ESTCP CY 2024 Open BAA Whitepaper Instructions - with Topics - FINAL - R1.docx

ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY TECHNOLOGY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM (ESTCP) BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND INSTALLATION ENERGY DEMONSTRATION AND VALIDATION

Reference: Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), August 22, 2024 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity

INTRODUCTION

The Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) demonstration and validation program for environmental and installation energy technologies. Throughout this document, “technology” refers broadly to integrated systems based on any combination of hardware (equipment) and software (processing), materials engineering processes, and resource management devices, methods, tools, or models based on scientific principles. The purpose of ESTCP is to demonstrate and validate promising innovative technologies that target DoD’s most urgent environmental and installation energy needs and are projected to pay back the investment through cost savings, improved efficiencies, or improved outcomes. The goal is to enable promising technologies to receive regulatory and end-user acceptance and be fielded and commercialized more rapidly. To achieve this goal, ESTCP projects create a partnership between technology developers, responsible DoD organizations, and the regulatory community.

Technologies appropriate for demonstration and validation will be sufficiently mature that all required laboratory or other proof-of-concept work has been completed. Commercial technologies already in use are not considered appropriate for demonstration and validation. Demonstrations are intended to generate supporting cost and performance data for acceptance or validation of the technology. ESTCP demonstration projects also are required to support the future implementation of the tested technology through the development of appropriate guidance, design, and/or protocol documents. ESTCP will not support full-scale demonstrations that are primarily intended to solve an individual installation’s problem. Full-scale cleanup is not performed under ESTCP. ESTCP gives priority to those projects that address multi-Service or DoD environmental or resilience requirements.

General Information for Proposers ESTCP is seeking white papers for innovative environmental and installation energy technology demonstrations responding to topic areas defined by this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). Topic areas are located in Appendix A of this document. This BAA is for Private Sector Organizations.

Awardees under this BAA will be selected through a multi-stage review process, including a brief white paper and a full proposal. Some proposals may require an oral presentation to the ESTCP Technical Committee (ETC). To be eligible for consideration, proposers must submit a white paper. Any white paper submitted shall be in response to only one of the topic areas set forth in this announcement. White papers marked with ITAR, EAR, a limited distribution statement, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), or as company proprietary are not accepted. Please note, only government employees or Department of Defense contractors who have signed non-disclosure agreements have access to ESTCP proposals. Proposers may respond to more than one topic area with separate white papers.

After evaluation of white papers, ESTCP will contact all proposers and either request or not request each to submit a full proposal. At that time, ESTCP will provide detailed instructions for the full proposal format. Full proposals may not be submitted outside the white paper process. Any full proposal that has not been reviewed in the white paper phase will not be evaluated nor considered for award under this BAA. Due to the volume of white papers anticipated, ESTCP will not provide debriefs on those that are not requested to submit a full proposal.

Based on an evaluation of the written full proposal, and pending recommendation by the ETC, ESTCP will notify each proposer as to whether the Government Contracting Officer wishes to enter into negotiation for the award of a contract. Proposers are advised that only the Contracting Officer is legally authorized to bind the Government. ESTCP reserves the right to recommend for award any, all, or none of the proposals received. ESTCP also reserves the right to recommend a portion of the work proposed in any single proposal for award. There is no commitment by ESTCP to make any recommendations for contract awards, nor to be responsible for any money expended by the proposer before contract award is made. It is the sole responsibility of the proposer to make certain the proposal is properly received by ESTCP.

The ESTCP Office manages the BAA solicitation along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity (HECSA) Contracting Center in Alexandria, Virginia. For contracting or small business information regarding this BAA solicitation, contact Aimee Johnson (703-428-6551; Aimee.N.Johnson@usace.army.mil) or Shannon Benson (703-428-7407; Shannon.N.Benson@usace.army.mil) or the HECSA Small Business Representative, Monique Holmes 202-934-1816; HECSASmallBusinessProgram@usace.army.mil). General ESTCP procedural questions may be referred to the ESTCP office at 571-372-6565. For technical information regarding a topic area, contact the individual listed in Appendix A.

Evaluation Schedule This BAA is open for one year from the date of release or until it is replaced by a subsequent announcement, whichever comes first.

