Request for Information.pdf

693JK322RFI0004

1. REQUEST NO.

5a. ISSUED BY

NAME

a. NAME

c. STREET ADDRESS

d. CITY

10. PLEASE FURNISH QUOTATIONS TO

THE ISSUING OFFICE IN BLOCK 5a ON

OR BEFORE CLOSE OF BUSINESS (Date)

2. DATE ISSUED 3. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQUEST NO. 4. CERT. FOR NAT. DEF.

UNDER BDSA REG. 2

AND/OR DMS REG.1

RATING

6. DELIVERY BY (Date)

7. DELIVERY

9. DESTINATION

a. NAME OF CONSIGNEE

b. STREET ADDRESS

PAGE OF PAGES

5b. FOR INFORMATION CALL: (No collect calls)

TELEPHONE NUMBER

AREA CODE NUMBER

8. TO:

b. COMPANY

e. STATE f. ZIP CODE

c. CITY

d. STATE e. ZIP CODE

IMPORTANT: This is a request for information, and quotations furnished are not offers. If you are unable to quote, please so indicate on this form and return it to the address in Block 5a. This request does not commit the Government to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of the submission of this quotation or to contract for supplies or services. Supplies are of domestic origin unless otherwise indicated by quoter. Any representations and/or certifications attached to this Request for Quotations must be completed by the quoter.

11. SCHEDULE (Include applicable Federal, State and local taxes)

THIS RFQ

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

(THIS IS NOT AN ORDER)

IS IS NOT A SMALL BUSINESS SET ASIDEX

03/18/2022

1 2

Acquisition Services Division 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, East Bldg, 3rd Fl Washington DC 20590

PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SA

Multiple

202 366-6673ZALMA ROSS

04/12/2022 1700 ES

FOB DESTINATION

OTHER

(See Schedule)X

ITEM NO.

(a)

SUPPLIES/SERVICES

(b)

QUANTITY

(c)

UNIT

(d)

UNIT PRICE

(e)

AMOUNT

(f)

Request for Information for a contractor to provide Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) with support for the many ongoing and new challenges related to PHMSA's integrity management and safety mission.

The Department of Transportation seeks information from interested parties concerning the attached Request for Information document.

DOT would like to identify capable vendors that have the ability to complete the requested tasks.

Please send responses that relate to the attached document rather than merely your company's capability statement. Your response shall include the following :

1. Information specific to the attached Request Continued ...

12. DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

a. 10 CALENDAR DAYS (%) b. 20 CALENDAR DAYS (%) c. 30 CALENDAR DAYS (%) d. CALENDAR DAYS

NUMBER PERCENTAGE

NOTE: Additional provisions and representations

13. NAME AND ADDRESS OF QUOTER

b. STREET ADDRESS

c. COUNTY

d. CITY e. STATE f. ZIP CODE

14. SIGNATURE OF PERSON AUTHORIZED TO

SIGN QUOTATION

16. SIGNER

a. NAME (Type or print)

c. TITLE (Type or print)

a. NAME OF QUOTER

AREA CODE

NUMBER

15. DATE OF QUOTATION

b. TELEPHONE are are not attached

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION

Previous edition not usable

STANDARD FORM 18 (REV. 6-95)

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.215-1(a)

ITEM NO. SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

NAME OF OFFEROR OR CONTRACTOR

2 2

CONTINUATION SHEET

REFERENCE NO. OF DOCUMENT BEING CONTINUED PAGE OF

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F)

693JK322RFI0004

for Information document.

2. Business certifications/eligibility (i.e.

Service Disabled Veteran Owned, 8A, GSA number, etc.)

3. One example of relevant Past Performance.

4. Pricing information (optional).

** Page limit: 8 pages per submission.

**This is a Request for Information only and NOT a formal Solicitation.

** As stated above, submissions are due April 12, 2022.

NSN 7540-01-152-8067 OPTIONAL FORM 336 (4-86)

Request for Information

Introduction

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) operates in a dynamic and safety-focused environment. The scope and complexity of our safety mission will continue to grow, requiring the agency to identify innovative ways to use data, information, and technology to achieve our safety goals.

PHMSA's mission is to protect people and the environment by advancing the safe transportation of energy and other hazardous materials that are essential to our daily lives. To do this, the agency establishes national policy, develops and enforces standards, educates, and conducts research to prevent incidents.

We also prepare the public and first responders to reduce consequences if an incident does occur.

PHMSA’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is responsible for carrying out a national program to ensure the safe, reliable, and environmentally-sound operation of the nation’s 3 million miles of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline transportation system.

