A02.12 PWS - Assess and Improve SJ and EM CIP dated 2025.08.14.docx

14 AUG 2025

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF SILVER JACKETS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS

1. BACKGROUND

Institute for Water Resources (IWR) is a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Operating Activity located within the Washington, DC National Capital Region in Alexandria, VA. IWR analyzes and anticipates changing water resources management conditions, and to develop planning methods and analytical tools to address economic, social, institutional, and environmental needs in water resources planning and policy. IWR provides technical assistance to Corps divisions, districts, laboratories, Federal agencies, international organizations, financial institutions and other countries, in encompassing a broad range of topic areas related to levee and dam safety, risk assessment, dredging requirements, port/waterway transport, aquatic ecosystem restoration, environmental stewardship, flood and drought risk management, emergency preparedness, watershed planning, regulatory, multipurpose water resources including hydroelectric power, water supply and reallocation, recreation, and other water and related land resources issues.

IWR seeks services and support of the University of Colorado, Boulder (CUB) National Hazard Center (NHC) in conducting analysis that will allow for assessment and improvement of IWR programs, specifically Emergency Management and Silver Jackets. Silver Jackets teams are interagency teams that facilitate collaborative solutions to state flood risk priorities. Silver Jackets are coordinated under the umbrella of the National Flood Risk Management Program (NFRMP). The Emergency Management Continuous Improvement Program is part of the USACE Readiness Support Center, which provides emergency management planning, training exercise development, project management and response support to USACE and the Nation.

2. SCOPE

IWR is requesting assistance from the NHC to use social science research methods to evaluate factors that contribute to successful interagency activities, projects, and studies to manage or reduce flood risk. The work will be accomplished by Dr. Lori Peek, PhD, Director of NHC and her team co-located at UCB. Dr. Peek is an internationally recognized expert in risk assessment and communication.

The purpose of this work is to conduct research, which may include the review of completed project materials such as project proposals, deliverables and closeout reports, and interviews of project staff and partners to evaluate project activities that have seemingly resulted in the reduction of flood risk or the improved management of flood risk and what the success factors were. The work will assess what success factors were present in project activities that successfully resulted in specific actions by the partner that led to management of flood risk, and if action was not taken, will assess the barriers to action. Factors of success, barriers, and associated case studies will be prepared for distribution.

Additionally, IWR is requesting assistance from the NHC to develop a framework and templates for a continuous improvement program of USACE Emergency Management activities. This will guide how USACE Emergency Management activities are consistently assessed and evaluated and will be used to update EP 500-1-12.

3. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The following sub-sections provide details of various general requirements for this effort.

3.1. Non-Personal Services

The contractor shall provide strictly non-personal services and contractor employees are not subject to direct supervision and control by the Government. The contractor shall advise and support the Government but shall not make final decisions or certifications on behalf of the Government nor perform any inherently governmental functions. The contractor and its employees shall not represent the government nor appear to represent the government in performance of these contract services. Contractor personnel shall clearly identify themselves as contractor employees in all interactions during contract performance.

3.3 Place of Performance

All remote work will be performed at the contractor’s site.

3.4 Period of Performance

The period of performance is 24 months from time of award

3.5 Materials

All materials, minus expendable supplies, purchased by the contractor with funds from this task order and used for this task order, become and remain the property of the Government.

3.6 Other Direct Costs (ODCs)

Travel is not anticipated for this work

4. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS (TASK AREAS)

Eight tasks are included.

4.1. Task 1: Kick-Off Meeting and Coordination Meetings – IWR and NHC will host a kick-off web meeting before initiating tasks described here. IWR and NHC will discuss and finalize scope details and verify a timeline that is within the period of performance. IWR will provide an inventory of 8-15 potential Silver Jackets activities to be assessed. From this inventory NHC will select seven to nine activities to assess based on their professional judgement. IWR will provide the current Engineering Publication [EP 500-1-12] which provides programmatic guidance for the Emergency Management Continuous Improvement Program.

Monthly or as-needed virtual meetings between USACE and NHC team members for the purposes of planning and coordination, and for providing updates on tasks, deliverables, timeline, and any other relevant project information.

4.2. Task 2: Evaluate Silver Jackets activities

Develop Evaluation Methods - NHC will develop criteria and approaches or instrument(s) to evaluate the factors of successful interagency projects at managing flood risk, as well as noting any barriers that are found. Criteria should assess the activities involved in projects designed to result in flood risk management. Approaches may include interviewing team members and partners, reviewing project documents, and other methods deemed appropriate by NHC. During monthly coordination meetings, NHC will review evaluation methods with IWR to allow for feedback and adjustment. Final evaluation methods will be submitted as a deliverable.

Evaluate- IWR will provide necessary project documents and contact information to NHC. NHC will review project documents to determine which are readily able to be evaluated and identify available points of contact. NHC will apply the methodology determined in Task 2 to evaluate the factors of successful projects in managing flood risk. NHC and IWR will conduct regular meetings to answer questions, check on progress, and provide additional information as needed.

Compile and Present - NHC will compile the results of the evaluation in a user-friendly format that IWR can readily search and apply, as well as case studies in a user-friendly format that can be shared with Silver Jackets partners. NHC will develop a presentation that summarizes the findings and will present these findings in a 1-hour web-based meeting with interested parties. Results of evaluation and summary PowerPoint will be submitted as a deliverable.