White papers will not be evaluated against each other since they are not submitted in accordance with a common work statement. ESTCP’s intent is to review white papers as soon as possible after they are submitted; however, white papers may be reviewed periodically for administrative reasons. Proposers will be notified on the decision regarding their white paper as soon as possible following review.

Full proposals will be evaluated as soon as possible after they are submitted. Review of full proposals may require input from external peer reviewers or other technical experts. Proposals may be required to brief the ETC depending on their size and scope. ETC meetings are typically held three times each fiscal year.

Contracts are anticipated to be awarded three to six months following final review and approval of each proposal, depending on availability of funding.

White Paper INSTRUCTIONS

White Paper Length and Format White papers shall be no longer than two (2) pages, type face not less than 11-point, and margins not less than one inch on all sides. All white papers shall be submitted as a single PDF file containing all sections outlined below.

White Paper Content White papers must describe the merits and objectives of the proposer’s project in response to the respective topic area. The white paper should concisely describe the following:

1. Proposal Title

2. Lead Principal Investigator

3. Lead Organization

4. Objectives: State the proposed objectives and how the project is responsive to the objectives articulated in the topic area.

5. Technical Approach: Structure the technical approach in terms of tasks to be accomplished in accordance with guidance provided in the individual topic areas. Clearly define the performance objectives for the technology, including their associated performance metrics, data requirements, and success criteria, and provide a table containing this information. Refer to Table 1 in the Demonstration Plan Guidance for the type of information expected. Individuals submitting to an Installation Energy and Water topic should refer to Section 5.0 of the ESTCP Installation Energy and Water Demonstration Plan Guidance for more perspective on test design.

6. Cost Estimate: The estimated total costs by year. A detailed breakout of costs is not required or desired in the white paper. A detailed cost breakout will be provided in the full proposal, if requested. If selected for funding, proposers will be required to provide a certificate of current cost or pricing data prior to award in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.403-4(a)(1) if the total contract value is expected to exceed $2,000,000.00 to the cognizant contracting office.

7. Literature Citations: Provide literature citations for any material cited.

SUBMITTAL

White papers are submitted via the SERDP and ESTCP Management System (SEMS). No electronic mail, faxed, or hard copy white papers will be accepted.

Complete all steps below in order to submit a white paper.

· Create a single PDF file that contains all required sections outlined in the white paper guidance.

· Click the link below that corresponds to the Program Area the white paper responds to (create a SEMS account if needed):

· Climate Resilience

· Environmental Restoration

· Installation Energy and Water

· Munitions Response

· Climate-Informed Landscape Approaches in Regions with Robust DoD and Science Partnerships

· Resource Conservation and Resilience

· Weapons Systems and Platforms

· Enter all required white paper details into SEMS. If the white paper is associated with an existing ESTCP project, enter the project number on the first page of the white paper submission wizard in SEMS. White paper details may be saved and edited prior to final submission.

· Before submitting, add the system-generated proposal number (displayed in front of the white paper title on the “Manage Proposals” page), project title, lead PI name and organization to first page of white paper as instructed in Section 2.2 above.

· Upload the final white paper file.

· Submit the white paper. Only white papers that have been submitted will be considered. White papers with a “Saved” status will not be reviewed.

Edits cannot be made once the white paper has been submitted. SEMS will display an on-line confirmation message and send an email notification to the proposer. It is the sole responsibility of the proposer to make certain the white paper is properly received by ESTCP. For questions, contact the ESTCP Office at 571-372-6565.

Note: A signed cover page is not required for white papers.

EVALUATION FACTORS FOR White Papers AND FULL PROPOSALS

The following evaluation factors will be the sole basis for reviewing white papers and full proposals submitted in response to this BAA. ESTCP relevance is a pass/fail criteria evaluated at the white paper stage only; white papers not passing this gate will not be further evaluated. Among the other evaluation factors for both white papers and full proposals, Technical Merit is more important than Cost/Benefit of Technology, Transition Potential, and Cost of Proposal.

ESTCP RELEVANCE (PASS/FAIL)

An assessment will be made whether the white paper submission responds to the DoD requirement as described in the topic area. ESTCP Relevance is a threshold review and if the white paper is determined not to be relevant, no further evaluation of the white paper will be made.