Since 2001, the hazardous liquid and gas transmission/distribution integrity management (IM) programs have enabled the testing and assessment of far more pipelines than ever before. Tens of thousands of pipeline defects were detected and repaired. Many operators developed and applied risk models for the first time, and many others made significant improvements to their existing risk management tools and practices. PHMSA is now transitioning into a second phase of IM programs, utilizing lessons learned from a multitude of inspections, audits, and collaborations with state regulators, utility commissioners, and the regulated industry. Much of the successes from these integrity endeavors and several other safety programs, have come from ongoing contractor support. There is also much momentum to implement

Safety Management Systems where practical into pipeline and facility operations. This support enables

PHMSA to accelerate the development and implementation of numerous pipeline safety programs.

Please visit http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline and http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/ for a full description of PHMSA’s various pipeline safety programs.

REQUIREMENT

PHMSA requires contractor support for many ongoing and new challenges related to its integrity management and safety mission. Contractor support provided through services in the form of subject matter experts, technical reports, briefs, white papers, training curriculums, inspection protocols, PowerPoint slideshows, and physical travel to attend and execute requested support.

The following includes general areas of support that may be officially solicited and sought:

• Executive and Cross Cutting Technical Support - The OPS leadership team periodically requires indefinite and short turn-around support in responding to information requests from

Congress, the Government Accountability Office, National Transportation Safety Board, Inspector General, and other stakeholders. Delivery could be in the form of white papers to seek and collect information from internal or external sources and presentation slides that summarize a technical issue in leadership speak.

• Inspection Assistant (IA) Content Support and Development - The services sought allow

PHMSA to continue the management of integrity programs and fully assert the correct regulatory http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/ requirements and compliance against the technical relevance of its policy actions. Knowledge of regulations under 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 190-195 is key for a successful level of support. All relevant policy documents will be provided to the contractor and work items will be fully described by the PHMSA staff leading in this area. Support involves participation in virtual IA Team meetings; development of IA Content and Question Sets through interaction with staff subject matter experts (SMEs); and development and Review of Guidance Materials and

Training Curriculum through interaction with staff SMEs. Training support will coordinate with the IA Team and in conjunction with PHMSA’s Training and Qualification Center, as needed to develop training content/curriculum, and may include conducting training on various IA/IM subjects for PHMSA and state inspectors. Example curriculum will be cited and provided.

Support of various PHMSA content teams and revision of the inspection content, as required, for update and implementation into IA. The various topical modules that could warrant updates at various intervals are:

• DA: Drug & Alcohol (DA Program Manager)

• AR: Assessment and Repair (HL IM Team and GT IM Team)

• CR: Control Room (CRM, SCADA, and Leak Detection) (CRM Team)

• DC: Design and Construction (Construction Team)

• EP: Emergency Preparedness (OM Team)

• FS: Facilities and Storage

• GDIM: Gas Distribution Integrity Management (DIMP Team)

• MMLPGIM: Master Meter and Small LPG Distribution Integrity Management

• IM: Integrity Management (HL IM Team and GT IM Team)

• TDC: Breakout Tanks (BOT Team)

• PD: Public Awareness and Damage Prevention (PD Team)

• RPT: Reporting (Various Teams depending on specific RPT subgroup.)

• Plastics (Plastics Team)

• Special Permits

• TD: Time Dependent Threats (Corrosion Team)

• TQ: Training and Qualification (OQ Team)

• SRN: Screening (Various Teams depending on specific SRN subgroup)

• LNG: (LNG Team)

• Evaluation of Oil Spills Impact to Economically Disadvantaged Communities – Review and data collection of Oil Spill Response Plan (onshore pipelines). This review will identify and collect latitude and longitude information of water intake areas that can be impacted by hazardous liquid spills.

• Evaluation of Response and Shutdown Times Following Pipeline Release – Conduct a methodology review of accident investigation forms (PHMSA Form 7100) in the PHMSA Data

Mart (PDM) for the past 10 years; list actual shutdown and response times for each (if known) and compare with oil spill response plan predicted times; determine if any correlation between actual and planned shutdown/response times based on how the operator identifies a problem and responds; and make recommendation of need to set a baseline amount for a response and shutdown time to include as part of worst-case discharge calculations.

Mapping of pipelines that pass through identified economically disadvantaged communities and determine worst case discharge amounts. The contractor will research/identify where this information exists and import the communities’ GIS coordinates so the pipeline map can be overlaid over these communities.

