Attachment 1 - Draft SOW Env Services BPA.docx

Attachment A

SERVICES TO SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE STATEMENT OF WORK

Provide support for the environmental compliance obligations of the National Science Foundation (NSF) as set forth below.

1. Background

NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" With an annual budget of approximately $9.87 billion (FY 2023), NSF is the funding source for approximately 25 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities.

NSF fulfills its mission chiefly by issuing limited-term grants or cooperative agreements (currently about 11,000 new awards per year) to fund specific research proposals that have been judged the most promising by a rigorous and objective merit-review system. Most of these awards go to institutions supporting individual investigators or small groups of investigators. Other awards provide funding for research centers, instruments and facilities that allow scientists, engineers, and students to work at the outermost frontiers of knowledge.

NSF also funds equipment and infrastructure that is needed by scientists and engineers but is often too expensive for any one group or researcher to afford. Examples of such research equipment and infrastructure include giant optical and radio telescopes, Antarctic research sites, high-end computer facilities, very large bandwidth network connections, ships for ocean research, weather simulation facilities, and sensitive detectors of very subtle physical phenomena and gravitational wave observatories.

2. Scope

a. Overview

Most of NSF’s funding actions have no significant environmental impacts and are categorically excluded from review requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A small percentage of proposals may, however, have significant environmental impacts or be implicated by other environmental authorities such as the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management (Essential Fish Habitat), Executive Order 12114, and other statutory, regulatory, permitting, and licensing requirements. In order to determine whether a proposal could result in significant impacts, an environmental analysis may be conducted. When an environmental analysis is conducted, the NSF science directorate supporting the proposal is responsible for its preparation. Upon award of the Blanket Purchase Agreement, the contractor shall provide ongoing technical support to NSF and other contractor(s) as directed by NSF. The contractor shall have mission-ready professional resources and equipment that can be immediately deployed to support the full range of potential environmental and historic preservation requirements, for both project-specific and agency- wide programs, as further discussed below. Proposals involve activities that could take place include multiple sites. Some travel may be necessary in order to perform environmental compliance functions on behalf of NSF. Travel dates and locations will be specified in the individual task orders to be issued.

b. Environmental Services in General

The services include, but are not limited to, support of NSF’s environmental compliance obligations through preparation of documentation, analyses, studies, and correspondence, assistance with public meetings, and consultation with regulators. Specifically, under NEPA, this can include documentation preparation under the following categories: Categorical Exclusion (CATEX), Environmental Assessment (EA), Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Supplemental NEPA documents, Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Record of Decision (ROD). This can also include documentation in support of NSF’s compliance with Executive Order 12114. Analyses of environmental impacts include, but are not limited to, impacts on vegetation, wildlife, endangered and threatened species and their habitats (including impacts on marine mammals from seismic research activities), wetlands, watersheds, archaeological resources, historical and/or cultural resources, soils, water resources, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, environmental justice, geological and topographical features, socio-economics, traffic and infrastructure, and noise. In addition, specific services include, but are not limited to, preparation of documents, analyses, studies, and correspondence in support of NSF’s compliance with the NHPA, ESA, MMPA, CZMA, CWA, Essential Fish Habitat, and in support of NSF’s consultation responsibilities with federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes (Tribal Nations), Native Hawaiians, and other Indigenous communities as needed. Wherever possible, requirements shall be coordinated with the NEPA process, as directed by NSF, to achieve maximum efficiencies.

Additional services may also include feasibility studies to determine appropriate alternatives to study in environmental analyses or to determine appropriate conservation measures; preparation of draft environmental regulations and documents needed for environmental regulation rulemaking; feasibility and cost studies to support NSF’s environmental planning needs at any relevant life stage of research infrastructure; response to unanticipated environmental incidents (including procurement and management of any needed subcontractors); on-site monitoring or oversight of remediation work; preparation of programmatic documents (i.e., programmatic NEPA documents, memoranda of agreement or programmatic agreements under the NHPA, etc.); preparation of federal, state, and local permitting and licensing documentation; assessment of baseline environmental conditions, including surveys, monitoring, and testing, as well as phased environmental site assessments; hazardous and solid waste management plans; spill prevention/control and countermeasure plans; pollution prevention surveys and plans; preparation of environmental policy/procedure updates; and any environmental compliance-related training needs. Services also include providing support for and assistance with public hearings and meetings pursuant to NEPA and the NHPA, and analyzing and developing responses to public comments submitted as part of environmental compliance processes. During preparation of environmental compliance documents under NEPA, the contractor shall, to the maximum extent possible, incorporate by reference and/or adopt environmental analyses prepared previously by NSF and/or by other federal or state agencies.