TECHNICAL MERIT

An assessment of the technical merit of the white paper will be made. Factors to be considered include: (a) the methodology is scientifically sound; (b) the technology is innovative and is the current state-of-the-art, (c) the technical risks are well characterized, and (d) the technical team is qualified to execute the proposed project (full proposals only).

COST/BENEFIT OF TECHNOLOGY (FULL PROPOSALS ONLY)

An assessment of the cost/benefit of the proposed technology, if it were deployed, will be made. Factors to be considered include: (a) the projected cost savings and/or risk reduction are significant; (b) the projected benefits are reasonable and consistent with the proposed technology; and (c) the payoffs from the proposed technology are commensurate with the projected costs and risks.

TRANSITION POTENTIAL (FULL PROPOSALS ONLY)

An assessment of the potential for a successful transfer of the technology to the DoD user will be made. Factors to be considered include: (a) there is a well-defined DoD user for the technology; (b) there are clearly identified activities that will support and enhance the transfer of the technology; and (c) the technology can be implemented within DoD.

COST OF PROPOSAL (FULL PROPOSALS ONLY)

Cost realism and reasonableness may be considered during the selection of acceptable proposals in accordance with FAR 35.016(e). Costs should be appropriate and traceable to the level of effort required to execute the project.

Appendix A: ESTCP Topic Areas

CLIMATE RESILIENCE

The overarching objective of the ESTCP Climate Resilience (CR) program area is to identify and validate the most promising, innovative, and cost-effective technologies and methodologies to protect DoD built and natural infrastructure from impacts of climate change. It achieves this objective by understanding the risks to infrastructure components, by enabling climate-informed infrastructure projects through test and evaluation of key project elements, and by incorporating community infrastructure and engagement in infrastructure planning. Projects that support the Army, Navy, and Air Force are of a particular interest. Testing and evaluation of technologies associated with climate adaptation, climate mitigation, and data collection to support engineering design and construction are of specific interest. Forensic analysis of recent or historical regime shifts impacting natural and built systems is also of interest in so far as such analysis may be of value in the development of DoD relevant understanding and knowledge. Additionally, risk to natural and built infrastructure is of interest, especially compound threats, and the relationship between risk of compounding events and resilience.

Climate Adaptation Technologies Climate adaptation technologies provide an engineering solution to mitigate impact to infrastructure and mission operations from climate change induced hazards. The DoD is specifically interested in technologies that mitigate impact to mission from discrete weather systems, recurrent flooding, coastal erosion, wildfire, permafrost thawing, saltwater intrusion, and other climate change induced hazards. Climate adaptation technologies could include resilient building materials, infrastructure hardening, natural wildlife restoration, flood and storm surge barriers, water conveyance systems, water treatment and purification, and architectural solutions to prevent heat islands. In addition to the development of adaptation technologies themselves, this focus area will also support the development of metrics for quantifying climate resilience project success.

Data Collection in Support of Engineering Design and Construction As climate adaptation technologies are implemented, DoD will require modeling and data collection to support their design, construction, and spiral technology improvements. This may include geological and topological data, regional sea level rise and extreme water level scenarios, coastal topology, degree of coastal protection, sediment characteristics, vegetation patterns, or historic erosion rates. Collecting, standardizing, storing, and sharing this data, as well as structuring it into formats that are relevant to design engineers (e.g., GIS, BUILDER) will be foundational to successful implementation of climate adaptation technologies across the DoD.

Mitigation Technologies Climate change mitigation technologies are those technologies that prevent greenhouse gas emissions into the environment. The Service climate adaptation plans place particular importance on determining how DoD installations can mitigate carbon emission. Among the myriad of mitigation technologies being pursued worldwide, the CR program area considers technologies that can be incorporated into DoD installation infrastructure, i.e., ways in which DoD installations can employ low greenhouse gas emitting construction practices, minimizing the carbon impact of building materials, improved landscaping practices, and engineering of surface reflectivity.