Recommending a list of tabletop exercises, equipment deployments and government initiated unannounced exercises based on severity of impact to communities. The contractor will list vulnerabilities not only on worst case discharge volumes, but also based on proximity of pipelines to the economic, cultural, and environmental sensitive areas.

• Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Tool – Conduct a methodology review of existing risk and vulnerability assessment tools and indexes, starting with the original Social Vulnerability Index from the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina. This index laid the groundwork for many varied types of similar Federal indexes intended to provide insight on their own regulatory analysis.

• General Rulemaking Support – Drafting recommendations for regulatory language and associated preamble discussions based upon PHMSA policy decisions, advisory group input, comments from associated stakeholders; provide regulatory support, including rulemaking development, comment summary and response, and other supporting documents and materials for developing the rules; provide, as requested, supporting analyses development per current government guidelines in support of new rulemakings; and will provide comment summaries of public comments received to Advanced Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (ANPRMs), NPRMs, and Interim Final Rules (IFRs) and other Federal Register documents as appropriate.

• Support Final Rule Implementation – Conduct research on proposed new rules to understand the purpose and how new requirements will enhance public safety and ensure no conflicts exist with existing regulations; assist in the development of performance measures to evaluate and assess new rule implementation; provide analytical support including in-depth analysis of accident/incident data to identify risks and casual factors to develop risk profiles that support new rule implementation; assist in the development of inspection and enforcement protocols for new regulations; and assist in the determination of need for and development of new inspector training for new regulations.

• Enforcement Guidance and Program Development – Edit and or reformat enforcement documents for public distribution to meet the 508 Compliancy requirements for the accessibility of online content; manage the enforcement transparency website to meet congressional requirements of 49 U.S. Code § 60135, which currently contains three webpages; provide support to the Enforcement Division staff to generate and enhance enforcement deliverables; review and revise Enforcement Procedures (procedures, processes, templates, flowcharts, etc.); benchmark best enforcement practices including researching literature against other agencies and develop new, update, and revise existing guidance materials, training curriculum for enforcement actions against pipeline operators or third-party excavators who violate safety standards.

• Data Analysis and Visualization - The contractor will be provided access to those databases to query data that supports all safety aspects of PHMSA’s safety programs. The contractor will use data to uncover insights and see patterns within the data to advance pipeline safety. The contractor will identify external data sources to augment and enhance data collected by OPS from pipeline operators to aid in forecasting pipeline market trends and identify emerging risks that could affect pipeline safety. Data will be analyzed and represented in an acceptable visual manner. This will include graphical representation of information and data to make it more understandable and make OPS more data driven. Analyze data and draft report on

Implementation of API 1173 by gas distribution operators pursuant of Section 205 of the

Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2020.

• Special Permit Support - Assist with developing technical and engineering criteria and/or review operator procedures for pipeline assessment for:

(1) Cracks in the pipe body, weld seams, and girth welds

(2) Weld seam corrosion/cracking

(3) Supplemental reinforcement of girth welds and the pipe under longitudinal loading, such as in landslide or movement areas

(4) Usage of inline inspection for evaluating pipe vintages, wall thickness, seam type, and grade for the Gas Rule

(5) Section 192.18 other technology reviews for Integrity Management and newly implemented rulemakings

(6) Section 104 reviews for noticing, evaluating, and developing new regulatory standards based upon findings from Section 104 tests.

Conduct data analysis of information such as data submitted by operators, PHMSA accident/incident date and enforcement history for used in special permit related documents or briefings to management.

• Pipeline Technical Analysis for Engineering Projects (such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2)) –

Technical assistance is needed to ensure that pipelines are designed and constructed in accordance with requirements contained in 49 CFR Part 192 and 49 CFR Part 195. Assistance is needed in more complex and larger scale projects such as (CO2) pipeline projects associated with carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration/storage. Assistance may also be needed in hydrogen pipeline and hydrogen blending applications. Both areas are associated with emission reduction initiatives. Assistance may be needed in other complex technical applications.

• Underground Natural Gas Storage (UNGS) Rule Implementation – Preparation for and support of modification of inspection questions and considerations through interaction with staff

SMEs; develop content material supporting preparations for a public meeting/webinar on the final

UNGS rule, including best practices, common operator issues, enforcement, and lessons learned;

assist with technical consultation and reports, briefs, and presentations requiring most recent

UNGS data; and provide monthly updated construction notification spreadsheet from UNGS

Operators.

