RFP 230000002937 Q and A Climate Pollution Reduction Program Support.docx

Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

RFP 230000002937

Climate Pollution Reduction Program Support Q & A

Question 1: RFP page 24 regarding requirement 2, the description of services does not include drafting the Deliverables listed below. How will responsibility for drafting the deliverables be allocated amongst the State of Michigan, the vendor of Program Support.

Answer: Drafting of Deliverables will occur in collaboration. Generally, the State of Michigan will request an initial draft from the vendor, with revisions taking place in shared documents and over multiple iterations, taking into account all relevant internal and external deadlines.

Question 2: RFP page 22 of 64 Timeline table, 2nd row shows a Window of Completion for "Review of Authority" that begins on September 1, 2023, and has no end date. What is the end date for this activity?

Answer: The end date for the Review of Authority is the same as that of the Priority Action Climate Plans (PCAP) narrative report, which is due on March 1, 2024.

Question 3: Will a vendor in response to this RFP be limited in proposing or assisting 3rd-party clients in proposing to receive grants from any related future State of Michigan climate and energy grants? If so, what limitations will apply?

Answer: The vendor will be expected to abide by all standard conflict of interest rules and limitations.

Question 4: Proposal instructions - proposal deadline. 3pm Wednesday, August 30, 2023, Is EGLE amendable to extending the submission deadline to September 8, 2023?

Answer: Due to the urgency of the program and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limitations, we do not anticipate extending the deadline.

Question 5: Please confirm bidders can append/attach a narrative document to the "Schedule A" submission file to address items that require further explanation. If not, can bidders modify Schedule A format to support clear communication.

Answer: Yes, a bidder may append a narrative document for items that require further information.

Question 6: Vendor Questions Worksheet - Is it acceptable for bidders to append a narrative document to the "Vendor Questions Worksheet" submission file to address select questions that require a detailed response?

Answer: Yes, a bidder may append a narrative document for items that require further information.

Question 7: Should bidders include approach to SOW requirements within Schedule A 1.1 (Describe compliance w above requirements) or Schedule A 3.1 (include process for completing Requirements 1-5)?

Answer: The bidder should explain the approach to compliance and the process for completion of requirements separately and within the assigned sections of the application.

Question 8: Can EGLE clarify the expectation for what bidders should provide in their response to your request to 'describe how they comply with the above requirements' under section 1.2?

Answer: The bidder should clearly and completely describe its proposed approach to how they will complete the requirements of the program.

Question 9: Please clarify deliverables expected under Req Facilitation services for stakeholder meetings. Can EGLE provide additional detail re: expected number/location of stakeholder meetings for Contractor attendance and responsibilities?

Answer: The number and location of stakeholder meetings is to be determined in collaboration with the vendor and in consideration of the requirements of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program.

Question 10: Can EGLE confirm that the Contractor is not expected to contribute to the preparation of the 2027 Status Report?

Answer: To the extent that initial preparation for the 2027 Status Report occurs within the timeline and scope of the contract with the vendor, the State of Michigan will work in collaboration with the vendor on such preparation. To the extent that finalization of the 2027 Status Report occurs outside of the timeline and scope of the contract with the vendor, the State of Michigan will take responsibility for such finalization.

Question 11: How many years of GHG inventories should vendors plan to support throughout the period of performance, and does EGLE have a preference for which years GHG inventories are developed?

Answer: The bidder should plan to support at minimum three Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventories, focusing on those that are required for the PCAP and Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP).

Question 12: RFP seems to indicate that the Contractor Representative is the only required Key Personnel position on this contract. Is this a correct understanding? Should we interpret the Contractor Representative as the Program Manager?

Answer: The bidder should propose key personnel (including program manager(s)) that are necessary for completion of the program requirements.

Question 13: Can EGLE clarify what is included in "support for stakeholder engagement and workshop planning and execution"?

Answer: The number and location of stakeholder meetings is to be determined in collaboration with the vendor and in consideration of the requirements of the CPRG program.

Question 14: The table provided includes 6 columns and no space to include information on the 9 items listed above. Please confirm that bidder may provide requested information in an appendix rather than within the provided table w/in SOW.

Answer: Yes, a bidder may include an appendix for items that require further information.

Question 15: The RFP requests an organizational chart that details staff members, by name and title, and subcontractors. Where should we provide qualifications of these additional non-key named staff?

Answer: A bidder may append a narrative document for items that require further information.

Question 16: Can EGLE confirm that the contract type for this bid is Time & Materials (T&M) with a fixed ceiling?

Answer: The contract will have a not to exceed value.

Question 17: Can EGLE clarify what information they would like included in the Monthly Status reports?

Answer: Monthly status reports will include details on activities, milestones, and deliverables completed during the previous month, as well as any additional information required by the requirements of the CPRG program.