Point of Contact J. Kevin Hiers Program Manager for Resource Conservation and Resilience Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) 3500 Defense Pentagon, RM 5C646 Washington, DC 20301-3500 Phone: 229-560-8861 E-Mail: john.k.hiers.civ@mail.mil

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

ESTCP's Environmental Restoration Program Area focuses on restoring and managing impacted lands on current and former military installations. It supports the development and demonstration of innovative technologies to characterize, remediate, and scientifically manage chemicals of concern in soil; sediments; and ground, storm, surface and waste water. Current and anticipated areas of demonstration focus include:

Characterization and Monitoring Demonstration of methodologies or technologies for the assessment or long-term monitoring of chemicals of concern or biogeochemical indicators in soils, sediments, and water.

Reduction in Cost to Complete Demonstration of innovative tools, methodologies or technologies that can reduce the DoD's Cost to Complete for impacted groundwater or aquatic sediments by improving performance assessment or optimizing treatment. Sites impacted with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and/or chlorinated solvents, munitions constituents, PCBs, and PAHs are of most concern, but other chemicals of concern may be of interest.

Reduce Source Loading of Munitions Constituents Demonstration of innovative tools, methodologies or technologies that can reduce source loading of munitions constituents during routine DoD operations and demilitarization activities.

Stormwater Treatment Demonstration of innovative tools, methodologies or technologies for management and treatment of stormwater runoff from DoD facilities. Consideration should be given to incorporation into existing Best Management Practices and to meeting National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements.

Wastewater Treatment Demonstration of innovative, energy efficient, low maintenance systems for decentralized treatment or recycling of wastewater on fixed installations. Systems that are capable of operating in an energy neutral configuration, that produce power or materials that can easily be converted into power, and/or that are capable of generating water for potable or nonpotable re-use are of interest.

Risk Assessment Demonstrations that are focused on improving the military's ability to assess and predict human and ecological risk from contaminants of concern including but not limited to PFAS, chlorinated solvents, munitions constituents, PCBs, and PAHs. Areas of concern include exposure pathways to humans and ecological receptors, contaminant effects on ecological receptors and tools and methods to assess environmental impacts.

To provide strategic guidance for future demonstrations and technology transfer, SERDP and ESTCP periodically hold workshops to identify and prioritize needs on specific topics. Proposers are strongly encouraged to refer to the Summary Reports listed below.

· Summary Report from the November 2022 SERDP and ESTCP Strategic Workshop on Management of PFAS in the Environment

· Summary Report from the July 2018 SERDP and ESTCP Workshop on Management of DoD's Chlorinated Solvents in Groundwater Sites

Data needs identified during these workshops are relevant to several of the specific areas of interest listed above.

Point of Contact Andrea Leeson, Ph.D.

Program Manager for Environmental Restoration Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) 3500 Defense Pentagon, RM 5C646 Washington, DC 20301-3500 E-mail: Andrea.Leeson.civ@mail.mil

INSTALLATION ENERGY AND WATER

ESTCP’s Installation Energy and Water (EW) program area supports the demonstration and deployment of innovative technologies that improve the energy and water efficiency of our buildings and enhance the energy and water security on our installations. Improving the resilience of our energy and water systems in support of mission assurance is a broad objective that encompasses secure and reliable energy generation and delivery, efficient energy components and systems, cyber-secure devices and control systems, flexible system design, effective operations and maintenance, and integrated planning for future energy requirements and consideration of vehicle and equipment electrification. Current and anticipated areas of interest for technology demonstrations include:

Secure and Reliable Energy/Water Technologies and solutions are needed to enhance energy and water resilience by improving the security, reliability and flexibility of energy and water production and delivery on and within our installations. DoD installations range in size from a few buildings on less than 10 acres to hundreds of buildings and over 1 million acres, with a variety of mission requirements for energy and water. Incumbent systems range from single building utility service to central plants with distribution infrastructure. White papers should focus on solutions that improve the security, reliability and availability of incumbent energy and water systems and components. Technologies and solutions should enable interoperability to reduce cost of design and integration, allow flexibility of project implementation and maximize the use of existing on-site distributed energy resources (DER).

Building Energy Efficiency Technologies and solutions are needed to improve the energy and water efficiency and reduce the operations and maintenance costs of buildings on DoD installations. DoD manages over 300,000 buildings on some 500 installations throughout the United States operating in all climate zones. Buildings range in size from 1,000 to 1,000,000 square feet with most of the building stock falling within 10,000 – 100,000 square feet. Incumbent building energy and water systems are varied and reflect equipment/systems used in buildings of similar size found the private sector. Technologies for consideration include: HVAC, lighting, building envelope, water heating, micro-CHP, controls, and energy and water management tools.