• Creating and Improving Inspection Tools and Reference Materials – Virtually attend monthly construction team meetings to gather perspective and context of assigned support actions; support development and implementation of policy and procedures on construction inspection enforcement matters for application by Federal pipeline safety officials; assist in developing inspection guidance which supports existing liquids regulations in 49 CFR Part195 and 49 CFR Part192 - this will aid in the determination of the enforcement imposed on an operator due to non-compliance; and establish and maintain enforcement guidance for construction procedures and inspections in a templated format to provide structure and improve nationwide consistency for staff and additional enforcement staff reference.

Enforcement Guidance Objectives:

a. Provide tools to assist inspectors and Region Directors in 1) selecting the appropriate enforcement tool and 2) providing input to the Compliance Officer to determine proposed civil penalties for probable violations.

b. Track inspection findings and their relative risk to 1) assist decision-making by PHMSA management, 2) measure and track operator and industry performance, and 3) measure, track, and demonstrate the effectiveness of PHMSA IM oversight.

Create and incorporate best practices for enforcement support regarding construction inspections and enforcement case precedent throughout all PHMSA regions; and maintain construction enforcement guidance for those trouble areas regarding performance-based pipeline safety regulations.

• Updates and Revisions – Construction Compendium – Review the Construction Compendium to identify opportunities for additional clarifying instructions, update guidelines for field personnel to utilize IA for inspections, improve daily construction forms for field inspections, and provide recommendations for updating the document to current operational PHMSA environment; and create, edit, and improve construction inspection best practices for this compendium guidance document to support inspections throughout all regions and standardize https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/Compendium%20FINAL%20NAPSR%20Oct%2028%202011%20First%20EditionR%20.pdf the process agency wide. This will support all upcoming inspections for liquids regulation in 49

CFR Part195 and gas regulations in 49 CFR Part 192. Resulting work will help PHMSA staff understand the construction process and aid in preparation for their future construction inspections.

• Technical Writing Assistance – Draft briefings/reports (including reports to Congress) related to climate change and research and development (R&D) in pipeline safety; provide technical reviews of draft policies, memo, frameworks, and regulations related to pipeline safety R&D and climate change; prepare a wide array of materials related to the Administration’s climate change agenda and opportunities the R&D program has to advance the safe transportation of renewable fuels; provide technical writing/editing on critical R&D correspondence and memos; conduct

Economic and Cost Benefit Analysis; and evaluate the results of data analysis for trends, findings, conclusions and determine the appropriate delivery methods for various stakeholders, both internal and external to PHMSA. The Accident Investigation Division would like assistance in producing approximately 12 SAFE Bulletins per year, and perform an annual evaluation of failure investigation information that would be compiled into a Summary Report to be distributed to appropriate stakeholders.

REQUIRED AREAS OF EXPERTISE

The contractor must provide a designated lead and, where appropriate, additional staff for each subtask.

The subtask lead or leads and additional staff must have the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities to bring specified PHMSA support to satisfactory completion. Specifics of the depth and range of expertise is required for each area. PHMSA desires expertise gained from leading and supporting the strategic direction of the organization versus supporting prior client needs. Current and/or prior clients should include other Federal, State, and local regulators, pipeline operators, pipeline owners, pipeline service companies, standard developing organizations, and pipeline trade organizations.

Preferred areas of expertise include:

a. Demonstrated petroleum engineering experience and or special emphasis on oil and gas pipeline operations;

b. Documented knowledge of and experience using U.S. Title 49 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, Parts 190, 191-192, 193, 194, 195, 198, and 199;

c. Documented knowledge of and experience using the various consensus standards applied in the oil and gas pipeline industry and incorporated in the pipeline safety regulations;

d. Documented knowledge of and experience addressing various internal and externally applied technologies applied in the oil and gas pipeline industry;

e. Documented knowledge of and experience using direct assessment processes and protocols;

f. Strong communication and writing skills to support the authoring of critical documentation;

g. Documented knowledge of and experience in GIS, data analytical techniques, and data visualization.

DELIVERABLES

Monthly Progress Reports are tied to and must be submitted with monthly invoicing. Formats will be provided. Monthly Progress Report - the Contractor is to deliver one (1) copy of the Monthly Progress

Report to the Contracting Officer’s Representative and one (1) copy to the Contract Administrator/Officer on or before the 10th of the month following the calendar month being reported. Monthly Progress

Reports must also include listing of staff security clearances. Other deliverables are on demand services in the form of technical reports, briefs, white papers, training curriculums, inspection protocols, PowerPoint slideshows and physical travel to attend and execute requested support.