FAA Rulemaking Market Survey.pdf

MARKET SURVEY/

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations Using Special Airworthiness

1. Purpose

This is a Market Survey/Request for Information (RFI) for Rulemaking Support specific to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA). The purpose of this Market Survey/Request for Information is to:

• Survey the marketplace to assess the level of interest, and identify potential vendors and capabilities among qualified providers of the required services identified in the draft Statement of Work for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operations Using Special Airworthiness (Attachment A to this Market Survey/RFI);

• Request comments on the draft Statement of Work and responses to the questions contained in Section 4 of the Market Survey/RFI. The FAA will consider and may utilize industry inputs in the development of a UAS Operations Using Special Airworthiness Rulemaking requirement and any associated Solicitations and;

• Utilize inputs from the Market Survey/RFI to finalize the UAS Operations Using Special Airworthiness Rulemaking Acquisition Strategy.

2. General Information

This Market Survey/RFI is being issued in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acquisition Management System Section 3.2.1.2.1. Interested parties are advised that:

• This is not a Screening Information Request (SIR) or Request for Proposal (RFP);

• The FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals;

• The FAA will not pay for any information received or costs incurred in preparing the response to the Market Survey/RFI;

• Any costs associated with responding to this Market Survey/RFI are incurred solely at the interested party’s expense;

• FAA, at its sole discretion, may contact one, some, all, or none of the respondents to the RFI and ask for additional information; and

• Vendor responses to this Market Survey/RFI and any follow-up inquiries by the Government are for informational purposes only do not constitute a promise or obligation of future business with the FAA.

3. Background

The FAA’s mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. The FAA’s UAS Integration Office (AUS) is responsible for leading FAA’s efforts to safely integrate UAS and advanced air mobility (AAM) operations into the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS).

AUS serves as the FAA’s focal point for all matters related to civil and public use of UAS in U.S.

airspace and is responsible for coordinating the integration of UAS and AAM operations into our aviation system. AUS is leading a rulemaking effort for the purpose of enabling certain low altitude UAS operations, while ensuring the safety and efficiency of the United States airspace. It is the next step in incrementally integrating UAS into the NAS, providing for expanded safety, societal, and economic advantages and benefits. Using consensus-based standards, this rulemaking would establish a new section under title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 21 (14 CFR part 21) describing the regulatory process for issuing special airworthiness certificates for unmanned aircraft (weighing up to 1,320 pounds) as well as the acceptance of their associated elements.

The primary objective of the contract is to provide contractor support to the FAA to assist FAA in complying with NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA-implementing regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500–1508), FAA Order 1050.1F, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures, and applicable special purpose laws (e.g., Endangered Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Department of Transportation Act, etc.) for the proposed rulemaking.

The FAA is assessing the acquisition strategy for the proposed rulemaking. The FAA remains open to suggested acquisition strategies, and the information gained during this market survey will be utilized to develop the most appropriate acquisition strategy.

The anticipated NAICS code for this action is 541620 (Environmental Consulting Services).

4. Questions / Request for Information Respondents to this Market Survey/RFI are requested to provide responses to the following items:

a. Please indicate whether your firm qualifies as a Small Business relative to NAICS code 541620. If so, indicate whether your firm holds one or more of the specific Small Business designations.

Additionally, please advise if your firm believes there is a more suitable NAICS.

b. Describe the capabilities and subject matter expertise that your firm possesses relative to the tasks listed in Section C of the draft SOW. Your response should demonstrate your firm’s ability to perform the work, not merely state that your firm can provide the services.

c. Describe the capabilities and subject matter expertise that your firm possesses relative to the functional areas listed in Section C of the draft SOW. Your response should demonstrate your firm’s ability to perform the work, not merely state that your firm can provide the services.

d. Based upon your responses to b) and c), describe your experience providing this support to other clients in these functional areas and on related initiatives on at least two contracts ongoing or completed within the last five years. For the associated contracts, please provide the nature of the support, information on the size of the effort (in terms of Full Time Equivalents and total contract value), contract number, and the duration of the support and whether you were the Prime or a subcontractor. Describe any innovative approaches you have used to provide rulemaking support across an enterprise.