Question 18: Can bidders leverage their own formatting and organization for pricing submissions, assuming we meet all requirements on page 41 under "Schedule B - Pricing"?

Answer: Bidders should respond with their pricing entered into Schedule B, however, additional information and documentation to support those costs can be included.

Question 19: Please clarify the start date as September 14 or September 28, 2023?

Answer: The anticipated start date is September 14, 2023.

Question 20: On page 20 of the RFP, under Scope, the document states that "The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Office of Climate and Energy (OCE) seeks contractor support to assist with one or all of the following tasks related to the Climate Pollution Reduction Program" and then lists the 5 requirements. This seems to indicate that bidders may propose to meet individual requirements or all requirements. However, on page 27, the document states that "The awarded Contractor(s) will provide all services described above related to Facilitating Stakeholder Engagement; Program Management; GHG Inventory and Energy Modeling; LI-DC Benefits Analysis (Quantitative); and LI-DC Benefits Analysis (Qualitative)." This latter statement seems to indicate that bidders must propose to meet all requirements. Our question is, will the State consider proposals that would meet some, but not all, requirements, or only proposals that meet all 5 requirements?

Answer: The State will consider proposals that would meet some, but not all, requirements.

Question 21: Related to question 1 above, on page 32 the RFP states that "The Project Plan should include detailed information about the process for completing Requirements 1 through 5 as stated above." For these checkbox forms, if the State will consider proposals that meet some, but not all requirements, should those be listed as exceptions?

Answer: The vendor should clearly indicate in the application which requirements it proposes to complete.

Question 22: Requirement 1 states that "Contractor will assist OCE by serving as a trusted third-party and facilitating meetings as the state engages with communities and other key stakeholders." How many meetings does OCE anticipate holding, what length of meetings, and will those meetings be in person or virtual?

Answer: The number and location of stakeholder meetings is to be determined in collaboration with the vendor and in consideration of the requirements of the CPRG program.

Question 23: Requirement 2 states that Contractor will provide "deliverable development." Is OCE looking for the Contractor to draft the PCAP and CCAP, or to advise/review on drafts that will be written by OCE staff?

Answer: Drafting of Deliverables will occur in collaboration. Generally, the State of Michigan will request an initial draft from the vendor, with revisions taking place in shared documents and over multiple iterations, taking into account all relevant internal and external deadlines.

Question 24: The items listed in the "Climate Pollution Reduction Program Timeline" map clearly to four out of five of the requirements as described in Section 1.1. Can you clarify what the expected windows of completion are for requirement 1 - facilitation services for stakeholder meetings?

Answer: The number, location, and timeline of stakeholder meetings is to be determined in collaboration with the vendor and in consideration of the requirements (including deadlines) of the CPRG program.

Question 25: We are hoping to push up the timeline for some of the requirements to complete items ahead of schedule. As such, we are wondering about the stipulations related to dispersing funds for this project. What date does the post year one budget as described within each requirement in Section 1.1 become available?

Answer: Payments will be disbursed following the completion of required activities/deliverables and in accordance with requirements of the CPRG program.

Question 26: "Please define ""Window of Completion"" on the Climate Pollution Reduction Program Timeline. Is it:

(1) the period of time activities should begin and be completed or

(2) the period of time activities should be completed (i.e., they can begin before the first date listed)?"

Answer: The window of completion is the period of time activities should begin and be completed.

Question 27: The State will be receiving $3 Million from the EPA for the planning phase of CPRG, but the RFP sets a budget cap at $885,000 for the scope of this work. Other State RFPs for CPRG have not set caps lower than $2M and intend to use the full federal CPRG funding for the planning activities outlined by the EPA. Is there a portion of the federal CPRG planning phase scope that is not in the State RFP? If not, is there a reason the State is setting a cap significantly lower than what the EPA is providing the State for this scope of work?

Answer: The RFP is limited to budget related to contracted work and does not include items such as the hiring of State of Michigan employees or subgrants to local governments.

Question 28: The implementation phase of the CPRG program is set to begin in 2024 to implement the planning work done in the scope of this RFP. Will the bidder who is awarded and performs the scope of work in this RFP be precluded from bidding on the implementation phase of the CPRG program?

Answer: The vendor will be expected to abide by all standard conflict of interest rules and limitations.

Question 29: The MI Healthy Climate Plan references the plan to develop a statewide GHG emissions inventory. Could you provide the level of detail of the GHG baselining across sectors that has been done for the existing statewide inventory?

Answer: The baseline GHG information mentioned in the Plan was acquired from external sources, as the State of Michigan has not performed a GHG inventory in over a decade. Bidders should be prepared to aid in baseline development using the EPA’s State Inventory Tool (SIT) in addition to preparing a standard GHG inventory.

