Contractor shall submit all reports to the COR in electronic format, using software compatible with FERC’s systems.

8.5 Technical Meetings. The contractor shall participate in technical meetings with the applicant or operators and their consultants with respect to Geotechnical and Structural design issues. Based upon the studies, meetings, and inspections, the contractor shall review and prepare relevant material and shall submit them to FERC to gain more information, evaluate, and edit resource reports, draft and final EAs and EISs.

8.6 Other Tasks as Assigned. From time to time the Contractor will be asked to provide consultation/technical peer review for more focused projects (e.g., initial foundation design, foundation design changes, a modified pile driving program, pipeline crossings of active faults and liquefiable soils, etc.) or for special non-project-specific tasks (e.g., Seismic Design Guidelines). The Contractor may also be asked to provide a lessons learned or technical briefing or training for projects in which unique circumstances, hazards, or design methods are encountered.

9. Protocol 9.1 Communication - Regular interaction between the Contractor and the COR is expected to occur to ensure that both parties are informed of ongoing developments. The Contractor will make arrangements to meet with the COR, via phone, face to face or teleconference, to obtain additional direction and clarification on the task assignment and/or individual inspections.

9.2 Project Manager - The Contractor shall have one Project Manager assigned to the task, and an alternate contact (designated as Key Personnel) who shall respond within 36 hours to all inquiries from the COR. References for the proposed project manager shall be provided, including name and phone number for pertinent and related work within the past 3 years. Prior to diverting key personnel, the Contractor shall notify the FERC Contracting Officer (CO) reasonably in advance (not less than 30 days prior to the diversion or substitution of key personnel) and shall submit a written justification (including proposed substitutions) in sufficient detail to permit evaluation of the impact on the task activities. The key personnel list may be amended from time to time during the course of the contract to either add or delete personnel, as appropriate. Individuals submitted as key personnel changes will be approved at the sole discretion of the CO, with concurrence of the COR.

9.3 Emergency Situations - The Contractor shall have the capability to respond to "emergency situations", involving construction-related problems, environmental-related complaints, potential violations of environmental certificate conditions, or the first crossing of a major or sensitive water body within one day of receiving notice from the COR. The duties include: investigation, damage assessment, remediation measures, and coordination with applicable federal, state and local officials.

9.4 Personnel - The Contractor should provide hourly rates for all personnel, estimated time required to perform each of the tasks, as described in Section 3, and total estimated costs. Technical evaluation services required under the contract will vary in complexity but for costing purposes, the contractor should assume similar level of difficulty as an example provided in the Appendix. In addition the contractor shall be available as a witness on behalf of the staff of the FERC in any hearings or rehearings on applications.

9.4.1 All Contractor personnel assigned to complete a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) as part of their onboarding to the executed contract.

9.4.2 All Contractor personnel are required to complete FERC in processing procedures to include a background investigation.

9.5 Document Control - All final documents will be reviewed and edited by the Contractor to ensure that the document is both technically and grammatically correct. Final documents will be organized in a logical manner. The FERC COR will also review final documents and request Contractor edits as necessary.

10.0 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS

· The Contractor shall submit a list of personnel resumes for key personnel which identifies each staff member, discussing their educational background, professional licenses, relevant structural, seismic, geotechnical and marine engineering experience, and professional qualifications. Prior to diverting key personnel, the Contractor shall notify the FERC Contracting Officer (CO) reasonably in advance (not less than 30 days prior to the diversion or substitution of key personnel) and shall submit a written justification (including proposed substitutions) in sufficient detail to permit evaluation of the impact on the task activities. The key personnel list may be amended from time to time during the course of the contract to either add or delete personnel, as appropriate. Individuals submitted as key personnel changes will be approved at the sole discretion of the CO, with concurrence of the COR.

Structural Engineering Consultant. The structural engineering consultant shall be a United States citizen and possess the following qualifications:

· At a minimum all experts should at least 10 years of experience, advanced degrees and be a respected consultant in their field.

Appendix Provided samples are public documents that are available on the Commission’s eLibrary (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp). Direct links are provided below.

Resource Report 1 https://elibrary.ferc.gov/IDMWS/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=14240617 Resource Report 6 https://elibrary.ferc.gov/IDMWS/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=14240658 Resource Report 13 https://elibrary.ferc.gov/IDMWS/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=14240682 Resource Report 13 Appendix I.1 (Page 632) https://elibrary.ferc.gov/IDMWS/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=14240682

Resource Report 13 Appendix J.1:

https://elibrary.ferc.gov/IDMWS/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=14240683 Data Request:

https://elibrary.ferc.gov/IDMWS/common/opennat.asp?fileID=14379651

Draft EIS https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=15052992