e. Are the work areas in the draft SOW clearly defined? Are there any changes, additions, updates, or clarifications would you suggest for improvement or clarity? Are there work areas in the SOW that you believe are candidates to be provided on a Firm Fixed Price basis? If so, please identify those areas.

f. The FAA anticipates that there will be multiple concurrent tasks that require specialized capabilities in wide-ranging areas of expertise. Please briefly describe your firm’s capability to staff and manage a project of this magnitude and complexity. Please discuss your approach to obtain and retain technical expertise across wide-ranging fields, and describe any certifications (e.g. ISO or CMMI) that demonstrate proven management and quality outcomes.

g. Does your firm have direct experience preparing environmental assessments (EAs) or environmental impact statements (EISs) in compliance with NEPA and the CEQ NEPA-implementing regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500–1508) for proposed rulemakings? If so, please elaborate and provide specific examples.

h. Does your firm have direct experience preparing EAs or EISs in compliance with FAA Order 1050.1F? If so, please elaborate and provide specific examples.

i. Does your firm have direct experience preparing programmatic EAs or EISs? If so, please elaborate and provide specific examples.

j. Does your firm have direct experience preparing EAs or EISs for federal actions involving operations of unmanned aircraft (commonly referred to as drones) in the National Airspace System?

k. Does your firm have direct experience conducting programmatic consultations per Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act? If so, please elaborate and provide specific examples.

l. Does your firm have direct experience conducting National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 consultation for projects with a large (e.g., regional or nationwide) scope? If so, please elaborate and provide specific examples.

m. Does your firm have direct experience assessing the environmental impacts of federal actions on properties protected by Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act? If so, please elaborate and provide specific examples.

n. Does your firm have direct experience estimating or modeling air emissions and conducting climate analyses for NEPA projects? If so, please elaborate and provide specific examples.

o. Does your firm have direct experience processing a large number (hundreds or thousands) of public comments and drafting responses? If so, please elaborate and provide specific examples.

5. RFI Response Submission Instructions The following instructions apply to the submission of responses to this Market Survey/RFI:

• RFI responses must be submitted in pdf format via electronic mail (e-mail) to the Contracting Officer, Edward J Mitchell Jr at Edward.J.Mitchell@faa.gov no later than 3:00 PM Eastern Time on June 30, 2023.

• Vendor responses should contain “UAS Operations Using Special Airworthiness” in the subject line of the e-mail.

• Vendor responses should provide answers to each of the questions listed in Section 4 of this Market Survey/RFI.

• Files comprising the response to the Market Survey/RFI must not exceed fifteen (15) pages in total.

• Subject to the stated page limit, vendor responses may provide additional feedback on the draft UAS Operations Using Special Airworthiness SOW in addition to the responses to specific questions in Section 4 of this RFI.

• Files comprising the response to the RFI must be compatible with MS Office 365 or be in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. No other form of submission will be accepted.

• If any of the information submitted is considered to be proprietary, the respondent is responsible for marking it accordingly.

• Submissions must include following information for one or more points of contact for the respondent: name, title, telephone number, and e-mail address. Additionally, provide your mailto:Edward.J.Mitchell@faa.gov company’s Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).

Please direct any inquiries regarding this matter to the FAA Contracting Officer, Edward J Mitchell Jr via e-mail at Edward.J.Mitchell@faa.gov

6. Government Use of Market Survey/RFI Responses

The FAA may or may not provide feedback on any of the submitted materials. The Government does not intend to release or distribute any of the information contained in the Market Survey/ RFI responses.

Vendor responses to this Market Survey/RFI will not be viewed by the FAA as a commitment by the respondents to submit a proposal for any competitive solicitations initiated by the FAA in relation to the services described in this Market Survey/RFI.

7. Attachments

Attachment A - FAA Rulemaking NEPA Draft Statement of Work

(End of Announcement) mailto:Edward.J.Mitchell@faa.gov