Point of Contact Mr. Tim Tetreault Program Manager for Installation Energy & Water (EW) Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) 3500 Defense Pentagon, RM 5C646 Washington, DC 20301-3500 Phone: 571-372-6397 E-Mail: timothy.j.tetreault.civ@mail.mil

MUNITIONS RESPONSE

ESTCP’s Munitions Response program area supports the demonstration of innovative technologies that can characterize, remediate, and scientifically manage sites affected by military munitions with a focus on munitions in the underwater environment. Many sites affected by munitions have depths less than 5 meters although water depths down to 35 meters are of concern. Aquatic environments include ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries, and coastal or open ocean areas. Munitions of interest range from small projectiles and mortars to large bombs. Current and anticipated areas of research focus include:

Wide Area and/or Detailed Survey Techniques Technologies to enable cost-effective survey of large (kilometer-scale) areas to identify concentrations of munitions and areas free of munitions. Sensor modalities addressing this aspect of the problem must provide high areal coverage rates but may be successful with only modest probabilities of detection and classification. In areas found likely to be contaminated, subsequent detailed data collection may be required to define the nature and extent of munitions contamination. In this regime, individual items must be detected with high probability and sufficient location accuracy that they may be unambiguously identified for retrieval or continued monitoring.

Cost-Effective Recovery and Disposal Methods Improved methods to cost-effectively and safely recover munitions from the underwater environment. Current practices employing divers for manual retrieval of targets are typically dangerous and expensive. White papers should focus on recovery in the shallow water environment, where munitions are likely to be encountered by the public (to depths routinely accessed by recreational divers), and should address explosive safety issues. Cost-effective, safe, and environmentally acceptable remediation techniques are also needed for underwater items that cannot be moved due to explosive safety concerns and where blow-in-place operations underwater can significantly impact marine life.

Point of Contact Mr. John Jackson Program Manager for Munitions Response Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) 3500 Defense Pentagon, RM 5C646 Washington, DC 20301-3500 Phone: 916-718-5092 E-Mail: john.m.jackson@usace.army.mil

CLIMATE-INFORMED LANDSCAPE APPROACHES IN REGIONS WITH ROBUST DOD AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS

Objective To respond to the needs of geographic regions that are experiencing rapid ecological changes to natural infrastructure, projects selected for this topic area will develop and demonstrate region-specific tools, strategies, and technologies that are designed to accelerate installation-scale adaptation. Proposers should consider the following issues in the development of their proposal:

· Define the DoD geography, current and future ecological changes, and how these changes threaten the DoD mission.

· Demonstrate and communicate how, if successfully implemented, the proposed tools, strategies, and/or technologies will increase the pace of adaptation to match the magnitude of anticipated changes to DoD’s natural and built infrastructure that will occur within the coming decades.

· Define target end users and how they will be engaged throughout the lifecycle of the project. If the installation and science communities are currently collaborating to co-produce science and technology, highlight these efforts.

· Include the transitional steps needed to gain end-user confidence and acceptance resulting in the implementation of this science or technology across the landscape and to multiple DoD installations. Include appropriate metrics of success that, as an outcome, demonstrate technology transfer to and acceptance of the science by end-users. ESTCP has created pilot projects through its National Innovation Landscape Network that may be leveraged for accelerated transition of proposed efforts.

· Clearly define an estimated return on investment for both the lifetime of the project and for future use cases.

· Proposals should avoid extensive development of climate information; rather, such information should be readily available, geographically relevant, and focused on demonstrating tool, strategy, and technology performance relative to incorporating climate information for decision making.

· Proposals should reflect the rapid demonstration of existing technologies in both scope and budget. Ideal submissions will include a budget of <$500K and an 18–24-month timeline for project completion.

Background The DoD manages more than 27 million acres of land containing its built and natural infrastructure assets, which directly support its test and training missions and meets its stewardship requirements. Many geographic regions where these DoD assets are concentrated are already experiencing rapid ecological changes that challenge both the built and natural infrastructure. Affected regions include Alaska and the arctic/sub-arctic environment, Hawaii and island territories in the Pacific, the southeastern U.S., coastal areas of California and the eastern seaboard, and the southwestern U.S. These regions are at risk of mission degradation due to various combinations of the preceding list of threats. Despite this increasing pace of ecosystem change and possible transformation to new ecosystem states under climate change and other perturbations, the science solutions, technology transfer and adoption, and ultimately adaptation are not keeping pace.

