RFI - SUPPORT FOR FMCSA POLICY PLANS and REGULATIONS.PDF

Solicitation Number:

Procurement Forecast Opportunity

199461-MC-P-001

Notice Type:

Sources Sought Notice

NAICS Code 541611

Title:

SUPPORT FOR FMCSA POLICY, PLANS, and REGULATIONS

Synopsis:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is seeking editing, analysis, and economic support. The Agency will consider original and creative solutions to achieve its goal of providing informed data to program managers and executives who make final policy decisions regarding its rulemaking projects.

FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation (DOT) on January 1, 2000, pursuant to the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 [Public Law No. 106-159, 113 Stat. 1748 (December 9, 1999)]. Its primary mission is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. FMCSA also has authority to regulate the practices of motor carriers, drivers, and other individuals associated with the commercial transport of goods, services, and passengers.

The Office of Policy, Strategic Planning, and Regulations manages the development of all policy documents supporting regulatory proposals and decisions, as well as economic policy development. The Regulatory Development Division manages and oversees all rulemaking projects. As the FMCSA focal point for rulemaking, the Division provides technical assistance and advice to the various FMCSA offices in making sound and appropriate rulemaking decisions; prepares papers related to the rulemaking process; and coordinates the review, revision, approval, and issuance of rulemaking documents. The Regulatory Evaluation Division provides economic, environmental, and statistical support for FMCSA’s rulemaking projects. The Division also conducts special studies and initiatives.

The Contractor shall analyze, develop, and edit documents necessary to support FMCSA policies, plans, regulations, and development of Regulatory Evaluations, including regulatory impact assessments, regulatory flexibility act analyses, unfunded mandates act analyses, paperwork reduction act analyses (as applicable to the regulatory evaluation), and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses, as applicable. The subjects of this work may include motor carrier licensing, financial responsibility, driver training, safety fitness determinations, bus inspections, health and safety regulations, commercial non-safety-related issues, public comment analysis, writing and editing policy support documents, and editing Federal Register manuscripts.

The Contractor shall have resources and expertise readily-available in the following key tasks -

• PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• RESEARCH AND CONSULTATION ON POTENTIAL POLICIES

• EDITING FEDERAL REGISTER MANUSCRIPTS

• DEVELOPMENT OF REGULATORY EVALUATIONS AND OTHER ANALYSES

• DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL STUDIES OR PROJECTS

• MAINTAINING ELECTRONIC DATABASE (REPOSITORY) FOR RULEMAKING OR POLICY

DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

The Contractor shall be responsible for writing support documents and providing specialized expert research, advice, analysis, review, development, and editing of FMCSA rulemaking and policy documents. These documents shall include, but are not limited to –

• Comment analyses and synopses;

• Regulatory Evaluations;

• Economic assessments and analyses; and

• Special studies or projects.

The Contractor shall provide economic analysis to address the following major subtasks:

• Research of Issue(s);

• Develop Methodology of Research; and

• Final Report Documentation.

Note. The Contractor shall not be required to interpret current FMCSA policy on behalf of the FMCSA nor make decisions on items of policy, regulation, or statute. The Contractor shall not take a public position on the merits of substantive items under discussion.

The Contractor staff qualifications shall include, at a minimum, the following -

General

• Supervising Contractor staff;

• Planning and managing long term projects involving other Contractor staff members from research to development of rulemaking documents, analysis of comments, and development of any related guidance, and other regulatory materials (e.g., issue papers and other documents needed to facilitate high level public policy decision making);

• Providing briefings and participating in meetings with FMCSA;

• Editing documents in accordance conform to the style set out in the most current versions of the Government Printing Office Style Manual and the Office of the Federal Register Document

Drafting Handbook as well as any editorial guidance issued by DOT or FMCSA; and

• Technical writing, graphics production, and technical and editorial quality control.

Rulemaking

• Interpreting applicability of the relevant statutes, Executive Orders, court cases, etc., to specific

Agency rulemaking;

• Knowledge of and expertise in compliance with related statutes (e.g., Administrative Procedure

Act, Regulatory Flexibility Act), Executive Orders, and other relevant documents (e.g. OMB directives);

• Knowledge and experience in meeting requirements for Federal Register publication; and

• Conducting analysis of comments and presenting the information in a searchable format to streamline the comment review process.

Comment Analysis

• Monitoring a rulemaking docket for comments;

• Setting up and configuring an electronic repository for rulemaking or policy development activities;

• Cataloging comments in accordance with a hierarchical outline of key issues developed by the team;

• Importing unique submissions into the electronic repository, and as appropriate, converting substantive comment attachments into a text-based format suitable for excerpting/coding;

• Generating reports (e.g., excerpt-by-issue) and statistics following a project team’s analysis of the comments; and

• Providing training and user support on the repository, as needed.

Economic Analysis

• Conducting a full range of economic and regulatory impact studies necessary to implement regulations that support a safety mission by applying theoretical and applied economic principles;

• Developing and implementing regulatory impact assessment processes that can be consistently applied to a variety of rulemaking requirements;

• Drafting and researching statutorily required regulatory impact assessments;

• Applying analytical and evaluative methods to determine the costs and benefits of proposed transportation safety and health regulations;

• Performing cost-benefit evaluations, regulatory flexibility analyses (small business impacts), and other evaluations required under relevant statutes and Executive Orders;

• Developing user fee methodologies that recover the full cost of providing certain government services in accordance with OMB Circular A-25, the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, and the

Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB);

• Documenting work clearly by citing all sources and providing illustrative calculations throughout written analyses to allow readers to follow each logical step;

• Reviewing and validating work products, minimizing the occurrence of mathematical errors or use of out-of-date or non-standard sources;

• Environmental impact research assignments requiring planning, information assembly, analysis and evaluation, conclusions, and report preparation to include, but not limited to, air quality and meteorology; greenhouse gases and climate change; traffic and transportation safety;

noise; occupational and public health and safety; socioeconomics; environmental justice; solid waste, hazardous materials, endangered species, cultural resources; wetlands, land use, public health and safety, resources protected under Section 4(f) of NEPA; modeling; and statistical analysis; and

• Performing environmental assessments and/or Environmental Impact Statements (EIS).

Instructions:

Interested parties are invited to submit a technical capability statement which clearly demonstrates its ability to meet the government’s requirement as summarized above from the attached Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS).

Contractors should include the following information in their capability statement:

1. Company name, DUNS number, company mailing address, point of contact information (One person's name, telephone number and e-mail address).

2. Company's applicable socioeconomic status and available contract ordering vehicles (include contract numbers, if GSA Schedule, also include Special Identification Number (SIN)), OASIS Pool, GWAC, if available.

3. Feedback, Questions, Concerns on the requirement’s Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS).

4. The Contract Type with explanation (FFP, CR, LH) suggested for this requirement.

Responses should be no longer than ten (10) pages, excluding cover page, single-spaced, with font no smaller than 12-point. Responses must be submitted via email to the Contract Specialist, Prattsie.Artis@dot.gov with a carbon copy to Deila.Johnson@dot.gov. Reference in the subject line of the email: MC-POLICY-PLANS- REGS 199461-MC-P-001. Responses must be received by 10:00 a.m. ET on December 17, 2020.

mailto:Prattsie.Artis@dot.gov