4.3. Task 3: USACE Continuous Improvement Program. Develop comprehensive programmatic guidelines for a USACE Continuous Improvement (CI) Program that provides consistent direction across all districts and divisions. These guidelines will be structured around the four core phases of the CI cycle: discovery, validation, resolution, and evaluation. The framework will outline scalable processes for gathering feedback, verifying lessons learned, formulating actionable improvements, and assessing outcomes to inform future operations in the most efficient and automated way possible. The objective is to establish a uniform, sustainable program that can be effectively managed by a single program manager while remaining adaptable to mission specific and geographic needs. Guidance will include checklists, standardized workflows, roles and responsibilities, suggested reporting tools, and templates for each CI phase using modern tools to the greatest extent available to USACE. NHC will coordinate with USACE CI PM regularly to ensure the guidelines align with existing policies and foster a culture of continuous improvement throughout the emergency management community. The contractor will provide a draft for USACE review and feedback, followed by document finalization.

5. DELIVERABLES AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE

The Contractor shall provide reports and other print deliverables in publication quality format and provide web publishable versions of such deliverables. All deliverables must be Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act compliant, https://www.section508.gov. The table below identifies a set of deliverables that are required under this task order.

The Government has unlimited rights to all documents and materials produced under this contract. All documents and materials, to include the source codes of any software, produced under this contract shall be Government owned and are the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government. These documents and materials may not be used or sold by the contractor without written permission from the Contracting Officer. All materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other Government rights.

6. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS): Performance Standards

Re-perform/correct at no cost to the Government.

Re-perform/correct at no cost to the Government.

Operational/Effective (All statements)

Recommendations are Implementable

7. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY (GFE)

Not applicable.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

8.0 SECURITY & SAFETY

Security 8.1

1. General security requirements and guidance: The security requirements described below apply to all contract personnel (including employees of the prime Contractor (“Contractor”) and all subcontractor employees) supporting the performance requirements of this contract. The Contractor is responsible for compliance with these security requirements. Questions regarding security matters shall be addressed to the designated Government representative (e.g., Contracting Officer Representative (COR), Requiring Activity (RA) representative, or Contracting Officer (if a COR or other RA representative is not appointed)). Contract personnel are critical to the overall security and safety of US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) installations, facilities and activities, and security awareness training contributes to those efforts. Contractor personnel and vehicles are subject to search when entering federal installations. Additionally, all contract personnel shall comply with Force Protection Condition (FPCON) measures, Random Antiterrorism Measures (commonly referred to as “RAMs”), and Health Protection Condition (HPCON) measures. The Contractor is responsible for meeting performance requirements during elevated FPCON and/or HPCON levels in accordance with applicable RA plans and procedures. In addition to the changes otherwise authorized by the changes clause of this contract, should the FPCON or HPCON levels at any individual facility or installation change, the Government may implement security changes that affect contract personnel. The Contractor shall ensure all contract personnel are aware of their security responsibilities, including any site-specific requirements identified in local policies or procedures.

All contractor employees who require physical access to government-controlled facilities or logical access to government information and or information systems are subject to a fitness determination and appropriate vetting.

The work under this contract will be UNCLASSIFIED and network or facility access is not required except for participation in meetings therefore the contractor(s) will not require a Common Access Card (CAC). Contractor employees may require access to government facilities for meetings, site visits, to gather data, etc. Infrequent contractor access to a government facility shall be coordinated by the government technical point of contact (TPOC) or the contracting officer representative (COR). The COR or TPOC for each contract is the liaison between the security office and the contractor and will coordinate any visits with the security office.

Safety 8.1.2

Contractor Compliance: The contractor and its subcontractors shall comply with Public Law 91-596 (Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)) and the Environmental, Safety, and Occupational Health (ESOH) (DODD 4715.1E). These requirements shall be incorporated into the contractor’s safety and health program. The Department of Defense (DoD) participates in the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Contractor personnel performing services on a DoD installation shall participate in the local VPP. Information on the VPP is available at https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/vpp/all_about_vpp.html.

Mishap Notification: The contractor and its subcontractors (if applicable) shall promptly report pertinent facts regarding mishaps while performing services under this contract at government facilities. Contractor personnel shall promptly notify the COR or TPOC and cooperate in any resulting safety investigation.

8.2 QUALITY CONTROL/QUALITY ASSURANCE

8.2.1 Quality Control (QC)

The Contractor shall develop a quality control plan (QCP) and implement a quality control program to satisfy the specific requirements of this contract. An optimal QCP shall identify potential problem areas and evolve over the life of the contract. The Contractor shall provide the QCP to the KO and COR for approval no later than 30 calendar days after contract award. The Contractor shall update the QCP as required and provide copies to the KO and COR for approval.

All documents and deliverables produced by the contractor will be reviewed before transmitting to USACE and stakeholders and be free from errors.

8.2.2 Quality Assurance (QA)

The Government will monitor the Contractor's performance under this contract. The Government has the right to conduct inspections and performance evaluation at any time and at any place where contract performance occurs. If any aspect of the performance is not in conformance with the requirements of this contract, the Government has the right to issue to the Contractor a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR). The Contractor shall explain in writing why performance was not in conformance with the requirements of the contract, how performance will be returned to conformance, and how recurrence of the problem will be prevented in the future. The Contractor shall complete and return the CDR to the Contracting Officer and COR within five workdays after receipt of the CDR. The Contractor shall maintain copies of all inspection and evaluation reports.

9. CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE AND/OR TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT (TPOC)

A contracting officer representative (COR) and/or technical point of contact (TPOC) will be appointed on each task order. The COR and TPOC have no authority to direct the contractor in any way to alter the contractual obligation. The contracting officer is the only individual authorized to make changes to the contract.