Question 30: What is the 100% compliance standard being measured against for each of the 5 Requirements within the SLA Metric 1: Timely Deliverables?

Answer: The vendor will be expected to provide the deliverables as described in the statement of work (SOW) and the service level agreement (SLA).

Question 31: How does the State define the term “occurrence” noted in Section 7 on page 40 of the RFP as it applies to credits applied for failing to meet a specific Service Level Agreement?

Answer: For this RFP an occurrence would be defined as missing deadlines associated with the deliverables.

Question 32: Is an “occurrence” counted within each individual requirement bucket, summed up across the 5 requirements, or something different?

Answer: Each individual requirement.

Question 33: Will the State provide the opportunity for the Vendor to earn back credits?

Answer: No.

Question 34: Can the State elaborate on what the following means “The State reserves the right to reconsider or amend SLA amounts for split awards should they occur.”

Answer: This may happen if the contract is awarded to more than one vendor.

Question 35: Has the state already collected or have a plan to collect the necessary custom state-specific activity data such as electricity and fuel consumption for the assets to be included in the GHG inventory (i.e., privately and publicly owned)?

Answer: The State of Michigan has begun convening a cross-department workgroup and has established regular communication between members to aid in all data collection efforts. The bidder should be prepared to assist in acquisition efforts where necessary.

Question 36: For the PCAP and/or CCAP is the scope for the reduction measures to be quantified at the community level (across all assets) or at a facility/asset level? Is there interest to economically value these GHG reduction measures (giving monetary health impact values to GHG emission changes?)

Answer: GHG reduction measures can be qualitative, quantitative, or a combination of both, and can vary in scope depending on the measure. More guidance on this topic is anticipated to be released in September 2023.

Question 37: What is the scope for supporting the following? To support the EPA’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2026 Strategic Plan Goal 1 (Tackle the Climate Crisis).

Answer: The CPRG program as a whole falls under EPA’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. All activities under this RFP support EPA’s Goal 1, “Tackle the Climate Crisis” Objective 1.1, “Reduce Emissions that Cause Climate Change,” of EPA’s Strategic Plan.

Question 38: How many stakeholder meetings does Michigan anticipate engagement with via the following? Meetings, events, and stakeholder sessions.

Answer: The number, location, and timeline of stakeholder meetings is to be determined in collaboration with the vendor and in consideration of the requirements (including deadlines) of the CPRG program.

Question 39: How many community members would Michigan potentially like to reach via the following? Dissemination of information via listservs, websites, journals, and outreach events.

Answer: Community member reach will need to be extensive to achieve the requirements of the CPRG program. The precise goal will be determined in collaboration with the vendor and in consideration of the requirements of the CPRG program.

Question 40: Does Michigan currently use any third-party organizations to facilitate ongoing community engagement activities or sessions?

Answer: Yes, however bidder should propose an independent approach to meeting the requirements of the CPRG. Collaboration and proposed partnerships can be considered as the details of program design are developed.

Question 41: Does Michigan currently have a web-based forum used to disseminate resources via blog posts or social media?

Answer: Yes.

Question 42: Will the stakeholders include epidemiologists or representatives of other relevant health/medical specialties?

Answer: Precise composition of stakeholder groups is to be determined in collaboration with the vendor and in consideration of the requirements of the CPRG program.

Question 43: At what level will local health and environmental-related data be available for analysis? Example, state level or county level?

Answer: Health, environmental, and other related data will vary by source, tool, and variable, and will likely not all be on the same spatial scale in its raw form. Some level of downscaling may be required.

Question 44: For the Low-income and disadvantaged communities’ benefits analysis, are there priority socio-demographics or metrics to focus on, e.g., single parent households, education attainment levels, or linguistic groups, etc.?

Answer: EPA guidance does not identify any priority socio-demographics or metrics that are required to focus on. According to the EPA, in order to be considered low-income or disadvantaged, a community must meet at least one of the following characteristics:

· Identified as disadvantaged by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST);

· Any census block group that is at or above the 90th percentile for any of the EPA EJScreen’s Supplemental Indexes when compared to the nation or state, and/or

· Any geographic area within Tribal lands as included in the EPA’s EJScreen.

However, priority socio-demographics and metrics may be identified through the PCAP and/or CCAP development process.

The State of Michigan also reserves the flexibility to use the MiEJScreen tool, as appropriate.

Question 45: For the additional outcomes not yet identified, does Michigan plan to provide related analysis, such as governmental stakeholder engagement and climate risk and resiliency analyses, or issue an addendum Scope to the RFP?

Answer: The State of Michigan does not plan to issue an addendum scope to the RFP.

Question 46: Will similar language be included within CPRG implementation funded contracts that preclude companies who have worked on the creation of the PCAP/CCAP/Status Report?

Answer: The vendor will be expected to abide by all standard conflict of interest rules and limitations.