Point of Contact J. Kevin Hiers Program Manager for Resource Conservation and Resilience Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) 3500 Defense Pentagon, RM 5C646 Washington, DC 20301-3500

RESOURCE CONSERVATION

ESTCP’s Resource Conservation and Resilience (RC) program area improves DoD mission readiness and environmental performance by providing new engineering knowledge, testing, and evaluation of technologies. To accomplish these objectives, RC addresses high priority DoD environmental technology requirements that enhance military operations, improve military training and readiness, support the sustainment of DoD’s training and test ranges, improve installation built and natural infrastructure, and better ensure the safety and welfare of military personnel and their dependents. Testing and evaluation of technologies associated with the following technology areas are of specific interest.

Natural Resources Natural resource technologies focus on ecological systems, aquatic and marine resources, terrestrial ecology, and species and ecosystem management. The efforts test and evaluate technologies and methodologies for the management of ecological systems integral to DoD installations and capabilities to ensure the continued availability of realistic training and testing conditions while preserving the long-term viability of installation and regional biological diversity and associated ecological processes. Ecological systems of emphasis are forested ecosystems, arid land ecosystems, ecosystems associated with the Pacific Islands and interior Alaska, and coastal and estuarine ecosystems, with a focus on the National Innovation Landscape Network (https://serdp-estcp.mil/page/38f0be40-b397-446f-bf1f-a401fe12423f). Species ecology and management test and evaluate technologies, and methodologies for the active management of invasive, listed, and at-risk species. Species management technologies may include those that improve the management of threatened, endangered, at-risk, invasive, and other categories of species and ecologies of interest to the DoD.

Cultural Resources Increasing the pace and accuracy of cultural resource surveys and site mapping is a priority for DOD cultural resource managers and installation environmental staff. Recent advances of remote sensing technology and analytical algorithms have the potential to enhance the ability to identify and map cultural resources at landscape scales. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are a key part of scaling observations from lidar, ground-penetrating radar, and sensors affixed to unmanned aerial systems. Demonstration and validation of these advanced cultural resource survey technologies, techniques for historic property rehabilitation, content management systems, emerging and maturing remote sensing platforms, and advanced analytical processing algorithms is needed to improve the pace, scale, and accuracy of such tools and approaches on DoD lands.

Managing Wildland Fire Smoke and other Emissions Emissions test and evaluation efforts focus on the tools, technologies, and methodologies for the active management of dust, fire, and other emissions from training, testing, and other DoD activities to include both wildfires and prescribed burns. These technologies seek to ensure the continued availability and sustainability of training and test ranges. The testing and evaluation of technologies that advance the accuracy of emissions productions and transport of emissions in the near field are of particular interest. The test and evaluation activities often focus on technologies that include any elements from the emissions production process from fuel characterization, combustion, emissions factor estimation, and transport.

Point of Contact J. Kevin Hiers Program Manager for Resource Conservation and Resilience Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) 3500 Defense Pentagon, RM 5C646 Washington, DC 20301-3500

WEAPONS SYSTEMS AND PLATFORMS

ESTCP’s Weapons Systems and Platforms program area supports the demonstration of innovative technologies and materials that can address the current and future environmental and worker safety liabilities associated with the design, construction, maintenance, demilitarization, repair, and operations of Department of Defense weapons systems and platforms. Several areas of interest are described in the sections below.

Manufacturing and Maintenance – See Specific BAA Demonstration and validation of technologies to enable cost-effective transition of environmentally benign materials with applications to the production and repair of military unique platforms are of interest. Targeted processes and materials include paints; primers and other organic coating systems; surface treatments to include passivation and plating; adhesives; sealants; alternative solvents or technologies for vapor degreasing; and paint and coating removal. Additional technologies of interest include environmentally friendly additive manufacturing processes that enable more effective and efficient repair of alloys and composite materials, processing of alloys with a reduced environmental footprint, and replacement of corrosion susceptible materials with more resistant materials. Alternative methodologies to reduce corrosion and maintenance propensity and reduce reliance on heavy metal corrosion inhibitors including effective methods to join dissimilar materials, alloys and materials with reduced corrosion susceptibility; and engineering approaches to reduce corrosion susceptibility are also of interest.