The contractor shall also provide, as requested and as needed by NSF, the development of programmatic approaches to environmental compliance to meet NSF’s legal obligations in a streamlined and cost-effective manner. Further technical support, such as training, verification and audit/assessment activities (i.e., monitoring and verifying implementation of mitigation measures) will also be provided as requested by NSF.

c. Technical Requirements/Tasks

The contractor shall identify, analyze, and advise NSF as to anticipated environmental impacts of a proposed action and to develop and analyze proposed mitigation measures. This may include, but not be limited to: technical writing; conducting literature searches; modeling; preparing graphs, maps, charts and tables; calculating; interpreting samples; interviewing experts; conducting surveys; conducting sampling and/or monitoring and documenting such research, analyses, or use of professional judgment in the absence of pre-existing information. The contractor shall, when directed by NSF, review NSF’s Institution/Organization Environmental Impacts Checklist to make initial determinations regarding potential environmental impacts. The contractor shall also make initial determinations as to whether NSF’s Guideline #2013_01 (“Guideline Regarding Environmental Review for Drilling of the Earth, Excavation, Explosives, Weather Modification, and Other Techniques that May Alter a Local Environment”), Guideline # 2013_02 (“Guideline Regarding Environmental Review for Non-Invasive or Non-Harmful Field Work”), and/or any additional Guideline issued by NSF apply to proposals.

Work will be performed for NSF based on individual Task Orders issued by the Contracting Officer. Technical direction for each Task Order will be provided by a designated Contracting Officer Representative (COR) once the Task Order has been issued by the Contracting Officer. A Task Order will include a description of the task at a level of detail commensurate with the complexity of the task, including, but not limited to:

· General project description

· Expected number of subtasks

· Number of internal meetings and public meetings/hearings (if applicable)

· Purpose and need for agency action and preliminary alternatives, if available

· Extent of available information and context, and, if applicable, relationship to other environmental compliance efforts

· Expected complexity of analyses (quantitative/qualitative)

· Expected length of sections of the document and appendices (if applicable)

· Annotated outline, if available

· Instructions for mail management (if applicable)

· Preparation of the administrative record

The COR will designate in the Task Order a date for each deliverable specified in the Task Order. For example, generally, the contractor should plan to complete an Environmental Assessment (EA) in 90-120 days and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 12-15 months. These time periods are estimated goals; they may be extended or reduced by NSF based on the circumstances surrounding the environmental analyses and whether other environmental obligations are triggered.

The contractor shall furnish the personnel, services, equipment, materials, facilities, and other requirements necessary for, or incidental to, the performance of the work set forth herein and in each individual Task Order. Successful completion of the NEPA contract work shall require analysis of all pertinent data and categorizing of impacts by geographic area (i.e., on-site, immediate vicinity, regional). For the proposed action, the contractor shall prepare the appropriate Preliminary Draft, Draft, Preliminary Final, and Final documents (e.g., EA, EIS, Supplemental NEPA documents, FONSI, ROD) to address potential or actual impacts on the environment. For compliance with other environmental statutes, the contractor shall, as directed by NSF, prepare drafts and final versions of all required documents (i.e., Preliminary Draft, Draft Preliminary Final, and Final versions of biological assessments, and Preliminary Draft, Draft, Preliminary Final, and Final versions of memoranda of understanding or programmatic agreements pursuant to the NHPA). NSF may also seek assistance with preparing decision documents other than decisions resulting in the issuance of a ROD. All quality control requirements will be developed and controlled by the contractor, unless otherwise required by NSF.

3. Status Reports

Status reports for active Task Orders will be submitted in writing and delivered electronically on a quarterly basis to the NSF point of contact designated in the Task Order. All status reports shall denote the status and results of assigned tasks and shall be a means of transmitting information concerning personnel, costs, and communication to NSF.

Status reports will include (at a minimum):

· General description of activities per task element

· Statement of costs, including Year-To-Date (YTD) cost

· Summation of documentation submitted for each week/month

· Problems/issues encountered

Other information will be provided per NSF requirements. Status reports will be used by NSF to help determine the progress of the task orders and the performance of the contractor.