We are interested in processes that eliminate or reduce the generation or use of hazardous materials. Inspection or analysis techniques that would reduce the requirement for maintenance or overhaul are also desired. In addition, technologies for detection and monitoring of hazardous materials used in industrial processes or technologies to control the release of these materials into the environment are of interest. Performance requirements to enable weapons systems and platforms to function at a high level as well as reduced frequency and cost of sustainment are of significant importance.

Additional information may be found on our website describing our ASETSDefense (Advanced Surface Engineering Technologies for a Sustainable Defense) workshops and data base. We have also developed strategy and implementation documents, and these are also available on our website.

Energetic Materials and Formulations The demonstration and validation of alternative materials or fabrication methods for application to military propellants, explosives, and pyrotechnics are sought. Current processes utilize hazardous solvents, generate significant quantities of acid or metal wastes, and can contaminate our testing and training ranges when used as intended. Alternative materials or methods should provide reductions in hazardous emissions and hazardous waste production during synthesis, formulation, operations, or demilitarization of energetic materials.

Improved synthesis and processing methods of energetics that reduce or eliminate hazardous solvents, hazardous reagents or components, and hazardous wastes while producing materiel that performs comparably to current energetic materials are of interest. Novel formulation methods that reduce or eliminate hazardous solvents or that produce less hazardous wastes are also of interest. Formulations that do not produce hazardous emissions when combusted or detonated are of interest. Methods to measure and analyze emissions are sought. And finally, methods to demilitarize or to design for demilitarization would be of significant interest.

Additional information on our current and past efforts in the area of energetic materials is available on our website.

Waste and Emissions Reduction There are several additional waste and emissions streams related to Department of Defense activities, and we are interested in the demonstration of technologies that can reduce these emissions.

One category involves the unique requirements for shipboard water treatment. Analytical methods towards understanding bilge and black or grey water treatment on ships remains an area of interest. In addition, the demonstration of novel treatment methods would also be of interest.

Demonstration and validation of non-flammable refrigerants with low global warming potential, and novel refrigeration technologies that do not use refrigerants are of significant interest to ground vehicles. The use of flame retardants for soldier, vehicle, and support equipment applications often poses environmental risk and alternative technologies ready for demonstration are of interest. Elimination of chemicals of concern in soldier uniforms and equipment with commercially viable materials and processes are of interest.

Forward operating bases (FOBs) are a unique military environment. Some FOBs are intended to be maintained for weeks or months and others for years. They must be sustained and provided with all requirements, including food, potable water, and energy. The wastes from FOBs are an important consideration. Food and other wastes should not be open burned and incinerators are not always available. We would be interested in the demonstration and validation of novel technologies to reduce the emissions from FOB operations that could provide clean water or energy.

Additional information on our prior efforts in waste and emissions reduction can be found on our website.

Firefighting – see specific BAA Demonstration and validation of laboratory-tested sustainable fluorine-free foams (F3) at the 28ft2 or greater that have a data-validated potential to meet and exceed MIL-PRF-32725 performance requirements is of interest. Demonstration and validation of formulations for use on ships is additionally of interest. Assessment of how these alternative formulations degrade over time and interact with other F3 formulations is important to ensuring proper logistics. Demonstration and validation of engineering technologies to aid in application and fire suppression is also of interest. Mature methodologies to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of firefighting formulations against realistic DoD threats presented by Class B liquid pool fires is of interest. Lastly, demonstration and validation of mature technologies to improve the capabilities of simulating live fire training with foam on liquid pool fires is of interest. This technology should improve training effectiveness prior to real fire-fighting exercises and ultimately reduce the amount of chemical exposure to the environment from chemical foams.

Point of Contact John J. La Scala, Ph.D.

Program Manager for Weapons Systems and Platforms Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) 3500 Defense Pentagon, RM 5C646 Washington, DC 20301-3500 Phone: 301-875-1270 E-Mail: john.j.lascala.civ@army.mil